The New York Herald Newspaper, October 29, 1877, Page 3

WITH MEHEMET ALL —_ The Last Days of the Late Com- mander’s Triumphs. DREADFUL DEEDS OF THE TURKS. Scenes on Battlefields and in De- vastated Villages. NO RUSSIAN PRISONERS! Camp or THe TURKISH ARMY, Koraxcug, twenty Mies East ov’ Bsyia, Sept 20, 187 this charming and once peaceful and equally pros- porous village lies on the direct road trom Popkeui on the Lom to Bjela, and is about eight miles trom tho former and twenty from the latter placo, It is at Present the furthest point at which non-combatants Can stay; for immediately beyond, at a distance of ubout four miles, the main body of the centre of Meuemet Ali’s army lies encamped, and three miles beyond that again we know that we are conironted by tho Thirty-second division of the Eleventh corps of tue Russian army, which forms the advanced guard of the larger force, which bars the way to Bjela, The house which I and a colleague who started with mo from Shumla have *aunexed” is situated close to the Bulgarian church; next to it is another house, which We have also appropriated for the use of our servants and horses, The day after we arrived a Turkish “vil- lager,” who carried about his person many tools Wich are quite useless in husbandry, presented bim- selfand announced that he was the owner of the prem- lses, which, seeing that the houso 18 in the Bulgarian quarter, was a statement requiring confirm@on, Our visitor, hower, said he proposed to occupy the Premises, but, ag we pointed out to him in forcible language the exceeding improbability ofsuch an event While we remained in them, ho grow contemplative, Bud said that what he meant was that after we lott he should take possession, and as we had not the slight- est objection to that course on his part wo parted quite amicably. Probably this ingenuous villager thought he hada fine chance of levying blackmail! from the rich “ingleez Pachas!?” BULGARIAN WHISKEY. After the horrors of Ketchiler and Karahassan camping in this village is comparatively ploasant—as Pleasant, indeed, as the miserable squalor of camp lufe can be, I have annexed two houses, with all the Outhouses and yards belonging to them, and have tmade myself at home under somebody else’s fig tree. Vhe village is full of wheat, rye and barley, stackod by the inhabitants in their gardens, but abandoned to the Russians and by them to us, The “‘Moscov,” vory obligingly, did not burn the stacks during his retreat through tho village, and our overworked horses are luxuriating in the plentiful supply of grain, W. ep ou beds of uothrashed wheat, and a gourbie which our Gervants have built of branches, arched and tied to- gether, is covered with masses of splendid barley, so as to be wind and weather proof Ax for the rye, we Iight our fros with it and bed down our horses in it! 1 remarked to the Turkish “villager” who isin my employ as special messenger between me and the Velograph office at Shumla that the Kopatchean bur- Gers would not have much rye bread this wintor if they camo back. “Rye bread!’ he exclaimed, with a Brim smile, “the giaours don’t make bread of their Tye; they make it all into raki.”? Asa proot of his Btatement he picked up in the garden a curious litule ®arthen flask and told me to smell the mouth of it. Rye whiekey and no mistake! In the yard of our house a huge fire of logs buros night and day, andio the intervals when we are not writing we are cooking nd eating. Marvelious stews of goose giblets and vogetables; soups of Liebig’s extract, flavored with @u onion; puddings of rice and condensed miik— Buch 18 our cuisine; for sauce we have the best—hun- ger. And so, although the evil day is drawing near when our last goose mast die and our last spoonful of Liebig dissolved, we cannot complain. Perhaps, be- fore we get down to the “hard pan” of army biscuits ud cold water, tue great baitie will be fougni aud won aud we shail be flying back to the comparative luxu- ties of the “Restaurant at Shumis.”” 4 SHUDDERING RECOLLECTION, Tho peace and quiet of our lilo 1m Kopatche is a pleusaut relief ‘rom the odious wod disgusting - ‘euce which we led in Ketchi. The am the yard Detuod the next house to min body of @ Russian soldier who had wu killed in the Oght when the Turks carried the village during the battio of Karabassan; the wretched muu’s head bad been hacked ofl—no doubt by the bashi-bazouks—and as the body tay naked, save for a cotton shirt, with extended legs and one arm doubled over the breast, the flies SWarmed over it, aud the horrid red neck was black ‘With the disgusting insects. I used to wake up at night wit! art aud broke tuto acoid sweat as I thought of that horrible unburied figure, but 1 tally induced the doctors, who had no such petty scruples, to have it put away out ot sight underground, For afew piustres— but not withoul—some bashi-bazouks were Mnduceu to bury the dead giaour. To this norror suc- cveded a worse ove. I bau heard when | lirst came to the village that there were five or six Russian heads kicking ayout the road, but 1 bad not cared to go and Bee them, Every morning aud afternoon during tue few days I was :n Kecchiler 1t was my custom to walk down to the Jountain, which was siiuated in a field mile distant trom my quar! On the third duy of my stay I Lappened to retura by anotver path, which passed by adry ditch, 1 was walking slowly along in the heat of ibe burning sun, thinking at the moment of absent friends and home, when | suddenly stopped horror s:ricken at the edge of the diton, There in tuo Tuobish and weeds lay oue of the heads! It was that ofa young man with crisp, light bair, but without beurd or mustache; the swollen eyelids were closed and the mouth was hall open ; there Was an expression of peaceiul repose on the teatures, but the whulv head Was of a gbasuly livid, brownish, gray color, wuich made it the most horrible object lever suw.” Myriads of tes were buzzing avout it, and there arose trom the diteh the sickening odor of corruption. 1 did not pass by that ditch in my future expeditions to the loun- bun, but Lheard thatthe head was afterward buried with the cup—the kept of a private soldier, with the number **l4u’”’ on the front—which lay beside it, ATROCITIES, I have studiously refrained auring the course of this war trom hunting for atrocities, There bas been too ‘much atrocity mongering already, aod the market bi becn overstocked, 1 have simply recorded the facts Which cume under my observation. ‘the Mussuiman Woten aud chiluren, Wounded to the death by lace thrusts and sabre culs, whom | saw at Rusgrad, were Occulur evidence to me Of Cossack brutality, and the eadivrs body and the severed head which 1 saw at Ketchiler testitied to bushi-bagouk flendisuness The full tale of tue utrocities committed by both the par- Les engaged in this lamentable struggie will never be known; probably halt the storics will never be Le- lieved. The deeds of the “Legion of Vengeurce” on the one side anu of the bashi-vazouks and Circassians on the otber form a chapter of horrors such as the his- tory of war bus rurely known oven in the old story of evullicting religions and nations struggling for exisi- ence. THK VATE OF THR WOUNDED. When it is considered that ia all ine engagements fouyht in Bulguria iu which the Turks have been vic. torious there have been no Russian wouaded brought into the Turkish hospitals the inierence is obvious; @ituer the Russians invariably succeeded, even in the haste aud contusion of retreat, im carrying off all their wounded, or else the Wounded’ were Kilieu by the vie- tors. Alter every battle that has beew loughi, on this sive of the Jantra, at least, the bashi-vazouks who swarm around the Turkish regular army have overrun the teld immediately aiter the close of the enguge- ment, 1 was informed by an eye witness that on one Occasion be suW sue Lusui-LuZvUKs KO Up bo Luroe wounded Russians 1 4 Wood aud mercilessly eut their throats. During the batue of Karauassan a lusown