The New York Herald Newspaper, December 31, 1876, Page 6

NEW YORK HERALD BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR. a8. News letters or telegraphic despatches must sed New Youre MeRALD, ckwices should be properly sealed ‘Unications will not be returned. mee LPHIA OFFICE={NO. 112 SOUTH SIXTH 2 im REET NEW YORK HERALD— & DE LOPERA, STRADA PACE. criptions and advertisements will ‘on the same terms as in Now York. received and for- AMUSEMENTS WALLACK’S THEATR UNION SQUARE THEAT! NIBLO'S GARDEN.—Aguninn. BOOTIUS THEATRE. BOWERY THEATRE. wDKR THE GasLicnt. ROTUS, sD Drama, GiLMORE’S GARDEN KELLY & LEON'S MI WASHINGTON THEAT. Gran Ei Bamearasax Frstivan ~NEW “York, NOTICE SUNDAY, if TO COUNTRY Tho regular edition of the HERALD will be sent here- | Dr after as far West as Harrisburg and as tar South as Washington by special newspaper train, run by Adams | Expross Company, at the usual rates, From our reports this morning the probabilities ave that the weather in New York to-day will | be cold aud clear or partly cloudy. Watt STREET YesrenDay.—The sales of stocks indicated more than usual activity, Prices, how. ever, were in the main lower. Coal secures: Vauced. Gold opened at 107 and closed at 1 Government and railway bonds were steady, ‘The bank statement for ‘the week shows a gain in the icgal reserve of GXuNEROUS PEOPLE who have sighed to haar that no more money was needed for the Brooklyn suf- ferers will find relief des! another column, THE Fawors Jt JUMEL WILL CASE promises to shake off its legal cerements and take the form of a great international romance. See Court reports. Tur Woman WHO WHILE DRUNK set fire to her child has been arrested, but the man who sold her the liquor has not. When will law work justice ? ONE OF TITE ASTORIA burglars is reported to have told something about the robbery. Make a police- | man of him at once, so as to increase the efficiency of the force. THE PERSONATOR OF CHnisT turns out to have been a bigamist, and curious people are again wondering why indecency and religion should be so closely wedded in some minds. Governor Brown's letter, which we publish to-day, may fire the Southern heart; but every- where in the South there are pails full of cold water ready for sach an accident. THE BATTLE OF THE “OvuTS” against the “ins” over the ten thousand city offices will formaily open at twelve o'clock to-morrow; but oceans of ink have already been shed in reconnoissances. Have Rattway PasskNcERS no rights which en- gineers are bound to respect’ If they have the ac- tion of the Grand Trunk engine érivers, in aban- douing their trains, was a brutal outrage, and the perpetrators can hardly be punished too severely. THERR ARE } EN THOUSAND Cases On .he calendars of the Supreme, Superior and Common | EARLY Pleas courts, and the only consolation of the inter- | ested parties is in Byron’s line, “Time at last makes all things even.” ‘The probability of legal adjust. ments shoul hang on something more solid than poetry. ‘TOR INTERCOLLEGIATE literary contest at the Acad_ emy of Music next Wednesday evening does not cx. cite as much public interest as if it were an intercol- legiate muscular contest, notwithstanding the fact that tt is a more creditable kind of strife. In either tis a battle of sculls, but biceps seem to pos- Sess more attraction than brains when it comes to public contests for suprem Tne Seacoast or THE United States has seldom heen the scene of so terrible a tragedy as that enacted yesterday and to-day on the fated ship Circassian. Lying but three times her own length from the beach, the fury of the storm made her ut" | teriy inaccessible, and within hearing of hundreds | of sympathizers twenty-eight brave fellows went singing and praying into eternity. Thoughtiul men wil) natnraily have doubts as to the eiticiency of a | We-saving service which cannot a line to a Vessel only six hundred feet away, no matter how bad the weather, Tux SmHEFIS.—The Street Cleaning Department | Tecentiy usked and received an additional aporopri- ation for the balance of the year 1876, The HERALD indorsed its application for more funds in the hope | that the money would give us tolerably clean streets | | and save us from the nuisance of roads aukle deep | fn slush, show or mud, dangerous sidewalks aad in- terrupted trafic, There is no evidence, however, that aten cent piece has been expended on strect cleaning for the past week, and yesterday the roads were scandalously filthy and in many places almost closed to travel. What is the Street Cleaning Bu- ean doing? fs it emulous of the reputation that its predecessors have enjoyed? WE ARE GLAD To SEE our clever contemporary the World so correctly characterizing the proposed cable congolidation as a combination “plainly hos- | tile to the best interests of the public.” Yet, not- withstanding its very plain hostility to the public interesis, this scheme may prove to be a blessing | in disguise. Its first effect, to be sure, would be to raise the rates: but the inevitable consequence of that effect would be the laying of a new cable or two, and then prices would be even lower than now. Let the cabie monopolists go ahead with their scheme. We, for one, will be only too giad to do our share toward establishing a popular cable and making cheap rates, and we are by no means the only one of this mind. POLAND AND Ressia.