The New York Herald Newspaper, February 4, 1879, Page 6

¥ hs a ee NEW YORK HERALD, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1879.—TRIPLE SHEET. Appearances justify the belief that this NEW YORK HERALD] '\ "0 Pete. Ser ew ber ge See BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. rn rs JAMES GORDON BENNETT, TROPRIETOR, eS cee THE DAILY HERALD. lished every day én the year, ‘Three cents per copy fi Ean emnr ors Ten dolla a por pear five dollars for six monthe, two dollars and Ufty cente for three months, or at a rate of one dollar per month for any perio lens than three months, Sunday edition Included, tree of postaze. WEEKLY HERALD—One dollar per year, free of post- axe. NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS.—Remit in drafts on Now v orders, and where neither of these All insure atten- ed must give 1 ir new address. telegraphic despatches must LD. heir old as well as t All busin de addressed Naw Letters and pac! jected commu iho properly sealed, il not be returned, PHILADELPHIA OFF! 112 SOUTH SIXTH STREET. OF THE NEW YORK HERALD— REET. E DE LOPERA, BOWERY THE. PARK THEAT! NEW YORK AQUARIU Lye THEATRE. BROADWAY q “THEAT FIFTH AVEN: SQUARE THEATRE—T DR. CLYDE, # Banker's Daventer, UNTO, The probabilities are that the weather in New York and its vicinity to-day will be warm and partly cloudy. To-morrow it will be warmer and cloudy, possibly with rain. Watt Srreer Yesterpay.—The stock mar- ket was less active and weak. Government bonds were steady, States dull and railroads ir- regular. Money on call was easy at 2 a3 per cent and closed at 2 a 2ly per cent. Tue Resumption of business by several of the large factories in Troy is one of the encour- aging signs of the tim: As Ir THe Cipner INvestiGATION was not enough here is the famous income tax suit on the calendar for this morning. Tue Dietomatic Event in Washington yester day was the official presentation of the new Spanish Minister, Sefior Don Felipe Mendez de Vigo. Tue Moonsnixers and the revenue officers fare doing their best to make the winter pleasant in Virginia. Two wounded on each side at last accounts. “ie Vorr in the House of Representatives yesterday shows that there is no danger that the Supplementary Pension bill appropriation will fail in that branch of Congress. An Invatip O_p Lapy, near Reading, Pa., insisted a few days ago upon having the ico broken in the river so that she could be bap- tized. She is now on her way to the other shore. Supervisor Daveyport’s Derence, that in arresting the holders of the ’68 naturalization papers he made no distinction between republi- cave and democrats, is one of the best jokes of the season. Tue Entire business portion of Lee, Mass. was burned down yesterday, involving the de: struction of a large amount of property. Owing to a heavy gale the firemen were unable to cope with the conflagration, Tr Is Anscurp in the Baptist Conference to think of excluding the reporters from their Monday entertainments. What they ought to do is to hire a large hall and charge an admmis- gion fee. Every seat would be taken. Pouicy Hoipers of the Mutual Life Insur- ance Company will watch with interest the de- cision of the question raised by some of their umber in the courts as to the right of the company to issue the new form of policy. Very Great Crepit is due the teachers of the burning school house in Indiana yesterday, who succeeded in removing nearly tive hundred children from the building without an accident. Led by the teachers, they marched out to the tap of the gong. AccorpING to private cablo advices in Mont- real Canadian cattle aro not being interfered with in the English ports. Although an order in Council by the Ottawa government excludes our cattle no one there appears to be able to explain the nature or even describe the symp- toms of what is called the plague. Tue Weraturr.—The meteorological condi- tious in the northeastern districts are, to say jhe least, very singular. The area of low barometer which moved over Nova Scotia trom the north on Friday last has re stationary ever since, the only change taking place being a stendy fall of pressure. The area of highest barometer extends over the and the Northwest. In the latter dis however, the pressure is talling and a well marked depression is advaucing toward the Lower Missouri Valley, This disturbance is likely to affect the central valieys, particularly in those re » the rivers are at present frozen over, by causing » gencral breaking up of the ice an a cousequent formation of gorges. Rains will also probably attend its movement and willtend to produce floods in the low dis- tricts along tho r Snow fell during yes- terday in the lake reg’ , but the warm tem- perature did not permit it to remain very long on the ground. Cloudy weather prevailed in the luke districts, Middle Atiantic aud New England States. Elsewhere it was generally eleur. A decided fall has taken place in the temperature of the Gulf States. It has also