ollicer Was taken prisoner im the Village by the Ni ims, OF regular troops, who reheved bin ot bis | ewor Tevoiver and wateh, but vllered him no | personal injury; soon afterward some — redits, tho svldiers ol the second bun, oF reserve, came rushing Up the street, mad with fury, wod ine | stantly Killed the untortunate officer, So tar as lean uscertuim there have been no instances in waieh too soldiers of the reguiar army haye vroken joose frou the control of their oflivers, even in the heat of battie, aithongh provavly even ‘they have occasionally Wreaked thoir Vengeance on the dead bodies of their enemies. It geome to be a Mussulinan iwiling Wo cub off the heads of their foes alter death, BLOOD FURY, Iwas told that during the butte of Karabassan, while Nedjib Pacha, the general commanding the muiu attack on the village, was standing beneath o tree, looking at the progress of the fight, a Turkish soldier pussed by carrying, skewered on his bayonet, the head of a Russian, As he passed the general he laid the boad tridmphantly at nis js ao exceedingly bumaue aud enligh man aod = turned ay with af angry exclamation of disgust, whereupon the solaicr prowpuly rap bis bayouol through the head again, shouldered bis ghastly trophy and marched on. A situilar ineideut occurred ne the batie of Kuzeljevo at which Mehemet Ali com- manded in person. Toe General was standing with bis sift lookiug on at the developmont of the attack ot the Russian position, when a Turkish trooper galloped furiously past bolding out, at arm’s length, a dripping bead Whicn be grasped by tbe hair, The mun was mad with the Iury of batte, and actually hook the arippt headso thoy suy—in the of the commande chief, Who Immediately ordered him under arrest IMPOSSIDLE TO DESCRIBE. ‘Tuere is anotuer and more fourfal story which was current in Karabassan after the battle, and which was told me by creditable eye-witners the baiile there were gathered four doctors of the Stafford House society and several correspondents; and, as w natural, we spent the whole day in seeing the sights of the place nod avr. t over the battle held with a Viow of getting a good idea of the positions of the armios, { bave already mentioned the heads and the headless body, but there was anower “sigh? which 1am glad to say I did not 4ee, Sut which some of the others saw, By the side of the main road leading through the villages of Kotchiler aud Karuhayaay which was the Jue of advance of the attacking brig: there was the stark paked bogy of a Russian soldier with 4 stake driven into bis body in @ sbametul and disgusting méanner. From what ! could gather the man had deca killed by the foremost troops during the attack, for it waa rated to me that when the Main body and supports pasd along the road the dreadful object was thore, awd Was greeted by some of the triumphant soldiery with brutal jesis und laugh- ter. They recoguized’ in it the retatiation for the women and children of their fuith massacred vy tho “Legion of Veageance” south of the Balkans, abd thought, perhaps, of the henna stained fingers hucked {rom the hands of the women, of the ditecn women locked into a house, sbundoned for a while to the lust of the Bulgarians and then buraca alive, PRISONERS OF Wak. be imagined thut there have been very few ‘stuken on either side during ahe w o quarter”? has been the rule, There ure, however, at present somo eighteen Russian prisoners at Suumla, most of whom were captured alter the skirmishes on the Lom. I was at Karabassan when one of them, a vory young man, was brought in; be had been wounded in the foot and had hidden bimselt ina hole in the hills, whore he bad remained for forty-cight loura witnout food or water, He then gave pimseif up aud fell into the bands of the regulars who were stationed in the village, was: res treated, and wheu ho had been examined by the Pacha in command was given # horse to ride, 98 he could not walk, and taken to the Euglish ambulance to have his wound dressed, AN ATTACK ON THK LEVT WING. On the 13th the Russians attacked the leit wing of the Turkish army near the village of Simaukeu, and Iwas cnabled by the courtesy o Mehemes All, who gave me the details of the affair bimeel!, wo telegraph them to you by the fleld telegraph via Shumla on the following day. Mehemet Ali was not present himself at the Hight, but it wae seen from the heights above thia villuge by the generals in command of this part of the army. Russians were observed to bring up three guns, two battalions of infantry and regi- ment of cavairy, and moved out to attack the position of Sabit Pacha upon the high ground above tho right bank of the Banischka Lom, Soon four more guns and two more battalions were seen to advance, and a heavy cupnonade commenced on both sides, Subit’s artillery opened {rom two batteries, which were about a mile apart, and fortwo hours # tremendous arul- lery duel went on, when there came a lull. bree more battalions of, imiantry and somo cavalry were then seen to advance along the valley uuder the fire of eight Turkish guns. ‘Tbe resuit of this severe combat was the failure of the Russian attack, Savit maintuining his position on the heiguts. -y . It ma} priso: THE DAY BEYORE THE CKUSHING TURKISH DE- FEAT AT CHERKOVNE—THE ADVANCE OF THE ARMY OF MEHEMET ALI—A GLIMPSE OF THE BUASIANS—THE DEFENSIVE POSITION ON THE BANISCHEA LOM—THE EVE OF BATTLE, Witn tax ARMY O¥ MrHEMET ALL Vovitscua, Eigurees Mites East or ima} Sept. 20, 1877, My last lotter was dated from Kopatché, a village about four miles in the rear of Voditscha, which Is our present stopping place, ‘the indofatigablo pair ot fighting pachas, Salich and Valentine Baker, have con- tinued their daily reconnoissances, and, as a result of the last one, the headquarters camp has pushed on another four miles and is now situated on the heights, immediately above this village. The recounoissance made yesterday establishea the fact that the enemy 1g 1m force in our immediate neighborhood, and that the country round about us 18 a diflicult one to defend 10 Case Of a reverse, "i BETTHR THAN THK RUSSIANS, Since the advance of the army from its positions on the Lom, I have been much struck with the wonder- ful aptitude which the Turks have shown in maint ing their telographic communications and in making roads for the passage of their troops and artillery, Wherever Mehemet Ali gocs be hasa telograph 1ustru- ment under his fingers, and 18 in direct communica- tion with Constantinople, The wire is run along poles, or stretched from tree to tree along the whole line of advance, and the moment that the camp moves the telegrapn staff keeps pace with it; the poles are set up and tho wire stretched witn a rapidity that could not be surpassed anywhere. The telegraph 1s one of tho few western institutions which have taken frm root in Turkey, and its value is thoroughly appreciated. The Janguage singularly lends itself to telegrapby, und Tam told that the pachas and generals delight iu sit- ting at cach end of awire and baving a chat of hours in the totervals between their coffee and cigarettes, Itiga@ good sign. In roadmaking they ure equally to the front, Ibave mentioned how, in a marvellously short space of time, roads were cut through the thick woods up the difficult heights of Kirichen ridge ove: looking Popkeui anu the Valley of the Lom, and Krupp guns dragged to the top of the crest and even tothe summit of the Sakae Tepd, its highost point, The mere presence of guns on that commanding posi- ‘tion would bave rendered the village of Popkeui un- tonabie, without tue necessity of au uttack across the valley, and the Russians wore evidently taken by sur- prise when the puffs of smoke darted out from the peak, toward the close of the battle of Karabassan, aud the Turkisu guns raived duwn shells upen them from san vation of 700 fee. Th roads are well and solidly constructed and practicable for the heaviest field guns, strong batteries being thus estab- lis nts Which, at first