The New York Herald Newspaper, February 27, 1879, Page 6

NEW YORK HERALD, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 1879.—TRIPLE SHEET. wate BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. noe JAMES GORDCN BENNETT, PROPRIETOR. THE DAILY HERALD: publishat ecory day to Thrve cents per copy ‘Sundays excluded Jentlive dollars for six mont a tlare and for threo mouths, or ut a rate of r month ior any period loss thau deve mouths, Suuduy edition included, free of WEEKLY WERALD—Oue dollar per year, free of post- their Mil usinors, nows lottors ur telogeaphic despatches must ‘Do uddressed New Yous Hxnatp. Letters and packages should be properly seumbed. Rejected commun’ presen nc will not SRILADEEP EIA OFFICE- 0, 112 SOUTH SIXTH ONDON ome oe Ril NEW YORK NERALD-- AY EN BE DE LOPERA. Subscriptions and advert wi ‘on the same terws us in Now York. THEATRE COMIQUE: LYCEUM THEATRE. WALLACK'S—Srriisou: GRAND OPERA HOUS UNION SQUARE THEA’ NEW YORK AQUARIUM—Evp Rime Hoop. NIBLO'S GARDEN—Tae Littee Deexcrive. BOWERY THEATRE—OvranaNcunt, STANDARD THEATRE—E . PINavoRR, PARK THEATRE—Encacs! BROADWAY THEATRE—Tuk Sorcerca. FIFTH AVENUE ‘THEATRE—H. M. 8. Prxaronx. GERMANIA THEATRE—Ein Mapcugs vom Barat, AMERICAN MUSEUM. t MASONIC HALL—Tux oh ®AN FRANCISCO MINSTRELS—His Mup Sexx. ONY PASTOR'S—Pixaronk Boxcasque, TIVOLI THEATRE—Vaiu BIEINWAY HALL—Sraruony KURT2 GALLERY -Sataacunpi Cus Prcrumxs. ie Baxxen's DavGuter. The probabilities a York and ils vicinity to-day will be very cold and clearing, with rain turning to snow. it will be cold and fair. Zo-morrow Waty Sra YrSTERDAY.—The stock mar- ket was active, but feverish and weak at the close. Government bonds were steady, States Gull and railroads irregular. Money on call lent at 212 a 3 per cent, advanced to 4 and closed at 3 per cent. is Tue Rise iN tHE ‘Turnmomnren has probably tomething to do with the fall in coal Wuere Is Denia Kearney? Here is a ‘‘moon- eyed leper” suing an Irishman in Brooklyn. As iF Braz had not troubles enough already the religious spectre has been raised to add to her complications. ‘Tux Fepenat Evection Law had a narrow escape in the Senate yesterday. There was a tmajority of only one against its Fepeal. Tue Ratx or Yesrerpay and last night did ® goed deal of street cleaning, but the non- eleaning Commissioners will draw the money. Tur Evrort Yesrexpay to show “by Dr. Gray that Commodore Vanderbilt was insane was a sad failure. It may be possible to con- vinee the inmates of a lunatic asylum that such ‘Was the fact. In Tue Census Bint as it passed the House it ie provided that the Presidput shall appoint the supervisors by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.. When these oflicers are nominated the Senate will be democratic. id cs had 6 eRe Tue Great cattle raising districts are else- where described in our columns. Within com- paratively a few years the raising of cattle has grown into enormous proportions and become one of our most important industries. Ir any Depenvesce can be placed in the ofticial déspatches the plague in the province of Ceara. Brazil, is on the decline. Little hope is entertained, however, that the population of that section will escape almost total extinction. Tue Arriicarion of property holders fer the appointment of a commission to lay out rapid transit routes in the annexed district is an indi- cation that that section is at last to be made a sharer in the advantages of the steam roads. The petition, it is understood, is made in the interest of the 1 Ti ind avenue “L.” AT THE itxioue, of the Fish Culturiets yes- terday Mr. Roosevelt read an interesting paper on the habits of eels, which for so many years have been a wonder and a mystery to the phy- sivlogists. It is probable we shall soon know all that is to be known about these curious crea- tures. CommissiongR CAMPBELL’s annual report contains some interesting statistical and other information in regard to the operation of his department during the past year. He may correct in the opinion that the electric light cannot be used for street illumination, but that is @ point upon which the publie will seek ad- vice from Mr. Edison rather than from him, Tus Weatner.—The storm centre has now moved northeastward into Canada, being di- verted in that direction by high pressures off the coast and the influence of the Alleghany range. The snowfull has, therefore, receded north- ward, being followed by rain over a considerable area, which oxtends even to Nova Scotia, Frow the Northwest the pressure has rapidly increased over all tho region west of the Alle- ghanies, and very cold northwest winds are prevailing, which change to westerly over Teu- Besseo and northeasterly in the West Galf States. Over the lakes the winds are generally ‘Westerly to suuthwesterly and strong to high. Along the Atlantic const they are southerly to southwesterly and strong. Heavy gales have Provailed in the Central Mississippi Valley avd northward, bat these have now moderated eousiderably. They occur locally, however, slong the lower lake shores. A “norther” is prevailing on the West Galf coast as the south- orn area of high barometer moves toward the Lower and Central Mississippi Valley. Temper- atures have risen very decidedly along the Atlantic coast States, but have fwlen very low west of the Mississippi. During to-day » marked fall of temperature will be