The New York Herald Newspaper, December 10, 1878, Page 6

6 NEW YORK HERALD BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR. iceieiondiaceancnaaen ALD, puilishet every # excluded year, or wt pet mouth fi Hoss thaw six mouths, or five dollans for six months, Sunday edition included. free of postage. WEEKLY HERALD—One dollar per year, free of post- a “NoTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS.— York or Post Office money orders, bere neither of these cau be procured send the money requtered Vetter. AML money remitted at risk of sender. In order to insure utten- tion subscribers wishing their address changed must give their ld ws well as thelr new address All business. be addresse Letters and pai Rejected commun THE DAIL Tv bree cents in the year, dollars per it in drafts on New « letters or telegraphic despatches inust w Youk HeKALD. ould be properly sealed. will not be returned, pestle PERLADELPHLA OFFIC YO, 112 SOUTH SIXTH 0 ¢ 7 OF THE NEW YORK HERALD— REET. DE DE LOPERA. TRADA PACE, NAPLES OFFIC Subseriptions ill be received and York. AMUSEMENTS TO-NIGHT. a STANDARD THEATRE—Auwost 4 Lirs, FIFTH AVENUE THEATRE—Ric NIBLO'S GARDEN—Axounp 1 GRAND OPERA HO! yor I PARK THEATRE—Co: THEATRE COMIQUE: LYCEUM THEATRE—Dovntx Manriace. BROADWAY THEATRI Te DAN BOWERY THEATRE— Daccure, WALLACE’S THEATRE—) GERMANIA THEATRE—Do UNION SQUARE THEATRE; BOOTHS THEATRE—C SAN FRANCISCO M WINDSOR THEATRE. TIVOLI THEATRE— NEW YORK AQUARIUM—CinDRRELLA PONY PASTOR'S—Vaar Coit ABERLE’S AMERIC. THEATRE—Vaaiery. EGYPTIAN HALL—Vauinty. BROAD ST. THEATRE, F LADELPHIA—Evancenixe. LE Vorip ix Eicnty Days ck Boarvine House TRIP Pi Fork and its vicinily to-day will be cooler and partly cloudy or cloudy, with rains in the early portion, followed by gradually clearing weather and lower temperature. and fair. Watt Srreert Yesterpay.—The stock mar- ket.was active but weak, particularly for the coal stocks. Gold opened and closed at 1001g and sold in the interim at 10014. Government bonds were dull, States steady and railroads lower. Money on call was easy at 3a 3lg per cent, and closed at 21, a 3 per cent. To-morrow it will be cold Campana anp O'Leary will, it is announced, begin their little promenade Christmas week. Ip Hevrer’s W111. is faithfully executed the secrets of his performances will have died with him. He directed the destruction of all his me- chanical appliances. What a loss to the small boy! Tue Important Question of who is the American heavy weight champion prize fighter is to be decided next May in Canada. Two of Mr. Talmage’s model townsmen are the con- testants. Ix a Surr in Brooklyn the interesting ques- tion of the exemption from taxation of a portion of the property of national guardsmen is in- volved. {t seems the act of 1875 is silent on the subject. Sexator Jounson, of Virginia, has been mak- img the old ante-bellum regulation speech about reserved rights, delegated powers, and so forth. By this time they ought to be tired of that sort Tne O1p Sayixnc that two of a trade can never agree is illustrated by the conflict of opinion among the kid glove importers yester- day in regard to‘the duty on gloves. They were as inharmonious as a lot of Congressmen. A VicereGar Cour on the English high pres- sure plan would, in the opinion of the loyal Cana- dians, be a very nice thing, but they have just discovered that it costs money, and, like a level beaded people, are beginning to ask, ‘*Who will foot the bills ?” AccorpixG to his own testimony the janitor of Judge Pinckney’s court draws a salary of twelve hundred dollars ayear, for which he ren- ders no service whatever. From judge to jani- tor the Seventh District Court House ap- pears to have a model set of oflicers. Owrne to a little obscurity in the law the next Legislature will, it is thought, be obliged to meet in the old Capitol at Albany instead of the new building, although the latter has been declared to be the Capitol. What a chance for @ row this would be in one or two States we could name! CoxGress seems determined upon following the old custom of doing as little business as pos- sible before the holidays. At the session yester- day a large number of bills were introduced in both houses. Senator Edmunds spoke on the Presidential election question and Mr. Blaine ave notice that he would call up his Southern election resolution to-morrow. The House re- fused to suspend the rules for the purpose of passing a bill probibiting the further coinage of trade dollars, A resolution in regard to silver dollars and the national banks also failed to re- ceive the required majority. Tuk Wratnen.