The New York Herald Newspaper, December 21, 1876, Page 6

NEW v YORK HERALD BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR —>___ THE DAILY HERALD, published every day in the year. Three cents per copy (Sun- day excluded). Ten dollars per year, or at rate of one dollar per month for any period less than six aa! or five dollars for six months, Sunday edition included, free of postage. All business, news letters or telegraphic despatches must be addressed New York Heratp. Letters and packages should be properly sealed, Kejected communications will not be re- turned. PHILADELPHIA OFFICE—NO.112 SOUTH SIXTH STREET. LONDON OFFICE OF THE NEW YORK HERALD—NO, 46 FLEET STREET. PARIS OFFICE--AVENUE DE L'OPERA. NAPLES OFFICE—NO. 7 STRADA PACE. Subscriptions and advertisements will be received and forwarded on the same terms AMUSEMENTS TO-NIGHT. UNION SQUARE MISS MULTON, at 8) NEW YO THEATRE, QUARIUM. Open daily. BOWERY. THEATRE, ACROSS THE CONTINENT, at P.M. Byron, Oliver Doud L RICHELIEU, at 8 F GER DER HERR PRAE PA LITTLE ig ater eIFTH AV THE awe ars P. THE SHAUGHRAU Paris TIVOLI THEATRE. VARIETY, at 8 P. M. EAGLE ATRE. i} ARIETY, at 8 P.M. SAN FRANC MINSTRELS, | ateP. M. | KELLY & LEON'S MINSTRELS | ataP. M. PRESTIDIGITATEU COLUMBIA PERA pguse VARIETY, at SP. M. Matinee THEATRE coMIGuE. VARIETY, at 8 P. M. CRITERION (THEATRE. VARIETY, ee M. ee er’ VARIETY AND DRAMA, at TONY PASTOR'S THEATRE, VARIBTY, at 8 P. M. ————¢——___— PHILADELPHIA THEATRES, RIEAvET 8 MBRA PALACE. AZURINE; OR, ‘OY. 0 THE EARTH,” NEW yor xonice 10 NENSDEAL ERS AND Tm PUBLIC, Owing to the action of a portion of tho carriers, newsmen and news companies, who are determined that the public shall not have the HeRALD at three cents per copy if they can prevent it, we have made arrangements to place the Heraip in the hands of all our readers at the reduced price. Newsboys and dealers can purchase any quantity they may desire at No, 1,265 Broadway and No. 2 Ann street, and also from our wagons on the principal avenues, All dealers who have been threatened by the news com- panies are requested to send in their orders direct to us, at No, 2 Ann street. From our reports this morning the probabilities are that the weather to-day will be warmer and cloudy, probably with rain or snow. Wat Steerer Yesrerpay.—Gold opened and closed at 107}, selling meanwhile at 107}. The stock market was irregular and | unsettled. Money on call loaned at 6 and 2 | percent. Government and railway bonds were generally steady. Tue Warr or Error in the Brock murder case gives the convicted men a new hope of life, and théy have conducted themselves in such a manly way while under sentence that every one will hope that in their case jus- tice will lead to liberty. Tue Recent Decision in the Court of Ap- peals having made atrial necessary in the suit of Patten vs. The New York Elevated Railway, the case has been noticed and it is expected will be tried to-day. There are in- junctions and injunctions, But enterprise is not easily discouraged. Cosmusstonar Wovn's recoinmendations t the Board of Eduvation indicate some desir- able reforms which should not have been deferred as long as they have been. The money expended for the education of the children of New York city should produce better results than it does. Aut Taeatrx-corns will read with interest ofthe experiments made yesterday at Wal- lack’s in non-inflammable scenery and stage fixtures. Several managers are so well satis- fied with the method applied that they in- tend to avail themselves of it at once, and those who do not will probably find at their own box offices good cause for regret. Saurisa tux Tracks.—To throw salt in the streets is contrary to law; yet two men were busily employed in South street last | night in throwing shovelfuls of rock salt on the Belt Railroad tracks, The fact that the work was being done at night proves that the company knew that it was violating the statute. Ice and snow impregnated with salt causes the hoofs of horses to rot, henco the Jaw prohibiting its use. Tar Beyerits ror rue Brooxiyy Sorrer- ¥rs.—The dramatic profession has never failed to genegously respond to the ery of the distressed, and could not but feel pro- foundly the terrible calamity in Brooklyn. The action of the managers, actors and at- tachés of the principal theatres of New York dn giving performances for the aid of the sufferers deserves the fullest support. We trust the theatres will all be filled this after- noon. Time enough has passed since the fire to permit sadness and pleasure to bo united in this strange way, and no one will less enjoy the performance because of the knowledge of the cause in which it is given. Joy and sorrow are closely interwoven in our lives, and the Muse of Comedy, with smiling lips and tearful eyes, kneels by the side of the graves in Greenwood, NEW YORK HNKALD, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1876. —TRIPLE SHEET. Give Us “ Trath, the Whole Truth and Nothing but the Trath!” It is now conceded that the mere face of the certificates does not necessarily decide the Presidential election. They are notto be be set aside in any case without solid rea- sons, but the progress of