The New York Herald Newspaper, October 22, 1877, Page 3

lauta, & track’’ of both the temperate and torrid 2 TE RICHES OF APRICA, Her Equatorial Platean and Its Three Great Rivers. The Nile, the Zambesi and the Congo. THEIR OBSTRUCTIONS TO NAVIGATION. Only the Nile Can Be Made Navi- gable Into the Interior. THE NEW WORLD OPENED FOR TRADE, Wherein of ant: ast ana deserts idie, Rough quarries, rock¥, aud bills whote heads touch heave It was m hint to speak—such was the process; And of the caunibais shat oach other oat, ‘Aud Authropophagi, and mon whose he: 'o grow beneath their shoulders.— Othello. Tho finding of Dr. Livingstone, after the world had @ivon him up as forever lost in the wilds of Central Africa, marks a new epoch in the history of that reat continent. From that interosting evont the dis- closures brought homo by Stanley of the brave old Missionary'’s explorations and wonderful discoveries Of a vast system of riversand lakes in the heart of the continent, all discharged into a great river, flow- ing northward, which he believed to be the main Stream of the Nile, and from Livingstone’s and Stan- ley’s reports of the rich countries and populous tribes of that extensive Equatorial plateau, Qnd from the revelations made of the horrors of the East African slave trade, extending over a thousand miles into the interior, the Christian Stutes f both hemispheres were thrilled as with tho dis- covery of a new world for missionary labors, and for all the enterprises of modern civilization, and of new markets for trade ot boundless resources. Livingstone’s great interior river and its tributary Jakes and streams, its course and its destination, bo- came at once the commanding topic of discussion mong scientists and geographical societies; and while the abominations of that remorseless and destructive Eu African slave trailic Ampelledsne British government to immediate and effective steps toward its suppression, practical phi- lantnropists entered into organizations for enlarged ‘missionary enterprises and schemes of colonization, From this general awakening, too, merchants and Manufacturers began to consider the expediency of entering into African railway enterprises and of com- Dinations for the opening of the new markets in Africa awaiting the introduction of Christian manu- Tactures of all descriptions, 1n exchange for the valu- ®ble and abounding tropical products of a thousand Pagan nations and tribes. Taking up this branch of the general subject, THE COMMERCIAL RESOURCES OF AFRICA, which the finding of Livingstone and the subsequent explorations of Stanley 1m the heart of the continent have brought prominently before Christendom, we are offered a new field which, with its {ull devolopment, will absorb the surplus stocks of goods of England and the United States beyond the supplies needed for otber markets fora hundred years to come. In other Words, in the resources of Africa thero are inviting Markets awaiting the surplus products of Christen- dom, which, 1f appropriated, will, to the extent of hundreds of millions of money annually employed in active exchanges, opera for example, to give employment to thousands of men in all the commerciai and manufacturing cities of England @ad this country, Among the results of Stapley’s ex- plorations not only have the commercial products of Alrica previously upknown been brought conspicu- @usly before the world, but the attontion of commer- lal mon has been attracted to her undeveloped ro- Bources that were known to exist betore the return of Stanley with bis budget of thrilling news from Ujiji, @nd this attention has been attracted further to ull ‘the probable riches of the continent yet to be discov- ered. Our “hard times’? havo had much to do with this general awakening of the public mind tn refer- ‘ence to the riches of Africa, and hence the new epoch fo her history, which the future historian will date as ‘Opened with the finding of Livingstone. ‘THE AYRICAN CONTINENT 4a 6,000 miles in length from north to south and 4,800 ‘amiles in width in its widest part, It embraces within its encirchng seas an area of nearly twelve millions o! ‘Square miles. Hitherto it has veen considered a bar- Ten waste, excepting Egypt and the other countries Dordering the Mcditerrancan Sea, the mountain. us plateau of Abyssinia, a narrow strip along the Atlantic cost aud the white settlements around the soutborn end of the continent. Take a map of Africa published twenty years ago, “from the latest authorities,” and tho great interior of the continent from Sabara southward will be found u blank, except- ing the Zambesi, an arm of Congo and one or two rivers south of tt. Now we know that from Sahara, on tne west side of the continent, southward from the sea to and beyond tho Atlantic coast range Of mountains, there is a belt of the richest country in the world, several hundred miles wide, the richest fn all the products of the tropics, including boundless forests of the most valuable timber to the workers in wood, and including mountains of gold which have fot yet been tapped, being far above those points— Where Afric’s sunny fountains Roll down their golden sand; gud including, too, the richest ores of iron and co; per. From Stanley’s first brief 4 ‘we judge that the timbered belt cuast ds back along the valley of that great Fiver a thousand miles into the interior, Along the east coast, from Abyssinia southwara to the lanu’s end, thero is another great coast range of mountains, but with a margin of w hundred miles or More between it and the sea, Over all this range, and on both sides of jt there are extensive forests of the finest timber, including as fine as in the Atlas range, the cedars of Lebanon. But bull we know not one-balf the riches of these unex- plored coast ranges of mountaing, with their crowning peaks rising irom fourteen to twenty thousand teet ubove the sea, According to Livingstone, the general character of the continent south of Lake Tanganyika, from sea to sea, is that of a region salubrious, well watered, productive and iphavited by sndustrions iribes, eager ior trade with the white maa, and rich iu materiais lor exchanges with him. Nevertheless, THK GREAT EQUATORIAL RAINY BELT, hitherto lett as a blank ou the map, has, trom the ex- ick, Schweinturth and others, aod particularly of Livingstone and Stanley, been developed into the Fichest, most populous and most int wo have the Jevels of the general interior table lands of the conti+ nent, from which, «8 trom a sloping dome, the rivers flow down ov all sides to the sea, Hero we havo that great Equatorial plateau, with ite drainage of an area of 800,000 square miles, discharged into those threo ILE, THE ZAMBRSI AND THE CONGO, tem of tributary rivers and lakes ts Magnificent iu the world—the Nile, mm ite utmost source of the Shimecyu, 4,000 miles In its course to the Mediterraucan, the Zambesi, some 4,600 miles to the Indian Ucean; and the Congo, from its interlocking sources with the Zambesi, not Jess than 2,500 miles to the Atlantic. The Nile, of these three great rivers, alihough the Jongest and draining an area equal to that of the Mis- ppt with all ite tributaries, discharges the smali- st Vulame of Water into the sea, in consoquence of its losses through @ roasting ana raloless desert for 1,500 miles, The Zambesi is the most wonderiul river inthe World, taking ite great volume, with its fails, rapids ‘@nd basaitic canyons. For about 400 miles from the soa itis 4 broad aod beautiful navigavie stream, with a fer- tile country on both sides, densvly inhabited by tribes Of amiable suvages Whose products in indigo, cotton, coffec and sugar may be incroased to millions in the jay of trad be Congo carries down to the ocean the largest Volume of those three great rivers, ite whoic course, with the draimage of ull its nomerous tributarics, berng in the