The New York Herald Newspaper, October 1, 1877, Page 6

NEW YORK HERALD| ——--—-- BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. seenaneennae JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR, ublished soery day in the yeur. (hundays excludediy ‘Ten dollars pei one dollar per mouth for any oa lod tos ps aed for six montha, day THE DAILY HERALD, ‘cents per cop: Sditton Inctoded WEEKLY WER LD One POne dollar per year, tree of post- ‘NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS,—In order to insure xtten- tion subscribers wishing their address changed must give thelr old as well as their new address. All business, news letters or telegraphic despatches must New You Henan. 1d packages should be properly sealed. communications will uot bo returned. ————— 12 SOUTH SIXTH ILADELPHIa ~OFFICE—N 0. kag ANS 7 STRATA PACE, and advertisements will be received and AMUSEMENTS TO-NIGHT ot Ese PARK THATRE—Cavsuxp Tracevian, EAGLE THEATRE—Micnty Dottan. WALLACK’S THEATRE—Manaiace. pusTRY AND Mxcuaxics, Mansouatse, x Damexs, BOWERY THEATRE NIBLO’S GARDEN ~ BRYANT'S OPERA HOUS) TIVOLI THE ATRE—V aii THEATRE COMIQUE—V NEW YORK AQUARIU BAN FRANCISCO MINS! EGYPTIAN HALL—Vanie force «TO 6Abpvrrtisers.—To insure the proper classification of udvertisements it is absolutely necessary thal they be handed in before eight o'clock every evening. From our reports this morning the probabilities are that the weather in New York and its vicinily to-day will be warm and partly clowly or cloudy. Ex-Assistant Secrerary of the Treasury Sawyer has been found guilty of conspiracy to defraud the government during his term of office. Sawyer was formerly in the Senate. A LovisviLtx Desratcu says the Hon. Cassius M. Clay, the distinguished abolitionist, has killed a negro in Kentucky. No particulars are given except that Mr. Clay has surrendered him- self to the authorities. Tus Numper or Suwps that left the port Sat- urday was unusually large—larger than in any * single day fora long time. Nearly all of them were bound for European ports and were laden with general cargoes. This is one of the most significant and truest signs of a real business revival, Tum Artists have nearly, all returned trom mountain and valley, forest and seashore, and an idea of the treasures they bring may be ob- tained from our columns this morning. Somo valuable foreign pictures have, it will be seen, been recently added to our galleries. The art outlook is altogether rather encouraging. Mr. ConkLinG must be convinced by this time that he has raised a storm which he will find it difficult to allay. The better class of republicans everywhere approve the President's policy, and there can be no doubt that if, as is suggested, a public meeting shall be called to show that approval it will dwarf any gathering Mr. Conkling’s friends may get up us « counter demonstration. Ort Porter Rockwext, the Danite chief, who has been indicted for participation in the Aiken massacre, is probably the very worst of the living Mormon murderers, and if the jury that will try him can be free from the influence of the Church he wi!l undoubtedly be convicted and punished as he deserves. He was accused of murder nearly forty yeurs ago, and from that day to this he has been always ready to commit any crime, no matter how atrocious. in the in- terest of Young and the Mormon Ring. Tue Sermons yesterday were nearly all on topics which come home to our everyday lite, and with one or two exceptions they each and all suit every branch of the Christian Church, Ser- mons from Presbyterian pulpits might have been preached to the followers of Wesley, and vice versa, without shocking the doctrinal views and tenets of one unother. There is a little lesson in this for angry coutroversialists if they will only sec it. The exceptional sermon referred to was that preached by Dr. Frothingham, who placed his ideas on what he calls the church of the tu- ture in perhaps the strongest possible way. With the return of the cool weather the metro- politan pulpit has recovered its wonted vigor and eloquence. Tue Wearnen.