—By our cable oak AD it Will be seen that the Polish exiles who are in Swit- | zerland have as little conception of political facts now as they lad when through want of the cupacity | w comprehend political facts they were driven into exie, They have addressed to the Marquis of salis- bury an appeal to secure for them in Poland the | game rights that Russia is eadeavoring to secure for ‘the Slavs in Bulgaria. Unfortunately for these persons the conference at Constanti- nople is not called to consider the condi- tion of Russia, bat Turkey, and it is not within its function to demand the modification of laws in any other than the Ottoman Empire. If it were otherwise the Russian Pienipotentiary might be calicd upon by the Fenians, or the Hindoos, and some other by the extieg of the Paris Conimune: and, in short, the conference might be iavited to tarn the whole world topsy turvy ont of regard to ihe dis. | contented ones of ail nations. » | | ble -has reached a certain age, is a danger that , | the competition is very high. They are com- | for in | passed EW YORK HERALD. SUND The “bake Shore Ca trophe—Iron Railway Bridges. In this morning's paper we have to chronicle a more startling series of catas- trophes than has ever before, perhaps, fallen to the record of any single day. Besides the horrible slaughter at Ashtabula there is the story of ‘the fall of another train through a bridge in Vermont, and still another report of Inmentable loss of life by the sea at Bridgehamp- Long Island. But the others are | trivial by comparison with the dreadful munity on the Lake Shore road, end have in common with it little else than their asso- | ciation with the same great storm that is in | some degree certainly to be counted asa cause in each case, In the accident on the Lake Shore road there was a wonderful accumulation of hor- | rors. Only the plunge of the cars through | the night from the broken bridge appals the | thought ; but add to this the ice and the river below, the fire from the’ burning cars and the cold and the raging storm of wind and snow and sleet, and we have | @ picture of terrors that imagination | never surpassed. Within a few feet of ! one another are lying the maimed bodies of those who were killed by the crashing timbers in the fall; the remains of those who | were burned in the wreck; of those who were | drowned and those who were frozen to | death. In the fearful catastrophe of the’) Brooklyn Theatre it was possible to | hope that the wretched victims pers | ished with comparatively little pain, | tor the stupefying effects of the smoke | doubtless acted as an anmsthe But in the case before us the many forms in which | death came were all without this mitigation, and that night must be remembered as one | almost without a parallel in the infliction of all that is terrible in the torture of | humanity, | No effort will be spared, we presume, to.| arrive at some positive knowledge as to the cause of this calamity. Various theories | are mooted on this subject. It is held that | the iron of the bridge was exhausted, and | that the structure gave way un@er this ton, strain simply because the limit of its resistance had been reached. It is also held that the intense cold had so affected the iron as to destroy the cohesion of its particles. Some are of opinion that iron bridges in northern | climates are the greatest possible blunder; while others believe that they fail only when the demand that they shall be made within a certain limit as to price renders it impossi- that they should be made well. Does any one of these theories touch the case of this calamity, and if so which | one is it? This is certainly the most pee tant inquiry that can be set on foot ; for the | possibility of the recurrence of such events in every cold storm, or whenever a bridge the travelling public cannot contemplate with equanimity. | Iron bridges are constructed on contracts | by builders who make them a specialty, and | monly made by the lowest bidder. They can be made, as the builders say, ‘‘at any price.” That is to say, they can be made in the best manner for an adequate price and in | various degrees of inferiority as the price is forced lower and lower. Cheapness may af- fect the pattern of the bridge and compel | the adoption of some style not sufficiently strengthened, or it may affect