discussion has brought the public mind to a pretty general assent to the necessity of going behind sus- pected official declarations and ascertaining their character. The Senate has agreed tothis as well as the House by appointing a com- mittee of its own to investigate the vote of Louisiana. Such an investigation is idle if no use can be made of the evidence after it is obtained. ‘Why should time be wasted and money spent in collecting irrelevant facts if the action of the Louisiana Return- ing Board is conclusive and there is no au- thority to go behind it? The appointment of this committee by the republican Senate is a retreat from the position assumed by so many public men and journals of that party as to | the finality of the mere certificates. It is now pretty well agreed that they are not to be counted ‘whether orno.” They will not be accepted as valid it they are proved by good evidence to be false and fraudulent. This is a concession which the republican Senators were bound to make on principles of honor and morals, and because they could not expect to retain public confidence if they evinced a willingness tp shield fraud from detection. It by no means follows because gross frauds have been charged that they will be established by incontestable proofs. But when such charges are made with any color of probability they ought to be investigated, for the vindication of innocence and the satisfaction of the public if they are false, for the redress of injustice if they are true. Even the Louisiana Returning -Board itself cannot complain that mere certificates are not to be held conclusive, having itself acted so largely on that principle. By the certificates they were called to examine Mr. Tilden had a majority of about seven thousand in the State, and they rejected a suf- | ficient number to give Hayes a majority of about three. thousand. On what principle | did thay throw out ten thousand votes certi- fied to have been cast for the Tilden electors ? It was on the principle that a victory obtained by dishonest means ought to be subverted. If this be a sound rule it is as proper to apply it to them as to the local retftning ofticers whose certificates they refused to accept. They cannot consistently object to having their own conduct subjected to the same kind of scrutiny which they practised | respecting the conduct of others. It cannot very well be disputed that there is sufficient ground of suspicion not merely to justify but to require a thorough investi- gation. All the local election officers in Louisiana were republicans. How could it have happened that these republican officers made, against their party bias, returns which gave Tilden the State by seven thousand majority, when, in fact, it was carried by Hayes by a majority nearly half as large? Had the returns come from democratic officers the whole-ale rejections would have been more intelligible, but what motive had republican officers to make false returns in the interest of their political opponents? The ordinary presumption would be that Mr. Tilden had carried the State when the certificates of republican returning officers gave him a large majority. Another ground of suspicion is the fact that the State Returning Board which threw out ten thousand Tilden votes was composed entirely of republicans. The law of the State requires that it shall consist of members of both parties. There was one vacancy, which the Board ought to have filled with a democrat. They failed to do soona thin pretext. They several times went through the form of voting to fill the vacancy, butin every trial it happened by a suspicious accident that two of the re- publican members voted for and the other two against every candidate, thus causing a tic and defeating an elec- tion, This looks too much like a preconcerted and factions series of dis- agreements with a settled purpose to prevent any democratic representation in the Board. If it was really necessary to reject ten thousand democratic votes re- turned by republican election officers an honest Board would naturally have desired the presence of a .political opponent for their own protection and as a witness of their fairness. The critical part of the ac- tion of the Board was done in secret, with nobody present to protest or to report what they did or why. No reason which was assigned or word which was spoken in that secret conclave had any wit- ness who was not also an accomplice if any part of their action was fraudulent. They had public sessions and executive ses- sions at which witnesses were present; but they had also secret sessions, and it was in one of these last that the final result was made up on grounds veiled from public serutiny. This is not the way in which honorable men should choose to conduct so delicate a business. The failure to comply with the law and fill the vacancy in the Board with a democrat and the exclusion of all spectators from their | final meeting may possibly be consistent with honest intentions, but men who act in that manner ought to have a reputation for integrity so well established as to be proof against all assaults, But is the reputation of the Louisiana Re- turning Board of