sight, appear quite in- accessible to artillery. No sooner 1s the roau cut and luid to the required point than guopus und shelter trenches are dug uad powerful redoubig thrown up in @ twinkling, anu thus, in (oe course of a single night, the edge of w ridge or the top of a null, which was be- jure un unbroken forest or a smooth field, will bristle with Krupp guns and suddenly become an impregn bie stronghold. In tho use of the fleld telegraph and tary roads and eartuworks re level with the most advanced Powers of Europe, anu their proficiency in th ters, brought out and developed by the pi ot war, will no doubt be recognized when its history comes to be written. vopiTscHa. The moment I heard of the decision to advance the headquarters camp another stage, | prepared to leave my quarters at Kopatchd and iustal myself at Voditseba, a large village which li @ short dis- tance from the Bjela road, and 18, like all the other villages along the route traversed by the Russian army 10 18 retreat, empty and desolate, the whule of the Bulgarian population, men, women and children, having gone over to the enemy whou he first arrived in the neighborhood. Tbe men are no doubt doing g00d service for their liberavors as drivera of wagons, hewers of wood and drawers of water; to deal with the women aud children was perhaps a more aifficult and delicate matter; I suppose they have been dis- tributed among the villagos whico lic on the velt of country occupied by the Russians, aod have tuken up heir bores in the quarters trom which the Mussdlman invabitants flea when the tide of invasivn rolled toward them. Since the deseat of the Kussians ou the Lom aod the advance of the Turkish army across the river, there has been a steady tow of Turkisn villagers 10 its wake. Some of them are returning to tuoir own Villages, and if their homes happen to have been burned tuey take up their quarters 1n the Bulgarian houses, which were, of course, spared by the Kussiaus, The advanced guard of those returning refugees, consisting of parties of a dozeu orso of basiisbazouks, Invariably tollows clos ob the heels of the Russians, and immediately takes possessivn of @ villugo as sou us Lavy have evacuated it The bashis proceed at once to “oot” the Bulgarian quarter of ail the grain wod lodder ana to carry off Irom the houses every portable article that remaius, A GLIMPSK OF THK ENEMY. Lhave already mentioned that the reconnoissances Of Salich and Baker Pacha has resulted in ‘leeltug’” and finding lim established in force, ap- repared to bar our further advance upoa Uresvived, therefore, although correspondents “are not expected’? to approach the positions of the artny beiore a vattle, to make @ litte reconnoissance ou WY OWN Account, and, If possible, get a glimpse of the evemy in our front aud make a few notes as to the | keneral LOpography of the country. So 1 started carly Yesterday moruing and rode up to ihe plateau oi Which tho beuaquarter camp is pitched, giving the cuinp itself @ wide berth, aud keeping clear of the small detachments of eavairy which were stationed boul, Alter riding lor avoUL & Unti8 Bloug tue rod, | which ruus parallel to the valley on the livights, 1 | Feached aoue gun battery wich had been turown | up at the end of “the ridge commanding | the approacu to the valley from the west, The | Uraybasit (major) in command frateruized with mo and pointed out the position of the “Moseovs’’ and of tho other Turkisu batteriws, The Russian position was on & bare, rounded ridge, which trom our puint of view seemed Lo extend across the valley ana elose it, but Which runs at right angles to the general line of 1 of the river which flows through it, This litle stream, bere cuiied the Cherkovne, is tue course of tow Bunischka Lom, 1 mentioned in at letter that i appeared probable that the Russians Would muke a stand at some point along bois rive od the supposition bas turned out to ve cor: rect.’ The camp fires of the Ruestans wero plainly to be sven on the ridge, and 1 caught now and then the glitter of ® buyonet aud tho gleam of tue sunlight along the polished metal of field guvs 1m position on the cress; it Was evident that tho enemy was in (ores vpon and behind that bill, and would dis- pute With us Upon [bal ground the possession of the Toud to Kjela, Leaving tbe friendly major of artillory { went on down the hill, proposing vo push as fur as Cherkovne, the Village which hes in the Valiey 10. mediately beneath the Russian position, BEYOND THE LINKS. The road led through deuso thickets of brushwood And Was guarded at short inwrvals vy pickets of cay airy, the troopers lying in tho shade, with their bor: (saudied and bridled) tettored around them, w: two of thuir number stood on the luok-out down tho road, I went ou past what 1 suppose was the lust picket, as it soomed to bo more Vigilant than the vers; tid two sonirio’ were perched up im the branches of two trees on either sido of =the way, tho barrels of their Winchostor carbines, ready lor instant us, poking out throateaingly trom the jeuves, Boyoud this picket L came upon a boay of bashi-bazouks, seated ina circle in the wood, no doubt discussing the probabilities of future ser ems and spoils, Ast was aware of the custom of employing bashi-bazouks as advance: Scouts and écluireurs When in presence of the evemy T began to think that I had goue far enough and might run arisk of being cut aff by the Cossacks tf 1 ven- tured further, The bashi-bazouks told me, in answer "to. my inquiries, that there were many ‘Moscovs” close by, and that the scouts of both armies used Cherkovna as a sort of Tom Tiddier’s ground for wayluying each other, A Bulgarian come down from the Russian positions into the village, a duys ago, apparently jor the purpose of seeing whether there were any Turks there; a bashi-bazouk was there, unfortunatwiy for the Buigarian, and bad a quiet shot at bim as be approached, the man staggered away out of sight, bat was found dead next morniug behind a bush, Oo the whole, therefore, 1 thought Cherkovoe was no place fora peaccable non-combatant, and returned past the vedettes in the trees, who smiled grimly as I went by, to the plateau 1 was disquieted to find a whole regiment of infantry drawn up across the road, apparently being reviewea by a picha and his sta! who were siowly riding along the line. WORSK THAN WOOLSKY. I thougut tue pacha looked very like Salich, the genera! commanding the division stationed bere, and a8 be 18 particularly obnoxious to correspondents—I beg his pardon, as corre spondents are particularly obnoxious to biin— J thought I had better remuia at a respecttul distance until he had gone by. It was a# well, porbaps, that L did 20, for J fancy His Serene Highness Priace Hassan of Egypt, who from we height of his serenity also condesceuds ty regard correspondents witu aisiavor, wus ridiog wlongsiie, and if had been hauled up be- fore these two wugust personages | might Lave expo- rienced the honor of being snubbed by them, Here, 1 contess, | um inclined to lay down my pen, get up walk about, goash my teeth and foam atthe mouth for a while, und then resume my seat to pour forth my soul in bitter {nvective against the wretehed treatment which correspoudeuts whose miserable ta it hus been to follow tue Turkish army have had to endure, especially tuose of us who are copsidered to represent journals “hostile to lurkisu interests” But I reirain irom launching out rato the long story of our woos und uilficuities, which would only tire tne patience of your readers and cause me to expend much energy which nad betier be reserved for worthier pur. poses, After ull, 1 had paid ao undisturbed visit to the most advanced position of the army on the Kyela oad, aud it 1 was compelled from motives of policy Gonducive to the discharge of my duty to rein in my horse behind a tree tustead of facing the terrible Sulich, the conqueror of Abyssinia, and & whole rogi- ment of Turks, it Was po great matier. The fate of empires