hoare of the rainy belt of the Equator. POPULATION AND PROVUCIS OF THOSE THRE RIVER VALLEYS. ‘The total population of the savage tribes mbabiting the basin of the Upper Nile, including the drainage of its Equatorial lakvs, caunot be less thun ten millions. It bas boen roughly mated at a much higher figure. Tuose tribes @ vast herds of cattle, and ut no rade in hides, beef and tallow will o lar to regulate the price of those commodities in the ondon market. From the Bgyptian Suuaan southward, tho extensive regions tributary vo the fiver on both Bides, swarm With ciephanta prodecing the finest ivory, and there are buflaioes, giraffes and antelopes, Jogethor with the jion, the hippopotamus, the rbinoc- eros, the crocodile and numerous other wild animals, most of which the futare trader will turn into casb. According 0 Livingstone, tho countries drained by tho Zambesi, though hae age by many populous tribes of natives, are capable of subsisting millions Of civilized people, The generous ma well watered, produces ail the coreaia, pI roots, Iruits and ‘gar+ climate, too, of thiegreat river basin is compara, tively wholesome, excepting tho lowlands near the ‘Seu, Where, 1D the rainy season, the deadly malaria of the west coast prevails. We must awuit the letters of Mr. Stanie; of the couvtries bordering the Congo tor mation coucerning them, th ana its productions, Hi tic coast, wuich a jescriptive finite iufor- F inhabitants, thetr soil reports from the Atian- and cannibal sw on the river banks nor the na- tural productions of the river valley, ofler any induce- ments to (he white inan In the way’ ot trade; that the Jowlands bordering the upper river, in the Interior, are submerged most of the year, and that on the lower Tiver, in its pusvage through the coast range of moun- tains, nothing 1s to be seen but roaring cataracts, dau- ‘ous rocks in the stream, towering cliffs on one side bot sides, and impenetrable forests of tropical trees and jungie. LAKKS, RIVERS AND MAKSHES, Inthe great central plateau in which have been found the sources of the Zumbesi and the Congo, as well ag the drainage of Lake Tauganyika, there is a depression in the general table lana of tue continent, which may be likened to a shallow basin over a break in the rim of which the Congo and the Zamvesi pass out, the ove at first northward andthe other south- ward, This basin, of au area of half a million square miles, more or less, 18 mostly & region of lakes, slug- gish und grassy rivers and extensive marshes, 1p bis Vain elforts to explore this watery region on foot, marshes for many days in succession, rup to bis waist, Livingstone perished, resolved, at all bazurds, to begin again tthe beginning, and he died af the threshold of bis task. OBSTRUCTIONS TO NAVIGATION, ‘The heads of those three great rivers being from three to foar thousand feet above the sea, their navi- gution is interrupted by many rapids and cataracts, Those of the Congo, through the range of the Coust Mountaina, arrest the ingoing navigator at a point, if wo @ ub mistaken, within tity miles of the sea- board, The Zambesi’s navigation, as we bave said, ends at point 400 miles, more or legs, from the sea, beyond which its deep basaltic chasing, falls and rap. ids can no more be improved than the Plutonian can- yons of the Colorado, THE NILK IS THE ONLY UXE of these three great African rivers which, by lateral canals (like those surmounting toe rapids of the dt. Lawrence), can be made navigable trom the sea into the heart of Africa, Tho project of overcoming the cutaracts of the Congo by canals or by rail need only be mentioned to be pronounced impracticable, Nor, while the country at the mouth of tbe Congo, and the region within and around the delta of the Zambesi are in the possession of the Portuguese, is it likely that any attempts will be nace for the improve. ment 0! the navigation of either of these rivers, or tor the devolopment of their trade for tne geucral benetit of mankina, Portugal, if she can prevent it, will not readily surrender her monopoly of the trado of either of those rivers, imciuging her dividends in the slave trail On the west coast, embracing the Portuguese country of the Congo, the slive trade was endod with the ending of the shipments of slaves from Atricu to Cuba and Brag. But on the East African coast, down to the Zambesi Valloy, uc- cording to Livingstone, the Portuguese government is the backer of tho Arab slave hunter, and 1s bo friend of British missionaries or of any such {uterlopers from any quarter. THE VALUS OF STANLEY'S WORK, in his decisive exploration of the course of the Lua- |ba to the sea lies 1D these fucts—that in this heroic expedition he hag settled the question that the Lua- laba is the Congo; that for hundreds of miles in the beart of Africa it is a broad, navigable river, and that the future trade of thia section of tho river may ata compurutively small ci be diverted by rail to the N We have no doubt upon this point, for it ap- ears from Staniey’s prelimivary report from the Congo that in its northerly course as the Lualaba the river runs paraliel for @ considerable distance with Lake Albert, the bead of the navigation of the Nile. Aud it is a universal source of gratification that to Stanley, the tinder of Livingstone, was roserved and assigned the task of finishing bis work, aud that he bas finished 1t from the point where his friend and colaborer aod faitbiul old servant of ti was compelled to abundon ii—to the point where his great river ia discharged into the sea. Thus united jn their lives, Livingstone and Stanley by death will not be divided, By @ pre-emption right to Stanley belonged the task of completing Livingstone’s uatin- ished work, and the world rejoices that he bas so bravely completed it, It is right, aud the world would not have it otherwise, But invaluable to the scientific world as are these recent discoveries 1m ihis great central plateau of Al- Tica, with the enormous dratnage of its three splendid rivers, it} ction of the continent comparatively valueless in A COMMERCIAL POINT OF VIEW, Like the rich valley o1 the Amazon, that king of all the rivers of the earth, the who:e basin of the Congo aud the head watcrs ol tue Zambesi and the Nile, lying within the heart of tne rainy belt of the Equator, are untitted for occupation by the white mau. Nor are the uacural productions of tuis watery region ja kind or quantity such as will pay for their transportation to the cout The rich and populous countries around the Victoria Niyanza way be immediately made valuable contributors to the trade ol the Nile, Suil better, as the elevated basim of that great lake lies from 8,U00 to 4,000 feet above the sea, and nearly @ thousand feet above the neighboring twin lake, Albert, it 1s, doubtiess, a compuratively salubrivus Tegion, aud adaptei to colonization by white men, though right under the Equator, with its heavy aud long-continued rainiall, So tar, however, as tho United States commercially are directly concerned, Wi MAVE IN LIBERIA, that prosperous little colony of emancipated Southern blacks, on the West Airican coast, a ter nucleus tor the development of a large and profitable trade {han we can ovtain 10 any savage district offered usin @ny other part of the continent, though they are ali Open to our traders. As the bead of the American Colonization Society of bis time, it was the dream of Henry Clay that Africa would be et aeeacy# Curis. tianized, and tbat her savage kingdoms would be ad- vanced vo the sisternood of civilized States through the civilizea blacks of this couutry, restored to the land of their fashers, and that as a natural consequence of this great work, tho United states would be amply indemnitied in their protitabie trade with the 1 dustrious producers of tae enlightened black publics of Africa, In those days several ships of