The New York Herald Newspaper, February 3, 1879, Page 6

4 AROUND THE WORLD. - General Grant’s Visit to Andalusia. DREAM LIFE IN CADIZ. —--——— Wooing and Winning in ths Sentinel City of the Mediterranean, RELIGIOUS LIFE IN SPAIN. —— The Evening Bells Calling to Prayer. Capiz, Dec. 6, 1988, You find here in Andalusia what seems to be somo- thing like the remnant of a Moorish custom in the care taken of the maidens of Spam. ‘The maiden spends her days in a home witch is a cloister, or on the Prado, where she is a prisoner. In some coast towns—Tarifa among them—she adopts the Moslem fashion enough to cover a part of her face with a veil. In Cairo the face is wholly covered, the nose is bridged with a machine that looks like a rifle cartridge, and you only see two curious glowing eyes. They have removed the veil in Cadiz, But so dor- tant is Spain that you find now the same social con- itions which you read in the novels of Cervantes aud the plays of Calderon. The maiden is always under protection. She is not to receive company. She cannot go forth unless with a companion, generally a wise lady advanced in years. This is the duenna, or the dragon who sits in watch over the maidenly virtue. The burden of Spanish comedy is how to bribe the dragon or have some daring confederate woo her, as Mephistopheles wooed in “Faust,” or climb in the window. I never thoroughly understood the philosophy of Romeo's courtship until I came to Spain. Why should he have climbed the wall, or why shoutd Mercutio make love to the nurse? Why, in the end, should he seek the intervention of the friar? One thinks of his own happy prosaic home, where there are Valentines, and choap postage, and Philharmonic concerts, and newspapers— where, in a pinch, you may have reason- able rates for advertising. One remembers how in that advanced land it is the duty of the maidens to sit in their various draperies until the young men come, and that the signal of their coming is the sig- nal for papato go to his books and billiards and mamma to go to bed. Why should Romeo, then, climb over a fence and make love from under the silver-tippod fruit trees to a lady on the balcony ? Why should such a proceeding endanger his life? In this Mediterranean land there is no other way for an enterprising young man to make love, and nothing would be more natural than for a Spanish father or brother to put a sword through any amorous Romeo he found mooning under his balconies. LOVE AND LIFE IN SPAIN. But men and women will love one another even in suspicious Spain. In real life there is little climbing balconies, just as in real-life there is little comedy or tragedy, only the humdrum day following the day. The secluded maiden wins her tyiumphs on the street or in the church. Forbidden to conquer in the seclusion of home, she carries her beauty into the sunshine and under the stars and conquers under the all-conquering universe. All her treasure she bears with her. That is one reason why there is such a contrast in personal decorations between the maidens you meet in the Prado and those you see on the Champs Elysées or on Broadway. She comes forth arrayed with all her taste and finery. The veil is seized in the braided hair with jewelled clasp, and falls in graceful folds over the shoulder. Frail, floating lacework festoons the rich stuffs which en, fold her form, und the light of the diamond or the pearl flashes out upon you from under the braided hair or the waving dimple of her chin. Around her wrist manuy-gemmed bracelets are bound and a rosary fails from her fingers, which hold the prayer book. I am writing about what I saw the other morning more especially, when, as Lcame back from a stroll through the market place, the air suddenly awakened with the church bells and I remembered that it was Sunday, and along the narrow streets came my lady on her way to church, This is the hour of her glory. this is the hour she gives to prayer and conquest. Now, if there be blessings in those eyes, or tempta- tions, or entreaty, or conquest, let them speak; for this hour is alone given. Other hours are doomed to the lutticed windows or the vague, distant balcony, so my lady moves along with that stately grace Which you mark so well in Spain. At her side is the . duemua, a stiff, elderly lady in black, with eyes partly closed, twirling her beads with her thumbs and mumbling her lips in prayer. She is thinking of the Virgin; or, perhaps, she recalls her own days of hope and entreaty, when, with conquering eyes and grace- ful footstep, she walked these very streets to church, But they have gone, and she is now a dragon herself, and there are no more conquests for her in this world, and nothing remains but Our Lady of Sorrow. Here, too, are the Romeos of Cadiz— listening, watching, waiting. They have arrayed themsvives for the encounter. The black cloak folds over the breast aud folds over the shoulder. You observe that it so falls as to show the silk lining of orange or purple or crimson. I suppose these colors have a meaning, and I fancied that when a young is very much in love he would show it by the color of the silken lining. A man, for in- ance, on the threshold of love, seeing the mystery just looming over his horizon, might express his bewildering hopes in orange. An accepted or trium- phant lover coull give way to bis emotions in erim- son, while the rejected, unhappy soul coald proclaim his grief in purple. WOOING AND WINNING, But my lady moves ou to church, her bended eyes looking from under the drooped eyelashes, looking conquest and entreaty. If she also prays as she fumbles her rosary, it is to Our Lady of Consolation. She moves on to the church and kneels before the altar. If she has made a conquest—if, as is most Probable, the conquest has long been made, you will observe adecent young man pace slowly after and kneel as near as the dragon will permit. Of course they cannot speak. Bnt there aro 80 many delicions opportunities during the solemn hours of the mass when he can catch glance of her cyes, or see the heaving of thé bosom or the Mantling cheek—when, as she bends her head and strikes her breast, he can know her very thoughts and send the same potition to our Lady of Hope. Perhups, if he is daring, or has made interest with one of the church attendants—for I have been told that such things lave happened in Spain—-he may have « prayer book slipped into her hand, and within the leaves there will be found a sonnet or a rhapsody. Hero, for instance, is one that 1 read the other day in one of the almost forgotten novels of Cervantes, a rhyme which «lover slipped into the hands of the laily of His lo: It is in tho form of 4 dialogue: — SYLVANDEN- Who renders love subordinate? Tuxnsty—He who knows how to be silent. BYLY.—Who subjects love to his laws? ‘Turnsts—He who bas constancy and faith, SYLV.