this irreproachable na- ture? Has its past history been such, has its character been so unblemished, its former conduct on like occasions so unchal- lenged that a method of proceeding so sus- picious on its face cannot justify any doubts? The country has some knowledge of the way elections have been managed in Louisiana for the last four years. It has been again and again investigated by republican com- mittees of Congress, whose reports have attested the perpetration of gigantic frauds. In one instance an agent of the election rascalities swore before the committee that he had himself fabricated some thirteen hundred false affidavits. This is a very shameless specimen, but there were others nearly as bad. We are not, indeed, war- ranted in assuming that because such monstrous wholesale iniquities were prac- tised im 1872 ond 1874 the like of crcrtearntneecetinnll them iia been repeated in 1876. | The fair- ness and legality of every election must be determined by the facts and evidence con- nected with itself; but when there are strong grounds of suspicion connected with a new election they cannot be rebutted by ap- peals to former good character. The fact that such monstrous frauds have been com- mitted in Louisiana heretofore was a reason why the Returning Board should have taken all reasonable precautions against such suspicions as have arisen in connection with their recent canvass. Their conduct when they found it necessary to make wholesale rejections of votes and reverse the certified result of the election, ought to have been frank and open. Every step should have been taken in such broad day- light that it would have required no pro- tracted investigation by a committee of Con- gress to discover precisely what they did. Their subsequent refusai to give in- formation to the committee has also an ugly look, as if their conduct would not bear exposure. The refusal of Mr. Long, a member of their own party, to accept an office because he had been | falsely counted in, is also a good ground for | suspecting that what was done in his case may have been done in others. With so many reasons for doubting the honesty of the canvass the imvestigation must goon. It ought to be rigorous and thorough, and both parties should con- tribute to make it so. It is infinitely more important that we have honest elec- tions than that any Presidential candidate should be installed in office. If it is our misfortune to have a weak or a bad Presi- dent we can do better next time if the ballot boxes truly reflect the public will; but if | our elections are to be controlled by fraud we are deprived of our only remedy. Honest elections are the corner stone of the Republic. All parties have an equal in- terest in maintaining them. The real truth about the Louisiana election can be ascertained if party fecling does not obstruct the inquiry or distort the facts, and when the truth is once established there need be no difficulty about the final counting of the electoral votes. Before the second Wednes- day in February it will be known with rea- sonable certainty whether Mr. Hayes or Mr. Tilden is fairly entitled to the votes of Louisiana and Florida; and then the truth, however unwelcome or disappointing, must be accepted with patriotic submission. Relief for the Poor and the People. Two pressing subjects came up for con- sideration before the Board of Apportion- ment yesterday at a special meeting of that body—the relief of the outdoor poor of the city and the cleaning of the streets for the next few weeks during the probable prev- alence of snow or slush. The Aldermen, at their last meeting, adopted a resolution requesting the Board of Apportionment to appropriate one hundred thousand dollars for the former purpose. The Board, how- ever, find that the money collected for ex- cise licenses now amounts to nearly three hundred thousand dollars, and instead of making any additional appropriation, de- termine to apply thisfand tothe relief of the poor, ‘through the several benevulent and charitable associations by which the work can be done most effectually.” There has hitherto been a disinclination to devote the excise money wholly to charitable purposes, but certainly it cannot be put to a better or more appropriate use. If we license the sale of liquor it seems only proper that the fund realized thereby should be applied to the relief of the want and suffering that liquor does so much to promote. But care should be taken that.the money is placed where it will be used for immediate relief during the severe winter months without the benevo- lent association formalities and red tapism which too often make charity a mockery. When a family is freezing and starving ina garret or cellar or a poor wretch is perishing on the sidewalk of cold and hunger it will not do to delay the aid that is required until the sufferers are relieved by denth. The Board should provide some method by which the money can be made available on the instant in cases of emergency, and should take care that it goes to the relief of such cases, and is not locked up in societies which, however excellent in their way, have different charitable objects in view. The application of the Police Commis- sioners for the transfer of ten thousand dollars from an unexpended appropriation of a former year to the street cleaning fund for this year should encounter no opposi- tion. The reasons given for the transfer are sufficient, and it is unwise to keep the amount locked up when it is needed for the public health and convenience. It is to be hoped that this dog-in-the-manger policy is now atanend. The street cleaning is now well conducted, and withthis transfer the authorities will be bound to protect us against snow encumbrances during the winter. Restortnc THE Cantz Moxoroty.