fallen slightly in the extreme Northwest and bas risen in the other districts. ‘The winds have been fresh to brisk in the lake regions, the Mid- dle Atlantic and New England States, and gen- erally light elsewhere. Another disturbance is approaching British coasts and will prob- ably arrive jay. The special weather wh easterly gale is blowing at f the barometer is low. The weather itt York and its vicinity to-day will bé arid partly cloudy. Toanorrow it will bo aud cloudy, possibly with rain, city stands on the threshold of a new era in its history bearing some resemblance to that upon which it entered in 1825—the memorable year from which is dated the rise of New York to its great position of supremacy as the commercial emporium of the United States and of the Western Hem- isphere, Previous to 1825 Philadelphia had been a larger and more impor- tant city than New York in _ spite of our magnificent and unequalled harbor, our nearness to the sea and the comparative shortness of the voyage to, Eu- rope, The year 1825 put us in advance, but not at first so much in {fact as in the hope, energy and confidence inspired by the great event of that truly memorable year. It was the year when the Erie Canal, that great achievement of the genius of Dewitt Clinton, was completed and its completion was celebrated. In that year those vast in- land seas, the great lakes, were (in the poetical and exultant language of the time) “wedded to the Atlantic Ocean.” In order to estimate the exultant hopes of that remarkable period we must remember that railroads had not yet been invented, All the greater movements of commerce were then made by water, and the opening of the Erie Canal from Buffalo to Albany seemed to give New York a monopoly of the carrying trade between the great fertile West and the Atlantic seaboard. For the time being it insured to this city a practical monopoly of the com- merce of the North American conti- nent The great chain of mountains whick run parallel to the Atlantic coast is interrupted in the Highlands of New York for the passage of the Hudson, opening an almost perfect level between the Atlantic Ocean and the great-inland seas, which are the most remarkable feature in the physi-‘ cal geography of the continent. The genius of Clinton saw the great possibilities of the situation, and his energy and ability opened the waterway whose completion in 1825 assured to New York the commercial su- premacy which the city has securely held trom that day to this. The wonderful impulse then given to the growth of New York city was, for the first few years, the result of sanguine hope and well grounded expectation, rather than of immediate additions to the actual trade of the city. ‘The West was then a wilderness, and until its soil was brought under culti- vation it could contribute nothing to the commerce of the seaboard. But everybody foresaw the great rush of settlers into Michigan and Northern Ohio, und the early upturning of the Illinois prairies by the plough of the cultivator; and foresaw with equal clearness that the products of the fertile regions bordering on the great lakes would necessarily be sent through the Erie Canal and find their market in New York. This city at once began to grow by anticipating the splendid future which was so near at hand. The im- mediate rise in city property, the influx of population and the large construction of buildings to accommodate the swarm of new comers were justified by the result, and Boston, Philadelphia and Baltimore were distanced and, in a few years, left far inthe rear. In this manner New York city acquired a supremacy which could never afterward be shaken. Some ten or fifteen years later began the era of railroads, which, in its progress, again revolutionized the business of the country and seemed to threaten the primacy of New York among the commercial cities of the United States. The great through lines to the West seemed to restore the lost equality between the cities of the seaboard which had been destroyed by the Erie Canal. But it was found by experience that the practical effect of railroad com- munication was to increase the ad- vantages which New York had acquired by the Erie Canal. Before the construc- tion of railroads land carriage by teams was so expensive that every petty port, from Maine to Florida, was the seat of an import trade. ‘Lhere was economy in landing goods at many points along the coast and saving the great cost of transportation by wagons. But cheap railroad intercourse with the in- terior made it’ of little consequence where goods were imported, and the natural result was a concentration of the import trade ina small number of Atlantic cities, and chiefly in the city of New York, which his long had the lion’s share of our foreign commerce. The merchauts of the interior prefer to select their goods from large stocks, whose multitude and varicty enable them to cater more successfully to the wants and tastes of their customers. The