—And what are m itt bis flight? vonstaney. iruit whieh may arise From your fond passion he mag prize. And though my smothered tongue be mute With love, faith, soul, 1k gain my wnit, =<But what snbstanti ove? Thynsis—Perpetual cot > —What instantly extinguishes it? us—Contempt end disdain, = AtMl these two feelings banished? nate—His flames are everiasting. THE HOUR OF CONQUEST. ‘This is the hour of conquest, the consummate honr in the maiden’s life, There are the evening waiks on the Prado, when glances may come and go; but then all the world is by, and there are music and ‘The night falls, and if the lover the bas not been nnwelcome he goes to his Judy's home, Instead of sending in his card and hanging his overcoat on the rack and waiting in the parlor wntil the idol of his dreams comes down he ox ' bronze cannon that look through the embrasures, | beside those mighty en | prowess of England and Germany. NEW YORK HERALD, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 1879.-TRIPLE gnocks at the barred windows. If there is no re- spouse he will play a serenade on the guitar. Iam led to make this latter observation more by what I have seen in operas than from what I have observed in Spain. Most of the lovers that I have seen at their barred windows have been without musical in- struments. I take it, therefore, that the guitar comes in as overture perhaps, in the beginning, before Ro- meo has made any headway, and when he thinks an air from “Rigoletto” or “Don Pasquale” may de- velop the situation or entice a glove or a ribbon. If Romeo is known to the family of his Juliet as # seri, ous, proper person, who has no day of dissipation but tne bull fights or Corpus Chrisfi, then he is allowed to come to the barred window, and Juliet may talk to him through the raised edye of the cur- tain. Perhaps he may be ajlowed to touch her lips with his fingers; but his presence at the window in- dicates that he is a favored lover. He never enters the home of his love until he comes to take her to church. Perhaps in special cases the evening before the ceremony he may come, with a few friends, ANDALUSIAN LIFE, It is as you saunter along the streets that you see | the outside life of Spain. As the afternoon lengthens ‘and the white houses become tawny in the shadows | of the descending sun it is pleasant to stroll out to the Battery. You have nocare as to your road, for in this mazy town the first corner into any road will lead to the Battery. All the world is going with you—grave, stately sefiors to smoke their cigarettes in the cooling, wholesome air, and gracious seforas in their bewitching Spanish costumes, who glance at you with their deep, black, Oriental eyes and float along. My best authority on the ladies of Cadiz is that of Lord Byron, But His Lordship pays tribute to this beauty at the expense of higher qualities when he pays Cadiz a “sweeter though ignoble praisec” and tells how Aphrodite made her shrive within these white walls. Lord Byron was more of a poey than a historian in these criticisms. You can trusg His Lordship in his descriptions of scenery, but not in historical or moral reflections, Andas you float on this ripple of beauty that wafts on toward the Bat- tery and the sea you feel that so much beauty must | have a higher purpose than revelry and crime, and that the sweeping lines in “Childe Harold” were ap- plied to Cadiz because they happened to fit, and might as well have been writ- ten about Cowes or Hamburg. In the evening every one goes to the Battery. The air is warm with the sunshine, with airs that come from Africa, yet tempered with the ever-soothing influence of the sea, The gardens are in bloom—the orange, the pomegranate, the banana and the palm. You stroll slong the Battery wall and look out on the sea, ‘The waves ripple on the shore with the faintest mur- mur. A fleet of fishing boats is at anchor, and their graceful bending masts recall the lateen masts of the Nile. A couple of boats have just come in and are beached above the receding tide, and the fishermen, upto their knees in water, are scrubbing the sides and the keel. The work is pleasant, and the sca has been good, I hope, in its offerings, for they sing a graceful song to lighten their labors. The tinkling bells denote the patient, heavy-laden donkeys, who pace their slow way along the beach, laden with fish or fruit or water or wine. The city is on your right, the white walls rising on the terraced hills, glowing with white as they are seen against this deep blue sky. There are Moorish domes and Arabian turrets, that show all the meaning of their graceful outlines as you see them now massed into a picture, warmed with the richer hues of the descending sun.. How beautiful is Cadiz, seen as you see her now, looking out like a sentinel upon the sea! And thus she has stood, a sentinel between contending civilizations, for ages. Iam almost afraid to say how many ages; but the books will tell you that Hercules founded Cadiz more than three centuries before Rome was born, eleven centuries before our Saviour died. Here where the oceans meet, the southernmost point of Continental Europe, teeming Africa only a step be- yond—here for ages, and through so many civiliza- tions, the city whose glowing towers grow pink and purple inthe sun's passing rays has stood guard, You think of the tides that have rolled and receded over the Mediterranean world, of cities that once ruled the world with their enterprise and splendor; of envious Babylon and forgotten Tyre, and remember that modest Cadiz, who never sought empire, never challenged the .cupidity of the bandit, has passed through the storms that destroyed her splendid rivals and seems good for centuries more. Just over this smooth sea, where you might run ina few hours with one of these fishing boats, is a sandy seaside plain where Arabs grow corn und dates and loll in the noonday sun, This was Cart! and how sho | e looked down upon poor little Cadiz in her day, with her fleets proudly sweeping around theso shores and promontories, with her armies striding over mountain and valley, with her captains resolved to conquer the world! Yet of Carthage only the name remains, only a shadow, and modest Cadiz keeps her guard here, watching the splendors of London and New York and Paris, seeing all the world carry them tribute, seeing the flags of the Englishman sweep past her shores as proudly us the fleets of Hannibal and Cesar in other days, I wonder if beautiful Cadiz has patience in recalling this, and is content with her modest work, and feels that she will keep guard _per- haps when the glory that now environs her has passed like that which once came from Carthage and Rome, and the sceptre of a world’s supremacy will have passed to other hands, LAND AND SEA. You think of these things as you lean over this battery wall and look at the beautifulcity, growing more beautiful in the purple and pearl of the de- seending sun. A freshening breeze