the material and compel the use of poor iron. There is no doubt that our system of railroad con- struction acts as a direct preference to bridges that are really slaughter traps. Railroad bridges have been contracted this country at prices barely sufficient to pay for good iron at the time, and the only chance, therefore, that the builder could have to pay his labor and | make a profit was by the use of cheap and | inferior iron. Yet if a builder contracts at a | fair price, and is underbid by another whose | bid must necessarily rest on chicanery ot | some sort, the lowest bidder is very apt to get the contract. With bridges constructed, however, of the | | best material and on patterns of approved | | | | | excellence it is unquestionable that eal resistance of the iron is exhausted after a certain period. What is that period, and is there any known rule for its application | to structures so composite as iron | bridges? For rails it seems to be possible to get at a fair rule by computation of the weight that has passed over them at a given rate of speed, and of the heat evolved by the friction. This is ap- parently the rale with regard to railroad | wheels, which are condemned when they | have gone through a defined service, even | | though they may be none the worse so far | as observation can discern. In this case | the sound principle is acted upon that | 1 | they have gone through what should have exhausted them, and that it is better to send to the foundry a few wheels that may accidentally have outlasted their iegiti- mate service than to imperil a single train | with its precious freight of lives by the at- tempt to extort from the iron a few more revolutions. But since railroad economy thus recognizes distinctly the fact that the cohesion of iron has its limit, is it not remarkable that it should fail to con- sider with regard to bridges what it considers so elaborately with regard | to wheels? Any presumed difference between them must be based upon erroneous conceptions, since it is in cach case the vibration that exhausts, even though the force which originates the vibration be differently applied. It is reported that the bridge at Ashtabula has been in use for eleven years. Doubtless in that | time one hundred thousand trains have | over it, say thirty to forty million tons weight, enough Pressure to have heated every ounce of iron in the bridge to a red heat ten times over. It may prove, upon proper investigation, that ten years isan extreme limit for the safety of any iron railroad bridge, and, if the com- panies’ should find themselves under the necessity of rebuilding all their iron bridges | once in such a period, thesestructures would | cease to be advantageous from cheapness, | and we should see restored the excellent | practice of spanning streams with arches of masonry. | But if the change in the structure of iron | | phrase gives an accurate account of the fact, | of the proposed site are ample for the erec- | looked. | artisans and mechanics, the clerks and pro- | upon their more fortunate neighbors, for of | | say an | that he may be kept before the public as | is necessary these gentlemen draw on their ‘has done his best with the material at his under use could be put aside as a fact, which cerjainty it cannot, there would re- | main the doubt as to the propriety | of the employment of this material in a climate where extreme cold seems at times to make iron as_ brittle as glass. At Ashtabula, the report says, the iron “snapped like a pipe stem.” This for the extreme temperature seems to re- duce the metal to the condition of pottery. Is it not madness to put the lives of passen- gers in constant jeopardy, as must be done where this result is possible in any one case? Locating the Proposed Opera House. The project for a new opera house finds such extraordinary favor with those classes upon the aid of which such schemes must depend that it may be regarded as almost certain of successful consummation. The proposed site, at the corner of Fifth avenue | and Forty-fourth street, is undoubtedly the best that could be selected. The rapid growth and development of the upper .por- tion of the city have long rendered down- town locations for places of amusement dis- tant and inconvenient. Probably two-thirds of the people who go to the opera at the | Academy of Music live within more con- venient reach of this proposed corner. Moreover, it is perfectly well adapted to | the ‘kind of structure required. To erect a mammoth building for this pur- | pose wouid be merely to repeat an error which has already proved fatal to success in several notable instances. The dimensions tion of an opera house of quite as much size and capacity as are consistent with perfect adaptability to the end in view. Let the matter be put in charge of a practical archi- tect, who would take