consequence has been that the railroads, instead of undermining the superiority which this city had acquired by means of the Erie Canal, have concentrated the vast import and export trade of the couatry at this advantageous point. But of late years the onward and trium- phant march of New York city has met an impediment in the singular goographical figure of Manhattan Island. Itis a long strip of land between two rivers, with its great business establishments situated at the lower and narrower end, toward the sea, with a possibility of expansion only in one direction. The consequence has been that our increasing population has overflowed across the bordering rivers, and built up great citics in New Jersey and on Long Island, ‘The restraining ef- fect of this immense overflow on the prosperity of the city has been too obvious. Our resources for taxation have not kept pace with our business development, and the cost of our municipal government has been a burden under which our property owners have staggered. This is indeed partly owing to waste, extrava- gance and corruption, but principally to the fact that so large o proportion of the people who do business here reside and pay taxes elsewhere, There is one million of people whose residence as well as their business is in the city, and another million whose business centres here, but who live and are taxed outside the city. It is the great fact that we are now ap- proaching the end of this state of things which warrants us in ranking the present with the great era which opened in 1825, when the city received the first miehtv im- pulse which bore it so far onward in its career of commercial greatness, As that great impulse was the consequence of sur- mounting a geographical difficulty, so also is the present, Our rapid transit roads have overcome the obstacle to the growth of the city which was interposed by the form of the island. One of these roads is already completed to the Harlem River, the other will be before the end of the present year, and in the year following there will be extensions of both streiching far up in the direction of Westchester | county. Nothing is more certain than that these roads will revolutionize the distri- bution of population in this vicin- ity. Measuring distance by time the upper part of the island will be so much nearer to the fashionable shops, which are rapidly moving up town, and to the places of amusement, which are also moving in the same direction, that no- body will be willing to cross either river when equally cheap residences can be had onthe northern part of the island. The vivifying cffect of this certainty on the value of property and on the increase of population will not be inferior to what took place in the remarkable years which followed the completion of the Erie Canal. The thing is so perfectly assured that the owners of property now, as they did then, will act on this certainty and anticipate what is surely coming. It for- tunately happens that the completion of | the rapid transit roads ccincides in point of time with a great expected revival of the general business of the country by Which the city would profit even without its new advantages. i The duties which are incumbent on us in connection with this improved prospect and the means by which we may reap the full benefit of the change are interesting topies for future discussion, Herendeen’s Letter About Nordenskjold. We republish this morning from the col- umns of the Evening Post a very interesting letter from Captain E. P. Herendeen, of San Francisco, on the prospects of a release of the Swedish Arctic steamer Vega, which is beset by the ice off the northeastern Siberian coast. We are glad to see that the writer shares with the Hxratp the belief that Professor Nordenskjéld and his com- panions are not in such serious danger as Captain their friends in Europe imagine, and that the prospects of a speedy re- lief of the party are very promising. While we are satistied that the Vega is in considerable peril it does not at all follow that her party will be sacrificed, because its members can at least reach land without difficulty and with a fair prospect of mect- ing the relief expeditions despatched to their assistance, The case of. the ship Citi- zen, of New Bedford, cited by Captain Herendeen, ought to reassure the friends of Nordenskjéld, who, having but meagre news of his whereabouts, conjure up all kinds of disasters for the expedition. How- ever, ‘to make assurance doubly sure,” no delay, should occur in sending the impris- oned explorers all necessary assistance, because their greatest danger lies in the exhaustion of their supplies. In- terest in the progress of the brave and learned Swede and his companions has grown into intense anxiety regarding them because the history of the Arctic ex- ploration furnishes too many instances of disaster. Armchair explorers may pooh- pooh the dangers to which the voyagers in the Arctic Ocean are exposed, but