The New York Herald Newspaper, January 17, 1877, Page 4

Meavy ico is moving in the Ohio River. ‘The NEW YORK HERALD BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR. Scat, ecacbattaas © 1B DAILY HERALD, published every day in the year, ‘eents per copy (Sunday excluded). Ten dollars per bog ernie of ‘one dolla er month for any eriod fees ths, or five Jara fur six months, Sunday te fetters and puckaces should be properly scaled. ommuniontions will not ve revurned. sian endet out raEeeE eA OFFICE-NO, 112 SOWTH SIXTH Loxbon x EEICE OF THE NEW YORK HERALD— rARiavo FICE—AVENUE DE L'OPERA. 8 OW FICE NO. 7 STRADA PACE. ions and adverti ‘be received and for- ‘on the same torm: i TONE XL nesses AMUSEMENTS TO-NIGHT. BOOTH'S THEATRE.—Dax't Duvcr. NEW YORK AQuaRIU: BOWERY THEATRE.—Tux Two Onrmans. GILMORE’S GARDEN. Equestrian Festrvau. BAGLE THEATRE.—Pa: BAN FRANCISCO WITH SUPPLEMENT. NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 17, 1877, NOTICK TO COUNTRY DEALERS, The Adams Express Company runa special nows- Paper train over the Pennsylvania Railroad and its connections, leaving Jersey City at a quarter past four A. M. datly and Sunday, carrying the regular edition ofthe Henatp as far West as Harrisburg and South to ‘Washington, reaching Philadelphia at a quarter past six A. M. and Washington at one P. M. From our reports this morning the probabilities are that the weather in New York to-day will be cold and partly cloudy or clear. 2064, and closed at 106%, selling meanwhile at 10653. The principal activity of the stock mar- ket was in Western Union, Lake Shore, Jersey Central and St. Paul preferred. Money on call loaned at 5 and 6 per cent. Government and | railway bonds continue firm. AsoTHER SLEEPLESS Nicut for Senatorial as- pirants in Massachusetts. Ervsewnere We Give Particurans of a di- vorce suit, the parties to which are both beyond threescore and ten. Tne Oxe Unrunritiep Duty of the bridge trustees regarding the cable material is ably set forth in our columns to-lay. Ir Is Remonep that Joyce and McDonald, the Whiskey Ring convicts, are to be pardoned. ‘What new political move is projected! Or THE Strance Stories of matrimonial in- felicity, of which the air is full, none is more har- rowing than that told to-day in “The Skeleton in the Closet.” ‘Tne Area oF Fioops is extending toward the South, a portion of Richmond, Va., being under water, with a prospect of things growing worse instead of better. Tue Pubiic would be glad to know why the Pilot Commissioners conduct their trials in pri- vate while the worst villain under arrest cannot be tried except in open court. Tue Notorrovs Pat Siri has reached his home at Sing Sing again, and is ready to say worse things about policemen and detectives than any other critic of our police force would dare to utter. Cnier Justice Dary, President of the Geo- graphical Society, paid his respects td the jealous Captain Nares yesterday in the course of his résumé of the geographical progress of the year. The address will richly repay perusal. Tue Reront of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue is a very cheering document, with its assurances of increased receipts. It reveals the suggestive fact, however, that whiskey making has not been a popular business since the issue of the “crooked” whiskey cases; so discouraged are unengaged manufacturers that the government cannot got rid of the distilleries it has acquired by forfeit. Kenor, the king of the “Molly Maguires” in the neighborhood of Pottsville, Pa., was yester- day found guilty of murder in the first degree—a crime for which we believe there is but one pen- alty in Pennsylvania. While sympathy will be felt for the doomed man’s devoted Pennsyl- vanians and law-abiding people ¢ ywhere will breathe freer to know that neither threats nor trickery have prevailed against justige in this most important case, and that wilful ruffianism is not to be mistaken for the justitiable ~ jaints | of aggrieved miners. Tue WeaTneER.—The storm centre that tray- ersed the country since Sunday last, and which has caused such devastation in the Ohio Valley region, has passed off the New England coast, A vast area of precipitation accompanied it, a por- tion of which still extends over the northeastern districts. The succeeding area of high pressure and cold now extends throughout the Mississippi Valley, causing a gencral but light fall of rain from New Orleans to the lakes, and heavy sleet at Shreveport, Texas. The tem- perature is very low all over the country except on the Gulf and the Middle and South Atlantic coasts. The sharp gale that has prevailed on the Texas coast, and other indications, point to the approach of another Gulf storm similar to those | recently experienced. ‘Another area of low pressure has moved from the northwest ato Dakota and Nebraska and will fol- low in the track of yesterday's disturbance. Snow is now falling in the St. Lawrence Valley. The following changes have occurred inthe levels of the Ohio River within the past twenty-four hours. At Pittsburg, height above low water, 18 fect 4 inches; rise, 6 feet 6 inches; line 20 fect above low water level. ies; rise, 10 feet; di wer height, 16 feet; rise, danger line, 24 feet. In the Mississippi River the changes within twenty-four hours he t St. Lonis, height, 10 fect 6 inches; § ger line 30 feet. Cairo, height, 11 fee rise, 2 feet 7 inches; danger line, 10 fe Cumberland, at) Nash itiches; riso, 8 fect 3 inches; danger line, 42 ches; dan: | bers of the two houses, NEW YORK HERALD, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 17, 1877—WITH SUPPLEMENT. Method of Counting the Electoral Votes, ¥ The deep, interest which we take in the labors of the joint committee makes us anxious that it should fall into no mistakes. If the action of this committee were to be final we should be disposed to accept with- out question or criticism any plan which it might agree to recommend, But we must not lose sight of the fact that the committee is merely to make proposals, which the two houses are as free to reject as to accept, as free toamend as to adopt in their original form, We hal hoped, and do not yet abandon the hope, that their plan may be s0 free, not only trom solid objections, but from exposure to captious criticism, that it can pass triumphantly through the ordeal of the Congressional debates. We do not yet know, except from Washington rumors, what the plan is. As it is subject to change or modification by the committee itself we are unprepared to take strong ground either for itor against it until the report of the joint committee is submitted to Congress, If the current description of it is correct we think the plan judicious in sub- stance, but faulty in details, and that its weak parts are of such a nature as to give a needless handle to pare tisan adversaries, It is better that neces- sary amendments should be made by the committee itself than left as vulnerable points to invite attack in Congress, Any considerable amendment adopted by either honse would impair respect for the judg- ment of the committee and make it easier to defeat. the whole plan, Amendments adopted by one house and rejected by the other might create a deadlock, and tactics looking to this end will be the favorite mode of opposition by extreme partisans, as affording the best chance of utilizing honest members who are not, like themselves, enemies of every plan for lifting the question above the atmosphere of party politics. It would be unwise and suicidal for the joint committee to supply the insidious foes of any plan with pretexts and facilities for conducting their operations. The committee will de- feat its own patriotic intentions if it reports a plan that will have to run the gauntlet of a series of plausible amendments which might cause it to fall between the two houses, It would be far better for the com- mittee to take a few additional days for cor- recting details than to leave their plan exposed to be torn to pieces by hostile amendments in one or the other house of Congress. Amendments made in the committee itself will be friendly to the main purpose of the plan; but amendments made in the Senate or House are more likely to be prompted by hostile motives. If the committee is wise it will abjure all pride of paternity and all pride of opinion and leave no vulnerable point exposed to the enemies of peace. If the plan of the joint committee has been correctly reported its main features are ex- cellent. In the frst place, it has thé great merit of not deciding the Presidential ques- tion by the mere organization of the pro- posed board of referees. The result of the counting would be quite os uncer- tain after the adoption of their plan as it was before. Both sides could therefore accept it without any sac- rifice of party pride—a feature es- sential to the success of any plan. In the next place, it is entirely sound and wise in taking the disputed questions out of the arena of party politics and referring them for final decision to a board small enough in numbers to create a sense of individual responsibility and high enough in character to afford a guarantee for upright intentions. In the third place, the proposed plan, if adopted by Congress, binds all parties to abide by the decisions of the board of referees unless overruled by a concurrent vote of both houses. This is the most important pro- vision of all, and is essential to the success of any