the fullest advantage | of the fine location and the excellent propor- tions of this site, and the result should bea ‘splendid structure, outwardly an ornament to Fifth avenue and a credit to the city, and, interiorly, admirable in its adaptation to the | convenience of audiences and to the re- quirements of opera. The names of several j architects have been mentioned in this con- | nection, and, since suggestions are in order, we venture to recommend Mr. George B. | Post as a practical architect, competent to take charge of this business and to achieve a worthy result. Such a structure should be free from the gaudy display which is the fault of too many of our prominent build- ings. It is the fashion with most American architects to sacrifice economy and utility to mere show. Instead of handsome substan- tial buildings, they produce monstrosities of beauty. We suggest Mr. Post's name in the hope that by the selection of such an architect the managers of the undertaking will steer clear of the faults of the prevail- ing fashionable architecture. Silent Sufferers. While the miseries of the poor are attract- ing the attention of the benevolént there is danger that the worst sufferers will be over- There is everywhere-a class of un- | fortunates who never ask relief, never com- plain, always keep their affairs to themselves, wear brave faces, and yet undergo almost in- credible hardships. The higher orders of | fessional men, and the penniless men and women of high character and attain. | ments are in many instances en- | during all the privations which are | making life unendurable to the lowest, and are suffering mental agonies which are | simply beyond description. The strangest, | most terrible fact in connection with them is that, though théir condition is generally known to their well-to-do friends, there is not only no effort made to relieve them, but they are regarded with that strange mingling of admiration and indifference which makes the spectators of Roman gladiatorial shows so incomprehensible to the modern mind. | There is scarcely a family in comfort- able circumstances that cannot recall such acquaintances who are practically as friendless as if they were in the centre of Africa, In addition to the sacred plea of charity these people have a special claim | general society they constitute an clement which can never be too prominent; they furnish a large amount of the in- telligent effort and example without which society and civilization cannot | exist. In every active department of life man's bravery and woman's endur- ance merit and receive the hearty recog- nition of all mankind; certainly in the | greatest of all struggles the sympathy of their fellow beings skonld not fail them, liow to alleviate their torments is a question which any honest person can answer for himself after a few moments of thought, and | the answer is imperatively needed in hun- dreds of thousands of cases and in every city and town. Simcamarctaensstastiogn Make m Example of Him, President Wood, of our city Board of Ed- ucation, declines renomination on the ground of ill health, and he is nota man to ything which he does not mean. But | the Board, by unanimous vote, begs Mr. | Wood to reconsider his intention and the sople will strongly indorse the resolutions, Even should Mr. Wood become entirely un- fit for duty he should be re-elected if only an example to other men of wealth and culture. Criticisms from such men are numberless regarding education and | other matters of great local importance, and | they are often just; but when actual work gloves and reeail a pressing engagement, Mr. Wood, on the contrary, has for years devoted his entire time to the improvement of onr schools; he has mastered the system even in its driest and minutest details; he service, instead of enshrouding himself in elegant longings after the unattainable, and he has been rewarded by the success which always follows intelligent endeavor, New York has a thousand or more other men who could and should follow in Presi- dent Wood's footsteps, and in the various departments of local administration there is room for all of them. Let Mr. Wood be | kept before the public until other men of similar abilities are shamed into true loyalty. | AY, DECEMBER 31, | the least about the proximity of an elevated |,joy the benefits of fresh air and cheap, | two millions and a half for 1877 against | really chargeable to the old régime. | ment, as Now for Rapid Tr it. The recent decision of the Supreme Court gives to the Gilbert Elevated Railroad Company the full right to complete its road, subject only to the legal opposition of prop- erty owners along the line. But for this opposition, so we are informed by the World, the improvement would be com- pleted in four months. It is pretty gene- rally understood that the Sixth Avenne Railroad