—As the depression moved eastward the two centres of low barometer joined and formed one large area of disturb- ance over the central valley districts. This moved in a southeasterly direction, attended by heavy rains and snow. It is now een tral over the Middle Atlantic coast districts, The area of high pressure continues over the New England States and the St. Lawrence Val ley. Itis rapidly receding northeastward. In the western districts the barometer has risen very quickly, particularly in the Southwest, where steep grudients are forming. Rain has fallen in all the districts except the Southwest, and heavy snows are reported in all the northern sections. The winds have been fresh to brisk in the luke regions and the Northwest, strong in the Western Gulf and generally tresh elsewher ‘The temperature has been variable in the North- westand bas risen decided)y in the other districts, It is probable that steep gradients will be formed on the Middle Atlantic and New England coast during the next few days, and consequently strony winds and stormy weather generally may be expected north of Cape Hatteras during to- day aud the early part of to-morrow. As soon as the centre of disturbance shall have passed off the cost cold winds will set in from the Northwest, and severe frosts will probably be experieneed. The barometer is still very low over the Britieh Islands and snow is reported in the southern sections. The weather in New York and ite vieinity tovlay will be cooler and partly clowly or cloudy, with rains in the early portion, followed by gradually clearing weather and lower temperature. To-morrow it will be cvld and iar, NEW YORK HERALD, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1878--TRIPLE SHEET. Senator Edmunds’ Bill Relating to Presidential Elections. The bill of Senator Edmunds, on which he delivered « cogent speech yesterday, was introduced in May last, and had then two readings by unanimous consent. It is not an adequate measure, for a really ade- quate measure would require an amend- ment of the constitution, of which there is no reasonable ground of hope previous to the next Presidential election. Had Sena- tor Morton lived his influence and energy might have succeeded in carrying a con- stitutional amendment through Congress, if not in getting it ratified by the States. He was deeply impressed: with the danger of leaving things as they are, and with the great ubsurdity and injustice of our present method of electing the two highest officers of the Republic. He had bestowed on the subject more attention and study then any other statesman, and an amendment drafted by him in a spirit of party fairness and pushed by his great pro- pelling power would have had a chance of | success. But Senator Morton left behind him no statesman in either house who inherited his zealous interest in this reform. Even if he had lived to drive it forward himself it should have passed both houses at the last session in order to be ratified in season for the next Presidential election, An amendment of the constitution being ‘impracticable nothing remains but to passa law framed with the purpose of forestalling such a dead- Jock as was threatened in the winter of 1876-7. The bill prepared by Senator Ed- munds is probably as unobjectionable as any that could be framed on the subject. ‘The most cavilling opponent cannot say of Mr. Edmunds’ bill that it has been drafted in the interest of the republican party. If it becomes a law its opera- tion in the next Presidential elec- tion will be in favor of the demo- cratic candidates. There is no real danger of a deadlock except when the Senate is controlled by one political party and the House by the other, as hap- pened to be the case in the last election. ‘The Congress which will count the elec- toral votes in 1880-81 will be democratic in both branches. Should the bill of Mr. Ed- munds become a law it will be in the power of the democrats to decide every disputed case in theirown favor. By this bill it is provided that in certain contingencies the electoral votes of a State cannot be rejected without the concurrence of both houses, and that in certain other contingen- cies they cannot be counted without such concnrrence. But as the demo- crats will have a majority of both houses at the time of the next count this bill gives them the advantage in both contingencies. It cannot, therefore, be re- jected on partisan grounds unless the re- publicans should refuse to support it. The bill of Mr. Edmunds is as impartial, and probably as efficient, as any that could be framed in conformity with the federal con- stitution. Its main object is to settle disputed elec- toral questions in the States where. they arise without bringing them to the adjudi- cation of Congress. It would give to each State an opportunity to prevent its citi- zens from being misrepresented by its electoral college. If a dispute should arise in any State as to the legal choice of its Presidential electors a tribunal pro- vided by the State