their true and practical friends will always be anxious for their safety, and even err, if that is possible, on the side of zealous en- deavor to render them timely and efficient assistance. Progress in France. M. Waddington, Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Dufaure Cabinet, and the actual author of the present republican constitution of France, will be a Prime Minister fully in accord with the new Pres- ident on all important points of public policy, and a fit depositary of the ministerial authority and responsibility in the applica- tion of those reforms rather than assent to which the late President retired from office. Between M. Grévy, M. Waddington and M. Gambetta there can be, in the dis- charge of the duties of their great offices, only the trust and good will that flows from perfect confidence and a complete understanding on the part of each that there are no sinister motives on the part of either of the others ; that none can have formed or can indulge any other hope or other purpose than to Serve his country and put the ship of state out of tho reach of storms. Gambetta, reviled for so many years as eager only to head a vile revolt that would make him a dictator, has given evidence of self- abnegation that ought to silence detrac- tion, and Grévy and Waddington are men that cannot be suspected of meditating con- spiracies against the nation. Indeed, the very fact that such suspicions were not irrational against MacMahon, and would be ridiculous now, is the evidence of the enormous change made in these few days. A Brave Boy. The Heracpy’s special despatch from Terre Haute, Ind., tells a dramatic story. Ata public school in that city, during the morning hours yesterday, one of thescholars, named Frank Pescheck, discovered that tho upper stories of the building were on fire. There were at the time nearly five hundred scholars in the school, and a hasty cry, the slightest display of terror on the part of the lad, would beyond doubt have sncri- ficed many young lives and have plunged many families into the deepest affliction that can bo visited on human beings—the sudden loss of their children by a painful and horrible death. The brave boy=for coolness in such a moment of peril is the perfection of courage—maintained his pres- ence of mind, and, going quietly to the principal of the school, communicated to him in » whisper the fearful intelligence. Even then the removal of tho children caused such affright that some of the little ones leaped from the lower windows, for- tunately without sustaining injury; but the bulk of the scholars passed out im an orderly manner, under the guidance and control of the teachers. Tha seana on tha streets when the parents rushed to the spot, ignorant of their children’s fate, must have been painfully exciting, and no doubt many blessings were showered last night on the head of the brave boy whose selt-posses- sion averted a terrible calamity. Roumanin’s Belligerent Move. On the supposition that the questions re- garding the partition of the territory north of the Balkans among the allied conquerors of the Turk were about to be definitely and peaceably settled public attention has been drawn away from the recent seut of war and directed toward the British Indian frontier, But the clements of disturbance which have for centuries made the Balkan peninsula a yast battlefield are by no imeans removed by the results of the late war, and are now threatening to cause a rupture between two of the allies cver a division of the spoils, The Danube, which forms the natural southern and western boundaries of Roumania, became, by virtue of the Treaty of Berlin, only a part of the southern limit of the principality. The annexation of the Dobrudscha gave Roumania o very respectable slice of territory along the Black Sea from the mouth of the Danube to Mangalia on the coast, and as far westward as a line drawn from a point a few wiles east of Silistria on the Danube to Mangalia. ‘The famous fortress which detiod the efforts of the Russians to capture it in 1853 there- fore became a Bulgarian town, much to the disappointment of Roumania. Our despatches from London this morn- ing announce that the Roumanianus have forcibly occupied the Arab Tabia, or chief tort of Silistria, compelling the Russian garrison to withdraw, and have refused to re tire on the receipt of simultaneous demands from St. Petersburg and the Russian Gen- eral-in-Chief, Todleben. The consequences of this bold defiance of Russia and vioia- tion of the stipulations of the Treaty of Berlin cannot fail to be serious, if, as is suggested by our despatch, Austria is willing to sus- tain Roumania’s action. It is certain that the government of Bucharest would not dare to thwart Russia in this fash- ion if it was not assured of help from some one of Russia’s open or secret enemies, and as Austria has not willingly accepted the results of the war or the Berlin Treaty it is probable that she is behind the