ex- porienced in this locality. Our cable reports from Europe announce the continuance of die estrous storms in Central aud Southern Europe, Spain has suffered severely, and several villages and farms have becn destroyed in Navarre and Astarias. Loss of life ie also reported. The cen- Bre of general disturbance has moved southward ef England. Strong northeast winds now pre- ‘vail in the Channel. In New York and its vicin- ity today the weather will be very cold and ptadually clearing, with rain turning to snow. Tomorrow it will be cold aud fair. Be an Extra Session? The democrats are perpetually doing things which verify General Grant's well known prediction that their political oppo- nents may always rely upon democratic blunders to help them out if they get into atight place, The hitching of a repeal of the federal election law upon the Appropri- ation bill which provides for the salaries of the civil officers of the government is an in- defensible act of folly. It will, of course, be rejected by the Senite, and we do not believe that the House will stand by its action, although an influential part of the democratic press is insisting that this ought to be done. If the House should not yield the Presi- dent will be compelled to call an extra ses- sion. But what would the democratic party gain by an oxtra session? It may be said, indeed, that an extra session would be a session of the new Congress, in which the democrats will have a majority of both houses, Most certainly the federal elec- tion law could be repealed by the new Congress; but for what intelligible reason shotld the democrats wish to repeal it in July or September rather than at the regu- lar session, which begins in December? It makes no practical difference whether it is’ repealed this year or next. The federal election law will be inoperative in the elections of the present year, like a sword resting in its seabbard. It applies only to elections in which members of Congress or Presidential electors are to be chosen, and neither Representatives nor electoral col- leges are to be voted for in the autumn of 1879. A repeal now or during the coming summer would have no advantage over u re- peal next winter. The law, even if it con- tinues to stand in the statute book, cannot again come into play until the elections of 1880, and the attempt to force its repeal now isan act of inexcusable haste, Why threaten to disorganize the government for so utterly frivolous a difference in 2 mere date? A repeal of the federal election law in July, 1880, would bring every practical ad- vantage which would attend its repeal in July, 1879, since it has no application to intermediate elections, Besides, the forcing of an extra session would almost compel President Hayes to interpose his veto and throw uponthe demo- crats in Congress. the responsibility of dis- organizing the government. Are they pre- pared to adhere in an extra session to the revolutionary policy which they are adopt- ing now? If they are going to yield at all they had better yield now than at an extra session. It would be mero idle bravado to put the country to the expense of an extra session and then surrender their position if the President should inter- pose his constitutional negative. If they force an extra session they will advance to a position where they are certain to encounter an ignominious defeat. Although they will have a majority of both houses in the next Congress they will not have a two-thirds majority in cither house. Their whole action will be blocked by the President's veto, What will they do then? Will they accept the tremendous responsi- bility of stopping the supplies and disor- ganizing the government? Will they dare to adjourn the extra session after the veto without passing the Appropriation bill? If they venture upon such an act of idiovy and lunacy every election will go against them in every Northern State. The stopping of the supplies necessary for keeping the wheels of the government in motion is so extreme and violent a meas- ure that nothing can justify it except the necessity of warding off an evil greater than anarchy, if indeed there can be a greater evil. Assuredly the federal elec- tion law is not one of those intoler- able evils which would justify a dissolu- tion of the government. The democratic party has for four years estopped itself from setting up such a pretence. It has had a majority of the House of Representa- tives for the last four sessions—that is to say, for the last two Congresses, It could at any time within these six years have tacked a repeal of the federal election law upon some indispensable appropriation bill and have forced the government into a crisis by adhering to its position. The fact that it attempted nothing of the kind is a practical confession by the democratic party that the federal election law did not justify so extreme a resort. With this law in full operation the demo- erats have elected a majority of three suc- cessive Houses of Representatives, and have (as they claim) elected one President of the United States. If Mr. Tilden was cheated out of his election by fraudulent returning boards that fact, or that fraud, cannot be charged to the federal election law, and, in point of fact, it has never been so charged. What color of reason, then, can there be for making so violent and revolutionary a war on the federal