Company is managing the work of resistance, But for their influence it seems probable that the consent of the requisite | two-thirds of the property owners would be readily obtained, ‘The prop- erty holders all along the line have given us every facility,” said General Porter. “The main body of property holders on the line, where it has already been set up, sent a batch of affidavits to the Court in one of | the proceedings, to the purport that there was no objection to its erection.” It would be quite natural that in event of any serious damage to property resulting from the con- struction of this road the owners should be reluctant to martyr themselves for the pub- lic bénefit. But there is no necessity of any such.martyrdom. Under the new general railroad law the Gilbert Company will fully indemnify injured property holders accord- ing to the assessment made by a committee appointed for that purpose. In reality the property will suffer little or no detri- ment. It is generally of that inferior class of which the tenants are sel- dom squeamish about trifles. Even were the case otherwise this property could be | made available tor tenants of the kind to whom downtown residence is a necessity. There are thousands of porters, factory operatives and others who would be ready tenants of these houses without caring in railroad. Thus the completion of this road will equalize the facilities of residence for two large classes—viz., the class already described and the large body of clerks and persons of moderate ‘means of whom such early and late attendance is not required, and who would be enabled by means of rapid transit to live at o little distance out of town and en- tasteful homes. Moreover, there is a gen- eral compensation involved in the conse- quences of such a project. The gain to the city by the possession of this improvement is certain to redound to the profit of every property holder in the city limits. Every year of the last decade the lack of rapid transit has driven thousands of people across the Hudson. Tax paying, rent paying, pro- vision buying citizens have been lost to us through this very want of enterprise, So good is the prospect of general benefit from the completion of this improvement that, ac- | cording toGeneral Porter, ‘‘the real estate’ on the line of the portion already built has not depreciated, and in one case the owner of the house has increased his rent.” Wo trust the body of property holders along the line will consider the case fairly and not be misled into foolish resistance by the influ- ence of any horse railroad company. The City Budget for 1877, The Board of Apportionment yesterday passed the final estimate for carrying on the city government during the year 1877, and | Comptroller Kelly congratulated the tax- payers, in a brief address, on the fact that the total amount is considerably less than the sum appropriated for the year about to close. The rate of taxation on the present assessed valuation will be reduced from 2.83 per $100 to 2.65. At the same time, owing mainly to the passage of laws by the last Legislature lessening the rate of inter- est exacted from those in arrears for taxes or assessments, the revenues of the General Fund applicable to the reduction of the year's taxation can only be estimated at four millions in 1876. Comptroller Kelly has only been in office during the last hours of the settlement of the budget for next year, and Mayor Ely | has no responsibility for it whatever. It is The new Comptroller has, therefore, no occasion to father it or to boast of its economical character—a practice which prevailed under Mr. Kelly's predecessor to an absurd extent. When we compare the budgets of 1876 and 1877 we find that there has not been that saving in the running expenses of the de- partments that the people expect to find | next year under the new order of things. | The total of this year's estimates was $34,904,395, and of next year's $30,984,269— a decrease of $3,920,126. But the difference is more than made up by the saving in items wholly unconnected with the city govern- the following statement will | | | show: Decrease of State tax in 18 Decrease in interest and principal of debt paid tn 18) seay Census expense in 1876 not tn 1 Westchester Stato tax in 1876 not im 1877, $3,070,306 ‘Total saved in 1877 over 187 ++ $4,012, 047 From these figures it will be seen that no good claim to peculiar economy can be made for the budget finally adopted yesterday, We must wait another year before fully realizing the advantages of the harmonious and efficient administration which we hopo to.see inaugurated in the over-taxed city of New York to-morrow. The Weather. The storm centre pursues its course north- eastward, qnd is now moving off the Nova Scotia coast with the very low pressure of 28.93 inches, or .05 less than recorded in | New York yesterday. The rain and snow area has gradually diminished in extent, and is now confined to the lower lake region and the St. Lawrence Valley, with a small detached area in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia immediately attend- | ing the storm centre, In the North- west snow is reported from. the Upper Missouri Valley, attending the advance of another depression from that direction. West and South the weather is generally clearand cold, with winds indicating a Gulf disturbance. The area of highest pressure | is now moving over the Lower Mississippi Valley, and as it advances eastward the temperature on the Atlantic const will fall somewhat, Cold and cloudy weather | prevails in tho far Northwest. We) can promise fine weather for visiting | and faithful management. | phia Buliotin on New Year's Day in New York. 1876.—TRIPLE SHEET. Sleighing will be good probably until Tues- day, but after that day the thaw will begin again with the approach of a depression from the West. The weather in New York to-day will be cold and clear or partly cloudy. Our New State and City Brooms, The new State and city governments will be inaugurated to-morrow. Governor Rob- inson steps trom the Comptroller's office into the Executive chamber under encour- aging circumstances, The report of his stewardship as the head of the State finan- cial department shows that the practical re- form of the past two years has effected a de- crease of debt, a curtailment of expenditures, and an increase of the sinking fund. He finds the machinery of the government run- ning smoothly and the prospect good for the accomplishment of further reforms be- fore the expiration of his three years term of office. The only bad showing during the past year is in the State prison management, which presents a deficiency of seven hun- dred thousand dollars, The new system provided in the constitutional amendments will remedy this and bring the State prisons under the same strict rules of economy and honesty that now prevail in other departments of the State government. It will be the duty of Governor Robinson to make a determined effort to place the Bank and State departments under capable The republican Legislature may obstruct this necessary work for the purpose of keeping those offices in the hands of their political friends ; but as the Senate and Assembly will both be elected next November any such action would probably insure the next Legislature to the democracy. Mayor Ely also enters upon his adminis- tration under favorable circumstances. He has a government harmonious in all its parts to assist him in bettering the condition of the city, pushing forward desirable works of public improvement and curtailing expendi- | tures wherever economy may be properly enforced. Comptroller Kelly promises us a thorough reform in our financial man- agement, and it is rumored that he will soon propose a plan for increasing the city revenues and decreasing taxation which will commend itself to the approval of the people. ‘The new Board of Aldermen has a good working democratic majority, and the Board of Apportionment and Sinking Fund Commission will be in democratic hands. Mayor Ely in his message will no doubt set before the people their exact financial condition, which they were never able to ascertain from Comptroller Green. Mr. Kelly has now been long enough in the Finance Department to make himself ac- quainted with the true amount of our liabilities ond assets, and will no doubt give the Mayor such a clear, explicit bal- ance sheet as the taxpayers have long de- sired to see. The new Mayor should also make his position on public improvements distinctly understood in his first official message. ‘he people of New York wish to know whether they are to have better docks, better pavements, a better water supply and a more efficient government generally under Mayor Ely and Comptroller Kelly than they have had under past administrations, and they will expect the Mayor, to announce his policy in plain and unmistakable language, PERSONAL INTELLIGENCE. Serve apple sauce with sausages, Senator Bob Ingersoll, of Illinois. Pieces of celery may be fried in rich batter, In Texas the trees are fall of blossoms and horse thieves. St. Louis has more dishonest voting than the city of New York, Sigvor Alessandro Castellani, of Rome, is at the Westminster Hotel. Admiral A. Crown, of the Russian Navy, ts at the Fifth Avenue Hotel. Donald G. Mitchell (Ik Marvel) will lectare before the School of Fine Arts at Yale, 1n South America there are no crows; and, couse- quently, no democrats to eat them. Boston Porl:—“The Nuw York Hrrato says Queen ‘Vietoria brought ber children up on oatmeal Now we know where Wales got his wild oats.”’ Nubar Pacha, the new Turkish Governor of Bulgaria, is illustrated In tho Graphic, bat if bo continues to wear his saucepan down over his right ear he will bot! over, Stories of heavenly appearances are flashing through the papers. We do not lke to say that there ts any- thing doubtiul in these stories, but some of them might be a little meatier, Dr. Doremus states that the thermomoter is coming into use asa milktest. Last year there were 300 tests made without the thermometer, but through the efforts of the Doctor both tho lactometer and the thermometer are being used by the Board of Health. ‘An exchange says:—"A fowl that costs twelve cents 8 pound dressed will cost sixteen when undressed, or in other words the dressing costs four cents, anda nine pound four ovce fowl, dressed, will when not dressed weigh seven pounds nine ounces, ko thata dressed {owl will weigh a pound and a baif less when undressed.” Happy New Year. A Park row barber turned his new apprentice loose with aseven-by-niae razor on a fat man yesterday, After tho apprentice had made several attempts at subsoil ploughing on the fat man’s tace, and the latter began to look like a map of Peru al @ first class earthquake, the boss remarked that it was all nonsense to tind ‘ault, because the boy was such a little bit of a shaver, 11 is said that the rumber of expressions used by a ; good writer is very small, and wo bave secu a para | iit open January 9. graph to the effect that Shakespeare had a vocabulary of something less than 300 English words, Yet when a man slips up on an iron coal-hole cover and teels 160 pounds of protoplasm on the sidewalk, Webster's Dic- tionary doesn’t contain ball the words he rolis around in his twagination, six English bridesmaids were attired in pale blue cashmere dresses with princess polonaise, small bats worn at the back of the head and made of a delicate cream color felt, turned ap and lined with light blue plush, and trimmed with cream color sik and hght biue feather. The bridesmaids also woro massive silver locketa with the monograms of the bride and bridegroom, the gilt of the bridegroom, Thas they float:—The geologist of the Burlington Havwkrye thinks tbat toads get into rocks by digging into the rock Decause jt 18 a sort of trap.—Herald P. 1 Wrong again. They were simply toad in while the rock was fluid, and (here wasn't enough ot the Backtrackian about them to get out again, —/hiladel, Too conglomerate with your reasons. ‘As asual, a woman is at the bottom of it, Silteate pats them in, —J’ort Chester Journal Verhaps she did. We remember hearing her stnging to one of them, ‘Rock me to sleep. "—D’hiladelphia Builetin, During many years editors have inculcated the prin. ciple that every one who writes or subscribes to news, papers should give, nut only bis name, but bis State and even his county, Yet we have belore us a number of letters {rom editors asking for the Heratp, aod in some instances not even the town to which the HenaLy might be sent is mentioned. One shect of paper basa flaming picture of a newspaper building on which is seen the sign of 18 nana tho picture ur the sheet in what State the Nunda News Is published, TELEGRAPHIC NEWS From All Parts of the World. EXPECTANT EUROPE. The Conference Still Discussing the Turkish Problem, RUSSIAN POLICY FORESHADOWED, The Reported Prolongation of the Armistice Confirmed. PRESS VIEWS OF THE SITUATION. A Protest Against Russia from Polish Exiles, [BY CABLE TO THE HERALD.1 Loxpon, Dec. 31, 1876, The last days of 1876 have been spent in an effort to prevent the outbreak of war in Turkey, and the resuit ts still as doubtful as a month ago. Whether that effort has been an earnest one on the part of all the Powers represented at the Conference in Constantinople ‘must be leit to the future to tell, but there is no disguising the fact that the new year is about to open with a prospect more uncer tain than has been known in Europe for many years. No matter how many editorials breathing contidence in the preservation of peace may appear in the newspapers, the minds of those who are best informed on European politics are filled with gloomy forebodings, and not afew are convinced that 1877 ts destined,to be a year of sanguinary war and of sweeping political change. A POLISH PROTEST. The Polish question is once more before the people of Europe, although the people of that country show little sign of life. The special con respondent of the HERALD at Berlin telegraphs that the leading Polish emigrants in Switzerland have addressed a petition to the Marquis of Salisbury, protesting against the inhuman treatment to which their compatriots in Poland are subjected by the Russian government. They complain of the de- struction of their religion and language and implore of the Conference to obtain for the Russian Poles the same rights and privileges which Russia de- mands for the Slavs in Turkey, THR ARMISTICE, * Confirmation of the roported prolongation