—The area of highest preasure still extends over the Middle Atlantic States, but is now gradually moving eastward in ad- vance of the depression central in the Upper Mississippi Valley. The pressure has risen somewhat at the centre of this disturbance, but the area involved has increased, and a baromet- ric trough extends northeastwardly from Omaha | to the upper lakes, with high winds on its east- | ern margin. In the Gulf the pressure conuoues to fall, and increasing easterly winds prevail on the coust. Cloudiness, with northeasterly winds, is reported on the South Atlantic cowst, where heavy weather bas during the past few days by vessels new arriy- ing in port. The mo’ tof the « the 21st of September, and notice ot the of which we cabled to Le our despatches this me met the storm on the had to heave to for twenty-seven hours. advance of this storm eastward has been unusu- ally slow and its direction to the northeastward. Behind and north of its centre the barometer was high, causing heavy gales from the north and northwest. The Abyssinia struck its west ern margin iv the laticude and longitude men- tioved in our despatch, and her commander pru- Leow The Abyssinia deutly resolved not to attempt to penetrate the | dangerous cireie of the cyclone. ‘These storms are so Variable in exergy that their rate of prog- tess ie nearly always uncertain. Other disturb- ances, even thongh at greatdistances trom them, affect the conditions of the atmosphere which tend to impede or increase their easterly mo ment. In this case the pressure in advance of the storm was unusually high, and, the air being dense, presented a barrier that could not be quickly displaced by a disturbance of less than average energy. ‘The timely warnings of the Henatp give navigators an opportunity of avoiding these storms in mid ocean by indicat- ing their probable tracks and rate of progress. The weather in New York and its vicinity to day will bo partly cloudy: or cloudy aud warm, been experienced | lon, is indicated in | NEW YORK HERALD, MONDAY, OCTOBER 1, 1877. —TRIPLE SHEET. “Turn Her Ahoad.” For awhile the great ship of state stopped in mid course appalled at the noise ot great contention. But now that the big fuss at Rochester is fairly over, the killed laid away, and the wounded put in the doc- tor’s hands, we may, to use a Western pilot's phrase, “turn her ahead” again, A lot of busy men may stop for a moment to look over each other's shoulders at a street fight; but they cannot stay long. More im- portant affairs claim their attention, and they presently leave the affair to ‘the fancy” and the police, and hurry on to busi- ness. Does any sensible man believe that the country is going to drop business and stand gaping for the rest of the Presidential term at the quarrels of the politicians over two questions, one of which is dead and the other concerns no interest except that of the noble bread and butter brigade? We hear exacerbated political fuglemen talking about the President ‘‘Johnsonizing,” as they call it, and predicting that the exciting and demoralizing scenes of the troublous Jobngon administration will be repeated by “an insulted and outraged party.” These gentry imagine, apparently, that they are to keep the country in hot water for the next three years; to destroy confidence, prevent the revival of business, keep open old sores, revive old hatreds and sus- picions between the sections; and all to defend the sacred right of postmas- ters and custom house inspectors to run ward primaries and manage conven- tions, The country would be in a pretty condition if these people had their way. But we believe we can prove to them that they are grossly flattering themselves when they imagine they can thus exalt their petty squabbles into matters of national interest. The ‘Johnson times,” as they are called, were very welcome times to the bread and butter brigade. One had only to cry out ‘‘rebel” in those days to have a big party behind him at once. The war was scarcely over, and not only were very important questions to be settled as to the status of the negro and the control of the Southern States, but the party in power had a large majority in both houses, and the President had an un- fortunate temper and so little tact that he soon fell under the fatal suspicion of having designs inimical to the safety and rights of the blacks. In spite of all the great advantages which the conduct of Mr. Johnson and the circumstances of the time gave to the anti-administration republicans of that day the fact is that they lost ground with the people to such an extent that in 1868 they dared not nominate a civilian, but were forced to take General Grant for their candidate to save themselves from defeat. But ‘‘things are not as they were.” The House is democratic; the Senate is so nearly balanced that the anti-administration re- publicans cannot hope to control it; the Southern question is settled to the great sat- isfaction of the country, and the President is a man whom not his wildest opponent would be silly enough to accuse of careless- ness of the negroes’ rights and safety. Under these conditions, so very different from those of the “Johnson times,” what can the dissatisfied republicans do? They can indulge in invectives, but, unless they can