itself, through its Legis- lature, is to hear and determine the ques- tion, It required no ordinary skill and acumen to frame a bill which would accom- plish this without coming in conflict with the constitution. As the law now stands there is no intermediate step or proceeding between the appointment of electors and their meeting to cast their votes. ‘he bill under consideration provides for interme- diate proceedings and extends the interval in order that the investigation may be thorough and the judgment of the State tribunals deliberate, ‘Lhe appoint- ment of electors is to take place a month earlier than at present, and the electors are to meet and cast their votes emore than a month later than at present, making an addition of two full months to the time which intervenes between the vot- ing by the people and the voting by the Presidential electors. The electors are to be appointed on the first Tuesday in Oc- tober, and they are not to meet and vote until the second Monday in January, al- lowing a period of three months for the State canvass and a jadicial determination of disputed elections by a State tribunal. The bill provides that every such determina- tion shall be final, and be conclusive evi- dence of the lawfal title of the electors, ‘The biil has a weak point, but one which is unavoidable without an amendment of the constitution. It permits but does not command the creation of such tribunals, Any State may neglect or decline to pro- vide one, and in every case of omission it will still be necessary for Congress + pass upon the title of the electors from that State. ‘Lhe constitution gives the several State Legislatures unlimited power to prescribe how their Presidential electors shall be appointed, and this power cannot be abridged by an act of Congress. But Congress by widening the interval between their appointment and their meeting may afford the States an op- portunity to decide disputed questions judicially, and encourage them to do so by declaring that such decisions shall be con- clusive. If the bill passes we presume that each State will, sooner or later, avail itself of the privilege, and thereby secure its own control of its electoral votes and simplify the process of counting them by Congress, But nothing will be gained over the present system in States which do not provide the kind of tribunal contemplated by the bill. When Congress meets to count the votes objections may be made, and the two houses are to vote separately on the validity of the objections. In cases where there is but one return {rom @ State it cannot be rejected without the concurrent vote of the Senate and the House. If there should be two tribunals in any State or two sets of electors be returned, that State will lose its votes unless both houses agree as to which set has a good title. All that can be said for this provision is that it provides a sure method of settling such questions as mav not have been settled in the States by their own tribunals. ‘The bill amends in several other respects the existing statutes on the subject of Presidential elections, but these amend- ments are not likely to be debated withany warmth, ‘Lhe success or failure of the bill will depend on the view Congress may take of its main provision, which invites the States to determine disputed questions by their own tribunals and allows ample time for a final adjudication. Another Iustalment of Rapid Transit, The extension of the trips on the New York Elevated Railroad to Eighty-ninth street gives the people another and a valu- able instalment of rapid transit on the east side. The higher up town the trains run the more the public will appreciate the great advantage of the elevated lines and the more popular the roads will become. It isto be hoped that the promise of the completion of the Third avenue line to the Harlem River by January 1 will be fulfilled. The companies have thus far constructed their roads considerably within the time designated by law, and deserve the thanks of the community for their energy and en- terprise. It is important that the prosecu- tion of the remaining portion of the work on both the east and west sides be pressed with equal vigor, for the full benefits of rapid transit will not be fealized until the roads are completed through their entire routes. It will also be a great public con- venience to have the Chatham square and City Hall Park branch of the Third avenue line opened for travel, and the company will no doubt push this portion of the work as rapidly as possible. The comfort of the passengers on the Third avenue line might be materially in- creased at a comparatively trifling cost to the company by the roofing of the stair- ways, as on the Sixth avenue road. Yester- day morning the steps were so wet and slippery as to deter many ladies from