plan. It is necessary to settle the Presidential question in such a way as to pre- elude all danger of its being reopened when once decided, by binding the supporters of both claimants to accept the judgment of the appointed tribunal. There seems no possibility of attaining this result except in pursuance of the main idea of the joint committee that the power of finally decid- ing points on which the two houses may differ shall be surrendered in advance by both, and committed to a select body of ar- bitrators, organized with a view to simple justice. We accordingly bestow our warm- est indorsement on the central ideas which the joint committee has sought to embody in its plan. We should be sincerely sorry to see a plan organized on this sound basis miscarry by errors of detail. Even on points of detail we find a great deal to commend in this scheme of the committee. The indispensable board should certainly be made up in great part of mem- The authority to make regulations for counting the electoral votes is clearly vested in Congress by the constitution, and it isa sound general rule that the duties of Congress should be per- formed by itself or by committees of its own members. It would be a great deal better, if it were practicable, for Congress to decide the present difficult questions without calling in extraneous assistance. If there are not five men in each house enpa- ble of rising above mere partisan views in a grave national emergency the chances of | a satisfectory settlement are slender in- deed, But really it only needs that éne man of the ten should cast off party shackles to insure a decision, since one independent member would be able to turn the scale in the board. We should have considerable confidence in small board, made up en- tirely of members of the two houses, but we admit the advantage in dignity avd moral influence of a sociating some of the Supreme Court judges, But this advantage wouid depend entirely on the moral support they would give to such members of the board as might subordinate party to justice. But this moral support would amount to nothing unless the independent Congressmen were unanimously supported by the judges, large a number as five would be likely to disogree, but if the Chief Justice alone were taken his support would be as good as that ot, the whole Bench, and the wenkening effect of judicial dissensions would be weather in New York today will be cold and avoided, The only real necessity for intro- So | ducing a judge or judges is to prevent a tie, and the Chief Justice would as effectually prevent a tie asa larger number. The re- ported plan assumes that the judges would not be unanimous by requiring one to be withdrawn by lot on the idea that six might divide by a party line. It would be a public scandal to thus exhibit the Supreme Court judges aos partisans, dissenting from one another on a political question. There may be nothing very solid in the objection to drop- ping one of the judges by lot, but we cannot safely ignore its effect on the public mind. Nothing is more certain than that it would make the whole scheme a butt of derision to heated partisans and cause its utter defeat. It would bo a national calamity if the plan of the joint committee should miscarry, and they ought not to expose it to defeat by in- sisting on a point so extraneous to its real merits and 80 fitted to prejudice the public mind, All the substantial advantages of this proposition can be saved if they do not expose it tothe certain clamor and odium which will be excited by introducing the lottery element into a question which ought to be decided by justice and not committed to chance, Prog: in Mexico, Another stage has been reached in the dramatic evolution of a Mexican President. Iglesias only the other day had an army and a noble ambition. Now he has no army, seems to be inspired with penceful fancies and wants to ‘retire to private life.” It is to be apprehended the privacy may prove deeper than he desires. One of the generals who supported Lerdo, and who held out on a point of honor to redeem his promise, surrendered finally, started for home, but was stopped on the way and shot. It is well to regard your honor, but not in Mexico, or at least not when it is incon- venient toa man who is dominant by the simple law of force. With the failure of the bubble inflated by Iglesias there is no pretender who has even the shadow of ao legal claim to the Executive office in the Mexican Republic; and thus Diaz is the supreme man, the dictator, Cmsar, tyrant or society saver, ns any one may choose to call the men who fill, in the history of dilapidated republics, the part that has now fallen to him. He is evidently the man to make a vigorous