get the Southern democrats to come to their help with a new crop of ‘‘outrages,” they are no better off than if they were tied hand and foot. Congress meets on the 15th of this month. One of the first acts in both houses will probably be the offering of a resolution by the democrats heartily and entirely approving of the President's Southern policy. What are the republicans going to do about it? Those of Massa- chusetts, Minnesota and several other States will vote for it, because their, State conventions have formally approved it. “Lhe anti-administration men may op- pose it, but will they? Can they afford to fly in the face of the country? If they do they will be voted down and will know that their defeat gives delight tothe bulk of their own party. They may debate and fight it off, but unless the democratic reso- lution is drawn offensively or with uncom- mon democratic clumsiness, it will have the support of a number of republican mensbers and Senators large enough to bury with due formality this deceased Southern question ; and when that is thus permanontly put aside, with the general and tree consent of the country, Congress will undoubtedly turn its attention with little delay‘to that other which so exasperates the bread and butter brigade—the question of civil service reform. | ‘Tlwre ‘are so many ways to reform the civil service ; the doctors who promise a “sure cure or no pay” are so numerous, thst no sensible person expects Congress to adopt any general scheme for this end. | Whatever the opponents of reform might do its friends would be sure to defeat it through inability to agree among themselves. Nor do we think this a calamity. We have never thought that Cougressional enactments could pro- vide a panacea for the evils which undoubt- edly exist. What is wanted in this case, as in so many others, is not a new law, but the repeal of old and bad laws. are inelined to believe, the new Congress will consent to. Two laws only need be | repealed to enable the President to make bof Septeraber, and | ‘The | the civil service as good as he pleases ; these are the Tenure of Office act and the | law under which almost all appointments | have the consent of the Senate. ran for limited terms. ‘The principal change needed for reform- ing the civil service is to abolish the system | of so called “Congressional patronage,” the interference ot Senators and Representatives inthe appointments. The Tenure of Office act, passed in the time of Andrew Johnson, is the bulwark of this Congressional inter- ference and was intended so to be. It limits the President's power to remove subordinate officers, requiring that he shall Under this law, for instance, the President cannot re- move Mr, Cornell, unless the Senate agrees, until at least Mr. Cornell's term of office expires. ‘The effect of this law has been to cripple the hand of the President and to force him to yield to the Senatorial de- mands for patronage. General Grant only once showed his teeth to Congress, and that was soon after he came into office, when he And this, we | Th abet the repeal of this law, the evil effects of which he plainly saw. But the republi cans were then overwhelmingly strong both houses, and they peremptorily refused this first request of their newly elected chief. Now, the demo- crats have always been opposed to this law ; they have no interest in keeping it on the statute book, and if the House repeals it there is no reasonable doubt that enough republicans will be found in the Senate to join the democrats there in confirming the action of the House. If this is done an almost fatal blow will be struck at the mis- chievous interference of Congressmen in the appointments, and if the two houses should agree to repeal also all laws limiting the term of appointed officials Congress would then, in our belief, have done all that is required to enable the chief execu- tive to make the civil service honest and effective and to keep its hands off politics. We should be glad to see the President recommend to Congress the repeal of the Tenure of Office act; in doing this he would only be following in the footsteps of General Grant. But it will be said that in what precedes we have taken for granted that a republican President is to have his measures approved by democrats. We reply that the President of the United States is the chief executive of the whole nation and not of a party. He is chosen upon a certain platform, and wo freely admit that he is in honor bound to remain faithful to the policy thus an- nounced. But President Hayes is un- doubtedly faithful to the Cincinnati plat- form. If o part of his party repudiates its own policy that does not lessen