did not bang on the result of my trip to the outposts, Ihe presence of this regiment on the plateau and the kuowludge of tuo fact that a remforcement of six bate talions receutly arrived at Varna trom Soukuoum Kalo had been pushed torward to this weighvorhood jo all baste convinced me that there was some truth in the rumors which had been floating about the camp thata bate was immivent, Either Mehemet Ali expected the Russians to attack bum oo the road and check bis advance or else he was going to attempt to disiodge them from their position on the riugo above Cherkovne. I returned, therefore, as quickly as possible to wy quarters at Vodilseha, a filthy Bul- garlun bovel, swarming with vermin and reeking with littered offal, to write a description of the ground upon Wich the battle will be tought. THX BATTLE GROUND. Voditscha, the present beauquarters of the Turkish army under Mevemet All, is avout eighteen miles 10 a straight line trom Bjela, between the Jantra and th Lom, but by the road about twonty-five miles This Toad, which is a continuation westward of the main road trom Sbumla and Eski Djuma to Popkeni on the Lom, follows the course of a vuiley in a generalsouth- westerly direction until 1t reaches the village of Cher- kovne, where it lorms an angle and turns to the north. westward to Biola, ‘tho village of Cherkovne, which lies as this angle, is also at the intersection of a road which runs north and south from Kaceljevo, on the Low, to Tirnova, Alter leaving Coerkovne this inter- secting roud crosses the upper course of the Banischka Lom by a bridge, aud runs behind a well marked ridge southwostward to the viliage of Chairkeni and thonce to Tirnova This ridge, which extends southward from the left bank of the Banischka Lom for a distance of avout three miles, is the position upou which the Russiaus have resolved to make a staud and Nght w batiie to cheok tho further advance of Mehemet Alt upon Bjela ‘The naturo of the ground and the importance of the ridge, covering ag it does the intergection of the two roads, render it probable that a desperate resistance will bv this point, ‘The battle ground is contaimod with: uadrilateral figure formed by the villages of Urikler, Verboca and Koprivea on the westorn or Russ an side, and thoso of Voditecha, Osikova and Houjekikeu on the eastern or Tu nh side, e valley of the Banischka Lom pa: through this figure curve extending irom Voditscha and Koprivea, tho coucavity bemg presevted towurd the Russians. Close to the village of Verboca, but on the opposite bank of the river, in the valley, is Cherkovne, @ once considerable village, which was entirely by the Russians whon they passed through. The heights which bound the valley on the northern side steeper than those on the opposite side, and are oken into barrow ravines which extend down to ver, Th heights over the village of Cherkovne are covered with brashwood irom tue river upwaru, but the flat summits are partly cultivated. Tho Banischka Lom is here trom eight to nine feet wide and irom three tosix feet deep, and like the three other Loms, the westernmost of which, the Kara Lom, tt joins, it flows within deep banks, the surfaco of th: water being wbout ten feet beneath the level of tI ground, There is a brid; the stream about hb u mile below tho village of Chorkovno; the others have been destroyed by the Russians, ‘the bare rounded ridge occupied by the enemy ana another and higher ridge, the upper part of which is wooded, while the lower slopes toward the village are occupied by vineyards. TH RUSBIAN POSITION, ‘rhe long, rounded bill which has been so ekilfally chowen by the Russians as their defensive position 18 @ cultivated slope cut into low terraces aud sparsely dotted with trees, The works constructed by them on the summit of the ridge, and on tue slopes toward the river, consist of gun pits and shelter tronches; tue whole niilside is dug over with rifle pits, and the position is oue of great strength, It is believed that the loree gathered (o withstand Mehemes Ali consists of the Thirty-second division (Eleventh corps) and a portion of the Thirteeath corps, while further to tne north aud probably unavailable at this part of their line, lies the Tweifth corps, opposite to which are the jorces of Achmet Eyoub, forming the rignt of the ‘Turkish urmy.’ Immediately con- frootiug the Russian position ure the di- visions of Salich Pacha and Prince Hassan, which bave been recently reiatorced by the battalions withdrawn from Asia, With their usual evergy the Turks have orected batteries ou the best positions on the horghts opposite the Kussian position, and havo the leeds vi dominating it, aituough at a very Jong range. 1t ts believed (hat ail the preparations are complete either to make or oppose an attack; im any case the struggle wiil ve u desperate one. The Turks, flushed with tueir victories ou the Lom, are eager to strike another biow ut the retreating evemy, while ly nade up their minds that Ali shall pot advance in the direction Bjela veyoud the line of the Banischka Lom, Varing the whole of to-day a dense tog hus overbung the eatire couutry and the hostile armies are invisible to euch otuer, A solemn stillness and silence—broken only by an occasional trumpet call— has reigned in the camp and upon the bills around 1, aod the long line of watcn dres which light up their suinmils and wark the pusition of tae Turkish army is shrouded from view, | lie down in my clothes for & lew heurs’ sleep vetore dayvreak, with a sirong presentiment that if the fog litis the sound of the guns will be heard in the morning and the attack begin. 1 believe that L shall havo to write the story of a groat butile at Cherkovno to-morrow. It may bo tbat Mehemot Ali will have tought one battle too mach, THE CRESENT AND THE CROSS, The ladies of New York aro nover backward when suffering appeals tor rolief, They raised over $1,000,000 om a single occasion for the relief of the wounded in our own war, and now thelr sympathios extend toward the wounued and dying soldiers in the st, Meetings wore beld last week at Mrs, W. K. Vanderbilt’s and at Mrs, Marshall O, Roberta’, and among the ladies present were Mrs, K. M. Vail, Prest- dent; Mra. C. L. Perkins, Secrotary; Mrs, Thomas Hiteueook, Treasurer; Mra 8, L. M. Barldw, Vice President, and many others. A considerable sum of money was subscribed on the spot, aud it was decided to give three entertainments in aid of the cause, Tue first, to be # performance by the brilliant com- pany of the Théatre Francaise, which bas kindly volunteered {ts services, will take place Friday, No- vember Tho first piece will be “Mademoiselle Beighe: a comedy in four acts by Emile Angier and Jules Jardon, aod the secoad “Le Chapeau d'un horioger.”” Mr, Marsbali O. Roberts, the owner of the Lyceum Theatre, bas placed it ab the dis position of the ladies for the oseasion, All the boxes and most of the seats have been taken by the lady managers and their friends, which wil iwsure a full, iashiouable house, The re- inaining seats will be tor sale to-day at No, LL Lexing- tou avenue, and thereafter until Friday at the French Yheatre mm Twenty-third street, The second entertain ment Will be a@ private coucert at the house of Mrs Marsiull O. Roverts on the evening of November 27, aud the third will be a grand ball at the Academy of Music on December Ll. We wad liberal aud Benevolent geutiema@a (nov he who trans- ports the obelisk) bas bired the Acauemy for the occa+ Sion, Aud presents the use of It Lo the ladies, who, we hope, will receive abundant eocuuragement ‘from’ the puviie, NEW YORK LIBERAL CLUB, Tho following named persons have boem elected oflicurs of the New York Liberal Club for the yeur 1877-8:—Presidout—\ire, Klizabeth Thompson, Trus- toos—Roburt A, Gunn, M.D.; RB, 1, Hallock, M. D.; | Joun MH, Johvston, Stephen S. Nash, Cortlandt Pal mor, James Parton, General Frang Sigel, simon Sterne and VY. H. Van der Weydo, M.D. Lecture Gom- uitteo—Daviel