elec- tion law at this stage of affairs? ‘The law ap- plies only to elections in which Representa- tives in Congress or Presidential electors are chosen, and in spite of it the democrats have elected a majority of two successive Houses of Representative and (in their own opinion) one President. With what face, then, or with what decency can they pre- tend afl of » sudden that the law isso in- tolerable an evil that it is better to disor- ganize and dissolve the government than to endure it longer? But even this irresistible argument does not fully oxposo the indescribable folly of the present attempt. The capital point to be considered in this stage of the contro- versy isthe fact that the federal election low will beinoperative in the elections of the present year. ‘I'o repeal it now would have no practical effect and bring no prac- tical advantage which would not equally at- tend its repeal at the first regular sos- sion of the next Congress. ‘he dem- ocratio party will have the same control of both houses then that it would have in an extra session. the good of an extra session? If the fed. eral election law could*be applied to the elections of 1879 the action of the present House would be intelligible, though not wise. But since a repeal of the Jaw a year hence would accomplish every practical result that could be expected from its re- peal either ot this session, or at an extra What, then, is. session in the summer or autumn, it is folly and nonsense to threaten a stoppage of the supplies and a dissolution of the government, or at least the expense of an extra session, as a means of forcing this year the repeal of a law which, by its own terms, cannot again come into play until Presidential electors and a new Congress are chosen in 1880. ‘There has seldom been @ more unreasoning and mistimed display of political fanaticism and folly. ‘The absurdity of this attempt is so mani- fest and so flagrant that we are confident the cooler and wiser part of the democratic Senators will not countenance or abet it. ‘They will not concur in the repeal of the federal election law in this irregular and revolutionary way, and when the Appropri- ation bill shall have been acted upon by a conference committee sufficient moral in- fluence will be exerted upon reasonable democrats in the House to cause them to recede, We are confident that there will not be an extra session, A Needed Reform in College Govern- ment. Onur columns for three days past have registered formal insurrections of the students of two colleges against alleged oppression on the part of the respective faculties. The disturbance at ‘Trinity College has, we" learn, been adjusted by the students acknowledging their fault—a purely disciplinary gne. Similar outbreaks have occurred during the past twelvemonth at yarious other col- leges and are calculated to excite anxiety,as to the workings of the existing codes of dis- cipline at all similar institutions. It can- not be denied that a spirit of insubordina- tion is painfully rife among the students of many of our colleges, who have frequently brought dishonor upon the fair tame of ancient and reputable halls of learning. It is humiliating to American citizens in general to be obliged to admit that that highly favored class of young men who en- joy the privilege of receiving a collegiate education often observe a line of conduct which testifies but scant gratitude to their benefactors. The insolent and bruial treat- ment to which new comers at American col- leges are frequently subjected by the classes immediately above them, though it may be paralleled by the practice of ‘‘fag- ging” in vogue at the great English schools, is nevertheless an evil which reflects dis- credit upon the faculties which are power. less to prevent it, ane calls loudly for a remedy. Can ‘such a ames be found? We believe that it can. In our judg- ment the sole feasible method of gov- ernment of American collegians, between the ages of sixteen and twenty-two, consists in an appeal to their honor as ‘gentlemen and scholars” and admitting them to a limited self-government, by means of class officers of their own election. There are, of course, matiy so-called colleges where the average age of students at entrance is less than that above indicated, but of these we donot now speak. Itis self-evident that the amount of self-government which can be conceded to collegians must vary with their average age, but such institutions as Harvard, Yale, Cornell, Princeton, Amherst, &c., are frequented by a class of students who really exercise self-government in many. of the most interesting concerns of collegiate life. The student who enters ong of the higher colleges or universities should be taught to regard himself as having given his parole of honor to comport himself as ‘‘a gentle- man and a scholar.” He rightly regards himself os having emerged from the condi- tion of styict tutelage, and usually claims to be ‘a man.” Under proper conditions he will readily make it a point of honor to comport himself in such manner as to merit the approval of a ‘jury of his peers,” elected from ‘his own class, and which would naturally be composed of its best members.: ‘The officers of the class, by whatever name they may be known, would have more immediate relations with the faculty than their constituents, would havo a consultative voice in the rules