ruler, if nota wise one; and vigor in the ruleris what that country needs. He may make life safe, ex- cept from his own vengeances, and guarantee property, except against seizure by his own agents, and this will bea great improve- ment. If Dinz is not assassinated too soon he will perhaps organize a government that will keep the extravagant elements of Mex- ican society in tolerable order—as good a government, may be, as would have been organized by poor Carlotta’s husband; but the fatal bullet or dagger will probably an- ticipate his efforts. The State Prison Report. From the perusal of the report of the committee appointed to investigate the State prisons the average reader will prob- ably derive the impression that if the prison officials generally and the eonvicts were to change pInces no great injustice would be done to anybody, while there would prob- ably be an immediate improvement in the efficiency of prison administration. Cor- ruption, it was anticipated, would be found in every department of our State prisons, and innumerable abuses of every description, but no one imagined that the chronicle would make a record so absolutely disgrace- ful to the State as it does. That there was little or no discipline, that there were oc- casional cruel punishments applied in a revengeful spirit, and that all the money transactions were as loose as possible, was what every one was prepared to expect; but to find the deficiencies such that the prisons are no prisons at all fora favored number and are veritable Spanish inquisitions for all the rest is a painful dis- covery, and one that goes beyond the mere reflection on the prison and in- volves the impeachment of the whole po- litical system, which is so thoroughly based upon partisanship that honest administra- tion anywhere becomes impossible. There is but one reassuring thought in this con- nection, which is that the system of the administration by elected inspectors is doomed, and is replaced under the amended constitution by a superintendent of prisons, who wiJl be appointed as soon as the Leg- islature has acted on the constitutional pro- vision. This change, it is to be hoped, will be eminently beneficial. The Law's Defects, “Two peculiar cases reported at length in our columns to-day show inan amusing man- ner how the law occasionally fails to do all that in equity it should. One is the case of Hon. J. Milton Turner, a wise and estimable gentleman and ao lawyer besides, whose peculiarity of complexion is one which is the foundation of the Civil Rights bill. Mr, Turner was refused entertainment at the Astor House on the ground, as he avers, that he was of African descent, and a bevy of legal wiseacres consumed the wee sma’ hours of Monday night and Tuesday morning only to demonstrate to Mr. ‘lurner that he had no case, for the reason that the Astor House contained no empty beds on the night on which the alleged wrong was committed, The other case will delight people who have grudges against lawyers, but it nevertheless tails to show why there-shonld be no legal redress for the counsellor who is being tor- mented in this particular instance, It | seoms that a lady, considering herself ag- grieved by the counsel who opposed her in- terests in a libel suit, is avenging herself by sending an immense quantity of epistles to the wretched lawyer, and adding discom- fort to injury by pertuming her missives with mask, There is a grain of comfort in the luwyer’s agony, for the letter writer, like a true lady, encloses stamps for replies; besides, the letters can be sold by the potind for a consoling sum, even if no shrewd person pays an extra price for them that he may place them near door to appall tramps and _ beggars by the odor of .the musk which lingers about them, Fortunately for the afflicted mortal, his perseentor has just brought suit against him for five thousand dollars dam- ages, and it is but reasonable to suppose his that when in the. hands of her own counsel, | cided amelioration. cher time for letter writing will be limited ; but the lawyer's case is nevertheless a very hard one and one for which the law pro- vides no relief. f The Louisiana DiMeulty. The uniform course of the Hznanp in supporting the just rights of the people of Louisiana gives it some title to their con- fidence. We made a vigorous opposition to the dispersion of the Lonis- iana Legislature by federal bayonets in 1875, and did what we could to raise and swell the cry of popular indignation and send it far and wide over the country. We have not been inattentive to the rascalities of the infamous Returning Board, and our correspondents at New Orleans have contributed more than all other sources together to diffuse correct