Gardner, A, L. Rawson, LL. v., 0. D., ana Charles Sotheran, ‘Tréasuror—James M. MeKivlay, crevary—Daiiel T, Gardner, The ciud also elected Charles Sothoran Wo act as secretary und Stephen 5. Nash as member of the Lecture Commitice during the absence of Daniel 1, Gardner tn 8t Petersburg, kus- sia, In accordance With amendments to the const totion of the club, adopted @ few months ago, tho otllces of corresponding secretary aud lirst, second ard third vice presidents are abolished, ‘ine Treas- vrer in his aunuai report showed te club to be out of debt, with a balance im band, NEW YORK HERALD, MONDAY, OCTOBER 25, L THE CUBAN WAR. Spain Meking a Supreme Effort to Crush the Insurrection. MARTINEZ CAMPOS’ PROMISE. Thirty-two Thousand Troops Sent to the Front. STRENGTH OF THE INSURGENTS. Silence of the Spanish Press in Reference to the Progress of the War. ————EE Maprip, Oct. 7, 1877. Spain bas definitely made up her mind to put down the Cuban insurrection, if it can be done by the sacri- fice of blood, She has sent out hor best and most energetic geveral and turnished him lavishly witn men, The telegraph has just announced the arrival at Santiago de Cubaol the transport which carried out the last detachment of 12,000 troops that have been despatched trom various Spanish ports sinco the 1éth of last August. To these must be added a turther reinforcement Of 20,000 troops, which bad been de- spatohed within tho past year, making in all a rein- forcement of 82,000 men added to the already consid. erable forces operating against the Cuban insurgents, When it is considerod that the forces at the disposal of tue Cuban leaders do not Probably amount, all told, to over 6,000 fighting mon, poorly armed, badly clothed and almost without ammunition, except wuat they happen to capture or obfain through treachery from tho Spagish soldiery, the sending out of such a powerful army would seem unnecessary, But the Spanish peopie aro becoming dissatisfied at the continuance of 4 war which the government constantly declares to be unimportant and yet is unabie to suppress, lv a few days the in- surrection will have completed ite ninth year, and it would be difficult to estimate the sacrifices of blood and money which tho struggle has imposed on the Spanish people. Ana it is couiessed by the more in- Velligent Spaniards that the condition of affuirs in Cuba 18 to-day less satistactory than when the rebellion was at its height in the first years of the war. Euch suc- ceeding government has promised the Spanish people that the insurrection would be finally suppressed within @ given time, with what result 1s already koown, GENERAL CAMPos’ PROMISE, The government of the young King Alfonso has also taken a public engagement to stamp out the last spark of rebellion, aud General Martinez Campos, un- taught by the oxperionce of his predecessors, has pub- licly engaged to suppress the insurrection by next January. There is no douvt he means to do it, for he iw brave and energetic. He has also a good military reputation to sustain, and he will leave nothing un- done to fulfil his promise.’ Whatever the result of the coming campaign, the Cuban insurgents can count on having rather a hard timo until the rainy season comes again to shield them from their enemies, If the war in Cuba were an ordinary war, where the combatants meet under something approaching equal- ity, or could tho Spanish general be suro of being able to compel his adversaries to fight, under even the most favorable conditions for them, tho result of the campaign would not be tor one moment doubtiul Tho Cuban insurgents would bo exterminated. But it 1s questionable whether General Martinez Campos, even with the immense forces at his disposal, can compel the insurgents to Bive battle, What ho no doubt will succeed in doing will be to break up the larger bands and compel them to seek safety in the hiding places which abound in the woods and mountains of the island; but when this bas been accomplished, nothing will, 10 reality, have been gained, for the bands will reform as soon as the torrential rains and compel the Spaniards to retire from the field, There is, therefore, reason to fear that the coming campaign will be as fruitless as the past ones have been, and that the Cuban insurgents will cele- brate the teuth anniversary of the war of indepen- dence, in spite of General Campos’ promise, SPANIEH INCAPACITY, The truth about the insurrection is that it would be @agy enough to put it down had Spain a really intelli- geut government, But the system pursued here of suppressing all criticism of tho acts of tue mon in au. thority naturally results in the triumph of stupidity @nod incapacity, Ouly a few men have dared, even in the Cortes, to question the acts of the generals aud governors in Cuba, and when General Salamanca, in tho last session, called for the production of papers re- forring to the conduct of the war in Cuba tho govern- mont declared it would not lend itself to such an act of treachery as to make public the official information which it possessed concerning a war which had dragged ou tor eight years. Yet the government of King Al- tonso pretends to boa parliamentary government, butif it be so 14 je made on a peculiarly Spanish model, During the nine years the war in Cuba bas continued the successive Spanish governments do not seem to have learned anything. In this they have proved themselves, whether monarcbical or republican, to have been truly Bourbon, Even now there ts no idea of dealing with the causes which lie at the bottom of the insurrection and give it strength and tenacity of Ite, It is thought envugh to send out soldiers, who Cun settle tue matter in dispute with rifle bullets, aud the man who Would pubiicly advocate the introduc- Vion of reforms Which would go Jar toward conciliating the vast mass Of the Cuban population would bo looked ou as a bad Spaniard anu a person to be re- garded with suspicion. Before any effort tn the direc- tion of reform can be made the isiard must be reduced to obedience, and it 18 not very cer- tain that even then much attention would be paid to the prayers of ex-rebele for reorm. While the governing Class entertains these opinions the war must Continue to be a war of persecution, and its re- Suit must depend on whether the Spanish soldiers are able to hunt down aud exterminate the active and cunning enomies who have known how to baille all the eflorts of overwhe!ming force directed against them during the past ive years, And, in truth, the prospects are by no means so favorabie lor Spuin as might be judged trom a hasty comparison between the actual opposing forces. SPANISH INCAPACITY, It 18 not aloue in the matter of politics that the Spanish goverumeut ave shown stupidity aud incompetence. Kven tn ti favorite sphere, the conduct of military wffuirs, they have dis- played and continue to display xn incredivio incapacity, Take, for example, the system adopted iu reinforcing the army in Cuba, On the conclusion of the Carlist war Spain possessed a respectavle army inured lo the fatigues of war, in which the various regiments had acquired discipline, seil-contidence aud that most necessary quality im the soldier, esprit de corps. Here was inuterial that could nave been used witu great advautuge, to be sent to the Canary Isles and Puerto Rico to replace the garrisons there, which Were in au excellent state of organization, aud, being acclimatized bo the tropics, could have beeu sont to operate 19 Cuba with the utmost advantage, Any intelligent guvernment woula wither Lave sent the veteran regiments of the Carlist war direct to Guba or would bave used them as | have Indicaced in replacing the garrisons of the Canary Isles and Puerty Rico, but the spanish government did neither the one uor tue ower, HOW THE ARMY WAS REINPORCED, Ib-resolved to send out 82,000 wen, aud in order to do this called for Voluuteets, Civillaus of soldiors were equally acceptable, but as this measure did Hol prove very