of the armistice comes from various quarters, A despatch from Paris says it is officially announced there that the armistice has been prolonged until the 1st of Mareb. A telegram from Comstantinople is to the same effect :—At Thursday’s sitting of the Conference, which lasted four hours, it was decided that tbe armistice should be prolonged until the Ist of March, 1877. THY CONFERENCE AT WORK, Tho Turkish delegates submitted objections to several of the proposals mado by the Conterence, chiefly on the subject of guarantecs. Discussion followed on those questions, in which Count Chandordy, the French Plenipotentiary, took a leading part, The next sitting of the Conference will be on Satur- day and Monday, and it is expected that rapid progress will be made with tho deliberations. The appreben- sions recently entertaived of au unfavorable issue are now considerably diminished anda pacific solution of pending questions is anticipat XNGLISH PRESS VIEW OF TIE PROSPECT, The Pall Mall Gazette ot this alternoon states that the proposal tor the prolongation of the armistice was made by the Porte, and considers that this action adds much to the hopetulness of the situation. It believes | Turkey has put forward a proposal that a police torce composed of Turkish regular troops under Kuropean officers shail supervise the application of reforms in the provinces. Whother the Czar and his Ministers will be content with it the Gazetle seriously doubts, declaring it easier to believe the Russsan army must fight, untess tts sovereign can boast of a far more obvi- ous diplomatic victory than it is likely to obtain, than that it will be ordered home by a government virtually defeated in the Conference chamber. FORESHADOWING KUSSIAN POLICY. A despatch from st. Petersburg gives an extract from ap editorial article in the Moscow Gazelle which is very significant as indicating the poticy of Russia in the event of a breakup of the Conference. The Gazette says:—In the event of the Lonference being broken off Ruri would have to enforce upon Turkey not her own decision but that of Europe. Europe would then virtually make war against Turkey with Russian arms, The mere triendiy neutrality of Europe would not suf. fee, As it was pot Rursia who raised the Eastern queston, Russia could not sford to risk a rear or flank attack upon the Porte im addition to the sacrifices which a war would entail upon her. Russia must therefore unite her own interest with that of some other Power. THER GOLOS THINKSQME PORTR WILL YIELD, The Golos thinks the Sultan can mal sions demanded by the Powers without fear of the fanaticism of the Turkish people, which is rather pro. duced by the government for “its own purposes than spontaneously directed against its policy. The Golos adds :—*Wiss concession will strengthen the Saltan’s position, while stabborn opposition would andoubtealy produce serious contlicte. ” THE BRITISH FLYKT LEAVES DESIKA BAY. From Constantinople it ts annoancec that the British fleet has left Besika Bay for the Pirwus. THR PRENCH CHAMBRRS ADJOURNED, A Paris telegram says the extravrdinary session of the Chambers closed yesterday. The rogular session THE LONDON SOCK EXCHANGR, Business on the Stock Exchange during the week has been almost ata standstill in consequence of the holidays and the fortnightly seitiement. The altora- tions tn prices are mostly insignificant and restricted to comparatively few securities, Consois havo been tolerably firm and close 3% higher. Turkish bonds have advanced 1 to 4 per cent. Russian, French, Italian, Spanish and Peruvian are frastion- ally better. Argentine, Bolivian, Uruguayan, Egyp- tian, Huogarian and Mexican lower.. American securities have been dealt in at improved prices, but Mlinois railway bonds have receded nearly 8 per cent. To-day the market was considerably strength- ened by Constantinople advices, The discount market | has been decidedly Ormer during the latter part of the down with toads’ tools, This is incorrect; they get | week, bet the rate for three months’ bills continues | about 14s, Loans, from day to day in the open mar. kot, have advanced to 2 per cent, MEXICO, THE CAPITAL AGAIN QUIRT-—DEFECTION OF THE VANGUARD OF THE ARMY OF IGLESIAS. Mexico, Dec, 15, 1876, Our capital is again quiet and ite population have once more settied down to peaceful pursuits, Most of the troops of Geners! Diaz, which two weeks since throvged the sirects of the city, bave been sent fore ward to the interior, and on w Ith General Diag himsel!, accompanied by 2,500 men, jet the capital © Join his forces und lead the campargn in person, iT DEFECTION FROM IGLESIAS. foliowing telegram was reecived at tgreny 8 rac eocgg this morning :— “SENOR MINISTER OF WAR:— The Kighth, Eleventh and Thirteenth cavuiry, vane fuard of the enemy, in San jaan del Rio, ere pines ‘themselves under my orders, —