Roumanian movement. The only other ex- planation that can be offered of this remark- able political incident is that it moy have been brought about by Russia, in order to furnish her with a pretext for a prolonged occupation of Bulgaria and Roamelia, and until she has exacted ull her demands from Turkey. England will naturally view with satisfaction any complication in the Danube Valley calculated to tie Russia’s hands, but as she has not won fame recently for disin- terestedness people will be asking what island she desires to *‘grub” next. Is It Worth Having ? The politicians are anxiously awaiting the decision of Judge Barrett in the Tam- many injunction case, because many of them believe that the question of the future control of the ‘'ammany Society hinges upon the success or failure of the attempt of the anti-Tammany people to keep out the one hundred and fifty new members whom the present sachems are endeavoring togetin. The friends of the existing or- ganization, it is true, laugh at the assertion that without these new members they are in a minority in the society and must be beaten in the next election of sachems; but if their opponents did not en- tertain a different belief it is not likely that they would have gone to the trouble and expense of the pending legal proceedings. Afterall, is the society worth having? Will it not prove a white elephant on the hands of the gentlemen who are so anxious to secure its control? The prop- erty on Fourteenth street is estimated to be worth one hundred and fifty thousand dol- lars, although it is doubtfal if it would fetch that sum at a forced sale. Itis mortgaged for two hundred and twenty-five thousand dol- lars. The society's seven per cent bonds fetch only thirty-four cents on the dollar. Its legitimate yearly receipts from all sources are about six thousand dollars less than its ordinary expenses, and yet it col- lects twenty-five dollars as an initiation fee from new members, when the constitution fixes the fee at three dollars. There must be some peculiar attraction about Tammany Hall to render any person desirous cf tak- ing the responsibility of running such an impecunious society. The Barron Case. Some days ago wo expressed our doubts of the fresh theory in regard to the death of Barron, the cashier of the Dexter Savings Bank, in Maine, on the mere probabilities of the case as exhibited in the statement of that theory. Eight months subsequent to the death of a cashier it is discovered that his accounts exhibit a defalcation ; and as there isa mystery about his death it is as- sumed immediately that he had committed suicide to hide that defalcation, and the assumption is sustained by the statement that an expert has actually succeeded in putting a lock on the inside of a door in such way as to close the door with the bolts of the lock shot. In the way of that theory the difficulties are obvious. It needs first to be indubitably shown that those books have not been tampered with since the man’s death; and the presump- tion is that they have been, because the detalcations are not exhibited in the regu- lar course of the figures as originally entered, but entries are inserted between othors to account for the absence of funds not on hand. So clumsy a device would have been discovered immediately, and the fact that this discovery was not made at the timo of the death gives ground for the pre- sumption that the books have been manipu- lated since, Again, a detective could lock himself in, no doubt, with his ‘hands free, but could he do it with handcuffs? And if he handcuffed himself afterward how could he put tho key in another room? Insur- ance companies, whose agents have sharp eyes, did not doubt at the time that this was a case of murder, and the public will not, with all the facts before it. But who has tam- pered with those accounts, and whose good namo is to be saved at the expense of this calumny of the dead? ee Kee A.great deal of rehearsing is : had ae . ~ Up. piece cau Fan smoothly, 2 ee D al in hin objection to sien soetale. ney Wins | TS Tie! Lat ct aeons See rants before the expiration of the time tor which the pay is to be held as due Mayor Cooper exhibits a wish to introduce into the discharge of official duties the principle that his signature shall never be appended to any paper.as a mere formality, but that whenever his signature is found on any document its presence there shall be an evidence that he has taken effective action on that case ; that he has audited that nc- count ; that he has gone over the ground and is satisfied mentally and morally that the service has been performed, that the | pay is due or that the law requires him to certify thit it is due, His act in that light is praiseworthy, and if he goes on in tho application of the principle by which he seems to be guided he will justify all that was hoped of his administration ; for the course thus taken may give him an im- portant control over much that would be otherwise