information respecting the injustice and oppression of which that suffering State has been the victim. In the recent complication our Louisiana despatches have set forth the uncolored truth without fear or favor. When President Grant declared his inten- tion to stand neutral between Packard and Nicholls we gave him a strong support and cherished a hope that‘he meant all he said. We deplore the fact that he has forfeited his word, belied his promises and thrown the influence of his great position on the side of Packard, when strict neutrality seemed to be his manifest duty. The people of Louis- iana cannot doubt that we are their sincere friends, and they must pardon us if we use the privilege of friendship to give them good advice. They will make a fatal mistake if the’ re- cent provocations hurry them into acts of violence. It is but a brief period which in- tervenes between this date and the 14th of February, and whoever may then be de- clared elected as President we are cofident that their local troubles will come to a speedy end. Even if Mmm Hayes should be the next President they may expect a de- Hayes will not be bound by the bad precedents set by Grant. He will be only too glad to escape such a thorn in his side as the Southern difficulties have been to Grant, and he has sense enough and liberality enough to see that he can escape constant hot water only by leaving local affairs to local control. But if, as the people of Louisiana naturally hope, Mr. Tilden should be the next President they will have a com- plete guarantee against any further inter- meddling by the federal government. If they wish to favor Mr. Tilden’s chances they must resolutely keep the peace, A popular émeute by his friends in that State would so inflame partisan feeling in the North that the republicans in Congress would be emboldened to count in Hayes at all hazards, and he would be prevented from adopting the lenient policy to which he would otherwise be prompted by his own impulses and his desire for a quiet adminis- tration. If there should be a_ re- bellion in Louisiana he would be forced into a position which he would gladly avoid, and having entered on a course of hostility a sense of consistency would be likely to bind him as it has bound his predecessor. In every view it would be a fatal blunder for the people of Louisiana to resort to violence in this trying conjunc- ture. They have only to maintain order for a few short weeks to insure them exemp- tion from further federal persecution. If Tilden is declared elected their State will be promptly redeemed. The Southern policy of Hayes will not be substantially different from that of Tilden if he does not find a Southern rebellion on his hands when he is inducted into office. We therefore entrtat the people of Louisiana, in their own inter- est, to keep the peace for one brief month.. A New Board of Health Wanted. The principal result of the suggestions made on Monday to the Aldermanic Com- mittee on Railroads is a settled conviction that the members of the existing Board of Health should be ousted at once and their places be filled by officials of the street rail- road companies. The astute railroad presi- dent who discovered that the proposition to heat the cars was the result of a conspiracy among physicians to kill off Now Yorkers should be elevated, by the unanimous vote of a grateful people, to the presidency of the new Board. Even this would not be sufficient reward; the additional office of treasurer should be conferred on the same gentleman for finding out, all by himself, that clean straw possesses a suf- ficiency of heating properties. The director who advanced the original theory that foul air would be generated by a slight modifica- tion of the hyperborean atmosphere of the average street car should be made chairman of the Committee on Warming and Ventila- tion in the new Board. All the sanitary in- formation ever promulgated by the present Board of Health is mere text-book clippings compared with the startling assertion that warm air ina street car will produce pneu- monia and contagious diseases. Even this revelation is as nothing when compared with that conveyed by the statement that every one who wants to avoid freezing inn car is an imbecile; for, as fully half a million people are possessed of the iden referred to, the man who reveals this unexpected and dreadful prevalence of lunacy is a public benefactor of unheard of degree, Pand justifies the placing of oll the mad houses of the country under the care of the proposed new Board and its wonderful president, Let it not be said of New York as it was of Genoa, Florence and Nazareth, that a great man is without honor in his own country. Our citizens should arise in their might, depose our present Bonrd of Health, construct a new one exclusively of railroad officials, and then cheerfully freeze to death in filthy, breezy cars from motives of local patriotism, consoled by the proud consciousness of having appropriately recog- nized and rewarded the sanitary sages whose existence in our midst has been heretofore unsuspected. Important to Sluggards, If there is any one fact in our city life as to which the voice of the sluggard might be raised in legitimate complaint it is the ter- rible steam whistle of the early factory in the neighborhood. Sleepy mortality—and a large part of city mortality is sleepy at six A. M.