—Ru- mors have been flying to and fro "of a pro- posal to amalgamate the Direct United States and the Anglo-American Cable companies. Whether or not they have any foundation in fact it is manifest that the consummation of such a scheme would be detrimental to the public. The old monopoly would be re- established and rates would advance to the former high standard. But this might, after all, prove to be a blessing in disguise. It would be a real benefit if it should cause the combination of the newspapers, the merchants and others to whom a cheap system of ocean telegraphy is a necessity for the laying of a new cable. We would be glad to subscribe toward this object, and have no doubt that’ the necessary sum of about four millions could be raised in event of a return to the old monopoly rates. Four millions is not too large a sum to be readily subscribed in view of the advantages to be derived from an independent cable. We are not sure but the proposed amalgamation is the best thing that could happen; for a new cable would most assuredly be laid within two years. The watering system has never been @ suc- cess. Tus Apvaxce in the price of coal, indi- cated by the Pennsylvania Company's sales yesterday, will increase the popular appre- ciation of a good fire, A Grave Charge Against the Post Office. A statement made in the House yesterday in the course of the debate on the inviola- bility of telegraph messages so seriously inculpates the integrity of the national Post Office that Mr. Hewitt’s charges should be probed to the bottom. If they are true private correspondence is no longer safe in the mails. This is an alarming state of things if the facts beas they are represented. It is hardly to be supposed that Mr. Hewitt would have hazarded such a statement in the face of Congress and the country un- less he had reason to think it true. He says that for the last month his correspondence has been tam- pered with, the letters bearing evident marks of having been opened by the appli- cation of steam and resealed with fresh mu- cilage. He states that he has submitted them to the examination of experts, who confirm his own opinion, and that he is ready to submit them to other experts if Congress sees fit to order an investigation. He does not direct suspicion to any particu- lar post office, and probably has no means the place where they were mailed or at the place of delivery. He has been in Washing- ton during the greater part of the month, and his correspondence has probably been chiefly between that city and New York. It is difficult to believe that anything of the kind has been done in the New York Post Office, and it is certain that it has not been done with the knowledge or complicity of Postmaster James, Wherever the crime was committed it was probably d6ne by bribing a clerk, but that clerk must have been a tool of poli- ticians. The motive for this violation of private letters is obvious enough in the present case. It could not have been dono by a pilferer in search for money, for Mr. Hewitt is not a man who either sends or re- ceives money by mail. He is regarded as the most trusted political confidant of Governor Tilden, and if his corre- spondence has been tampered with it was doubtless for the purpose of learning the democratic hopes and plans in this emergency. Itisa baseand rascally busi- ness, and Congress should spare no pains to ferret out the authors. Noman of char- acterin either party will hesitate to denounce it or refuse his aid in bringing the sneaking villains to exposure and punishment. Let us hope, however, that Mr. Hewitt is mis- taken ; but, even if he is, the necessity for an investigation is imperative to vindicate the character of our postal service when it is aspersed from so responsible a quarter. a@ the Poor. During the remainder of the present week the various stores of the city, crowded with Christmas their tempting holiday goods, will be filled with customers in search of gifts'as Christ- mas tokens of affection to those who are near and dear to them. Happy fathers will be there—happy in the thought that, despite the hardness of the times, they have it in their power to add something to the happi- ness of the good wife and the expectant lit- tle ones at home on the sacred anniver- sary that draws together in sympa- thy the whole Christain world. Happy mothers will be there—excited and myste- rious, anxiously pricing such articles as attract their fancy, smuggling away little parcels in muffs and pockets, or giving strict directions as to cunning modes of secret delivery at the