without control. Untor- tunately the law appears to require his signature to be given in many cases where he has nota right to know previously just what is to be done with the money. Were it otherwise he might efficaciously act upon the whole city government, and the public would bo able to hold him {fairly responsi- bie. But as it is there is a great part of the administration that the Mayor can supervise by this simple refusal of his signature. We | hope, therefore, that he intends to apply this plan where it may correct abuses, as well as | where it will merely change a little routine office duty. Common Fame. It may be ail very well for mes to use the term ‘common fame” regarding statements about any ordinary men and affairs, but we give the Brooklyn Presbytery due warning that the public will not submit to any such expression being used regarding the work and ways of itsown ‘lalmage. Reports concerning him are not common—they are invariably un- common—and we protest on the part of the public, which for the past few years would have been indeed lonesome without him, against the Tabernacle’s pastor being be- littied by the palpit jealousy which hides behind a seemingly formal phrase. Have not ‘Talmage’s sermons been printed a thousand times oftener than those of any of his accusers? Is he not the principal attraction of Brooklyn? Has he not gone through the various evil re- sorts of New York and emerged without having lost his pocketbook or his -charac- ter? Does any other preacher, or any dozen of preachers, attract so much atten- tion from that stronghold of Belial, the newspaper press? Let the members of the Presbytery investigate, if they are tired of preaching and want a rest from the practice of brotherly kindness, but let them give us none of that sanctified malevolence that is ! otherwise. .s0 thinly veiled by the expression ‘‘common fame.” PERSONAL INTELLIGENCE. Gossips are always dis-tonguey. Cardinal Manning is going to Rome. Senator-elect Jones, of Florida, used to be a car- penter. General Bragg, of Wisconsin, is giving them a little more grape. 3 It is a lamentable fact that Mr. Claxton has to get up and make the fires, How much more he would have been loved if his name had been Hayes). i Xx-Secretary Boutwell has called upon Secretary Thompson, of the Navy. The Boston Commercial art critic speaks of a bust of Shakespeare as a Bill head, George Washington never told a committee that he did not write a cipher despatch. It is said that the estate of Harry Meiggs, the ad- venturer of South America, 1s being wasted. What the Cheyenne Indians really need to tame them down is a good old fashioned camp meeting. ‘Mr. Hayes will, if he keeps all his engagements, Bo next summer to Connecticut, California and Texas. Mrs, Southworth, the novelist, lives in Youkers, but she will spend part of the winter in Washington. ‘The best way to kill off the Chinese is to teach them how to aid kitchen fires with kerosene oil cans. Oil City Derrick:—A man who attempted to pass counterfeit money said he did so to encourage home manufactures.”” London World thinks it a matter of congratulation that Beaconsfield should be subject to the gout rather than to the stiletto and the, bombshell. Mr. E. D, Bassett, ex-Minister to Hayti, has ac- cepted an invitation to deliver an sddress on the “Right of Asylum” before the law department of Yale Coliege. General Sherman and party arrived at Jackson- ville, Fla., yesterday morning, and left at eleven for St. Augustine, where they will remain several days, and then go up the St. John’s River. ‘A wealthy man of Boston, who had a very sore throat, was advised to tie on @ piece of salt pork. “Not by a big sight,” said he; ‘send around for a pint of hothouse strawberries.” United States Senator MacPherson appeared on the floor of both houses of the New Jersey Leyisla- ture last evening, and a recess was taken to give him @ reception, which was most cordial, He made a neat speech, particularly thanking the republicans for their votes, and giving the Assemblymen some healthy advice on legislation. AMUSEMENTS. LYCEUM THEATRE~-“H. M. 8, PINAFORE.” ‘The Right Hon. Sir Joseph Porter, K. 0. B., Virst Loi the Ad ie Mr. Frank Drow Mr. J. M, Brown Autoinette Ranger Dick Deadvye, able seaman Bill, tho bouts Josephine, the Little Butterew Hobe, Sir Joseph's first cousi Messrs. Gilbert and Sullivan's amusing opera of “Hi, M. 8. Pinafore” was produced last evening at the Lyceum Theatre by an entirely new company. The performance drew a large’ audience together, and, judging from the applause, proved successful, ‘To produce an opera like this a proper amount of rehearsal is necessary, but as the company was not formed untfl Saturday it was not surprising to find nearly all the characters singing wofully out of time andtune, Mr. Drew as the Admiral did not sing at all, and was so imperteet in his lines that his faith- ful first cousin had to prompt him in every verso and line, Mr. Brown as the