—has a deep and abiding horror of this vile instrument. In Europe they call it “the American devil;” but we are sure the name does injustice to any devil we ever had in this country. All who love the gentle indulgence of ‘‘n little more folding of the hands to sleep,” anywhere between drowsy five and lazy eight on a frosty morning, will rejoice over the decision of Judge Sanford, reported to- day, which puts a legal stopper in at least one whistle. Suit was brought tor damages by the proprietor of a dwelling house whose tenants were annoyed by a marble yard, and the damages are refused on the simple ground that if people put » house next to a factory that is only constructively a nuis- ance they must take the consequence; but the human sympathy of the Judge shone resplendently in his opinion that the steam whistle must be suppressed. Determining the Velocity and Lee- way of Ships. The determination of a ship’s move- ment at a time when regular observa- tions are impossible is one of the most difficult but important duties of the navi- ‘gator. Long experience may give a captain a very fair knowledge of the forces of oceanic currents, but usually it is o mere matter of good luck if his vessel es- capes disaster from these causes, This danger arises more frequently during fogs and at night than during clear weather and daylight, because in either of these latter cases the land becomes visible soon enough to admit of a correction of the ship's course, Dr. Schallern, of this city, has in- vented an apparatus which he claims will measure with accuracy the progressive mo- tion of a ship and the lateral motion tech- nically known as ‘‘leeway.” Dr. Schallern’s invention consists in the application of a tube fitted to the keel of the ship and open at the bow end. ‘The tube is led into the body of the vessel, where it is attached to an elastic cylinder fitted with a9 mova- ble top, formed by a brass plate. The press- ure of the water in the tube when the ship is in progressive motion raises this brass plate and with it a brass rod to which itis attached. The rod passes into the captain’s cabin, where it operates an instrument that indicates the water pressure in the pipe, and, consequently, the velocity of the ship’s direct motion. Another instrument, similarly operated by the water pressure in tubes attached to the vessel’s sides, registers her lateral motion or leeway. Inorder to protect the open ends of the tubes from being closed by any matter suspended in the water the orifices are covered by a wire meshing, which acts asastrainer on the water. It is here that we perceive a grave defect in the apparatus, There is nothing to prevent the meshes from being covered with barnacles or sen grass growing on the ship's sides ond keel. Even if the tube ends project some distance from the vessel this difficulty would not be obviated. Again, if the meshes are not sufficiently open to admit a moderately free flow of the water as the ship rises and falls in a heavy sea, the indications of pressure must be ex- tremely inaccurate. If any minute marine animals, infusoria or particles of sand enter the tube they will in time reduce its diame- ter, choke it altogether at the bends, or considerably increase the friction of the water on the inner surface of the tube. Another objection must be the impossibility of reaching the tube to clean it. The variations of temperature of the water may create inaccuracies in the records of pressure, but the chief difficulties are those that would be caused by the fouling of the tube from various causes. Any apparatus for determining the direct motion and lee- way of aship must be movable and capable of being easily and quickly applied. That invented:by Dr. Schallern does not strike us as being applicable for its purpose, although the leading idea in the general conception is a sound one. TELEGRAPHIC NEWS From All Parts of the World. THE PORTE AND THE CONFERENCE Europe Waiting for the Keply to the Modified Proposals. THE SULTAN DISPOSED TO ACCEPT The French Legation at Washington—A New Minister