house. Bright-eyed girls will flit hither and ‘thither, examin- ing smoking caps, cigar stands, pocket match-boxes, rings and similar trifles with oan assumption of indifference and a self-convictiug blush. Young men will be around, looking gravely over show- cases and mentally calculating the exact condition of their pocketbooks. Glowing, joyous, rosy little faces will strive, through the aid of tip-toes, to peep over the well filled counters or hide themselves pettishly in mammn’s skirts. Overconts and furs and wraps will enable the bustling crow@to brave the cold outside, while love and hope and the joy of rendering others happy will sup- ply them with warmth inside. a What ao gleeful, blessed time would this holiday time be if every picture in its changing panorama might be painted in these bright and cheerful colors! But, alas! there are clouds as well as sunshine in the Christmas sky. There are homes—God par- don us for calling them homes!—in this great city on whose darkened walls the cheerful light of a Christmas fire has never danced ; into whose patched and narrow windows a ray of sunlight seldom pierces ; | whose atmosphere, chill and damp and foul, is the withering breath of discase and death, The wretched, half-clad men and women huddled in such homes shame humanity. The pinched and shivering little ones who pine and suffer there should make the heart bleed to think that there can be such a childhood in a Christian land. Christ- mas gifts! What do they know of Christ- mas, except that it brings them more piercing cold, sharper hunger and greater suffering? Toys! The wan eyes may have gazed wonderingly on such things in a store window, but the nervous fingers would | tremble to touch them. ‘hey are as far re- moved from them as are the bright stars of heaven. On Christmas night, should it be bleak and cold, they will seek the comparative warmth of a nest in unwholesome straw and ery themselves to sleep to forget the gnaw- ings of hunger, while happier little ones throng about their glittering Christmas trees, singing and dancing, feasting and romping until they drop, tired out, into their warm beds, only to repeat in their dreams the fun and frolic which have at last weighed too heayily on their drooping eyelids. Willthe gay crowds who will throng our streets for the next few days, happy and hopefal, spare o thought to the sadder Christmas picture we have endeavored to paint? Will mothers and fathers, rich in the blessed gift of healthy, loving children, pause for an instant in their holiday prepa- rations to reflect how many little creatures are hungry, sad and neglected in this season of Christian love? If they will we can- not doubt that some few of the sufferers will find at least atemporary sunbeam pierc- ing the gloom of their darkened lives, and, as they clasp the hand of charity, will bless | aod thes Ohites wes boen to teach us that of knowing whether they were opened at 4 the poor have claims upon us it w we would live as Christians and avail ourselves of the Redeemer’s ransom at death. Remors from the East. Several important statements have been sent abroad from Constantinople since the adjournment of the preliminary conference, which, taken collectively, certainly encour- age the view that the difficult points of the negotiation will be overcome by Russia's becoming rather less resolute in her de- mands, and, in short, that war appears far less inevitable than it did several days since. The% rumors have had time to reach St. Petersburg, where they have, doubtless, attracted as much at- tention as elsewhere, and we receive from that city a despatch which seems to cast doubt upon one of these statements. It is said that nothing is known at St. Peters- burg of the proposed extension of the armis- tice. If this be true the extension is only as yet a project of the diplomatists; for Ser- via would not enter upon a step of this consequence without the knowledge of her great ally. But it is significant that this is the only one of several important statements to which any reference is made in the despatch; and though in such o case the failure to mention them does not go far as a confirmation, yet it indicates that they are not idle rumors or they would have been denounced. It may, therefore, be accepted as in a high de- gree probable that Russia has so far modi- fied her demand for the occupation of Bul- garia that it is not now on the board as an imminent danger to the peace of Europe. It is likely that the change of Ministry at Con- stantinople was brought about through the influence of General Ignatieff, and was one of the conditions of the practical withdrawal of Russia's demand, Warm the Cars. There is yo reason why the street cars should not be comfortably warmed, except that it would slightly increase the expenses of the companies—a reason with which the public cannot be expected to sympathize. They could be very effectively heated by little coal stoves, with a pipe carried through the top; but as this would interfere with the comfort of that large number of persons who love to hang on by the straps this plan we suppose could never find favor. Another plan not open to objection would be the