Captain did toler- ably well, though he should learn to manage his voice, He stoops too much for a gentleman in the uniform of the royal navy. Miss Paul was a charming Jose- phine and sang sweetly, but is not capable of doing justice to the higher notes of the part. Miss Mor- timer as the bumboat Woman was vivacious, and amusing, while Miss Lascelles as Hebo seemed to have the whole opera at her finger ends, for she prompted everybody. The prompting was a noticeable feature throughout the evening, and as that useful individual, the prompter, endeav- ored occasionally to sing his warnings it neemed as if an echo was in the house, with this difference, that the echo did not always agree with the original. The real honors of the evening were carried off by Mr, Alfred Holland, as the boatswain, who received rapturous eneore in the last act for his song about the Englishman. ‘The management have fallen into the same error as the Rice Combination in put- ting the part of Ralph Rackstraw into the hands of # woman. Miss Saenger was # very good looking sailor, expect # soprano to sity tenor deserves credit for tuk to accomplish, but it is ridienlous music with success, Miss her efforts, but she had an whatever it may be in an artistic sense. PARK THEATRE —“vicTIMS” AND “SOLON SHIDN« Gur,” : It is now a number of years since Lom Taylor's Popular three act comedy, “The Victims,” has been presented to a New York audicuce, but it is comparatively safe to say that it does not suffer much by contrast with previous per formances, The company comprises a number of artists peculiarly adapted to the ludicrous situations tor which the play calls, and they give snap to the bright dialogue that makes it move rapidly, It is true that ona first night there is usually an.exhibition of many defects, such as loose ness of sveech and unfamiliarity with the business of the stage, but these ought to be kindly overlooked in a generai estimate of value and results, cspecially when the names of so many goo.l actors and actresses appear on the bill, Mr, John E, Owens as Joshua Butterby naturally took and kept the lead, and in doing so illustrated the versatility of talent which enables him to step outside of the limits of mere churacter acting in one or two parts, and exhibit the training of a true artist. The humor of the part was admirably sustained, and his presence on the stage wus almost invariably attended by roars of laughter. His scene with Miss Crane (Miss Stuart) the strong-minded woman, when he reads the sonnct to her and presents what he imagines to be a beautiful dress, but by 4 mishap turas out to be breeches, “and when you wear me,” was one of the side splitting events of the evening. ‘The lady lust referred to performed and dressed her part. in » mauner that is worthy of all praise. Mr. Mordaunt ax Mr. Merriweather personated the generous hus- band with his usual good taste, and Mr, Padgett as Curdle scored a success, sithonge required to utter but a few lines, by his excellent dialectic rendition of a statistical Scotchman, To Mr, Duttield, who represented a literary gentleman and gay deceiver, not much credit is to be acco He made neither a romantic lover nor toned down to proper proportions, in an artistic way, the harsh outlines of an ugly character which the author intenfed to be one of the effective features of his play. In personating Mrs. Merriweather Miss Sara Stevens did not act as well as she is likely to do _ hereafter, Her lassitude seemed to be forced, and the fervor with which she eventually recognizes the noble character of her husband was not as full of the mingled strength and tenderness which she is so capable of illustrating. Miss Mabel Jordan as Mrs. Fitzherbert was graceful, pretty and praise- worthy. Mr. John Matthews a8 the self-tmportant editor of the Weekly Beacun was pertectly at home. ‘The performance, as a whole, was warmly received, and will doubtless afford pleasure to all who witness its repetition. The evening’s entertainment terminated with “Solon Shingle.” Mr. Owens here showed himself at his best and kept the audience in a roar of laugh- ter. The man whose father “tit into the Revolution— o driv a baggage waggin,” could scarcely do Even his facial expressions were genis of humor without a word uttered. Mr. Frank Mordaunt again shared in the applause of the evening, taking the part of Robert Howard, the people‘s cham- pion. “Solon Shingle,” however, is more intended to give play to the unctuousaction of Mr. Owens, and when he is on the stage his stolen ‘barr’! of apple sass” is of more consequence than the combined art ot everybody else. BOWERY THEATRE—‘‘NATHAN HALE.” Nathan IH Joseph P. Winter olonel Ki Charles Foster P.M. Wills he ri Mr. Mordaun John Latimer. John Belehe Captain Hal General Howe. L. Wallace ‘Tom Langaon John Hall e8 to inasturd Mercy Allen Athol Allen Deliverance Millie Sackett The well, known story of Nathan Hale, the Revo- lutionary hero, lover and spy, was rendered