comes over the sea and the waves purr and play as they gambol on the rough, stony beach. A ship comes hurrying in, hugging the coast, scudding on at full sail. How beautiful she looks! Every sail set, her flag sending signals to the shore, her prow bent forward like a strong man running his race, auxious for the goal. In afew minutes the evening gun will fire and the port will close. So she flies along, firm in her pur- pose, eager diving, laden with the purposes and achievements of another world, minister and messen- ger of peace. I remember an idle discuasion—per- haps I read it in some forgotten book, perhaps I heard it in some foolish dinner debate—as to which was the mort beautiful object in the world, a maiden | in the fulness of her years, a racehorse at his highest speed or a ship in full sail, I have forgotten what my own views may have been; perhaps it was a sub- ject on which I had not taken definite sides. But, look- ing over this sea wall at the ship that, with every sail bent wooing the winds and striving for the haven, I can well see that the beauty it implics is of the | highest and noblest type. There is the beauty of form, the snugly set keel breasting tho waves, the lines that bend and curve, the lines that tower into the air. There is the beauty of purpose—which | really is the soul of all beauty—tho purpose being to win the race, to carry her treasure, to make a true and good voyage, to do something, to defy wind and waves and relentless seas, and come into this harbor and strew the wharf with corn, cotton or oil. There is the beauty of nature, for the sea is before us and Jong lines of hills crest the horizon; and just over the erfsp and curling blue a light tint of stiver falls, and you look into the heavens and there, coming ont of the skies, you sce the outlines of a full-orbed moon that soon will throw a new radiance over tboso towors and hills and waves. You watch yon ship as she moves in, and feel that, for this momeut at least, there is nothing more beautifal, and yoh are content to see that fortnne favors her, and that comes into her refuge before the port is closed, THY BEAUTIFEL cry. As we stand leaning over thiv sea wall and follow every tint of the changing scene, we note the long pointing to the sea, They seem out of place in Cadiz, Surely she has lived all these agos, triumphant over so many civilizations, who would still be living if ean- non could assure life, They are poor, foolish eun- non, too, long, narrow bronze affutrs, that look puny | wee Which now secure the | But even Cadiz has human nature, and if other people wear cannon, she must needs have cannon, I suppose the in- stinct which prompts these expenses and perform ances is like the instinct which prompts those we love, protect and cherish to run into erinoline in one season and into the reverse another. Cadiz wears her cannon like erinol Tt ts thi ston, and her sons and daughters look proudly upon these lean, lank, crouching guns, and feol that they bar out the opposing world, when, as a mattér of fact, the op- posing world, if itcame bebind the guns 0! Bugiaud, would fear those cannon no more than if they were bamboo tissues. ‘THE ANGELUS BELLS. But we cannot quarrel with the vanities of the beautiful city, and hope she deems her cannon be- coming. The light starts up from various points—a light here and there, giving token of the coming night. The ringing of bells falls on the ear—of many Dells—that ring as though it were a summons or an admonition. They come from all parts of the city, and their jangling is tempered into a king of music by the distance and the clearness of the air. ‘This is the angelus. In this Catholic country it is the cus- tom when the sun goes down for the priest to go to his prayers, and for all Christian souls to cease what- ever calling may employ them and fora few moments to join him in his prayer, thanking the Virgin for having given them the blessing of another day, thank- ing the saints for having watched over them, praying our Saviour to be with them alway, and give them at the end the grace of a happy death. As the bells ring out you know that all Cadiz turns by instinct and for afew moments joins the praying priest in his sup- plications, I am afraid I am not as devout as many of my triends who belong to the Young Men's Chris- tian Association, and I feel whenever © touch a reli- yious theme a sense of great unworthiness, of coming into a foreign atmosphere, and that, after all, I am a mere worldly being, animated with selfish ideas, concerned over politics, and reyenties, and dinners, and clothes, the yellow fever and the East. ern question, antl that you are brought into a holy presence, into relations with men and women who lave lived in the face of God. This feeling, this consciousness of all that 1 am, and of how much more I could be were I to waik in the hum- ble, believing way, has given me a profound respect for any form of religion, for any doctrine or teacbing that brings consolation to the harried soul of man that wins him, even if for a moment, into the presence of his Creator. I can respect the Indian who worships fire, and the Egyp- tian who deified the bull, or Mumbo Jumbo in his morass who adores the ebony fragment he calls a god. It is all an expression of reverence, and human nature depends upon reverence as the sea upon the salt that gives it savor. So far, then, as religion teaches men to revere, to seo above them a higher wisdom, to look for better ways and to chasten their lives by the per- formance of nobler deeds, #9 far as it teaches them restraint, energy, courage, resignation—whatever ex- | presses its oflices—is a sacred thing. From this point of view what a beauty you find in those angelus bells as you lean over the sea wall—the cool breezes fanning your check and hear them jangle in the evening air. Stately Spanish gentlemen pause and their cloaks fall from the shoulder—for the Spanish gentleman always uncloaks himself when he greets you—and now he is greeting supremacy and looks out toward the sea and foliows the distant pricst in his prayer. My lady with the glowing eyes pauses and the head drops a moment, and making the sign of the cross, she passes on, Fora few minutes the jangling bells ring out and all the world is at prayer. He would be a poor Spaniard, whatever his creod or ways, who could allow those bells to pass without answering their invocation, They ring for him now as they did for his infancy, as they rang for his an- cestors, as they ring every day of his life. What- ever the world may do in the way of temptation or duty, for one moment the Church comes and absorbs his soul, and he is one with the thousands around him, and his heart goes in reverence to its Maker; and as you hear these jangling bells you feel how fond and vast and supreme is this religion, whose command falls upon a people from a hundred turret bells. RECIPROCITY FOR ENGLAND. EVIDENCE SHOWING THAT THE PLAN WILL NOT WORK. [From the London Telegraph.) As generally presented by its English advocates reciprocity looks rational enough. We do not, they say, want protection. We do not even insist on the necessity of imposing higher duties for revenue pur- poses; all we desire is that” the benefit of our free tariffs should be limited to those nations which will | engage to give equal advantages to us, None of these nations will be foolish enough to throw away such a market as England, and hence they will promptly agree to our conditions, and grant us as easy terms of admission for our goods as they ask for theirs, If, however, they should not, then let an equally high tariff be imposed on their peodnatt, and this will not only punish them, bat swell our “revennes” from customs duties.’ The assump- tion that the mere threat of reciprocally high duties will bring foreign States to our terms rather than lose us as custonters has no warrant in experience. ‘Take the United States, the best practical illustration of all, The Republic is stiil strougly protectionist, burdeving English manufactures with high duties, while freely exporting her own manufactures not merely to neutral markets, but to England also, Even as Belgian coals hive come to Ne defiance of probabilities and proverbs, so have Massa- chusetis calicoes found their way to Manchester, where they stare out of countenance the best productions of the Blackburn and Preston looms, Such a state of things is reaily very aggrava- ting, and alinost adds “insult to injury;" but let us see what is the remedy advocated by the friends of reciprocity. Imposing a duty on American cot- tons might do little harm, but also it would do no good, That is not the penalty which would make the United States modify their whole tariff in our favor in a free trade sense. Nothing less than a duty on all American products could be expected to move them: and are we prepared for that? Are we pre- pered ‘or an import duty on American wheat and jour, when our poorer classes complain of bread being already too dear; for a duty on beef, mutton, bacon, cheese, when our middle classes have mainly these ‘imports standing between them aud much higher prices than those they now grumble at; for duty on raw cotton, when Lancashire complains that her ae can hardly make both ends meet as it is A DELUSION, Is this what reciprocity would do for us? We thus reach by an easy stage the very kernel of the ques- tion. The radical tault and weakness of the reci- procity theory is that it altogether leaves out of con- sidcration thé most important tactor in the problem, namely, the consumer. Every article of foreign prod- lear gain to the consumer, since ue to his market at all uuless either id not produce it or the producer asked too high a price, It does not matter whether commodity be food, clothing, or luxury; if the consumer buys it cheaper front the foreigner than from his own countrymen, in that capacity and to that extent he gains. ‘This was the princi- ple that swept aside the corn laws, despite the pleading of the farmers—no unimportant industry—for reciprocity. But the consumers do not constitute a spocial or isolated class in the community. Every producer 1s also a consumer, and how fares he in the dixcuesion? Tho result to Him is simply this, that the cheaper he buys auything—no matter whether raw materials for his special industry, or the cost of his individual main- tenance—at so much the less cost is he able to pro- duce, and therefore so much the better is he qualt- fied to meet his rivals in the fierce competition of the world's markets. Wages have been reduced, and probably must be cut down yet lower; but, if the working nan struggles ayainst these reductions in consequence of the expense of living how much less able would he have been to live had import duties added ten or twenty per cent to the value of uvery- thing he consumed? Cheaper living is one source of the superiority which his Continental and American rivals possess, and to make bread, moat and other necessaries dearer would simply handicap him more than ever in the competition, and therefore prolong those disadvantages of his position which reciprocity professes to be designed to remedy, ENGLAND NEEDS PROTECTION. {From the Manchester Courier.) The third volume of the reports on the Philadel- phia International Exhibition is issued by the Edu. cation Department. We are told in one of them that the classes comprising cotton yarns and fabrics showed in a striking manner the wonderful progress male by the cotton industry of the United States and the remarkable degree of perfection which has al- realy Leon attained. These are matiers of consider: able interest to the manufacturers and operatives engaged in the cotion trade in this country, and too much attention cannot be given to them, There piiparati vel; lection of cotton vt and this is attrib. rotwetive tariff, in this the superiority, Ut upon the mind of the aclish man «have nothing to fear “whenever they can moet on equal terms, with a fair Held and no favor.” It would appear from this, however, that so long as the United States chooses to continue the protective system English manufacturers, whose ports are freely open to the competition of the whole worid, will have to meet their rivals on unequal and unfair terms, and that they will, therefore, necessarily have something to fear. That we shall be unable to hold our own, even under such citeurmstonces, remains to be seen, though it 1s obviows that if Enylish manufacturers were placed upon an eqttal footing with their rivals a they would Bee ae’, ae their itaes achieve successes witicl existing state of iy Funders impousibie, of United — States. | SAFETY AT SEA, More Investigation of the Bulkhead System on Steamships. THE COASTWISE LINES. Frail British Freighters a Men- ace to Commerce. INSURANCE COM PANI ES DISTRUSTFUL. Tho regulation of the safety appliances of ocean steamships has been very widely discussed, since tho Henaxp bogan its investigation, into the actual prac- tice of the companies and their commanders. It is the previiling opinion that the solution of the mys- tery of so many dreadful occan disasters may be successfully sought for in this direction. Some of the disclosures given below greatly strengthen this impression, and the subject will bear yet further agi- tation. ‘The reporter commissioned for the task continued his peregrinations after his interview with Mr. Un- derhill. Inquiry at the offices of the Anchor and the Inman lines revealed agreat deal of ignorance regard- ing the arrangement and internal economy of their ships. Mr. John GQ. Dale, of the latter, was unwilling togive any information whatever. The steamer Circas- sia, of the Anchor line, happening to be in port, the reporter visited her and gathered from the chief engi- neer