adoption of the chaufferettes in common use in railway carriages all over Europe. These are metal foot-warmers that are filled at starting with scalding water. They retain the heat for two or three hours, They are commonly made very heavy, that they may retain the heat the better, and lie on the floor so flat as not to be an incon- venience. These, filled at the end of every round trip, would make passengers comfort- able on that long, cold, dreary ride from down town to streets in the sixties. It would be a happy experiment for a line in which the traffic is not satisfactory and which runs not far from a well patronized line to try the effect of introducing such an element of comfort. More Hydrophobia, Another fatal case of hydrophobia is re- ported, and of course the chronicle involves another Spitz dog. If we might mix natural history we should call the Spitz dog a rattle- snake on four legs. No person, or certainly not many persons, would keep rattlesnakes as pets to be about loose where their children are; but put a little white, fluffy hair on him, and four legs, and call him a dog, and he has the liberty of hundreds of thousands of houses, though he is unchanged as to his venom. In none of the numerous recent cases of hydrophobia has the virus come from dogs of any other breed than this, and if we recur to cases where the victim was bitten by a dog of another breed the pgobability arises that that dog was previously bitten by one of the breed so dangerously sub- ject to the fell disease. Thus a Spitz dog is not only a danger in the house where he is kept, but a danger throughout the neighborhood; for he communicates the dis- ease to breeds in which it originates so sel- dom that the susceptibility to it may be regarded as bred ont. Before the introduc- tion of the Spitz dog there was hardly a doctor to be found’in the cities of this coun- try who had seens case of death from rabies, It was the rarest possible incident in medi- cal history. But now scarcely a week passes | but one is reported. In the Spitz dog the disease occurs, from appearance, sponta- neously, as it oceurred in the dogs which Dr. | Kane carried from this country to the Arctic regions, and obviously results similarly from the extreme change of climate. In the last case the boy was the son of him who owned the dog, and that isa sufficiently terrible penaly on the father; but in any other case tht remedy by damages might establish in a salutary way that it is danger- ous pecuniarily, aswell as otherwise, to keep these animals, @ A Good Selection, Years ogo {mos Pilsbury, the Superin- tendent of the Albany Penitentiary, made that prison a model for the whole Unitel States. Through an ad- mirably designed and efficiently managed system of corvict labor the institution was made more ‘han self supporting, and the prisoners wete released at the end of their terms of imprisonment with money in their pockets and ¢ trade at theircommand, The discipline was admirable. At no prison in the country was better order preserved or less brutality practised. It is well known at Abany that the most ruffianly criminals, ifter six months’ incarcera- tion in the Penitentiary, have be- come docib, well behaved and ready to evince ii every possible manner their kindly feelng for the Superintendent. — When Amos Pilsbury died his son, Louis D. Pilsbury,took his place and carried on admirably he work commenced by his father, and to which he had been trained. It is stated hat the Governor elect has de- termined t¢ appoint Mr. Louis D, Pilsbury Superintenent of State Prisons under the constitutioml amendment. No better ap- pointment jould be made, It is to be hoped that Goverior Robinson will make as wise a choice in lis selection of s Superintendent of Public Yorks, The Weather. Very cold weather continues during the early morning all overthe country. Yester day at seven o'clock A. M. the temperature at St. Murk’s, Fla., was six degrees below freezing, and in the Northwest and in Lower Canada more than ten degrees below zero. The depression which we announced in yes- terday’s Henanp as advancing from the west- , ward. is now entering the Ohio Valley from the Lower Missouri region, and a general cloudiness prevails eastward of the ninety-seventh meridian, except in the ex: treme Northeast and along the Soutt Atlantic coast. A snow storm in ‘the Ohic Valley and over the lower lakes is probable for to-day. The temperature will rise slowly at New York, with increasing cloudiness, and we may expect light snow by this even- ing or to-morrow morning, In the Atlantic very tempestuous weather has been experienced, especially by west bound vessels. We predicted this conditior of weather at sea as most likely to resulf from the recent storms of the 9th and 16th, which left our coast at Nova Scotia. Much damage to shipping, as in the case of the City of Bristol, may be expected, for the violence of these storms increased after they entered on their unobstructed transoceanic pas- sages. We earnestly recommend to the Signal Service Bureau the enlistment of the co-operation of sea captains in establish- ing a system of daily observations of the weather during their voyages to and from Europe. The Bureau should be fully in- formed on everything relating to the progress of storm centres across the ocean, and such information as can be easily obtained for the trouble of asking for it would enable meteorologists to warn shipmasters in European ports of the approach of a dangerous storm. It is strange that such important sources of me- teorological information as the ships’ log- books should have remained so long un- consulted by the Signal Department. Every interest of commerce calls for immediate attention to these neglected indicators ta the storm movements. A Contempriste DopcE.