his obliga- tion ; those who oppose him are the unfaith- ful. But in the cases we have spoken of Congress is likely to act without his recom- mendations or interference, and he is not responsible for its action, A Presi- dent who finds himself in opposition to the majority in Congress, as Andrew Johnson was, is certainly in an uncomforta- ble position, even if he is in the right. But the whole drift of what we have said above is to show that Mr. Hayes will not be in that position, On the contrary, the first act of the new Congress is likely to be a formal approval of one of the leading parts of his policy. That cannot make him un- comfortable. The second is likely to be the repeal of bad laws crippling his just inde- pendence. That is not hostile to him. And if he recommends wise measures, nominates honest and capable men, and avoids setting his will for personal ambition or purposes against that of wise men in Congress, we do not see whence he has trouble to fear or why his administration should not be suc- cessful and useful tothe country, no mat- ter what the anti-administration republi- cans may do. The Democratic State Convention. This body is to organize in Albany day after to-morrow. Like its republican rival, which did such wonders at Rochester, it will contain elements of discord, though not of so explosive a character. The causes of intestine quarrel in the two parties differ as fresh nitro-glycerine differs from stale gunpowder. The Democratic State Con- vention has no administration of its own party at Washington to mutiny against; it has no personal feud to be ventilated be- tween two such orators as Mr. Conkling and Mr. Curtis; it has no such large bodies of interested spectators and keen sympathizers outside the State as watched the two belligerent factions at Rochester. The democratic dirty linen, thongh washed in public, will be soused into an ordinary tub, and not held under cataracts of brilliant, dashing eloquence, whose sunlit spray and rainbow hues gave a sort of picturesque dig- nity to the dirty process at Rochester. The democratic discord is simply a question be- tween the old and a new ticket, the old hay- ing no very extraordinary claims to respect and the new not being yet agreed upon by its advocates. We suppose there is no danger that so petty o quarrel can disrupt the party. Mr. Bigelow and Mr. Fairchild have no large and devoted body of demo- cratic followers who wili attempt to avenge their defeat if the Convention rejects them, and after splashing dirty water in the Con- vention its members will go home and work zealously for whatever ticket hap- pens to be nominated. It is even pos- sible that the quarrel may be hushed up before the Convention meets, Ex-Governor Seymour is already on the ground as a pacificator, and he always commands so much deference from democrats that he ought to be able to still this tempest ina teapot. At any rate a quarrel over Mr. Fairchild isa very small matter indeed in comparison with a quarrel over ‘the policy of President Hayes and the leadership of Senator Conkling. There will be nothing at Albany to call forth brilliant displays of invective eloquence, even if there were to be present on the floor of the Convention such brilliant practitioners of the art as ful- minated and corruscated at Rochester, Albany will seem tame enongh after such a surprising display. ‘Snap Judgments, Persons who act upon the principle that “the flighty purpose never is o’ertook un- less the deed go with it” are often accused of judging rashly and without proper con- sideration, but this charge is often un- deserved. The value of a decision does not depend upon the rapidity with which it is made, but upon the correctness of the in- formation upon which itis based. Slowness in forming an opinion is as often an evi- dence of ignorance as of profundity, our friend Jack Bunsby being a notable example of the fact. Asa rule men who impress the world decide quickly when suddenly called upon to act, and this promptitude is in nine cases out of ten one of the principal elements of success. This is especially the case when a prompt judgment is founded on a solid ex- perience. Ifthe late M. Le Verrier had been informed that a planet had been seen between the orbits of Neptune and Saturn he would have instantly declared it impossible, but no one would have presumed to have called this a snap judgment. Ifa physician finds a man apparently in the arms of death and prescribes a remedy without hesitating a minute he does not render a snap judg- ment in the case. The experienced politi- cal writer who is unexpectedly re- ania to deliver his Seeue upon a measure or a man does not speak as an