all the facts that he desired to know. This vessel is the latest built) of the Anchor company's fleet, and hor appearance is such as to impress one with a belief in her stanchness and buoyancy, She has seven iron bulkheads reaching to the main deck. These are all watertight within the hold. The valves are located within the bilge. The suction pipes are arranged in the same munner as on the best class of young steamships. There are two auxiliary steam pumps, independent of the main engine, which drain the whole ship, and hand pumps in each compart- ment. The sluice valves are worked from the main deck, “At what times are the sluice valves open?” asked the reporter. “Never except when they are tested by the carpen- ter. This is done at the end of every voyage, and every compartment is sounded three times a da; “Have you ever known of a steamship leaving port with her bulkhead valves open?” “I do not think that it ever happens. When a steamship is struck in her immense engine and boiler compartment no pumping power can save her, An additional feature of strength in our steam- ships is that the coal bunkers are on both sides of the engine room instead of being fore or aft of the boilers. There would be an immense resistance in a great mass of coal when opposed to the prow of a vessel, and it might save the engine compartment from disruption.” The subjoined rough diagram may serve to illus- trate that part of the Circassia’s plan which is re- ferred to:— ry NN—Main deck. PP—“eiling. O—Enyine room, QQ—Coal bunkers, ‘THE PACIFIC MAIL, The next visit was made to a steamship of the Pacific Mail line—the Colon. Mr. Brooks, the chief engineer, said she was a good example of the newer vessels belonging to the company. She is provided with four bulkheads, There are openings for com- munication above the ceiling. The arrangements for pumping are liberal. In answer to a question it was intimated that there were no formal regulations in regard to the stuices in the bilge. The practice was to leave thom cpen nearly all the time: ‘The en- gincer thought that they could be closed quickly enough in tase of necessity. Two of the rods con- nected with the valves reach to the porter’s shop and the other two to the engine room. “In the excitement consequent upon a sudden dis- aster do you not think that the closing of these valves might be forgotten?” ‘To this question no satisfactory answer was given nor to the further suggestion that a blow amidships might flood the engine room in a single moment so that it would be impossible to réach the valve rods, THE MORGAN LINE. ‘The three iron steamships of the Morgan line ply- ing betweon New York and the Guif ports have all iron watertight bulkheads to the main deck. ‘They have doors in them for the passage of freight from one compartment to another, as there is no hatchway awidships. It is claimed that they are always closed before leaving port. Forward there is what is called # collision bulkhead, twenty feet from the stem, and in the compartment thus formed no cargo is ever placed. “Five feet of her bow might be taken off,” remarked the captain of the Algiers, “and she wouid not make adrop ot water inthe rest of the hold.” There are square ports in the sides of those steam- ships between decks; but when they are closed they are screwed tight on gum and are supposed to be imper- vious to water. The plates are stiffened about thetr edye by frames of wrought iron. When the seas are heavy the ports are always carefully watched, The Algiers was near the Emily Souder when she was wrecked off Cape Hatteras, on January 11, and did not suffer m the least from the storm. She has a double water ballast chamber extending from her engit room to her stem post, and it is claimed that this is great safeguard. As will be seen below, however, the opinion of some of the marine underwriters ix quite the reverse. The captain of the Algiers was asked whether the water used as ballast might notin a storm burst the bulkhead amidships when the voxsel pitched forward, Such an instance has recently oc- curred. “No,” he replied, “for we never take water in in rough weather unless we fill it full. It will old «bout three hundred tons. When the weather is fine we sometimes partly fill it so as to settle her down astern and to increase her speed. But suppose that the bulkhead did break. The water would flow iuto the well under the engine and could be pumped out immediately by either the main or the donkey engine.” “In which would you rather go to sea,” said the reporter, “an iron or & wooden ship 7” “An irou ship is like atin pail. It does very much to dab a hole in it; but take pail, and, as I of.en observed when a boy, can kick itover time and again and it will hold water or inilk oither just as asever. lron ships certainly will not stend a crash as wooden ships will, Yet I prefer going to sea in iron. There is no straining of butte, and if there is a leak you can easily tind it. The shell of the ship is accessible, If properiy built the rivets in an i whip weaken no sovner than her plates. It is reat mistake with a good many owners to let out the building of their vessels by contract h caves, poor workanen anid apprentices are of i ot take wooden » okd cow ployed. ‘The rivets in ny put in re nd welded in so that they become part of the plates themsolvex, are allowed first t , perhaps, or are not heated ut all. The consequence’ is that main distinct pieces of iron and under every unasual plates work the least bit, they cut the and the whole ship is just as likely as not to fall apart. Tn this imauner, L think, could be ex- plained some of the mykiwrious wreeks of which no survivor has ever told the tal THK AMBRICAN LINE, “Have you ever inspected any of tho European ners, Captain?” “I was fora short time first oMcer on one of the American steamships which sail from Philadelphia, Her bulkheads and her pumping facilities were yood, but she was notstrony enough for the Atlautic service, The owners have since; 1 sve, improved allot their steamships in this respect,” THR CROMWELL LINK. optain Gager, the commydore of the Cromwell line of steamers, took great pains to exhibit to the HERALD reporter all the safety appliances of the one which h diately commands, the Hudson. The company has two otlor steamers. Kach of these has four bulkheads, extonding as high as the between decks, and there are no openings in these excepting the valves in the bilge, which are worked by rods reaching toll pain deck. There is a collision bulkhead thirty feet from cither end. The two end compartinents are always kept clear of cargo and are always accessi- bie in every part. The decks are of iron, Lhe wooden houses on the main deck have tnterior walls of iron, capable of being tightly closed, so that, should the outer works be swept away, these would remain as ee | as the ship held together. The top ot the bulwarke of the Hudsom is iutact ail around, | to be armed with watertight bulkheads and to pos- | | strength to withstand the heavy weather which they oe on the Atlantic in the winter months, SHEET. that goes aboardj must pass above it. It is so with the sides. There &re no ports, but each com| it has a separate hatchway. The coal LINE! Visits to the a, of Ward’s line; the State of Nevada, of the ‘kate ‘ine: the City of Washi » of the Alexandre line, and the o! ‘lyde line were made. With the exception of the owners of the State line it was found that the companies have no formal regulations concerning the bulkhead openings. The matter is left to the discretion of the officers. FROM THE UNDERWRITERS’ STANDPOINT. An attorney for # large number of marine under- writers consented to be interviewed on the subject in hand. ‘The reporter asked :— “What is your theory of the cause of the sinkin, of so many first ciass steamers which are supposed F sess ample pumping power ?”’ < thtek that the’ dificulty is the same as that which has been found to exist in the iron men-of-war, The communication between the compartments is kept open for facility of passage from one part of the ship to another, the doors become corroded from the | dampness and saltiness of the air, and when the dan- ger comes it is discovered that it is impossible to close them, Just to illustrate this statement let me tell you of something which happened in the Russian nayy, where my brother. from whom I derive the in- cident, holds the rank’ of engineer. The imperial fleet was lying at anchor in the Gulf of Finland when the Grand Duke Constantine suddenly caused the signal to be shown for every vessel to close her bulkhead doors, Then he entered a boat and was rowed to cach of them in turn, and he found that in not one had hix order been’ obeyed. The doors were so rusted that they could not be moved. Since then @ rule has Leen_establighed, and it is now observed in the Russian Navy that the valves and doors between the compartments shall be thoroughly tried at least once a week. INFELION ¥REIGHTERS. “There is @ great deal of distrust among insurers concerning a class of iron steamers which are now coming to American ports, ‘They all belong in Great Britain, We wuderstand that about 1,500 of them have been laid up from one to two years in foreign ports, owing to the interruption, by war and other causes, ot their legitimate trafic. During the period of their idleness they have been growing weaker ever day. Iron hulls Will not keep as wooden ones will. Many of them were built for the Black Sea and the Mediterrancun, and were never, even when new, strong fle = for the Atlantic service. The loss of interest and the cost of repairs to the owners have been so great that they are starting them out by the hundred to all parts of the navigable world. No one knows what evils they may have sustained while laid up. That is the great trouble with iron ships. You cannot discover their ints of weakness so quickly as you can those of . a wooden ship, und’ if anything is wrong with them it is likely to be much more serious, too. If the plates are the least bit loose, for instance, they cut off tho rivets and the sbip falls to pieces. I have no doubt that a great many of the vessels of whose fate we never receive any account are lost in this way. They suddenly fill with water im mid-ocean and down they go, nobody knowing what is the matter. “Meny of these vessels to which I have referred are very badly constructed, being only intended, in the first instauce, to be sold. Engl insurance com- panies are looking upon them with suspicion and re- fuse to take any risk in them, especi when they are laden with grain, Only the other day ono of them arrived here with her cargo damaged because her deck was too light. There is also great danger in iron ships which carry water as ballast. Whenever they pitch into # heavy sea the shock is likely to cause the water to burst the tank and produce terri- ble results," “Is not the English inspection sufliciently stringent to prevent the sailing of such vessel for Atiautic ports?” “No; it does not insure the proper construction of ships int those respec! CRAZY ENGLISH BOTTOMS, From another gentleman in the employ of marine underwriters, a veteran sea captain, whose present duty is to inspect, in the interest of the insurers, vessels arriving at this pert, confirmation of all the above statements was obtained and many new details that are of interest, “My impression has lately been,” said he, ‘that the steamers which ure now sent here for freighting are not first class, and are entirely ii uate in The majority of them have been built for cial purpose; many of them to navigate Sea und to make ouly short trips. As they are freighters and speed is no object with them their engines are of small power. They are generally em- ployed to carry grain, and when they are loaded deep and encounter head gales it is impossible for them to inake any progress, and the full speed of their engines can hardly hold them up with their head to the sea. ‘They cannot act as sailing vessels, because they haven't suilicient canvas. They are, in fact, nonde- scripts. The steamer Bermuda, which was recently lost, belonged to this class. The captain ordered the engines to be worked at their utmost power, and yet sue did uot move ahead, bat went broadsides upon a rock, That shows that she lacked the ability to take care of herself. The materials of these ships are light, and their whole construction is wrong. The majority of them are open-waisted. ‘The space be- tween the forecastle and the poop will hold an enor- mous weight of water, about tl y per cent of the ship's tonnage, and when she is boarded by a big sea itis slmnost sure to swamp her before it can be un- shipped. “Most of these steamers are heavily encumbered with debt, their legitimate waterways having been closed to them for several years. Their owners in- sure them as high as they can, aud are probably bet- ter pleased that they should be lost than they would be at any other result. The trade between United States ports and Brazil is largely done with them, and they scarcely ever make a voyage without their cargoes being damaged. It is only by employing such bottoms as these that the English can compete with Americans in this coustwise carrying trafic.” “Have you any criticism to make upon the first class European steamers?” “None, except that 1 have heard of instances of their sailing with their bulkhead sluices open.” “Could you name the steamer aud the occasion?” “No, sir.” A NAVAL ENGINEER'S VIEWS. Mr. Sinclair Stewart, chief engineer for the Ameri- can Shipmasters’ Ass oincided with all the views just express wid:—The bulkhead valves in iron steamships should never be allowed to remain open except when they are used as vents for «the water.” “When inspecting a steamer have you ever found the cargo doors or the valves open when they ought to hi been closed?" “T never have. “Supposing the compartment containing the engine and boilers to be disrupted, do you think there would be cnough buoyancy in the other com- partments to sustain an ordinary iron steamship?” “If she were loaded, no. The compartment amid- ships would contain’ about seven hundrod and filty tous of water, which, added to the weight of the cargo, would certainly suftice to sink her.”’ “How could this fault in the construction of iron steamships be remedied?” “By having a double bulkhead between the en, room and the fireroom. In a great many stew! there is none at all, and in no steamship is there more than one, ‘The space between could be used as a coal bunker. ‘The fireroom should be a little further from the engine room than it gen- is now, Coal from smaller bunkers could be used first, keeping this large space for the greater part of the voyage tightly enclosed, I think that lougitudinal compartments would be better than the lateral ones, but the engine would be an obstacle in the way of their use in steamers as they are at present constructed. A longitudinal, watertight bulkhead traversing the lateral bulkheats: through the centre of the ship, from stem to stern, would greatly lesson the chances of sinking, I would also recommend that all iron steamships have iron decks. Anengine imparts # different pulsation to different contiguous materials, That of wood differs trom that of iron, and this lack of harmony cannot but be injurious to the whole structure.” SHE KNEW HIM. There was & very langhable scene ta Jefferson | Market Police Court yesterday, when & buxom Irish spinster tried to convince asaturnine German gentle- man that they were mutually interested in the wel- fare of her child, “I nover seo you in my life,” said ho, indignantly. | ‘Arrah, what d'ye mane 2” quoth she. I don't know yon, und I bet you you don’t know me,”’ said he, limping after her and Counsellor Noah into the private cxamination room, “Tdon't, is it? W thin, I'l tell you what it is, Misther Out-o'-time, I know you; an’, be the same token, you have @ bullet hole above yer ankle an’ another above yer knee. An’ it's how you got it was | whin you wor acap'n in the confedrit army. See that, wow.” “Qeh, du Hebe! See here vunce, du Trish! ‘Vell, vat's der use getting med? You don’t know me, but somepory told you I vas by the rebel army, und dot's drue, Tam lame,” The mau, in a towering rage, was proceeding to cros#examine the woman wen Counsellor Noa who represented the Commissioners of Charities, in: terruptedt Lit by suggesting that why acted a* counsel tor himwelt he usually liad a fool for a client, and adding that Mr. Oudenheim, who is under bail, had better obtain a lawy beture pro- couding any further, “Vell, 1 shust vant to know,” said he, with much ho vas runnin’ dis ease, you or de me?” you're the prisoner,” answered the counsel, dot so; ix dot #07 ‘Veil, L guess Evil - adjournment.” moms 3 CARRIED A PISTOL, Anthony H, Donant was brought before Justice | Flammor, at dofferson Market Police Court, yester- day, ged with having fired twice that morning at John Walsh, on Broadway, near Thirty-sixth stroot. The complainant stated that the man had, without any provocation, deliberately pulled his revolver on him. On the other hand the prisoner, who is twenty-eight years old and a native of Jefferson county, in this State, said that he and the plaintit inet in the hallway of a disreputable house in West Thirty-sixth street and qnarrelled, In the row wh followed Dunant ayerred that Walsh struck ‘Ol sent to an = him twice in the hallway street, and therfore the defendant, drew his revolver and he air twice to not to kill ice Fiammer comut to an- swor in default of $3,000 | at Briiun, in Moravia, an | the 4 REMBNYI'S PROTEGE. Another Chapter of Gossip from the Violin Virtuoso. HIS YOUNG COMPOSER —— The History of an Artist—“My Second Brahms.” It will be remembered that the Herat recently published an interesting interview with M. Edouard Reményi, the well known violin virtuoso, The ar- ticle in question has elicited not a little interest in musical circles, and provoked much comment. It has also been widely republished by the leading journals of the country. At the close of the inter- view the artist promised to speak on a future occa- sion concerning his discovery of another musical genius whom he predicted would, like his early friend Johannes Brahms, eventudlly become dis- tinguished as a great musical composer. The writer called yesterday at the apartments of M. Reményi at the Westminster Hotel for the purpose of holding a further conversation upon the topic. After a few preliminary remarks the artist said:— “Before going into the subject of your call I must ask the favor of making an explanation to you in connection with the article on Johannes Brahms. You will remember that in referring to the Hunga- rian dances { plainly said that Iwas sure Brahmas himself had nothing to do with their publication, and that it was only owing to the greediness of pub- lishers that his name has been coupled with them for so many years a8 their composer, It 1s that fact which hax ied to the sale, I presume, of millions of copies, although if I were Brahms I should long ago have protested against such proceedings, for he has no need to wear borrowed plumage by making the world believe that he has composed things which are mere transcriptions or copies. Brahms has aston- ished the musical world for twenty years, and, as 1 predicted that he would do if he lived, he has pro Auced sublime chef d’auvres that have been played throughout the civilized world and are justly con- sidered gems of musical poetry. Now, let us dro) the subject and come to the purpose of your visit.” “Well, Mr. Reményi, tell me something concern- ing this new musical light—this ‘coming man’ whom you say you have discovered—his name, and all about him.” A MUSICAL DISCOVERY. «It may seem rash for me to make another predic- tion, for. geniusea are not spawned like fishes, nor have I the authority of a great name like that of Robert Schumann to give weight to my statements; but, nevertheless, I have the courage and boldly as- sert coram publico that I have again met L marvel. It was under these circumstance r= rived in America on the 8th of November last and was scarcely domiciled before I naturally sought the companionship of my own countrymen. Among these was Mr. Frederick Korbay, whom [had known for many years, and who is one of your prominent lieder composers of New York. Passing from one topic to an or my friend said to me half humorously, , it seems that we Hungarians are gradually swelling in numbers in the United ‘St and showing to the world something of the mi productions of our country. For instance, there is Mme. Gerster, aud Mile. De Murska, you are arrived, I am making tolerable headway, and there would be still another if he were not dead.’ ‘Dead! ‘hat do you mean by that?’ He an- ve you never heard of Maximilian ‘No,’ I responded, ‘what about him? ‘This,’ said he; I met this countryman of ours @ few months ago, by mere chance, here in the city of New York. He was then en route to South America, and the last that I heard of him was that he died of the yellow fever.’ My reply, _ aeons made, was:—‘Well, requiescat in pace— peace to his ashes! Let us talk of something more cheerful.’ Korbay then explained to me that this man, in His jndgment, had a remarkable musical talent, and by his death the musical profession had sustained a serious loss. ’ M. VOGRICH. “A few weeks subsequent to this conversation, and after I had appeured several times in public, I ‘hap- pened to be at Booth’s Theatre, in one of the dress- ing rooms, waiting to go before the audience, when # gentleman, whom I have known for the last sixteen years, and who is now singing with much éclat in the character of the imiral, in the o; of “H. M. 8. Pinafore,” at the ‘Standard Theatre, in this city—I refer to Mr, ‘Thomas Whif- fen—came tome and _said:—‘Reményi, there is a young Hungarian in the theatre who is very eager not only to listen to you. but to meet you In person, yet does not dare to-call on you.” “What is his name? Iasked. ‘Vogrich,’ he replied. ‘The memory ot his name at once recurred to me, and I asked Mr. Whiffen to bring him in at once. He re- turned in a few moments in company with a fair fea- tured young man, apparently not more than three and twenty years of aye. Iwas attracted by his mild d modest expression, his retiring demeanor, and y a strikMg resemblance to the fine lincaments of Mozart. I reproached him ina gentle way for not culling upon me before, especially in view of the fact that ho was a fellow ¢ tryman and that we were brother musicians. He blushed and made tew bushiul excuses. Our conference then was a com- paratively brief one, and he left with a promise to visit me at an early day.” “What did you discover in the young man which 80 particularly attracted you?” “In the first place he was propitiously announced by my friend, and, secondly, Lis personal appearance spoke volumes, Idon’t know way—perhups it was due to my enthusiastic and it inative nature—but 1 was reminded of my friend Johannes Brahms and the experiences of twenty-five years ago; and I said to myself ‘Here is another upon whom nature has laid her fingers and fate has pointed out for a voca- fea There was no mistaking the ter of the e AN EVENTFUL CARRER. “When he called on me again { asked him some- thing about his career—whetner he had com; ‘Yes,’ he replied, modestly. ‘What kind of music? I quired, ‘Nearly every branch,’ was the answer—‘songs, sonatas, fugues, opera and so on. I have tried myself in every department of composition, travelled all over the world, and have yet to find a'permanent home.’ All this he remarked in a retiring and hesitating way that impressed me still more favorably. On subse- quent inquiry from those familiar with his past lite 1 learned that he was born in Szeben in Transylva- nia, which is ove of the loveliest portions of Hun- ary, on the 27th of January, 1462 (by the way, singu- larly cnough, that is the birthday of Mozart), his father being Antoine Vogrich, musical chef d'o1 from whom he received his carly education.. Ho was therefore, born as it were in atmosphere of his art. When he fourteen years of age his futher was suddenly taken it while rehearsing Waguer’s ‘Lohengrin’ calling upon his son, who was thoroughly familiar with the opera, he handed him the baton aud the lad conducted the per- formance of that wonderful composition. Alter this he went to Leipsic, where he studied three years in the Conservatoire and became a kind of protégé of the celebrated Moschelles, He then travelled through Hungary, giving concerts that were not lucrative, and at the age oc eighteen made a tour of Kussia, even to the foot of the Caucusian Mountains, La 1872 he went to Paris, and then travelled extensively ‘tugal and italy, In Haly he was appointed ches d’orchestra, and in Florence com- posed his opera, ‘Vanda,’ which hada fair recep: tion, but bad management spoiled the consequences of success, and, disheartencd, he went from Milan to Mexico. From Mexico he came to Now York, re- mained a few months, and, with the old spirit of dering up went to South America, where ce wave con 8 until bad, or good luck, perhaps, drove iin again to this city. THE YOUNG COMPOSER DESCRIBED. “In the courre of the mterview to which I refer L asked young Vog if he would play for me. He sut down to the piano, this very instrument, by the way, end performed the finale of the first act of his opera ‘Vanda,’ sud among other things, especially, @ maynificent fugue which would have @ honor to “atest vf counterpointiats, I was amazed tue grand character of his harmony and exquisite nature of the musical postry that permeated alt of his compositions, Indeed, l could not resist shaking his hands and warmly congratulating him upon his sticeess.”” “Is ie then such a remarkable pianist?” “No; but he plays extremely well, Yot if he did not do #o it would not matter at all, for he is much mors than @ pianist; he is a poot composer,” “Has he composed anything of late?’ “Merore leaving me L asked him to .write a theme for the violin with piano accompaniment. .To my astonishment he retarved in three hours with @ roll of seven pages of music, which he entitled ‘A Le- gond.’ L aid not consider it possivie that such 4 | beautiful work of art could be produced in so short a time, and, to tell you the truth, dewbted the fact, especially when he sat down at the piano aud played it with a power and grace that usually only follows long application, Subsequently, however, made many experiments, and in this very room [ have sven him throw off page after 6 Of the most difficult and complicated music on subjects, some of which as & mere matter ot test I have sugy my- wolf, As the result of my adoration of his work Lgave him an order to compose for mo ® sonata for tie violin with orchestral effects which f intend to play in this city on my return from my Western tour, ‘he public will then have an opportunity of endors- ing or rejecting my judgiment concerning this young seer. hat xeem to be his peculiarities as ® composer?” ist chietly im the possession of # nively bal us organization, im which musical arithmetic, if L may use the expression, and poetry #0 hand and hand. These are combined with great iacility of thought and rapidity of execution. In. deed, Le is composing ail the time, and in almost all places, and Lean only account for it as the outgrowth of a strong artistic and wethetic nature, in whiek genius having already built her castles only re quires the painter to produce them on the scroll,” “You seein to be very enthusiastic, Mr. Keményi, oc oR Ce camaine