successiul the Minister of War was obliged to bave recourse to what is known in Lodia n8 forced volunwering. hat te to say, each regiment wae ordered tu supply &certam number of men to com: plete the 42,400 veeded by the government, aud these tuilitary mobs Were pul on board transports aud hurries off ty Cuba, These men are ce ily with out cohesion OF espriide corps. On Uber arrival ip Havana, of Sanviugo do Cuba, they are allowed to vativas regiments, with which they bave had no association and no tovlliug of comradeship, The work of meking an army out of such hetero geneous materials must impose heavy labor on the General-in-Chiel, as well as oo his subordinat wud it 18 provable that good deal of time, whi should be devoted to active campaigning, will be av- sorbed 1m the work of organization, Had the moro intelligent course of sendiny out the veteran regi moots, With their thorough organization and the ex- cellent esprit de corps which was the natural resalt of heir successful Campaigns ngaiust tho Carlet been adopted, the same Humber of men would have given very much better resuits, One of the reasons why this Was BOL done Was, poruaps, beccuse tue troops were needed at bome vo susiain che gew King on his HOt Very seoure throne, DESERVES CRHOIT FOR KNERGY, Although the government bos biundered frightfuily in the syaiem adopted tw reluforce the army iu Cuba, At certainly deserves the credit which is due to energy Gnd tenacity, Notalove tave the 82,000 tropa been sent out With an expedition bitherto Uukuoewn iB | Spanish military undertakings, but the effort to still Jurtber remiorce the uriy 14 coutmucd. Kvery steamer that leaves Lue Peninsula lor Cuba carries out & detach mont, large or small, according \o the success whien has ationded the volunteering, nud iu all the lates contres of population recruiting vllices aro open 1877.—WITH SUPPLEMENT. ; to receive the volunteers of hungor and misfortune. If, therefore, the constant supply of food for powde and yellow fever can wear out the Cuban insurrection, Spa will make the necessary sacrifice of blood, BICKNKSS AMONG THLE T. There is, however, another side to the picture, and this is furnished by the medical report on the sani- tary condition of the Spanish army in Cuba. In this Feport it is admitted that on the 16th of Inst August there were ip the military hospitals 29,000 sick so dicrs, and, as we kpow how fatal sickness is to Europeaus about this period in Cuba, some idea may be formed of the enormous loxses s| army without coming {nto enemy. ‘bis 16 one of the natural results of yeuding troops direct from Spain ipetead of using the accli- matized troops from the Canar STRENGTH OF THR Notwithstanding the great succes: gov- ernment claims attended Genera! Campos’ last your's Campaign against the insurgents, itis confessed in an official telegram (rom Havana that there are still afoot in Comaguey rebel forces to the number of 2,000, Four years ago, when the present Minister of War,” General Ceballos, was Captain General, he deel that there was no organized rebellion, that the s0- called insurrection had been crushed, and that ouly remained bouds of brigands, who sustained the: elves by plunder and mur pursued took refuge 10 their hiding places in Lhe woods tams. Yet now, after tte lapse of four y | tul war, this same General Ceballos proclaims that there are 2,000 rebels tn artns in the Central Departmentaione, without counting the forces which muy exist in the districts vo! Holguin, Bayamo and Santiago de Caba and Baracoa, iu all of which points the insurrection has maintained itvell tenaciousiy from the beginning. WAR NEWS OF THE SPANISH PRESS. The news paolished in the Madrid papers about the progress of the Cuban war is of the most trivial and Uninteresting character, and such is the reserve im. verse character. ment of King Alfonso t! ih press enjoys less liberty than did the French pi ip the worst days of the Second Empire. The men in power try to imitate as closely as possible the French conservatives, whose “moral order” ery they have adopted, wity objects still more personal and éeltish oven than the support. ers of MacMahon, A government paper the other day published an article regretting that Spanish jour- nals were becoming mero retuilers of news, and that tbe active reporter, who merely recorded events, was taking the pla the thinkers and serious writers, One of the liberal papers, lt Jmparcial, replied, wel and wittily, that the conservatives should not be astonished at the decay of polemical power ia the press, a8 it was tho result of atropny, for, while tho government left the legs of the reporters iree, it fet- tered the minds of the thinkers. In such a condition ot the press it i8 no wonder that the Cuban war news Gousisis In the announcement that a certain column made a reconnoissance in the direction of the enemy and succeeded iu capturing one woman and a child, or that another column, more lucky, encountered a band of some forty insurgents, and, having exchanged a number of shots, let them ‘get ‘away, with, of cour the loss of one tnun killed aad two wounded, 1 follows a list of objects of bardware captured from the enemy, with, perhaps, a few horses or mules. It never seems Lo occur to any one to ask Why the com- mander did not foliow up the forty men and leave the saddies and other hardware to be picked up after- ward; but if officers were to actin tnis way there would svon be no rebels, and Othello’s occupation would be gone, AN ENERGETIC GENERAL, The Information we receive avout the movements of General Martinez Campos proves that ho has lost none of the energy and decision which distinguished him in his Spanish campaigns, He bas put everything iv order for the opening of the campuign in the Central Department, and at latest advices bad proceeded to the Eastern Department, where he proposes to super- Viso the preparations for tbe campaign, which he will direct in chief, The result will nu doubt be a very an- pleasant time for the insurgents. It is supposed that Goneral Campos wilt put himself at the head of the troops in the Central Department as soon as he has concluded bis inspection of tho troops and looked after the preparations for the campaign in the Eastern De- partment, a8 his piun scems to be agenvral attack bal gover. along the whole iine, Once begun the attack is pretty certain to be Vigorously maintained as jong a8 the weather will permit, for Campos 18 one of those generais who believe in the policy of hammering his enemies until the last gusp ig outof them. Whether the Cubans will stand to be hammered is, of course, another question, As an evidence of the kind of energy displayed by Gen- eral Campus, a Cuban paper relates that arriving in @ gunboat at Macto and tluding that the commander at Uhts point had sallied out with his regiment, the Gen- eral took a guard of twenty men aod marched on foot over thé mountains some thirty miles, until he overs took the column and its commander, Having 1n- Spected the troops and given his orders to the com- manding officer, the General next day retraced his gteps and continued his voyage to Santiago do Cuba, where he no doubt found more ugrecavic quartors. ‘With a general ot this kind at tho bead of the army an active campaign may be looked for with certainty. Spain has made a great effort, and the next few montue will decide whether or not the Cuban insur- rection can be suppressed by Spanish bayonots, JOURNALISM THE GREAT PROFESSION, THE ABSURDITY OF RANKING PHYSIC, LAW, THEOLOGY OB ARMS AHEAD OF LITERATURE— THE SUCCESSFUL EXPLORATIONS OF THE JOURNALIST CONTRASTED WITH THE PITIFUL FAILURES OF A NAVAL OFFICER, [From the London Anglo-American Times. ] 1t bas been noticed how prone journalists are, espo- cially in England, to depreciate their calling and the way In whicu the work is performed, Journalism is Scarcely permitted to pass a3 a profession, though, perhaps, the most important of any, and that which now does the hardest work ot