the United States Navy were employed with a considerable fleet from ngland in the pailan- thropic work of watching aud catching the outgoing slave ships from the shambles .of tho Congo and other siave depots of the West African coast. The world moves, and if we huve pot kept pace with the progress of events in Alrica it is because tue negro at homo has too much occupied our aitention through the iast thirty odd years, But if tne time bas cawe when an American newspaper correspond. ent, in his letters from the Alrican interior, cun thrill the heurts of all Christendom and awuken the slecpiest governments of Europe to practical moas- ures in reference to African affairs, surely the time has come for the government at Washington to give ap active helping hand to the American black Re- pubi.o of Liberia, it only asa base of operations jor trade, ENGLAND'S OPPORTUNITY, Ta the diplomatic controversy which resulted in the war of the Crimea the Emperor holas, in a couv sation with the British Minis St. Petersburg, sug- gested a division of the estates of “The Sick Man” of ‘turkey, 1u which, as an equivalent for the transter of Constantinople to the Czar, England was oifered Egypt, with all the African anhexations she could muke from this advantageous possession, At present what shape this Turco-Russian war may eventually assuine even the Czar cannot tell; but it may result in an English protectorate over Egypt. In any event the opportunity is now offered England, through her iriendly oflices with the Kuedive, sor the absolute extinction of the East African slave trade and forthe opening of the uavigation of the Nile by means of canals surmouuting its cataracts to the spacious equatorial harbor of Lake Albert, Baker has submitted the pian of locks and dams at the cata- racta (slack water Bavigation) whereby tho rapids can be changed to smooih water, while from the dams in the dry season thousands of acres of lands lying waste may be made productive vy irrigation. But this scheme would require such a beavy expenditure of miovey that it bg f be pronounced visionary. The Khedive is trying the expedient of railways, and they wili serve a8 a temporary oxpodient for the passage of the cataracts and tor tapping the trade of the equa- torial lakes. THK NEW WORLD OF SOUTH AFRICA. In the descripuon of Africa of Cviton’s General Atlas, published in 1866, we Oud this notable pro- phecy:—‘*fhe interior tabielauds of South Africa jorm the most cxteusive plateau in the world, La this on dwell inuumeravio trives of negroes, pro- duc d consuming, aud more or less civilized, ‘These time and opportuaity will introduce into the family of nations and give to commerce a new world Whose raw productions are of the highest value, and whose wants wi'l demand in retura the various staples which the more civilized pations bave von- Vorted to general useluiness in their manufactures.’” 8 propuecy 1s now in active course of fulfilment in the southera border countries of the continent; not, however, in the introduction of those savage tribes into the family of nations, but in supplanting them by wuite settiements, Ten yoars hence the trade of those settioments may be enlarged to the magnijuae ol the present commerce of Australia; and there will still remain « productive area of South Africa equul to that of the United States available tor the white man, and to the advautuge of the black man from the white inan’s occupation, But it may be asked uf what ad- Vantage 18 of will be ali this to us if Englaud is (0 oc. cupy and MonOpolize the trado of those countries? We answer that there aro now in Central and South Africa markets tor , THOUSANDS OP TONS OF COTTON GoODs and for shipiouws of Yankee nowons, if our manuflac- turers and merchants will only provide the ways aod Means and competent aud houest men, for tue trans. portation to and uelivery in those markets of their merchandise, As @ substitute for gold, and avove par everywhere in the Airican interior, the rolis of cotwon gouds and of wire, with which Stanley supplied bi if at Zanzibar for his Alrican expedition! eagerly bought, from point to point, by the nave: almost apy price demanded, the payment being in sup- plies of provisions and in men awa means generally for the purposes of the expedition. In his tour from the eastern sea coust to Lake Victoria and around that great lake, and thence to and around Lake Tangan- yika, Stanley, no doubt, as a commercial traveiler, with big stock on hand, could Dave disposed of a shi load of American goods adapted to Airican consum, tion, in exchanges with the uatives, which would Lave given bim the profit of the Hudson Bay Company in their exchanges with the Indians; that is to say, at the rate of a gross of fishing huoks fora buflalo rove, Now our home markets are glutted with cotton goods; excessive production is the universal cry, and Merchants and manufacturers are biimdly groping about jor markets abroad and im places which are already supplied, while in Contral and South Atrica here aro 20,000,000 of people without shirt or shift, ‘ol whom 18 a8 proud of a cotton robe—when can get it at Live times tts Amorican valuo— asa Broadway belle is of ber lace shawl or se sack, What, then, is there to prevent our merchants, overstocked with goods, 1! they choose to enter into and supply these inviting Airican markets with their jus wares? Stanley, with the siuews Of war sup- | NEW YORK HERALD, MONDAY, OCTOBER 22, pe by the heads of two public jour OW this thing can be done, and Livingstot ley have shown us where these markets Teach them we need not wait for African ays, OF canals, or white settlements. They are open bow, they are tree to world, and those people INVITE OUR MERCHANTS tocome and trade with them. Our inte fellow citi- zens of African descent now in Liberia say so, and that we have neglected our commercial interests in Africa in neglecting them ‘und the valuable trade, which, even through them, we might command. The ex- periment we have hinted at is worth trying. It is the simple experiment of sending into the wilds of Africa from the seaboard a commercial traveller tn charge of @ stock of merchandise suited io the African markets, d the African products secured in exchange—ivory, ums, DUts, spices, palm oll, hides, &c.—brought back iu exchange wiil pay for the venture. Even io old Egypt they still cultivate thoir laadg with tne crooked stick used asa plough in the time of Moses, Let a committee of our agricultural wnplement makers walt upon the Khedive with samples of their modern improvements tm ploughs, hoos, planting and reaping machives, and they may opea a profitable market tor their wares in the shadows of the pyramids. If we would share in the profits of the new markets for trade beyoud our own doors our manufacturers and merchants, like those of England, must tollow close upon the heels of the explorer and missionary in foreign lands, STANLEY'S EXPLOIT, THE FUTURE OF AFRICA DEFIES IMAGINATION. [From the Elmira (N. ¥.) Gazette.] There is small conception of the magnitude of the work thrown upon civilization by the Stanley dis- coveries, which have opened up the interior of Atrica, Few imagine cither the ability, the nerve, the courage required to explore a country of such Savage surroundings. A few hundred miles in the in- terior of Alrica ia far greater task to get over than a footmarch across the plains to California, And bad bot water carriage aflorded Stanley increased facilities there tsa doubt whether the work would have been accomplished by this time, O1 course, tbe grand probiein was first to uiscover the sources of the Nilo, Speke, Graut, Burton, Buker and Cumeron undertook the solution, Livingstone entered upon 4 similar discovery, but irom another direction, Ho died, bot —buving —_ been permitted to enter into full exploration of the African difficulties, But