Appointed. [DY CABLE TO THE HERALD.) Loxpox, Jan, 17, 1877, There is nothing of Importance from the East this morning, We are still waiting for the answer of the Porte to the moditied conditions of the Powers, and the Porte is apparently in no hurry to reply. THE SULTAN DISPOSED TO ACCEPT, A special despatch from Pera dated Monday saya that the Marquis of Salisbury has bad an interview of two heurs’ duration with tho Sultan, The Sultan is disposed to uccept all the conditions of the amonded scheme submitted to the Conforenco, THK REPLY NOT DECISIVR, The Marquis of Salisbury at a private audience of the Sultan on Sunday ts undorstood to have strongly ed upon his acceptance of the modified pro- posals, The Sultan, while maintaining his previous objections on the ground that the Turkish constitution did not allow him to yield to the demands of the Powers, did not give a decisive reply. . THE BURDEN ON MIDHAT PASITA, Acorrespondent remarks that a settlement may not necessarily result becuuse of the Sultan’s good inten- tions, The burden of the situation stil rests on Midbat Pasha. SALISBURY AND THE SULTAN. A spoctal despatch from Constantinople says™hat the Marquis of Salisbury, at his interview with the ‘Sultan on Sunday, in or jo disabuse His Majesty's mind of any idea formed from the re- ports which had been ,purposely circulated in Constantinople, to the eflect that he (Salisbury) was at variance with his col- leagues in the British Cabinet, read a telegram from the Earl of Beaconsfield, which declares that Lord Salisbury has the entire approval and support of the government, and that Turkey, if sho rejects the pro- posals of the Powers, has nothing to expect from England. The Sultan was much impressed by Lord Salisbury’s remarks, but merely said the question mast be decide:l by the Porte. PREPARING TO LEAVE. A despatch from Constantinople states that several plenipotentiaries have requested audience with the Sultan for the purpose of taking leave, THE TURKISH GRAXD COUNCIL, The Grand Council of Turkey to decide on the Porte’s reply to the last proposals of the Powers will meet to-day or Thuraday. MIDHAT PACHA STILL UXYIRLDING, Acorrespondent of the Lesther Lloyds bad an intere view with Midhat Pacha on Monday and reports that the Grand Vizier then declared in tho most positive mannor that he would never accept an international commission or foreign control over the appointment of governors ander any form whatevor. RUSSIANS IN SERVIA, A despatch from Belgrado says partisans of Russi declaro the Russian volunteers wero removed from Servia on account of insubordination, and will be re- placed by regular troops {rom Russia in the event of a war, TURKRY AND SERVIA. It fs stated that the Porte has sent a telegrapbic dee spatcn advising Servia to make peace immediately, as no extension of the armistice beyond the Ist of March will be granted; and if peace is not then concluded the Turks will march on Belgrade, It this is true it will probably lead Servia to decide in favor of peace unless Russia gives her positive assurance of powerful sup- POF oie FREXCH MIXISTHR TO WASHIXGTOS, A telegram from Paris announces that M. Max Oonte rey has been appointed Minister of France to the United States in place of M. Bartholdi, who, it is said, will return to Paris to fill an important position in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. THE LEADERSHIP OF THE LEPT CEXTRE. M. de Marcére, late Minister of the [oterior, has been chosen President of the group of the Loft Centre. A GERMAN PRINCESS DYING, The Princess Mario, sister of the Empress, and wife of Prince Uharies of Prussia, is dying. PARTING IN THR GERMAN PARLIAMENT. Official returns sbow that sixty-three conservatives have been elected to the Reichstag, The couservatives ' PERSONAL INTELLIGENCE. Ben Hill bas biue-gray eyes. Mrs, James Brooks 1s in Spain, Hiester Clymef is patronizing in bis manner, Black dresses may be trimmed with black hops, Theodore Thomas had a good audience at Syracuse, Mrs. Gencral Marcy wears silk of mauve and café au Jatt. ” : ‘Thurlow Weed !s said to own an orango grove in Florida. Josh Billings wants to know who ever heard a rich man sing. A Massachusetts man dug up a coffin to see if it was real rosewood, Olrick, the Esquimaux chief, has dined with the Princo of Wates. Of Mrs, Crowoli’s “Vials of Wrath’? 