empiric, Readiness and rashness are distinct qualities, and those who confound them should learn a lesson from the story of the artist who charged an immense price for a picture he had completed in o day. “What!” exclaimed the astonished pur- chaser, ‘you ask a thousand dollars for a work you painted in a day?” “Yes,” replied the artist, ‘but you must remember it took me thirty years to learn to paint it in a day.” General Grant on the Alabama Claims. Our Glasgow correspondent presents this eminent citizen in two characters, either of which would have seemed odd at the time he sailed from his native land. The first half hour of each morning he spends in prayer, and he delivered at the Glasgow dinner a long speech—the longest and best he ever made. It is the nature of this self- contained man to hide his light under a bushel until some necessity arises for un- covering it. Nobody suspected that the modest Galena tanner carried under his felt hat the best military head in America; nobody dreamed that the victorious general who had kept himself aloof from politics with more than West Point reserve would rise at once to easy mastery of the states- men in his Cabinet and of the veteran party leaders in Congress; least of ail did any- body suppose that this stern soldier was as gifted in prayer as Stonewall Jackson or Oliver Cromwell, or that aman who, during the eight years of his Presidency, was as taciturn as William the Silent, would, at this lute day, develop a faculty for making apt speeches on festive or complimentary occa- sions of which the most practised after-din- ner orator need not be ashamed. His morn- ing prayers in Scotland aro a fresh surprise, but he has been making admirable speeches of response ever since his arrival in Eng- land. We are sorry that the reporters at the Glasgow dinner were not permitted to take notes and give General Grant's longest and best speech verbatim. Our correspond- ent sketches its outlines, and even this brief summary proves that it was happily pertinent and full of matter. It was not a prepared speech, for the greater part.of it was in immediate reply to remarks of Mr. Anderson, member of Parliament from Glas- gow, in which it was said that the United States got the better of Great Britain in the Alabama claims negotiation and the hope wus expressed that this country would re- turn the surplus eight millions of the Geneva award which have not been dis- tributed. General Grant in reply explained the negotiations, showed that his govern- ment had neither sought nor obtained any unfair advantage, and set torth the reasons why Congress had not yet distributed the whole award. Congress had thought it just to pay the absolute losses before admitting the claims of insur- ance companies which were partially com- pensated by premiums. There was not money enough to pay for all the American property destroyed, and justice required that the claims of uninsured owners should first be met. General Grant expressed the opinion that the’ residue of the award will be equitably distributed among those whose claims were postponed until cases of greater hardship were fully compensated. For every American ship destroyed the United States were entitled to damages, The fact that a ship was insured by an American company could not relieve Great Britain from her liability for the property destroyed. The American ownership was incontestable; the loss was aloss of American property; who were the particular American owners entitled to the indemnity is a purely Ameri- can question with which England has noth- ing todo. It was just for her to pay, be- cause the property belonged to Americans; to what particular Americans it belonged is no concern of hers. Don't Rob Yourself. We find the following touching “incident of real life” related in a Philadelphia jour- nal:—‘“‘General Simon Cameron, speaking the other day ata meeting in the old church at Donegal, said that he and his brother William intended to erect a home for super- annuated clergymen and endow it with ten thousand dollars. Lhe death of his brother frustrated the plan. But, notwith- standing this, he said he would cheerfully subscribe for that purpose tive thousand dol- lars if a like amount was subscribed by the friends of the church.” This reminds us of another Pennsylvania gentleman, who ona certain occasion found himself in a stage coach with three young ladies, and presently produced an orange from his pocket, peeled it and carefully di- viding it into four pieces offered one to each of the ladies. ‘I’m afraid you're rob- bing yourself, Mr. Jones,” said one of them, more considerate than the others. ‘Not at all,” he promptly replied, ‘‘not