—We are loath to believe that the arbitrary and absurd order of the Pennsylvania Railroad officials limit- ing the delivery of the early mails to a boat nearly an hour and a half in advance of the train is sanctioned by the responsible heads of the company. The motive of this order seems to warrant the belief that it may be the work of injudicious subordinates anx- ious to commend themselves to the favor of their superiors. The mails carry the news- papers at a much lower rate than that charged by the express companies, but the railroad company gets a larger profit from the carriage of express mat- ter. For tho sake of making this profit the railroad officials arbitrarily assume the right to delay the whole mail by an order merely intended to exclude the newspapers and force them to be transported at express rates. This contemptible trick can hardly have the countenance of Colonel Scott. As the deliberate policy of the Penn- sylvanin Railroad Company it would be an incredibly mean and paltry piece of busi- ness. But if, as we charitably incline to suppose, it is the work of officious and irre- sponsible subordinates, we trust that they? will speedily be brought to their senses by a hint trom headquarters. Tsx Conusion which occurred yester day on the Elevated Railroad was, almost miraculously, unaccompanied by loss of life; but this fact should not lessen the en- ergy with which the guilty switchman is pursned. The accident was in no way peculiar to this sort of road, but was due entirely to a trait of human nature against which the richest and most careful corpora- tions seem unable to protect themselves. Very few tracks upon terra firma would have retained the cars in such a case as securely as the Elevated rails did. PERSONAL INTELLIGENCE, General Sickles calls on the President. Lean men for skates and fat men fora laugh at euchro A savory becf stew has often made a new widow amile. = Sir Charles L. Young, of England, is at the St. James Hotel. Wa Ying Ding, a Chinese mandarin, is at the Albo marle Hotel James KR. Francisco yesterday for New York, on his way to Europe in quest of health. Hon. George C. Gorham, Secretary of the United States Senate, was married last ev.ning to Miss Eilic FE. Bassett, of Washington. Mr. Ebenezer Bassett, who has been for the past seven years United States Minister to Hayti, wilitsave this city in a few days to resume his tunctions im tba “Black Republic.” ‘A young Indy in Morrisania wants to know what isa tasteful cheap present, somothing that will not put a young gentleman under obligations—in fact, a sort of somi-present. Try a demt-joho, Cornhill:—“By exclusive attention to the education of the emotional sido of a man’s nature you will no doubt succeed ‘in creating such a milksop as I) hardly supply Hbre cnongh for the hero ef a penny novel; but, on the other hand, by an equally exclusive cultivation of the rationalistic side you will aevelor¢ something quite as weak and as dangerous, and a good deal more intolerable.” Sam Bowles:—To eat an orange, thrust a fork in at the stem, and turn the peel down over the hand from the opposite point, With a trait knife or a spoon ex. tract the pulp from the sections in turn, transferring it with deltness to the mouth, At the close the walle betweon the sections will be leit on the fork like the Jeaves of a book with the cor bent back, This isthe way folks do in Dom Pedro's diocese.” Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser:—‘‘Genoral Joseph E. Johnston wasin tho city yesterday. Hoe looked al. most as fresh and vigorous as he did fitteon years ago.? He is now residing in Savanvah, and 1s the senior member of the firm of Joseph FE. Johnston & Co. The General is now on a business tour in the interests of tao Home Insurance Company, of New York, of | which bis firm are tho gen gents lor the Southers States.”” Evening Telegram bill of fare for authors of ““Boauti ful Snow :?— ROOT LE OE LE LO LEEELE DELO EELEOEDELELELOLOLOREDE IONS: sour. Whipper snapper soup—lashings ot it, Fist. Frost fish. Salmon cutterlots. RATERS. Trotters. Ragoutot ‘a nipping and an eager’? hare, garnished with parsleigh. ROAST, Best appreciated by ordering a private supper for two at a lane tavern, VEGRTABLES. Winter greens, ae with an ice-sickle, Cold slaw. POULTHY. Freezeickeed chicken GAMES Show birds, DESSERT. + Ple, with « hard crust. DRINKS. ; Anything liquid trom a low bar-roometer, Me nere to rorere Ne eOee NOL TOCONE LEN LO HCOeee Hey OOO CE DELE LOPE DELE LE EE EOD EE OOLEREREIEDE 3 H for § ; ? 3 i. g : Keene, a millionnaire broker, left San