dramati- cully at the Bowery Theatre last night, the authors of the play being Messrs. Edmund Kellett and Samuel A. McKeever. ‘The piece pleased the audience im- mensely, and must be pronounced an old time Bow. ery success. The story upon which this play is based is one of many which our Revolutionary war developed, yet which playwrights have carefully avoided of late years. Perhaps the remembrance of = latin and infinitely greater struggle has seemed to transfor the public sentiment of patriotism from the realm of idealism and Fourth of July smoke to that of prosaic drafts and burdensome taxes, but if such is the case the habitués of the old -Bowery atre have not yet learned of it. The new play, which is intelligent and dramatic in construction and rapid’ in movement, is crammed with patriotism, red coats, blue and buff, the Stars and Stripes and all the machinery of grim-visaged war, but it still room for human love and human fun, and the audience took in the entire thing and applauded everything that was loyal, picturesque or tender. Each act terminated with a military tableau, and there were some effective scones, one veing Saeessce in old New York. The cast seemed to satisfy the audience, and who are we that we should say a word against the accepted idols of any one else? Mr. Winter, who played the hero, has good soldierly voice, which he never modulates except on a rising inflection. Mr. Wills, as a stuttering Yankeo, caused considerable merri- ment, and so did Mr. Pike as a Hessian soldier. The ladies read their lines tolerably, but neglected to do any acting. The remainder of the cast seemed equal to the murder of almost any piece, but as the audi- ence did not think so this supposition is probably erroneous. “g1 BLOCUM” AT NIBLO’S GARDEN. Frank L. Frayne appeared last evening at Niblo’s,’ before a numerous audience, in his popular charace ter of Si Slocum. The performance has already been so fully noticed in these columns as to hardly call for any further comment. Little three-and-a-half-year- old Clara Frayne was received with especial delight, and the wonderful trained horse and Gog Jack ulso came in for their share of applause, Mr. Frayne will probably draw good houses at Niblo’s for the re- mainder of the week. CHESTNUT STREET THEATRE, PHILADELPHIA “WOMAN'S LOYALTY.” Major Grahame Manning, of the Cnited afterward known ‘Third Cavalry, Hon, Murray T Arm: Dr. Philip Fairlie, of the United Sta: y i % . George H, Griffiths Colonel Richard Strang, Provost Marshal Mr, P. F. Varnum General Harding. United States Army, commandin tho Eastern District of Keutuek ir. George Holland y, tos Army, dot tl WE. Sheridan Mr. J. B. Studley Captain Lawrence Spence, ‘Aid to General Hardt Sergeant Ryan, Third cavalr; Corporal Brottman, Johuson, a colored Ordorly.. Goorgio M. Marguret Agnes Surray Templeton, her sistor Mra, MeNeil.... ag A “first night the Chestnut Street Theatre Philadelphia, is always an event in the Quaker City; and tho announcement that last evening a new play by Hart Jackson was to be produced for the first time on any stage gave unusual interest to the performance. “Woman's Loyalty” is # military drama in five acts, based upon the story of Charles Gibbin’s novel, “For the King,” and adapted in the dramatization to our late rebellion, during which its action 1s supposed to take place, The scene is laid first at Oakland, the country residence of Major Manning, Prince George's county, Maryland, and afterward in Kentucky, a the story begins in October, 186i, ‘he play was admirably acted, as wag to be expected with such a cast, aud seemed to please the audience, though the experiment of aday eng English plot to American incidents is soatouly be commended, “Woman's Loyalty” is announced tor every night this week. t MUSICAL AND DRAMATIC NOTES, ‘The socond soirée of the New York Philharmonic Cluk will take place this evening at Chickering Hall, ‘The Mapleson Opera Company opened o brief sea. son at Cincinnati last night to a full house. Mme. Gerster, a8 Lucia, was warmly greeted, Rev. Henry Ward Boccher lectured at the Philadel- phia Academy of Music last night on “Amusements,” and subsequently visited the Broad Street Theatre to witness “H. M. 8, Pinafore.” A grand concert and dramatic entertainment for charitable object will be given on Wednesday even- ing next at Lycoum Hall, New Brighton, for which somo of the best professional and amateur talent has volunteered its services, ‘The Gilmore jubilee opened at the State Arsenal at Syracuse yesterday with great success, The chorus was rendered by 600 voices, with a band of 100 in- struments, The attendance was over four thousand, ‘The festival is to continue during the week. “H, M.S. Pinafore” was produced last evening by the Rice Company at the Brooklyn Park Theatre, with the same cast as at the Lyceum Theatre, The audience seemed to enjoy tho performance aud the sparkling music very much. We have already crit icised this yersion of the reigning novelty.