at all; I’ve got half a dozen more in my pocket.” The Battle of Karahassan. When Mehemet Ali assumed the chief command of the Turkish army he found it thrust back on the line extending from Ras- grad to Osman Bazar by what really proved to be an inferior force forming the left wing of the Russian army. The outposts of the Czarewitch’s army were quartered in the villages in the valley of the Middle Lom, within eight miles of Rasgrad, and even threatened , Shumla itself by occupying positions which menaced the communica- tions between the Turkish right and centre, One of the first movements, therefore, that the new Ottoman commander undertook was to sweep away from his front these advanced groups of Russian troops. This he accom- plished without much difficulty or loss, and having established his lines by defeating the Russians near Eski Djuma, he prepared to take the offensive and drive his enemy out of the valley of the Middle Lom. By a strange oversight the Russians failed to oc- cupy and fortify commanding positions on the right bank of the river, and held only certain villages that were dominated by the towering heights that over- looked the valley and the Russian lines. The result was that Mehemet Ali by a rapid advance seized these positions and soon converted them into impregnable strongholds, mained in Russian hands, and the battle described by our correspondent was fought for the possession of that village, which was justly regarded as the key of the Russian Position. The graphic story of our corre- spondent, who witnessed the battle from the heights overlooking the field, is printed elsowhere this morning. The whole action and its results show that the Russians were surprised, and lost the battle and much val- uable ground by what we must term the gross neglect of their leaders. It matters little whether an army fights bravely or not if it loses a battle. he consequences of defeat are likely to prove more disastrous when the losses of the defeated are swelled by the unavailing gallantry of their troops. The Russian position was untenable with the weak forces arrayed to hold it. Had the troops that arrived too late been placed in proper positions before the battle commenced Mehemet Ali’s advance might have proved a terrible failure. As it was the Russians yielded without a serious struggle the elevated ground on which the Turks planted batteries that during the battle of Karahassan mainly contributed to their success. What the Sioux Chiefs Request. The conditions upon which the Sioux chiefs now in Washington are willing to abandon all claims to the Black Hills are clearly stated in the conversation they had with our correspondent, which we print to- day. Spotted Tailand his comrades talk sensibly, and hardly one of their demands seems exorbitant. They want to be trans- ferred to good lands upon the White River, and when they are established in their new homes they wish to ‘remain permanently. It is encouraging to find the Indians thus inclined, and when they ask that the land shall be distributed among the heads of families and that each family shall have the same rights to the land that white men enjoy, we think they request no more than the government should be glad to give. They profess a desire to settle down to the cultivation of the land, and the assistance they need in the way of wagons and instruction from a few farmers will be no doubt cheerfully given. They ask for free trade with the whites, and protest against the policy which forces them to buy. their goods of post traders only, who, having a monop- oly of the Indian market, are able to plunder their customers. Still another reform they wish is the right of transferring their supplies from the posts to their homes in their own wagons, and they argue intelligently that it is an extortion to compel them to pay the traders high prices for work they are able to perform themselves. To us it appears that these proposals of the Sioux chiefs are practical and moderate, and certainly harmonize with the humane and civilizing policy which our government has been always anxious to carry out. When such hostile tribes as the Sioux profess their willingness to give up fighting and to try to learn civ- ilized ways a great peaceful battle has been won, which, if properly used, will almost compensate for even such a failure as Gen- eral Howard's campaign. A Winter Campaign in Bulgaria. Owing to Russian mistakes and Turkish cournge the probability of a winter cam- paign in Bulgaria has become a certainty. ‘The first wave of invasion dashed over the barrier of the Balkans and even threw its spray as far as the Philippopolis railroad; but it soon retreated to