70,000 copies have been sold. Many ladies of fashion in Paris powder their stock ings with gold dust. St. Paul Despatch: —'‘Let us have a fair count if wo have to guess at it.” De, Henry Pigeon, of England, uses sulpbar exter- nally and internally for scarlet fever. Mr. Lawrence G. Goulding 1s making a worthy and handsome paper of School and Home, The Itahan philosophers on Broadway, emulating Dr, Schliemann, have dug down to a solid block pave- ment. Bishop Keener advises peoplo of tho South who hanker atter Texas to stay at home and raise North Carolina pond. From some of the positions that fat men now take inthe icy streets one would think they bad never learned to swim. Representative Elijah J. Ward, ot New York, ap- peared in his seat in tho House of Representatives yesterday for the first time this session, having been detained by rearon of seve: e ilinexs, Sir Astley Cvoper’s remedy for ehilblains was a Imiment mace by mixing one ounce of camphorated apirits with half an ounce ot the liquor of subacctate ot lead, Apply three or four times a day, ‘The Niagura Falls Gazette says:—‘There is a pretty good-sized Ice mountain below the American Fall, The | new observatory is nearly hidaen from sight. On the Canada side a large segment of the Horseshoe Fait is dammed by tho ive, presenting a very singular appear- ance,” Yotng Mr. ana Mra, White, of Oakland, Cal, were enthusiastic Christians. hey tried to convert young Mr. Carr, So Mra, White went out driving with him, Subsequently the Whites were divorced on account ot the husband’s cruelty, The Court satd that husbands should not pormit gentienfen to visit their wives and then i treat the wives, But it said, also, that mar- ried ladies ought to protect themselves against flirting. Mr. Care is etill unconverted, Evening Telegram:—‘Sweot reminiscences of Com- modore Vanderbilt are multiplyiwg, The last reiates tu his inordinate fondness tor sugar. Tho Tribune suys that be always took twelve lumps in his cup of black tea inthe morning and six lumps in his daily glass of gin while out driving, Almostall great men have veon fund of sweets, The first Napoleon wi great consumer of tonbons. A little more sweotenti im tho management ot the Fourth Avenue beer- ~*} road would be a ood thing,” will consequently be able to elect the First Vice President, who has hitherto been chosen by tne progressiste, Tho members elected aro classified with regard to their attitudo toward the Empire as fol- lows:—Supporters of the Empire, 194; opposers of the Empire, 133, HONORS TO AN AMERICAN, The French Academy of Medicine has awarded to Dr. Squire, of Elmira, New York, the Prize of En- couragement, RCE AND AMERICA. A telegram from Athens says that J. Merodith Read, the American Minister, bad an audicnco with the King yesterday. THE RUSSIAN OFFICERS, ALEXIS AND CONSTANTINE-— PREPARING TO VISTP THE CAPITAL—A QUIET STROLL THROUGH NORFOLK —ANXIOUS TO AVOID NOTORIETY, (BY TELEGRAPH TO THE HERALD.) Noxrok, Va., Jan, 16, 1877, The Russian Ambassador, Baron Shishkin, left for Washington by rail this morning, where he will make hotel arrangements for the reception of the Grand Dukes Alexis and Constantine and their suites for brief stay at thocapital. It is understood that these noblemen propose travelling through the country while the fleet is wintering here, Admiral Crown, of tho Imperial Navy, left in the Boston ‘steamer Law. rence to-night fur Baltimore, en roule to New York, o8 business in connection with the contemplated tour of Alexis and bia cousin, and will return in ten days Both of the royal gentlemen wero ashore this morning in citizens’ dress and enjoyed a long walk through the interesting streets of “ye ancient borough;” but, not being recognized, had aquict stroll. It ts understood that they desire to avold ostentatious attentions, and, therefore, keep shady. Altér shooting a few American cocktails at the Atlantic Hall bar thoy returned aboara ship oa privately as they came ashore, GRAND DUKE ALEXIS STILL ON BOARD THE FLAGSHIP AT NORFOLK, [BY TELEGRAPH TO THE HERALD.) Waemsatos, Jon, 16, 1877, The Grand Duko Alexis ts still on board the flu; hip at Norfolk, 1t1s likely that ho will awatt the arrival of the rest of the Russian fleet before coming on to Washington. ‘The Kussian Minister, who went to Fortross Monroe from here to mect the Grand Duke, is expected back at the Legation ata late hour to-night alono. [nthe meantime the apartineots at tho Arlington, which have een enguged for Alexis and tho officers of tho flect, are kept in feadiness. A cablo despatch from st, Petersburg for Alexis was received at the hotel and sent tohim yesterday afternoon, THE WHISKKY CONVICTS, (bY TELEGRAPH TO THE HERALD. 1 St. Louis, Jan. 16, 187%, There is nothing positive as to the tmmediate pardon of Colonel Joyce or Genera! Mebonald, the Whiskey Ring convicts, but it uppeurs to ve generat! stool that they will be reloased withinwiwe ween Mrs, Joyce and a number ot friends of Colonel Joy and alrosomo of Goneral M: Tesoro Gelne Chy tonnerron de enored 0 wi ui | = lo of Colonel Joyce brings hor usband’s pardom ‘a