as- cending them, and the impossibility of passing up and down with raised umbrellas compelled persons to expose themselves to a pelting rain before they could reach the stations. When a heavy snow storm comes the discomfort and inconvenience attendant on open stairways will be increased. It is desirable also that the stations at Eighty+ fourth and Eighty-ninth streets be com- pleted as soon as possible. Of course these details take time to perfect, and it is cer- tainly better that trains should be run as soon as a section can be used than that the travel should be delayed until all these minor matters can be attended to. Expe- rience will suggest many safeguards and improvements which the companies will no doubt be willing to adopt at the proper time. ‘I'he accident at Rector street yester- day caused nearly an hour's interruption of travel on the Metropolitan road, and a number of trains were stopped between stations. Nervous people are likely to become alarmed at such an occurrence, and it would take but little'to create a panic which in crowded cars would have dis- astrous results. It might be well for the elevated trains to carry some lightly con- structed folding or extension ladder or steps by which the passengers could descend to the street when the cars are blocked as on the Metropolitan road yesterday. This improvement would be useful both as a pro- tection from accidents and as a means of avoiding vexatious delay. Many business men and working people would have been glad to avail themselves of any safe means of leaving the trains that were stopped during one of the busiest hours of the morning yesterday through the Rector street collision. The Dock Department Annual Repert. Although the Department of Docks spends immense sums annually, drawn from the city treasury, it arrogates to itself, on the strength of a special act of organization, a large degree of independence of action and freedom from municipal control. Carrying outa public improvement with which the most important interests of a great commer- cial community are bound up, its opera- tions, like those of the Department of Pub- lic Works, should be open to the closest serutiny by the public and the expendi- tures of its funds regulated by the same laws that govern those of other depart- ments. With a view to securing this privi- lege for the people of New York the Muni- cipal Reform Association has engaged counsel, and the report of the examining lawyers, declaring that the Dock Depart- ment stands on the same footing as all others, has beep presented to the Board of Apportionment. Among the evils that can arise from the closet administration of the Dock Depart- ment may be cited the disproportion of ex- penditures to results, the unscientific de- sign and defective execution of important works which may in the near fature re- quire to be built cver again at large cost, corrupt private contracts for material or for the leasing of public property to steamship companies, unjust discrimination in the award of leases, the creation of political sinecures and a waste of public money cov- ered by the irresponsibility of the officials toany authority, When Commissioners A and B audit the accounts of Commissioners Band A there is no likelihood of a clash- ing of opinion over figures, and abuses of the worst kind may exist in a department whose affairs are treated by the governing board as if they were personal instead of being public. Recently a defaleation was discovered in the accounts of the Dock Department which had assumed very considerable proportions before anybody suspected anything. Now, itis manifestly unjust to the public that money raised by taxation should be spent by officials who almost deny the public right to know how it is expended. Annual reports like that of which we printa synop- sis to-day are well enough in their way. They accurately recount how much is ex- pended, but fail togive any intelligible state~ ment of how and on what particular work the money is laid out. We do not question any of the items, but we are dissatisfied with the manner of their presentation, be- cause they are unverified in a business-like manner by the books of the Comptroller, like those of other departments. As to the excess of revenne claimed hv the Commissioners of Docks as the big feather in their admin- istration hat, we are not certain that it is such a gain as they claim. It is a tex on commerce which must react injuriously on the city, All that New York wants from her revenue is to equip and maintain her- self as the first commercial centre on this continent, She does not want to draw from commerce money for any other pur- pose than for facilitating commercial de- velopment, We hope that the ‘sharp com- petition” between steamship lines for good piers is not conducted at such