Bulgaria, not, how- ever, without leaving sad traces of its ad- vance on the desolated plains of Roumelia. The retirement of the Russians to the Shipka Pass after their brilliant trans-Bal- kan movement was wholly due to the re- verse at Plevna, An unexpected danger threatened their vital line of communica- tions, and this they have since been vainly endeavoring to remove. But the original error in ignoring possibilities even when dealing with the despised Turk is bearing its fruit, and so long as Osman Pacha holds Plevna with a powerful army the Russian area of operations must be lim- ited to the territory between the Osma and the Lom. It is General Todleben’s opinion that the captrre of Plevna will involve a most extensive system of siege operations. The defender of Sebastopol knows what it is to capture earthworks heavily armed and well defended. This means a winter campaign in Bulgaria, unless, indeed, the army of Mehemet Ali is destroyed and the object of holding Plevna ceases to form a part of the Turkish plan of defence. But as it is very improbable that the Turkish Commander- in-Chief will suffer an overwhelming de- feat, such as would destroy him as a factor in the calculation, the Russians must con- tent themselves with holding the ground they now occupy and trust to better luck, and above all to the cold and snows of win- ter, to improve their position. That the Turks can maintain an army largely recruited in semi-tropical terri- tories during the winter is a very serious question for their generals. No one can now doubt that the Turks are prepared to make any sacrifices in the cause of their Empire. Their courage and patience are above praise; but it is not a question of courage and patience. It is one of endur- ance under conditions that cannot fail to tax the physical strength of their soldiers to the utmost. With the mountain passes choked with snow and the plains of Bulgaria swept by icy winds the position of Osman Pacha at Plevna, cut off as he must necessarily be from regular sup- plies, will very soon become a deplorable one, Already, notwithstanding the hopeful accounts from Turkish sources, the fact that there is now a difficulty in getting pro- visions into Plevna suggests that in the depth of winter the task will become an impossible one. On the other hand, the Russians will be at home in the midst of the ice and snow, and can utilize the latter, as in their own country, to establish commu- nications by sledges between the most dis- tant points on their lines. Full supplies of ammunition and all kinds of military stores can be est«blished at the points most suitable as bases of operation for a move- ment in the spring. Railroads can be con- structed along the Jantra Valley as far as Tirnova, and that position can be rendered Messhbanes: however, re-| as impregnable as Plevna. It therefore seems to us that a winter campaign will give the Russians an opportunity of repairing all their errors, while to the Turks it cannot terminate otherwise than disastrously. The success which attended Osman Pacha in one of his recent efforts to reprovision Plevna is somewhat counterbalanced by the failure of a second attempt. The Russians allowed the first convoy to slip through their fingers, but the second was turned back, with some loss by the Roumaniar cavalry, These Roumanians are proving themselves to be good soldiers and are ens ergetically pushing forward their approaches on Plevna, . Misdirected Efforts, The objects of the temperance people, who have lately held a national conference in this city, are’ so commendable that it is te be regretted that their zeal did. not permif them to become the advocates of wholesome and practical measures, Believing that “total abstinence is the only true temper. ance,” they insisted in their declaration of principles on the action of Congress to for. bid the importation of liquors and prohibit their manufacture, and declared that ‘‘the history and results of all past legisla tion in regard to the liquor traffic abund. antly prove that it is impossible satisfac torily to limit or regulate a system so essen- tially mischievous in its tendencies.” On the contrary, the history and results of past legislation prove that attempts at prohibi- tion invariably fail to be effective, and leave the liquor traffic without wholesome re« straint and regulation, while wise and strin- gent license laws hold it in proper check and are the best safeguards against abuse. The unyielding spirit which insists that men’s appetites shall be legislated out of them altogether, aided by the politiciana in tho last Legislature who hoped to profit by the absence of a good license law in New York city, left