Stanley, upou whom the manue of the dying missionary und expiorer rested, was at band ty take up the thread just where it dropped trom his hand. And then rose up the same physical dithculues that bad opposed ail the rest, They increasod at every mile Of Lis progress. Stanley has most graphically described them from the outso. * * ‘the tult kuowlodge gained be will commani@ate as soon as ho has time to recruit bis Wasted mental eporgies, All can afford to patiently wait for tho details, now that Ube general fucts are gained, Then the necessity will come to use the knowledge gaiued for the opening up of Contral Africa to civilization, WHAT THE NEWSPAPER CAN DO. [From the Portland (Oregon) Oregonian. } Livingstone supposed that the lacustrine river in Central Africa, which he made known as the Lualaba, was the Upper Nile, He followed its course for muny hundreds of milus, but wus unable to solve the prob- lem. So soon ug his observations wero communicated to the world scientific geographei who had at com. mand all the results of observations of other explor- ers, declared the stream could not be the Nile nor an ailiuent of it, but must bo tbe Congo, Livingstone observations made the altitude of the Lualaba lake system much less than that of the Upper Nile; and this fact was conclusive against nis supposition, though be died im the belief that ne had roally solved tho great geographical problem of the ages, Two newspapers—the London Telegraph and New York Hexatp—bave been toliowing up the inquiry. Some days «go we had a brief report by tolegrapu of the auventures of their representative, Henry M. Stanley, who has crossed Equatorial Africa irom t! Indian to the Atlantic Ocean, The HeRALD gives map of the route and a very extended account of ti trip. Stanley has tully taentitled Livingstone’s Lu- alaba with the Congo, which he foliowed through al- most ite whole course, which stretches neurly across the continent, The expedition was designod to solve the problem of the ultimate sources of the Nile, But this as still unsoived, Yet it isa contribution to the solution of the mystery which bas puzzied inquiring minds turough all’ the centuries since Herodotus made a record of bis speculations on the subject, and probably very long before, Modern journalism engages iu very singular enterprises and evinces great resources when it undertakes tuings which o1 ould be carried on only by great governments, expedition across Alrica has been in every respect as large an undertak- ing and 48 greatan achiovement as was the Lewis and Clark expedition across unknown America, This is what the modern newspaper can do, THE EXPLORATION 1N ITS RELATION TO CIVILI- ZALION AND CHBISTIANITY. {From the Galveston (Texus) Christian Advocate.) With a singular unanimity the contemporary press ere loua and hearty in praise of this extruordinary feat, German, French, English and American news- Papers pubiish the verification of the Congo as a feat almost unparalleled as to personal conduct, and su- erior in geographical vulug to the discoveries of ivingstope aud Cameron. It is also worthy of pote that the means of prosecuting this noble scientific adventure was furnished by two prominent Journals—viz,, the Nxw York H&xau and the London Telegraph. ‘The directors of theso papers deserve the thanks und adiuiration of the eatire civilized world tor the generous and bigh spirited avimus thut bus actu- aicd them ip tue premises. What kings and govera- ments failed to do they have taken im hand and bravely und successfully accomplished, ‘They are also to be congraiulated upon their perspicacuy in choosing the proper man for the arduous wod terrible labor, Mr, Stanley has surely, by bis admirable lead of this difficult adventare, put bim- soll ona par with Park, baker apd Livingstone, In prudenge und pluck he bas Geveloped qualities which remind us of the robust feats of Sir Francis Drake and the great Portuguese Magellan, He has penetrated the neart of an uxknown continent, met and over- come its dangers, traced a path from ocean to ocoan across ita fatal arcana, evon as the naval heroes oi the sixteenth contury drove tneir bows across unknown seas and circumpavigated the earth, THE UNKNOWN NORTHERN AFFLUENT OF THE LUALABA, [From the New York Tribune. } Mr. Stanley’s letter trom Kabinda, on tne western Coast of Atrica, near the mouth of the Congo River, bears the marks of the intense strain upon mind and body to which ho had been subjected for many months, and of the nervous excitement which naturally follows bis escape therefrom, It did not need this evidence to show that the hardships and perils of his woudertul journey bave not been exaggerated; but every one will rejoice more than ever that they were not endured in vain, Fow men have ever better carned ‘the right to @ season of complete rest and security. He attributes the loss of bis faithful attendant, Francis Pocock, with twelve canoes, fiiteen men and $18,000 worth of ivory, to the uiter inaccuracy of the maps of that portion of the Congo, near {tg mouth, which has been already explored. ‘He ap- pears to ‘huve relicd upon them for a broad, nayi- guble stream where there was only @ mass of rapids wod Cataracts, His lever mentions two importint jacts, The course of the Lualuba, as it approaches the Equator, is actually north-northeast, agreeing with the representations of the natives ub Nyangwe—and this accounts for Livingstone’s faith that the river must be the Nile. Ibe direction, however, 18 soon chauged by the obstacle of a mountain and turned northwestward, Mr, Stanley does not give us the longiude of the junction of the un- known river with the Lualaba, and this 1s the one im- porsant poin Judging from the tributaries of the elle, Which Schweinturth crossed in the Monbutto country, aod from the reports of the natives concern. ing the , it flows due west. Its sources are about latitude 4 deg, JO mio. north and longitude 28 deg. east, Lt is thus very likely to bo the northern affluent ot the Lualaba, I! so the conjectural river systems of the Ogowé and Benue are greatly reducod in dimen- yr and the Congo is now the key to all unexplored Africa, FRENCH EXPLORATION IN [From the Pall Mall Gazette.) The Moniteur dela Flotte announces that news has been received off the expedition under the command of Lieutenant Brazza, of the French Navy, whicn is ascending the River Ogooré, in the hope of being able ww penctrate vy that route into parts of equatoria: Africa as yet altogether unknown and unexplored. Tho lotters received were written at Doumé, described 4 @ miserable village on the banks of the Ogooné, at the extreme limit of the Adouma country, and situated 56 min, south of the Equator and 11 deg. to tho east- ward of Paria, Most ot tho party had suffered from fever and sickness; but, somewhat better food having been obtained, nearly ‘wil bad recovered vefore the letters were despatched. From Doumé it was intended to continue the journey eustward; but great dithoulty was experienced in obtaining the #ervices of batives to act as carriers, Slavery flourishes on the bunks of the Ogoond, and the natives are ready wo sell their children and nearest relatives to the slave dealers, Unable to procure afsistance in uny otnor way Lieutepant Brazza boughs fourteen slaves, and gave then their liberty ou condition that they should Lavigate the canocs of the expedition up the river, Aithough they were well treated, however, they all rao away, stealing everything they could lay their bands upon aud carry off, One or two were brouglt back; but, on being pardoned and again given weir liberty, again decamped, All tho natives are highly superstitious, and, several cates of smallpox vecurring shortly after the arrival af the party, the outbreak of the disease was at once attributed to the evil influence of the new comers, Some cures, however, eflected