figures as to prevent other steamship lines from enter- ing the port of New York. Peruvian Assassination. Full details of the assassination of Don Manuel Pardo, ex-President of the Repub- lic of Peru and President of the Peruvian Senate, show that nothing was wanting to make it as dramatic as it was detestable. He was shot by the sergeant of the guard on the threshold of the Senate as he was about to enter, The entire guard remained passive while the wretch who had so infamously betrayed his trust was allowed to flee from the scene atter a tussle with one of the companions of the murdered statesman, his arrest being finally The effected by a sergeant of another regiment. | The unfortunate victim died where he fell, after lingering foran hour in agony, his fam- ily and his priest ministering to him as he lay bleeding to death on the pavement. Uttering a pardon even to his assassin with his last breath, he passed away. Lima was in mourning’ at the last advices ; the trial of the culprit had already begun, and the inquiries lead to the belief that the act was a portion of a political conspiracy. The history of Peru of late years has led easily to this crime, although President Prado, in his prociamation touching the bloody deed, declares it to be ‘‘unique of its kind in the annals of Peru.” In the Span- ish republics of Central and South America, as in Mexico, the tradition of reversal of the order of things by military revolution has never been fully overborne by the constitu- tional methods for whose working the gov- ernments make the amplest provision. It is not solong since we were called on to chronicle the events of a Peruvian re- bellion, in which a powerful iron-clad, the Huascar, fell into the hands of the revolutionists, her career being only stopped by an encounter with a British iron-clad. The government triumphed, however, and it now appears that the con- spiracy of which Sergeant Melchor Montoya was tho instrument grew out of that failure. Against Sefior Pardo the first blow was directed, because he was the leader of the predominant party and by odds the ablest man in the Republic. The tribute of President Prado to the memory of the mur- dered statesman was fitting, but it will be only complemented by the punishment of the assassin and those more cunning but less bold behind him. In proportion asthe law is vindicated by due process will the blood upon the Senate's threshold be shed in the cause of permanent order in Peru, Business in the Central States of the West. We continue to-day the publication of the extensive and instructive correspond- ence which we have been procuring from all the States of the Uniou in relation to the crops, trade, industry, profits or losses, and general condition. Our letters to-day describe the state of affairs in Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana. There is considerable difference in the accounts from these States, Missouri resembling Illinois, which was described in our correspondence yesterday; Arkansas resembling most of the other cotton States, but having the advantage of most of them in its large immigration; Kentucky resembling its neighbor, Tennessee; Ohio and Indiana having about the same kind and degree of prosperity as Nebraska and Towa, but falling short of Kansas, which is receiving a large influx of new settlers. The curse of Missouri as well as of Illinois is debts contracted in the deceit. ful fiush times of inflation, on which interest rums on at a high rate, while the property is worth a great deal less than was paid for it. Besides this source of hardship there is another in Missouri in the imprudent county bonds given for building unprofitable railroads, in the expectation that the roads would en- hance the value of farms. But instead of going up in value farms have gone down ; produce sells for low prices, and the burden of taxes entailed by the county bonds presses with grinding severity. Throughout all the agricultural States there is a general complaint of low prices. This is not inconsistent with the prosperity of such people as are out of debt, for labor and all kinds of goods are proportionally cheap. But, unfortunately, multitudes are deeply in debt, and debts have not dimin- ished with the resources for paying them, But the people seem satisfied that the lowest point of depression has been passed and feel that they are advancing toward petter times. During the next year capital will be emboldened to venture into new enterprises, thereby improving the home market for agricultural products. The general feeling seems to be that ‘the night is fur spent and the day is at hand.” Who Wrote “The Banker's Daughter!” Twointeresting communications are given in to-day’s Henap on the subject of dramatic copyright and authorship which we believe will interest all readers