us in the excise muddle which followed the Court of Appeals de- cision, declaring that no licenses for the sale of liquor to be drunk on the premises could be granted, except under the old law of 1857. The result has been that the Board of Excise has brought ridicule on all law by its glaring evasions of the one they are sup- posed to enforce, that the liquor traffic hag been more free from restraint than it has been for years past in the city, and that the police have knowingly winked at offences they are officially bound to punish, When the Excise Board and police disregard the law on the thinnest pretences it is not likely that the people will ob. serve it, and the consequence is that we have to-day more unlicensed, disgraceful, degraded rumholes in operas tion than we ever had before. A stringent, sound license law fit for a metropolis could be properly enforced in New York, and the liquor dealers would be the foremost to aid the authorities in preventing its vio- lation. Governor Rice, of Massachusetts, himself a temperance man, vetoed the pro« hibitory law passed by the last Legislature of that State on the ground that a good license law was in force and was exerting an excel- lent restraining influence on the liquor traffic, while former attempts at total pro. hibition had signally failed. If the tem- perance conference would give up theories and aid in advancing practicable restrain- ing measures they would do much more than they are now doing to advance and strengthen the temperance cause, PERSONAL INTELLIGENCE, The following Americans rogistered as the Parit office of the Heratp on Sutarday :— B. N. Farren and family, Boston, Splendide Hotel, Dr. J. D, Maynard and family, Washington, Adam A, Kramer, Cincinnat!, Grand Hotel. T. S. Sorrill, New Orloans, Hotel Bade, Parker Mann, Rochester, No. 50 Rue Jacob, Mra, Edgar Williams, Brooklyn, No. 8 Rue Rovigno, Miss Fannie Williams, Brooklyn, No. 8 Rue Rovigno, Mrs, L. B, Reed, Brooklyn, No. 8 Rue Rovigao. P. T. Reed, Brooklyn, No. 8 Rue Rovigno, D, T. Corvin, Charleston, 8. C., Grand Hotel W. W. Kimball and family, Chicago, Splondide Hotel, R. Yomlinson, Charleston, 8. C., Grand Hotel. William Vanderpool, Newark, N. J., Prince Albert Hotel, Mrs, W. Peterkin, Poughkeepsie, Lieutenant Colonel E. Rice, United States Army, Newark, N. J., Hotel Amerante, Colonel H. &. Prout, Nowark, N. J., Hotel Am+ lish experiment some grapevines raised 8 vines raisod under ordinary glass. ‘The farmers of Indiana go for the gophers, After all, chills and fover are no great shhkes, Scrambleoff did not take that last Tarkish fort, Dr. Slado, the Spirituahst, is puzzling Brussels. The Cardiff giant weighs about a thousand stone, Wattorsou has gained fifty pounds in eight years, Professor £. L. Youmans has arrived trom Europe, Imitations of faded oak leaves are used for trime ming. AFrenchman drank thirty-one cups of coffee for a ize, " Chicago bank presidents are knights of the golden fleece. Square cuffs and collars are trimmed with silver buttons. ‘Tuo steam of hot water will restore the smoothness of voivet, Bronzo veivet is used to trim white felt Gainsbor- ough hats, “Pra Diavolo” always draws large houses in San Francisco, Ex-Attornoy General George H. Williams is at the Fifth Avenue, The beaux are opening the fall season with the mighty collar. ‘When a man buys a new bat he seems to be brimfal of enthusiasm. ‘There are a great many doubts and redoubis about the Eastern war, ‘At Malaga one may bay anda halt a day. Wendell Phillips will write a series of papers on orators and oratory. Ketten, who miauls the piano, 18a London favorite, He is favored with cat-valls, Travelling Enghshmen are chronic grumblers, as thoy generally have a right to be, Gambetta, of the pallid face and black eye, is thirty- nine, and his manner 18 Italian, Rifle-greon t# a favorite color for evening wear, It is trim:ned with scarlet poppt Statistics show that shortcake kills off half the the- ological students tn Connecticat. . Tramps aro accused of belonging to the republicas party, We thought they were barn-burners, Councillor A, P. de Carvalho Borges, Brazilian Min« ister at Washington, is at the Brunswick, A Boston journal remarks that the season for green corn Will soon be over, But how we shail remember hotel living fora dollar :—* Let's get up a surprise party for Chiet Joseph,’ suggests tho New York Henatn, Wouldn’t a donation party leave him in « more re- duced condition?” The Paterson Guardian, referring to the fact that one of the villagers has put down a new smooth side. walk, remarks that a man who lives in that neighbor- hood may now take two more glasses of beer belore he woes home at bib