al It ts ludicrous to contrast what journalists are accomplishing all over the world with their reward; the magnitude of the tusk performed with the credit awarded; and, curl- ously enough, the want of recognition 1s helped by their own action. In England, which more or loss sets the fashion to the world, innovations are opposed by the national sentiment and make but slow prog- ress, To the number of the our professions—arms, physic, law and theology—prejudices work against ad- ditions. Whatever may be the change tn society, whatever the importance of the new calling, it ts dit- ficult to get it recognized as a projession, ana perhaps the most remarkable instance of this is fernished in journalism, Thero is a great body of opinion against it, & prejudice all the stronger the stronger becomes the claim, That prejudice perm: the four protos- sions; it permeates society and is encountered all through politica, Itisseen in letters, in the drama, in legislatures, in municipalities, among the managers of companies and joint stock operations generally. This being felt by journalists induees many to adopt @ supercilious tone about their own calling, und bas led to the habit of deerying the work of their tellow laborers, A “mere nowspaper correspondont,” ‘a newspaper criticis *Ou! TL suppose you saw that in some pewspaper.”” “A newspuper fellow wauted to thrust him i into our meeting,” re rks a director, NO PRESS, NO SIX GARNET WOLSKLEY. “Sond mo anyiuing Lut w uewspapor correspond. ent” 18 the common wxclamation of the general; and some journalists write so as to re-echo the tone, Yot the truth is tuat nearly all who thus tik get their opinions from the papors, bey are supplied by tho Lewspaper meu with the very conversation they ree til, ihe conclusions they suppose they Lave reached, anu for which they are ready 10 make a gacrilice, are \hose worked out in other minds, and were tuey de- prived for a week ot every copy of 4 newspaper they would begin to leurn trom the vacancy within whence flowed the source of their inspiration. Parliament 1s supposed to be the assemuled Wisdom Of the nation, but if We compare what js said in Parliament with what {sg said in the press we find that there is loss nonsense Circulated iu the latter, and fewer mistakes made; that, on the whole, the Journalist more than holds bis oWn With the legislator, This is 4 fair com- parison, for in the daily press the journalist bad even jess time for consideration tuan the speaker. indevd the former oiten has to write offhand on a subjoct the member has beea mouth “IN BKMALY OF But it is not the arduous iavors of tue journalist ia bis office which wo here propose to discuss, Perhaps tuere is bo profession so jealous of correspondents as that of arms, and perhaps there is bo postion la whieh the journalisi—meaning by the word the person who derives his living trom furnishing ‘eopy’’ ly newspa appears to better advantage. Tu tho tiret piace, be has vw bear all tue hardships aud dangers of the hardest fought campaign, He hus to keep lis mind vely employed on hia work to ao oxtout incum- Vent only on responsible stall villeers, to got a com | prehensive koowieuge of ail the operations—of the couutry, of the army with Which be serves; aud be 1s compelied ail the time to keep the clews in hand aod | himself up to the changing phases each day or night may produce, Lusvead of being aided in this laborious tusk he is generatly impeded, He has to fad his own Means of Carriage 4nd sustenance in lands of a strange language; aud while all bis thoughts are concentraced on hia work be has (o pen despaiches aud force them through the post or by wire, Which ure to enlighten the world on what is occurring, and becowe the matter (housunds eagerly read to eri nd expose, He cannot aflord \o biander to nam n posinons, in assertions of any sort; f above all things necessary that he shogid YORIES WORTH & DOZEN OF HURNANY, To gather Wis Information be bas generally to seo to enter it bad been explored by numerous correspe ents; and though many a kuigit of that selfs vody—the Ked Cross—fell in a duty to the wounde lying Dewween the Turkish aud Russian batteries tho pace Was CrORROd ANd Fecrossed Irom Gud to end by correspoudents, Upon the field, even while the avsaults on Fievna Were 1 progress, Captain Forves Was writing his despatches, with Wuich he bad to rid all IgE to ger his deseriptions vader way tor Fivet strevt, yet sy beautiful, wm ie mod Wuthfal w the varracive that it was ad published ta thi countries of both tue comb aa tho best account that could be penued of the batiies, CONTHAST THK FIGHTING AND THK WaITING, We bave heard Forbes praised; yet a tthe of tho ability, (ho energy, the daring displayed by lim, and the Uritiant service rendered, would bave called forih 8 mark Of Imperial Fecogaition, decoration and promo Von; but bovody thinks anything is due to a curre- spondent, Aud so it is all through; though the wo With bis own cyes, and, as What Is best worth seeing is under the hottest fire, be his to undertake Fiske lor which officers receive deoorauions anu rewards. Tuough | | tue Roumauiun surgeons may not have been able tor many days aficr the capture of the Gravitaa redouvt performed by him is of cnormous importance to the world, But for (ue gentlemen with the Russian army nothing Would really have been known of the reasons why the campaign ; why Russia bad reached the deadlock. Coujeoture might have heen rife; but On the facts other vations cau build up thelr policy, and long ere this the British Cabinet bas materially modified it# intentions aod designs, Journalists may contrast with some satisiuction the way im which the correspondents with the Russian army have doue their work with the way in whicu the Russian officers did theirs. 1n tact, the correspondents did their work too well, for the world knew everything that was sorne on, though it was not for tho interest of Russia the knowledge should be spread. STANLEY'S CROWMNG TRIUMPH. ‘The most striking instauce vf the day, however, journalistic suceess is tobe found in Stanley as’ as explorer, Professor Keipert, of the University of Berlip, progounces his as “the greatest feat in geo graphical discovery ever accomplished by any single individual”? ‘There seems to be a quaint sort of ies in the public mind that it isthe New York Hexaue and the Daily Telegraph that are walking through Alrica; uot thut it is the embodiment of fies aud bone organizing and achieving through indomitable “pluck? and rare onergy a mighty work, aud in consequence people are slow to recoguize as they ought the great benefit accomplished by Stauley w science, civilizas tion and commerce. His first explo w. with imeredulity, though # splendid achie &@ geographical discovery bis tracing of the Lualaba to the ocean is its fitting sequel, and places Stanley in the very foremost tack. of geographical explorers, HOW A LIKUTENANT GENERAL WAS MADE. He accompavied, as the HxkaLp correspondent, the Ashantee force to King Coffee's capital, regarding it as & paltry raid, though showers ofjhouors feli-on ali—not currespondenis—who made that march, Compared with what has BOW done, the work of the Ashantco war was a mere holiday parade; but It cin receive no olficial recogaition, although in magnitude, in danger, in powor of organization, and, we may add, of com: mand, 1t stamps the man as a born general; one whose physique 1s on a par with bis courage and will—indom- Mable, Ita navy map, if a military wan, if a clergy- mau, even if a trader in pursuit of gain, had done what Stauley has done, the cry for the recoguition of merit would be joud aud continuoas in the face of any delay; but in the cuse of a jourvalist be appears as the embodiment of bis journal, stalking over the land—a piece of sensationalism of A COMPLIMENT FROM THE NORTH, {From the Edinburgh Scotsman.) Many influential Americans resident in London think tt would be a graceful recognition of Mr. Stan- ley's splendid services and