by the doctor of the expedition aliayed the bostue fecling which was thas springing Up, and Which threatened to involve the party in serious difficulties. Wish regard to the geography of tho district Lieutenant Brazza remarks thathe hag already passed through tribes the districts inhabited by whom are mar: Dr, Petermann’s maps as being much jarther inland than the point be has reached, such as the Obambo ‘Thaké, Umbete, Baleke and Acoumko tribes; and, further, that the river Lilambay, which {6 shown us ao efiuent of the Gongo, really Jows into the Ogoond. AFRICA. Its Uses and Abuses as Viewed from the Pulpit, THE PHILOSOPHY OF ALVERTISEMENTS. Is the Editorial Sanctum a Holy Place P eeeedeeaaad Notwithstanding the rain storm a large congrega- tion assembled at the Thirty-fourth Street Retormed Church last evening and listened attentively to the sermon Of their pastor, Rev, Carlos Martyn, on **fhe New York Press as Viewed from the Pulpit’? The reverend gentleman at the very outset disavowed any intention to fuvor tho remotest idea of censors ship of the press; be did not propose to assort the journals of tho people nor to counsel the retention of the one or rejection of the other, He desired to louk at the press irom the standpoint occupied by those who read the newspapers and vo ascertain what are the uses and what the abuses of the press. Taking up any first class newspaper, unfolding it and scrutinizing it, the first feature that strikes the reader is the advertise- ments, Whatever might bo the reader’s wants, here was something to meet them. Perhaps the reader might not be in special need of anything. No matter, these advertisemenis still had ther use. The jumble and chaos of wishes made ‘known through these columns revealed in @ strange and puculiar way the thought and life of this great city, What hopes, what leurs putsed through the minds of these advertisers ere the advertisements were written, banded tn and paid tor! Parents whose children wero missing, poor men acd women out of employment, people with something to sell, others want'ng to buy something, personals, religious notices, all muking to- gether an vsionishing panorama of human discontent with the present. If to-day’s wants are satisiled to- morrow’s newspaper again reveals new wants, ADVERTISEMENTS PHILOSOPMICALLY CONSIDERED, What a picture of unrest do these columns paint, Walk through Broadway, up Filth avenue and you sce streets, houses, shops, vehicies. But bere in theso columns you discover what lays out these streets, what builds these bouses and what stocks these shops, Here you discover what sets and keeps this busy city in motion, And more people learn there too that they are mutually dependent, and that their great and frst need is tor one another, Theso advertisements neither gratify our curiosity nor por- mit us to play Paul Pry, We do not see their per- sonality, know nothing of them but just the little made known in these few lines, But we feel in read- ing them that we are part and parcel of a community of interests; and if people read to any purpose at all they should realize with tresh force the fact that they do not, cannot stand alone; that they are virtually related to one auother, ' The advertising pages ‘of the nowspaper, therefore, uniold the essential unity of human nature, Mankiod whirls ardund aifferent circles, is divided by various outward conditions, he diflerences are merely formal, not hrough the same experiences, Tbe to-day 18 moistened by the same grief that has reddened millions of eyes in ail preceding ages. The laugh to-night is stirred by the same im- poleee which have moved our race to laughter unnum- red times. No perplexity nor triumph now that has mot been known by our fellows vefore us. These advertising columns photograph the brotherhood of Mankind, Thia truth alone ought to knit all together in bonds of the closest, holiest sympathy. ‘Tho rev- nd gentleman then asked bis hearers to look at the spaper again, ‘There was the record of births, marriages aud deaths—a very suggestive and pro- fouudly impressive record, indeed. Take the births, No one couid jouk over them without fecling anew the awful responsibility that comes to a parent with the advent of cach morta, This infant coming into hfe 80 helpless now, understanding nothing. What pos- sibilities does it represent? What good, what harm may it do? Take the marriages, Listen to the Jubilant organ. What smiles, what tears of apprehen- sion for the new made maa and wife! 1s God in tue t? ‘Yake the deaths, You glance tho list over ssly, thinking, perhaps, it ay contain some eo you know, cithor personally or by fame. ‘Hello, witel” you exclaim, ‘Oar friend 18 BONO; aio suddenty ow the 20th inst. Why, | saw bim op Friday aud he seemed as usual” The great procession out of Jife keeps pace with the great procession into life. The Dewapaper that announces these deaths to-day will presently cail our Kindred to our funeral How inevita- ble is the thought ! IMPORTANCE OF THE NEWS COLUMNS, Turn to another page, Here i the court record. Here we find names honored y ‘day stained to-day. Sad commentary on human weakuess! The great army of vice and crime passes in review belore our eyes, and yot these pinched features, these villunous looks, are men and women, immortal like ourselves, Christ died for them as tor us. What caused their ruinf Could we have withstood the temptation betore whicn they went down? Turning again to another falls upon the nows of the day— the department which gives the press its distinctive name of newspaper. What dillgence in gathering the items | xXpense in observing events 18 hore displayed | parts of whe paper which havo cupied us thus far are local. ‘They muke us roalizo that we ure Now Yorkers. Here we find that we form a single ink in a universal chain, that we are only members of a large family, that there is a nation, 4 sisternood of nations, a worldwide community of in- torests. A country, ews from the atue field, news from tbe coal mines, from the wheat fields, from the ‘centres of manifold manulactories; news from everybody, news which concerns the whole world, news the very latest, the very Iie of the earth up to the moment of publication, served up fresh every tweaty-four hours—all that bas transpired between the Arctic and the Antarctic and from Aus, tralia to San Francisco—here it is, wet from the printing press. The newspaper of to-day 18 tho ‘elot the century. It isa miracle of system, It from abroad, news from the monument of human industry, It is ao ler «=f toresight) «and = =6ieight. It not only stirs our gratitude—it compels our re- spect. We may well tako off our hats in the presence of the newspaper, it represenis so many raiseworthy qualities. By its instrumentality every- Bouy ig pext door neighbor to everybody, 1 makes the Whole world ukin. ne duily report of the doings of the globe Increases human knowledge, broadens our sympathies, naturalizes us in every country aod unifies our raca. 0 for theday when these white- Winged carrier doves shall convey peace on earth and good will toward men in their multitudinous flights! THK TREMENDOUS POWER OF THK PRESS. Having catalogued some of the uses of the press, the reverend geuticman considered a few of what he thought were the abuses The newspaper being w tremendous power, people should not be surprised to find occasional abuses connected with the press, When read too much the newspaper, he thought, weakened the mind. It is of necessity hastily made up, and its Views consequentiy were superficial, Yet the newspaper was the American Bibie and the ac- copted standard of right and wrong, It says in every line, With the man in the play :— ——1 am -ir Oracle; Aud when I ope my lips let no dog bark. Many persons make the reading of vewspupers the one work of Iife, Not wtew speud the whole day in Ut Treading