who take an in- terest in the theatre. One, signed by Mr. Rogé, deals intelligently with the subject of dramatic literature and touches the theme of copyright, mainly as throwing some doubt on the point as to whom the Copyright law should protect as the author of ‘The Banker's Daughter.” Hitherto we have understood that Mr. Bronson Howard was the author of that play, and that he acknowledged assistance in points of stage effect to which his muse was unequal from a writer who is kept as sort of dramatist on draught at the Union Square Theatre. Mr. Howard, we believe, wrote to that effect, and Mr. Palmer, the manager, wrotein the same vein; but we understand Mr. Rogé to differ with them, though his statement is not so definite as it might be and he uses no names, He says an author intrusted his play to a city manager and never saw it again, but that long after it was produced, somewhat changed, with the title of ‘Lhe Banker's Daughter.” Was this author Mr. Howard? He says the manager to whom he intrusted his play kept it three years, and then produced it with changes which he gratefully regards as the best part of the play. But there is a report that the theatre will have some litigation on __ its hands in the name of quite another author than Mr. Howard, who complains of the alterations and does not rejoice in them, Where Mr, Howard stands in the théory of this litigation we do not know, but Time, of course, will tell, for he is the great gabbler of all ages, But it will stand asa somewhat piquant illustration of the agitation for dramatic copyright if it shall prove that plays are least protected pre- cisely on the point where there is most law. Mr. Gardiner’s communication is of interest ifitisto be relied upon as an authentic statement of the views of three-fourths: of the country manngers, or managers outside of three important cities. ‘Those managers do not want law made merely to suit city managers, but would be content to have the whole subject regulated by an act of Congress, Is It a Plot? Two of our esteemed contemporaries, in their Washington despatches of Saturday and Sunday, furnish ‘exclusive’ but con- tradictory information as to the future movements of our distinguished fellow citizen, General Ulysses 8. Grant. Ac- cording to the earlier report the admiuis- tration has tendered to General Grant the courtesy of a passage on the Richmond, the flagship of Rear Admiral Patterson, which istosail during the present month for Singapore, and the General has accepted the invitation by a cable despatch received Fri- day afternoon. According to the later re- port the expedition under command of Commodore Shufeldt, which sailed in the Ticonderoga from Hampton Roads on Saturday, under orders for the west coast of Africa, is to pick up General Grant ‘at the mouth of the Congo River,” and convey him to the Indian Ocean, Siam, China, Japan and Corea. He is to act as adviser to Commodore Shufeldt, who has received an extraordinary diplomatic rov- ing commission empowering him ‘‘to con- clude commercial conventions with numer- ous petty governments during his cruise.” Assuming the correctness of the latter of these statements suspicions are at once aroused that a plot has been concerted which, in its astounding proportions, will, dwarf the larceny of the Stewart remains, ‘There isa very large Ethiopian concealed in the ligneous accumulations ‘‘at themouth of the Congo River.” It is nothing less than a Plutonian conspiracy to defraud the republican party of the United States of its most prominent chieftain for the campaign of 1880, With a nefarious cunning, which would do credit to Machia« yelli, the naval authorities of the United States propose to cruise along the coasts of nearly every barbarous and cannibal tribe, holding out to them the tempting bait of an ex-President, all glittering in purple and gold, whom they will be secretly invited to carry off to grace their royal cannibal banquets, either as a compulsory guest or—horrible to contem- plate—as a sacriticial victim. Even should this portion of the plot be defeated by un- usual vigilance on the part of General Grant, who can reflect without a shudder upon the unlimited possibilities of that cruise along the coasts of Borneo, Ma- lacca, Siam, China and Corea? The American navy can always be relied upon to involve us in hostilities at a moment's notice with some remote barbar- ous tribe, and when the martial afdor of our marines is stimulated by the presence of the greatest captain of the age how can they be expected to resist the temptation to place him in the forefront of the hottest battle? Death would be sweet to our im- petuous marines if only it be shared with such ao leader. And when the hero of Vicksburg and Appomattox shall have been made general-in-chief of the Ama- zon army of