great ggographical dis- coveries if the Englich goveroment ordered a gunboat to take these brave people to their homes, As itis understood that @ large sum was voted lor the expedi- tion by the proprietors of the Datly Telegraph and New York Hxkaty, it is no question of money; but our American trieads say that Mr. Stanley has proved himself to be a distinguished public servaut, and ap English gunboat could reach Loanda belore a vessel despatched ou this special mission trom ono of their pores Mr. Stauley waving determined to remain at wanda until bis followers aro shipped for Zauzibar, he cannot be expected home for about three months, His letters, shortly to be published, are said to be of evon groator importance to commercial men than to mero geographers, THE VAST COMMERCIAL IMPORTANCE OF THR CONGO, [From tho Baltimore American, } The traveller Stanley reappears out of thick dark. ness—out of the “utterly unknown’’ into which be vanished about two years since, when lust scen by Commander Cameron at the court of a prince of Cen- tral Africa, He hag turned up into civilization at St. Paul de Loanda, a Portuguese settlement on tho At lantic coast, to which he was brought by a Portuguese man-ot-war from the mouth of tue Congo River, He quitted Zanzibar in 1874, aud has since crossed the entire continent, accompanied by a purty of 315 ma tives, of whom 115 remain alive. He is not tne first traveller who bas crossed the African continent, for Livingstone’s earliest journey was from west to east, and Commander Camerou has just published the rec wrda of bis journey ‘Across Arica,” which brought him out at Bouguela, some hundreds of miles turther #ouvb than the moutu of the Congo, where Stauley reached the sea, It had been Cameron’s great wish to flout down the Luaiaba, a river having its rise in one Of the great lakes of Central Africa, to its junction with the Congo, and so emerge on the Atlantic coast, Various difficulties prevented him from carrying out his grout design and reserved its accomplishmout for Stanley, who may be said to bave won lor us aud tor Africa an onorinous river, hitherto but vaguely known, stretching almost across the African continent and having its head waters so near those of the Nile that Livingstone believed bimsel! to be discovering the exact spot described by Herodotus when he was prob- ably exploring the sources of the Congo. Th er must become Of vast importance, being navigable trom its mouth 2,000 miles, and watering all the centre of Atricu—that towoless, mountainiess, rivor- jess white space laid down upou the maps we studied in our youth as “Ethiopia,’’ and supposed to be mbabited by that biack but “dlameless”’ race tor ‘whose society great Jupiter and the Olympian deities withdrew their attention for twelve days from Troy, woile the wrath of Achilles was incubating the **lliad.* From the accounts of modern travellers conceruing the petty potentutes of this interior we cannot im- agine what the Ulympian family could have found ate tractive in the Mumbo-Jumbos who rule over that region, Why did they not direct their attention to North America and its Indians? Or, perhaps, there were no indians in North Ameri¢a at that period, There is so much in Indian mannera, customs and ideas as they prevailed before white men core rupted this contivent that reminds us of the munners, custoins and opiaions of the Greeks described in 4 “Liad’? that who knows but that America may bave been peopled by shipwrecked wails und strays (rom the great force of supernumeraries that agsisted at the tragedy ot Troy. Stanley’s honesty long been well established, thouzh the doubts thrown on it at the time of his tirst enterprise prevented the payment of due honors to eliber in bis own country or in Europe. If, as we are led to suppore by the very brief information thus far afforded us, he has opened Central Atrtea tocommerce, by following up Livingstone’s suggestions and discov. eries; 1! he bas proved that the southern branch of the Congo River is navigable from its mouth 2,000 miles, and then, after a succession ef cataract: comes again an’ import water highway almost across the African’ continent, erh travellers will have done so much to en: bepefit mankind, It is to be boped that his success ag an explorer will now bo fully recoge nized, nd that learned societies, the public of all civ~ ilized nations, and, above all, bis own countrymen, may unite 1m taking advantage of this occugion to make up to bitu tur @ too tardy recognition of b)« morits aad veracity, MAD WITH RUM Patrick Lynch,a man about fifty years of age and the father of two sons, Thomas and Timothy Lynch, aged respectively twenty-five and twenty-three years, cume to his residence, No, West Thirty-seveuth street, lateon Saturday night, in a state of drunken frenzy, and commenced an indiscriminate attack on his family, In bis passion be seized two large carving knives and ran at hig son ‘Thomas, Tuo fatier defended —_bimsel! ag woll a8 poxsiblo and warded off the father's most desperate unges at bin with an axe that be eau when he first saw the carving knives in his parenvs hands. In tho epcouuser, uowever, the father man- Aged to strike the sou oLce on We breast, cutting big Blirt tm three places and Inflicting a slight flesh wound, For self-protection Thomas then ssruck the futher over the lvad with the flat of the axe and knocked him down on the floor, whero be and big brother Timothy held tim “tH the arrival of Officer Muiligan, of the Twentieth precinct, who took fatuer and son to the station house, yhen Jugge Morgan beard the particulars of the case, he decided to commit Patrick Epeen, the father, io $1,000 bail, to answer on a charge o/ felonious assault aud battery. It was erroneously stuted in the published accounts yesterday morning that the son came home druuk and commenced the attack on his fatber, Yesterday morning, A SUNDAY SEIZURE. To tux Eorrok oy tae Heraty We appeal to you for advice in @ matter that wo deem a downright outrage under the thin disguise of law. We were coming homo trom an excursion to Staten Island this evening and one of our namber held in bis band a covered parlor rifle, which bad been taken along for sport, but which, on our learning of & luw prohibiting tts a was not removed from ite | cover, As we were about to go on the boat a hand was | rudely aid on the shoulder of the gentieman carrying the rifle and @ man who finunted a badge seized vio~ Jently upon the gun, and, without asking or giving any explanation, burried the geatieman carrying it over to @ liquor saloon, where he was met by Auother man who was addressed as “Judge,” Without stopping to inquire into the equit 01 the case the “Judge” (named Doyle) observed, Ul cost you $10 fue!” He would not listen vo any appeal, Dat Analy added, “You cun settio it with the consta- bie; he wan do what be please: pleased the constablo—that 1s the maa who made the wrrost, Whose uawe is Petor Goiden—to demand $10, which had to be paid, or else the carrier of the ritle would have becn putin Jai. Golden's only explana. tion Was tbat it Was avariet the law to carry a gua op | Sunday. Now, we appeal to you whether peaceable | excursionists, roturuime with a covered parlor rifle from Staton Isiand ean be seized with impunity by | any persou culliog himself a constable, and whethor | ettia compolled to SULEIL LO Lhe extortion of & $10 fine, (he protoxt of an ordinance of whost existe 1d not dream, Respecttuliy yours, { MARKY BECKET SYDNEY ROSENFELD, | GhORGE AND, Jos ND. 3 k H D, KUEN PLYMPLON, ROBERT SPKRAKOSCIL a. FOLLUN, Naw Youk, Oct A SEREET QUARREL During ® quarrel on Saturdyy night last between Thomas Connelly, Edward Lowory and Peter MeGine nis, at the corner ot Fulton and Middagh streets, Brooklyn, Connelly was knocked down by Lowery and severely injured about the Lead. fie was attended by & physician, who pronounced bis injury of a serious character, Lowery aud McGinnis were arrested yeu J vorday morning, 3, 1877.