room, ‘Ihe rich mau looks to it more than to anything else except, possibly, lis ledger [tia the poor muo’s wibrary, ‘alk of Weakening the mind by reading novels! Moro inteilects were unnervea by the milk aod water diet of the newspapers thun in avy other way. The daily paper, however poor the quality, contaius so much im quantity that it was wmpossible to read it through and have time for more solid reading. There was danger that the people might become universally superficia trom this Cause; they get # smaticring of everything from Ue newspaper but nothing tuoroughly, 1 was woudt- ful whether we did as much solid reading in a year as our jathers and mothers did in three months, Our in- formation Was broader than theirs, but it was the breadtu of # pancake—ali breadth aud uo depth. We excuse ourseives on the plea that we are mastering facts, But be desired to ask whether (here were to twcls but evenia current Something good and solid should be read every day in addition to the newspaper. A FIERCE ATTACK ON THE PARTIBAN PRESS, Another abuse of the newspaper be discovered in its low morai tone, in order to wake it pay it woes sv its constituoncy. Wil this item help the paper toseil? If so it goes in. Will this item burt the sub- seription list? If so keep itout, ihus its business 1s conducted on vo moral basis, Just so with poli Most wewspapers are savagely partisan. “Will tt bel the party ?’’ that is the question that too many editors argue over every political item, Facts are manipulated 4 Made to teil lies, Figures are hocus-pocused out of all relation to the truth. igures won't lie,’ the proverb. Ludeed! But bow if they ai tue wrong column, He hoped every democi road 4 republican paper und every repuvlican a demo- cratic paper, As things are partisan journals make partsao readers The low moral one of the press was also illustrated iu the person- autes It ero The newspaper of today he regarded as the great gossip of the hour. Everybody likes gossip, however much we pre- tend not lo, provided it bits our ‘ue “uuor, not our. Mauy mischievous reports wore thus printed paper simply to pander to tuis tuste for Ip, without aby eflurt bemy made to authouti them. These talso rumors acied like the poisoned stiletto of the old Italian bravos. They stabbed in the dark and in (he back, People in tuts country wore of opinion that they got rid of arbitrary power. lu some respects, however, tho newspaper was their Czar, [ts whips were harder than the lashes with which Frederick the Great was wout to beat le diers, ‘The old State maxim used to be that the King could dono wrong, George Ill, nevor siiustrated it any bettor than somo of the journals of our day. INFIDEL EDITORS OVERUAULED, There was one other avuse of the Lowspaper to which no desired to cull attention—that was its pre- vailing irroligious tone, Ho rogretiod to say that very 1877.--WITH SUPPLEMENT. pw 7 ir ATTNAT 1 many newspaper men here in New York had no sym- ai M pathy with religion, Some of them were avowedly in- \ 4 fidel, consequently they embraced every opportunity to lumpoon the Church, Within a week bo bad seen Cuptiops like the foliowing:—‘‘Anoth shown up!’ “Another di ” “One moro elder shows band!”’ the charges which were mere mises, treated a8 matters to Weep over, not to sueer al course there were false Chri tn the ministry, just as there were {alse yank notes in circulation, bUL in the oD» case, as iu the other, the false existed because the genuine were good, | The jibes of the press scemed to indicate general re- ligions corruption, and they m Unoking clings of the community suspicious of every church, of overy clergyman, and helped to untie the moral bands Which wust of necessity gird society, He would advise all to drop the newspaper whenever it dealt habitually in these abuses, and to give thoir money and countenance to some other sheet, Ali should avoid the moral iofection of thelr abuses and help those around to a life that shall force abuses out of the press, that aball demand aud by demanding secure an altered tone, A PRAYER FOR THE BANCTUM, im conclusion the reverend gentleman said:—rho Bewsapaper calls its editorial ofice a sanctum. A sanctum! Holy place tet it be, wuere thunderbolts shall be forged to smite the wrong and whence sun. shine shall issue to scatter all forms of darkness! Our word angel comes trom a Greek term which means messenger; our word gospel comes from two old Saxon words, god, good, uid spell, news—good news, Let the newspaper, then, be an angel in the nessages it carries; Jet it be a gospel in the good news it epreade. THE SPRAGUE ESTATE. CREDITORS DISSATISYIED WITH THE MANAGE- MENT 0S THE TRUST—A MOVEMENT FOR +N ACCCOUNTING—EXTENT OF THE INDERTED- NkSs AND VALUE OF THE PAPER—AN IN- TRICATE SITUATION OF AFYAIRS, Provipgyce, R. L, Och 20, 1877, It 1g now tour yeurs since thé great house of Messrs, A, & W, Sprague were obliged to ask the indulgence of their creditors, they being indebted at that me under liability, primary or secondary, ‘in divers sums of monoy to divers persons,” amounting in tbe aggre- gate to about the sum of $14,000,000, Ibis, vl course, well known fact that the firm, comprising Mrs. Fanny Sprague, Mrs, Mary Sprague, Mr. Amasa Sprague, Hon, William Sprague, and two sons and daughters of Mr. Edwin Hoyt, being desirous of tunding their in- debtudness, conveyed their vast estate in trust to Mr, Zachariah Chaffee, of this city, that gentleman being empowered to manage the property for the best in- terests of all concerned. Nogotiable promissory notes were issued, made pay- able to the order of the firm and by them indorsed, payable three years from Junuary 1, 1874, with inter- est from that date, payable semi-annually, at the rate of seven and three-tentts per cent per annum till the principal was paid, whether at or after maturity, All instalments of mterest in arears wero to bear inter- est at tho rate mentioned tll paid, but they reserved us Otten follow and when “done they ought to buve been ol ns in the Church aod sur- the right to pay said notes before maturity in instal- ments not less than five per cent of the principal, Sixteen thousand five hundred of these notes were is- sued, they being duly numbered and lettered, in amounts frou $50 to $5,000, ln the meantime but three instalments of interests have been paid tho creditors, avd, as might be sup- posed, this fact occasions no little comment here, especially among tho creditors, who are now getting exasperated at the turn which matters have tuken at the present state of affairs, Your correspondent bas called upon the leading creditors, the principal one Doing the First National Bank, which now holds, in round numbers, $750,000 worth of their paper, and from the statements of the officers of which vo 1s led to the conviction that something will be done by them @t once to sccure the amount due them, and to seo whether they have apy rights in the eyes of the law. ‘They claim that tho conditions of the mortgage deed conveying the property in trust to Mr, Chaffee have been broker, The feeling is now almost at fever heat, but they hardly kuow what to do, ‘bey understand very well that the present is no time to think of seil- ing the property, aud they are well uware of the de- Pressed coudition of the cloth market, They state that the firm, now doing business under the name of the Quidnick Company, with Mr. Chuffee as treasurer, Lave made no report of their business to the Court. They have, instead, volunteered to mako reports to committees of creditors, and, in fact, have made state. ments to said commitices, but which bave not been tory us fur us the “showing up” of the concerned, WHAT 4 CREDITOR SAID, One of the promiment creditors and a geotioman oc spying several positions of trust said to me:— “We, us creditors, have held several spirited mect- ings, in which the