Dahomey, eaten by the Congo tribes, immolated by the Dyaks of Borneo, tattooed and crowned by the Malay Islanders, shut up as a divinity in the temples of Formosa, or buried in the trenches before the Corean capital, who can conceive the exultation of the patriots of both parties at home whose only hope of se- curing civil service reform in 1880 consists in eliminating from the contest the man on horseback whose dark colossal spectre looms luridly over the Oriental seas? Can it be possible that our contemporaries have un- wittingly become coparceners of this horri- ble conspiracy? We have done our duty in sounding the note ofalarm ; to our esteemed contemporaries we leave the responsibility of averting the impending crisis of the East, alte Substitutes for Strikes. The proprietors and employés of a large cigar factory in New York have just agreed upon a substitute for strikes and lockouts, and the plan is so simple that it is scarcely strange that no one on this side of the ocean has thought of it before, Itis merely to refer fature differences between employers and employed to a board of arbitration, the members of which are to be selected by the two parties. At first sight it would seem that in such case the employers relinquish some of their own rights and abandon a por- tion of their authority over their business ; but, though this impression is correct ina literal sense, the truth is that the employers are granting only what nearly any legiti- mate business may safely do if those to whom the concession is made are intelligent and honest, It is safe to say that most of the strikes that occur miay be traced to misapprehensions among the strikers, When o manufacturer or con- tractor is doing a large amount of business it is quite natural for his workmen to imagine that he is realizing immense profits, but business men know that of the general mass of enterprises that are ‘not losing money nine-tenths are being ran on a very small margin of profit; as for those that are losing, the poorest man employed in them is better off than his employer. When the workingman realizes how much risk and how little profit there is in legiti- mate business, as through intelligent arbi- trators chosen by himself he would be likely to do, suspicion of his employer will be reduced to a minimum and good feeling will in most cases take its place. Physicians on Schoolroom Abuses. The Henay’s condemnations of certaiz features of school mismanagement have re- ceived unexpected support from the just pub- lished report of the Medico-Legal Society’s Committee on School Hygiene. This com- mittee, consisting of well known physicians, some of whom have achieved national repu- tation, find that during the vacation months there is a marked decline in the death rate from scarlet fever. ‘As soon as the schools opened the disease increased its ravages,” The fever having broken out in buildings contiguous to a primary school it is stated that ‘‘the closets in the school were covered over and all ventilation excluded. Foul odors and poisonous sewer gases were car- ried through the school by the hot air of the turnrce.” What is to be thought of the security of life and health in any public school when the buildings are in charge of janitors ignorant enough to allow such a combination of evils to exist without pro- test? ‘The chairman of the Health Commit- tee of the Brooklyn Board of Education remarks that over three thousand children disappear between the time of entering the lowest grade and that of promotion to the next, and attributes the lcsa to the unsani- tary condition of the schools. Collateral evidence from prominent teachersis cited in the report. Long hours of attendance and taulty construction of buildings are charged with much of the trouble, yet the attempt to have competent sanitary inspection mitigate the dangerous influ. ences of things as they are seems to have had no support from the Board of Education, one member coolly objecting toa bill offered with this purpose in view, because it would necessitate additional expense! He also stated that ‘‘there is no necessity for the Dill, as the schools are in n good sanitary condition.” He neglected to give his au- thority for this last bit of information, but it could probably be traced to # janitor, for no higher grade of specialist in sanitary sci- ence seems to be recognized by the Board of Education. - PERSONAL INTELLIGENCE, Bret Harte has been visiting the Duke of St. Albans, Mr. James R. Keene, the wheat cornerer, is regis- tered in Chicago, He said Keeneo to the speculators Lord Hardwicke declares that ‘writing to news- papers is one of the greatest curses of modern times for the readers.” Here is some from London Fun, and it is im- _ mensely funny :—‘‘The most economical manning for & war steamer is to have its (s)crew made ot gun metal.” i ‘The late Mr. Batchelor, of hair dye fame, mad, B® great deal of his wealth from policemen’ with’big mustaches, Will Herbert Spencer please calculate what effect policemen’s black mustaches have on civilization? st ‘The ‘editor of the Topeka (Kansis) Coiamonwedith recently sued the proprietors of the Kansas City (Mo.) ‘Times for libel, putting in a claim for $20,000 dainages, and the jury in the United States Circuit Court cut down his claim to $1. ' j + Meal Roaring fun from London Judy. ‘Elder sister— ‘Don't go out in the garden, Guasie.’ Gussie—Why not, Cis, it’s a foine marnin’.’ Elder sister—‘How can you tell such nuughty stories? It's been wet ever since I got up.’ Gussie—‘Sure, Cis dear, it’s a foine wet marnin’, I mane.’’’ Baron von Schlozer, the German Minister at Washs ington, having been interrogated yesterday, says be knows nothing whatever concerning the truth of the report prevalent at Berlin that he is to be superseded by Prince Lynar. Mr. von Schlozer returned from Germany as late as last August. ! ‘There is truth in the idea of the writer who saya that “the preference for a well laid out garden over a bit of natural wood or heath is a characteristic of the town bred man. His mind desires elegance, pro- fusion and symmetrical order, and he can find these qualities much more easily in 4 well tended suburban garden than in the uncultivated regions of the country.” Acable despatch from Darmstadt says it is stated that the Grand Duchess of Hesse is seriously ill of dfphtheria. The Grand Duchess is Princess Alice of England, second daughter and third child of Queen Victoria. The London Post of this morning semi+ officially states that Princess Alice’s attack of diptheria has become aggravated, and her condition excites the deepest anxiety. . ° Dr. T. Lauder Brunton calls attention to the tact that the reason why some persons when puzzled scratch their heads, rub their foreheads or pull their beards, is that they excite certain nerves which are connected witn the heart, and thus stimulate the cir culation. He says some Germans strike the sides of their noses, which has an effect upon the nervea somewhat like that of snuff. Sir James Paget thinks that, since insurance com, panies and general hospitals have collected facts for statistics concerning the disastrous results of inteme perance, it might be well to ascertain, if possible, the relations between moderation and abstinence. He favors moderation, and says that West against East, North against South, the heirs of moderate drinker# are stronger in mind and body than those of abstaine ers. He says this with reserve, adding that there ig always danger of the moderate drinker. MR, HERZOG'S DISAPPEARANCE, (BY TELEGRAPH TO THE HERALD.) Newronr, R. L., Dec. 9, 1878, Sigmund Herzog, nephew of Solomon Herzog, the missing New York merchant, arrived here from Bos- ton to-night after a fruitless search in that city and Cambridge. He has, however, secured an important clew, which leads him to fear that his uncle has been the victim of foul play. Mr. Herzog went to Boston to attend to a real estate transaction and took p e on the steamer Bristol of the Old Colony line tor New York on Thursday evening last, and was seen and recognized on the steamer between Fall River and this city, The search is to be kept up, the ake 4 activel police and private detectives for infor in it, and @ reward being offe: tending to solve the myst WESTMINST Mr. John C. Eccleston delivered the ‘familiag illustrated lecture on Westminster Abbey” las@ evening in Chickering Hall, commencing with some historical details concerning the site of the famous Abbey, the erection of the original building by Edward the Confessor and the construction of the present magnificent structure during the reign of Henry IIT, The lew ture proper was a lucid explanation of a series of stereopticon views, and was interapersed with pleasant and gossipy bits of history, The lecturer dwelt upon the long — roll of honored men whose tombs and monuments re+ main as lasting memorials of the pride and glory of England, and gave a brief sketch of some of the mowt noted deans of the Abbey down to the present one, whom he classified as the “last, but by no means the least,'” LECTURES ANNOUNCED, ‘The American Geog; al Society will hold @ meeting on Thursday evening in Chickering Hall, when Mr. James Douglas, Jr., will give an account of his journey along the west coast of South America from Panama to Valparaiso, A lecture will be delivered this evening by the Row, Francis Dillon Eagan, late rector of St. James’ Prot estant Episcopal Church, San Francisco, in Steinwi Hall, the subject of which will be ‘The Spirit the Age.” The proceeds will be devoted to the poor of St. Stephen's parish visited by the St. Vine vent de Paul Society,