situation was freely discussed, We were determined to assert our rights, come what would, We agrevd to draw up & paper to represent $5,000,000 of the indebtedness, which 1s over one-half of the present habilines of the firm, and if we suc- ceeded in tuat movement we would gu to the Court with couusel and see what coulu be dune in the premises, My muividual play would be to call Mr. Chufleo to account for bis stewardship and to place him under the government of she Court. It we can get the desired amount on the paper—and | have no doubt that wo cun, for already we have signers Attached to the document representing over $420,000 of the indebtcdness—the Court will, in my opinioa, decide 1p our favor, or at least giveus the benelit of ail doubts, “Whea the firm first got into trouble 1, with the majority of the other creditors, was strongly iu favor of waving their property pluced in the banus of trus- tweg, but We ull think differently at the present time, Wo Lave had @ sad lesson and one whieh we will never forget. Baakruptcy, in wy opinion, would bave ben Dotter than the appointing of the trustee. We have waited patiently for four years without doing avy thing, and we bave now arrived at that point where Wo believe Some action should be takeu, und thut, too, without delay, 10 be sure, we don’t feel like selling the property now, with all the attachments hauging in the HeRaLD thar wo will hold on to the until the last mo- meat, and we will pever take oither tweuty or twenly-lve cents for it, At the last public sale o; the firm's jer, at the rooms of the Board of Trade, it brought twenty-one and a haif cenis Ou tue dollar, and it 1s the general impression that the friends of tue itm are buying im the paper, and which, if irue, is rather a questionable transaction. Mr. Challe) has opeuly purchased some of the paper at this igure, but be bought it m bis Own name, and Of course 1b Would not do to say that he purchased it for the tirm, Receatly Wilvur & Jackson, brokers, solid $75,000 of their paper at tweaty-one and « bulf cents, and i kaow ‘uat the geutieman Who bought it did not want it tor Limeeit, vut was wutuorized by his friends to muke the offer. We shall defer Action uotil the sult of the Hoyt children is heard betore Judges Shepley and Kuowies, jo Boston, next week, Should a favorable do- ci#ion bo given for the pluimtifis IL think it would darken the prospects of the other creditors, All of their milis are pow running, and 1 iw to eee any reason Why we should yot receive the in- terest, per agreement, to the mortgaye deeus, ‘the time nas beea when Mr, Cuaffee should Lave sold off certain parcels of real estaiv, tor now that same Property Would not Uring one-quarter what it would have doue two yeurs ago, aud tue firm 1% oblized to carry it along, ‘the Spragues are shrewd enougn. Alter the trust deed had becn arranged, and for ier that it would be brokew in some form, wo attempt to do so being made by @ certain bunk, they went to work ‘made an old-fashioned assignment of all their property to Mr. Chaftee, thus making themselves doubly sure.” correspondent, upon intorming other creditors egalt OL bis tutervieW with tue gentlemen re- terred tw, was told tuatbe had a the right man and one who could speak tour the creditors, aud who Understood the situation Iu all its details, aud they were glad thar he had couseuted to “spoak ou in iuvoting,’’ tor it Was high time something should be sald or dove. Mr. Alexander Farauim, the recoiver of the Cranston Savi Bank, which institution went down with the Spragues, was found at the office of the Khode Isiand Hospital trust Company, of wuich be is the President pro tem This geutleman, it Was understood, had drawn up the ageoemeut referred to, and he kindly luruished @ copy of the same lv your correspondent, Mr. Farnum, 10 relerring to the cocument, “It means just what it says, noting more or less, d We were induced to luke Lhis move in justice to Ourveives and the many interests we represent. You are at liverty to use tas you see fit, and L would suy Tight hore that the New Yous Herat. Tesented us jnirly, aud Jum couldeut that you, of tts representatives, will put us tn the righ betore the public.” TEXT OF THE CREDITORS’ AGREEMENT, ‘Yhe folowing 1s a copy of the document: — ditors of the A. & W, Spr any, belleving that the tin our duty to take #0 dvanee our intorests us such creditors, do hereby the purpure of adupting such measures Ws in the prem- may seem desirabie, upon the eonuitions followin 1. That the conditions heroin expresse vinaing when tusstus have been so her wud shalt yrity v0 curry Tht this bXeentive Committee, when thus wathorized to tuke action in behalf of the suoserivers hereunto. suall ight to levy easensments trom time to time upg all uel) subseribers, rasably in proportion to the full ¢ of thelr respective claims, to meet such expoun WAY be Incurred in the propor Exercise of its Ruthority, which assessments We soversliy bind ourselves aud our lor gal suecessors to pay on demand to the person that shall be appointed oF b rel, provided, shail noc in th And it is farther andorstood that this Executive Com- mittoo shall serve without componsation, wad tha chairman shali set as tr under thin agro uniers it shall be otherwise or y # ‘That any subscriber to this agroomer Es siguers 4 who does not approve of any action which meeting held under the provislon: e vigit to withdraw from this sgreeimens apyt ice In writing of uis wisn to withdraw at the ve already beep inet i at if proportion to be determined weting of the subscribers hereunto shall be n hotice of the time and place thereof sent through the Post office to euch subscriber, at least three days beture the time of such suegting, pubsequent moet except adjovraments, shall oe called im & similar manner, wiles otherwise provided. THR EXKCOTIVE COMMITTER, The Committee of Five, who have the matter in band, and who represent between $2,000,000 wnd $3,000,000 of the indebtedness, are as follo: Mr, Alexander Faroum, receiver of the Cranston jogs Bauk; Mr. Jesse Metcalf, president of the Globe National Hank; Mr. James M. Kimball, president of the Second National Bank; Mr, Josiuh L. Crooker, di- rector in the First Nationa! Bank, aud Sir, Houry BR, Cuace, cashior of the Fourth National Bank. Mr. Faroum, by lis management of the affairs of the Cra as been able to pay the depositors about seventy per ceut, and he is confident that all of them will eveataally receive dollar fur doll lu this connection it should be stated that the Franklia Institution for Savings, another bank which Was obliged to suspend on account of the Sprague tail- ure, bas also paid avout seveaty cents on the dollar to tts depositors. The principal’ as: now of butb of these Yanks 1s in the shape of the Sprague paper, The directors of the First National Bank, to make up tne deticiency aller placing the Sprague paper on their bovks at twenty-live ccnts on the doliar, as- sessed their stockholders forty per cent, and uotwithstandiag this heavy drawback the bank 1s in = & prosperous “condition and ite directors are deterniped to hold on to the amount of the Sprague paper whicu they have on hand ($750,000), ° and like iost of the other creditirs will never sacri- fice 1, for they state that should the ate be sold even during (he present state of business they would realize more than iwice the amount which tue paper 18 Dringing at the present time, VIEWS OF OTHER CREDITORS. A cashier of a bank that holds a large amount of the paper was also waited upoa. The gen- tleman was averse to saying upything about the matter, but he stated, however, that there were several causes why the Spragues haa not paid any more dividends than they hud, the two principal ones being, tirst, depression of vuainess aud depreciation of prices, and, second, the inactivity, apathy and lack of harmonious action on the part of the creditors, He said that the “bread and butter” intluence exerted by the Spragues while in power waa still felt aud that 1uany Of tbe creditors were afraid to Sigh the agreement tor fear of displeasing them and of loging custom, either directly or indirectly, and this he believed was the cause why they had not fured any beter, Nhe cashier of one of the heaviest banka in the city, but who only have $30,000 worth of the paper, stated that that amount hud been cuarged off the books long age, but that it was securely stowed away in the voult-aad. there it would rewain, and. bo bad no doubt that his bank would reulize dollar for dolar for it. [t was, in bis opinion, @ mate ter of endurance, but unfortunately there were many of the creditors Who could not wflurd to keep the notes aud who were obliged to sacritice them. The Sprag matter he considered a conundrum, aud no one could be fouud Who was able to solvo it.’ It it was not tor the suit of the Hoyt children they (the creditors) “could put a stopper on Mr, Chaftee,” but it was at present the crediturs had no redress and were com- pietely in the dark as to how the affaira of the con- cern wero being managed, and he considered it impos- sible to predict what would be the foal ending of the unfortunate affair, The Spragues were living about in the same style as usual and bad their elcgunt shore resorts, horses, carriages, &c., and one would hardly think they were 10 the embarrassed condition repre- sented, A prominent business gentleman said that the mills were run vown and necded new machinery, aud, in View of this fact, could not manufacture cloth and compete with oiper mills, He contended, however, that their labor was cheaper than at other mille, Phey bad a Jarge stock of handsome prinis in the banus of their brokers in Now York, which were not being sold very readily, He thought the sejling of their paper for twenty-one wud a bal! cents showed a lack of con- tidence tn the concern, Ho was confident that their property, on aimost any valuation, would bring aity cents on the dollar He did not thin’ the idea of applying to the courts for re. dress practical,one, and it was, in bis opinion, impossible to divide the property owing to the num Ous attachments, Tbe lawyers bad made bad work of it, and were they successtul in getting g lavorablo de- cision from the Court they would meet with litigation at every hand. ASSRTS AND LIAMILITIES OF THE FIRM, The assets of the lirm when the committee made their report soou afver their suspension was $19,499,247 gad the liabilities $11,475,443, The Iabititi present une, in round numbers, amount to The committee who made the report at the request of the banks consisted of ex Goveraor Jame: Smith, ex-Governor Seth Padeliord, Mr. Rufus Water- man and Mr, George F, Wilson, who, tn eon eluding ther report, stated that ‘It boing the duty of the trustee to convert the property and pay the debis at as early o day us pov. wible, 111s mot unlikely that the Whole indebtedness may be cancelled in much less timo than three year: ‘This abic committee, 1t Would appear, were thus of the opinion that a better showing would have been mad ono your jater than the time thought necessary to can- cel the indebtedness, From several reliable sources your corr ascertained (hat the members of the Orm were living quite moderately compared to tue Way in which they jived prior to the fall of 1873, notwithstanding numerous statements to the contrary. it was also leurned tbat both Mr. Amasa Sprague aud Mr. Willam Sprague were attending strictly to their business, and were doing ali that lay im their power to extricate themselves from their critical positioa, Thoy receive but iittie or com- fort trom the rival “house,” and which is not to be surprii at, for the house of A. & W. Sprag has given them considerablo troubie in the past aod will bo likely (0 again should it regain its standing in the social, commercial and political world. THE CIGARMAKERS’ LOCKOUT. Yesterday was a quiet aud uneventful day among the cigarmakers now on strike, and but little business was done asthe men appear tired out by the many mevtings held during tho past week. A short meeting ofthe Executive Committee of the strikers was bold in the forenoon at Concordia Hall, avenue A, but there being no business to transact and as the rooms were required jor other purposes tho meeting was ad. journed Cigarmakers, however, jounged around avenue A, the Germania Assemvly Roo: Stanton #lreet and otuer resorts tor them all day and discussed the situation, A meeung of the Germun Cigarmakera’ Union was held in Social Hail, corner of Stanton and Chrystie sireets, in the alternoon, It was there ree d that the mombers Join the Lnternational Union, aro in full sympathy with the strikers, as many ol their members are among those iu the lockout The Ben are tully determined to hold out against the mans ufacturers, WORKINGMEN'S TROUBLES. The Mathieson & Wreckes Sugar Reflning Company, ot Jersey City, issued orders on Saturday tor the d: churge of 150 of their employés, Accordingly that umber were notified when they drew their wages Saturday evening that their services would be no longer required. Men who were married or bad a family to care tor were retained. A THEATKICAL MISHAP, In front of No. 364 Broadway, corner of Franklin Street, shortly ulter Saturday midnight, an accident occurres by which the ives of Mr. Augustin Daly and Miss Fanny Davenport were imperilied. An excava- tion bad been made for a new hydrant, anda hole about two feet deep mace io Wie Street, On the soute of this was pile of earth and paving stones about three fect high, The usaal light was displayed to warn drivers of dau but the place was not en- cloced, dir, Daly and his companion were being driveu up Broadway from Fuliwn Forry vy Joba Rogers, In a ou; ‘ Through the carclossuess ol the driver the horse was driven directly upuo the pile of stone, and, plunging headlong over, was kilied, The driver was turowo from bis box as Lhe coupé was suddenly thrown to | one side, *Luckily for the occupants the vehicle was hot overturued abd they escaped injury, Anotver vehicle was bailed and Mf, Daty trans: jen the danger light long belo iy but declared that the horse shied at the light am rushed tuto the excavation. He was permitiod to go home, 48 ho was not so drunk, wuen he arrived, as to jasuily his arrost tor iutoxication, The shock, it is believed, sobered him. PITY THE POOR POLICE, Mombera of the police force of this city on duty ia tho rain yesterday looked hike gigantic toadstoois aud Apparently telt very uacomiortabie, It was all on accouut of the new regulation of the Commissioners, whieh compels the men to lay aside the long, comforts avle rubver coats they formerly wore iu wet weather and adopt a diminutive rubber cope, not much longer than a pea jacket, A more Melancholy spectacle can hardly vo imagined than Wos yesterday presented by the tall guardians of tue peace wouriag the curtalted uew garment Lb por mits the Coat tails lo make thet appearance below, Causing @ ludicrous effvet, and the trousers of the offl- cord, drenched with the Water which descouds from the tent cape above, cling to tuelt nether liiabs aod the Water trickles down into the boots. Lb is said the ollicial surgeons are prepared to ireat several han. dred cases Of Fhoumatism bhis winter, aad rumor ha: iWthat (he next rule to be adopted by the Commis. sioners will clothe the men in knee breeches aad ehoes With Copper toes. POLICY SHOPS CLOSED, The policy shops at Nos, 18 and 20 Dover and No. 69 Gold strovts were raided upon by the police yesterday morning and Olty-cight persons sound therein wore taken prisoners, ‘The prisoners were a od before Justice Fiam mer at the Tombs, bat tho ofticors were anapie to swoar to having Witnessed actual gaubiiog oll were Glacharged, . .