and regu- lations enacted, would be the natural rep- resentatives of the class in the settlement of all difficulties, would feela keen sense of class honor and responsibility and could safely be trusted as the jury for dealing with the minor follies and offences of their classmates. Is not such a systém of limited self-government by collegians worthy a fair trial? A Legislative Trick. It is an old trick of our legislators at about the middie of a session to introduce resolutions fixing the day of final adjourn- ment at an early date, It looks well in the eyes of constituents. Here is Senator Smith or Assemblyman Brown, as the case may be, anxious that the business of the session shall be done up promptly and the mem- bers adjourn and go home, saving expense tothe State. What an honest, strnightfor- ward, high-toned representative Senator Smith or Assemblyman Brown must be! But then Senator Smith and Assembly- man Brown are both: very well aware that the resolution of final adjourn- ment is o mere piece of claprap; that it Yoes not and cannot expedite the ad- journment a single hour; that such resolu- tions are always kept flying about in the two houses until the business of the ses- sion and the work of the lobby are com- pleted, and that then, and not until then, the hour is fixed at which the hammers of the presiding officers shall come down simul- taneously on the Senate and Assembly desks. Mr. Jacobs was trathfal, although he might have been irreverent, when he pro- nounced a final adjournment resolution in the Senate yesterday ‘pure buncombe.” Rough on Da Yesterday Mr. David Pender, sometimes distinguished by the playful appellation of “Tho Kid,” left this city to take up a pro« longed residenco in a mansion at Sing Sing, beautifully located on the picturesque banks ofthe Hudson. This change of abode was sudden. It was occasioned by a fondness for diamonds and fhe disregard of the sacred privacy of a lady’s ear. Mr. David Pender, in school book doggerel, chose to steal what wasn’t his'n, and being cotched has gone to pris'n, ‘The incident is not-a new. one, ex- vept in one important particular, Other enterprising youths do steal, and occasionally suffer incarceration; but very rarely indeed does Justice lay hands on an offender in New York as speedily as she did on David and make the interval between his en- terprise and’ his reward so brief. Ac- cording to Mr. Pender’s idea, it is “hard” on him. “It’s rough on me,” says the play- ful “Kid ;” “I didn’t mean to injure the lady, and\I only got eighteen dollars for my share of the proceeds.” Well, perhaps it was “rough” on him—tho hero of the “rongh diamond” he may be henceforth ealled—and any philanthropists who sym- thize with him can address their letters of condolence until farther advice to ‘David Pender, Esq., Sing Sing.” As the sentence is an extreme one he may probably obtain a pardon in five years if he behaves himself. Warning to the Blissville Bullies, If Shakespeare had been an American and had lived in the days of distillery sta- bles, pleuro-pneumonia, swill milk and dis- cased cow beef we might well believe that he must have had Blissville in his mind's eye when he wrote his oft-quoted line, “What's ina name?” A rose called by any other name would swell ‘as sweet, and Bliss- ville stenches would b2 as offensive if the place had been christened Blisterville, Fever Hollow or Scabtown. Still the pretty, peaceful, word ‘‘Blissville” suggests to the mind a vision of Acadia, and we might expect to meet Evangeline wandering among its trees and floweis instead of encountering a swill milk maid with o corduroy counte- nance and a formidable tongue bent on a felonious attack on a respectable physician's hat and gloves. Or we might picture Bliss- ville as akin to Auburn—“Sweet Auburn, loveliest village of the plain”—and look among its. picturesque scenery for the quiet parsonage house and the ‘‘man to all the country dear,” little anticipating the appearance instead of a gang of crop-haired, ruffianly rowdies, ‘such as are to be found in o certain locality in our own sweet Auburn. Now, we can assure the demonstrative friends of the Blissville stables, who seem to be anxious to prove to the world that the residents of that charming locality are as unwholesome and offensive as their own diseased cows, that the Henanp cannot be deterred from discovering’ and exposing such abuses and nuisances by any threats uttered against its employés. Our report- ers, in the peaceful pursuit of. their legitimate duties, must not be inter- fered with or molested. If they’ are, and the proper authorities are unwilling or unable to protect them they are fully capable of protecting themselves, and will at all times be prepared to do so. They are always ready, in accordance with their in- structions, to look to the police authorities and those who exercise official police duties, for tbe protection to which all peaceable and orderly citizens are entitled; but if this legitimate aid fails them or is wilfully with- held they will not hesitate to defend ‘them- selves against illegal interference. We de- sire the Blissville rowdies to understand this thoroughly, and, as their cowardice is prob- ably proportionate to their ruffianism, we have no doubt that they will profit by the information. The Season of Fasting. | . As this is the season of fasting when by abstinence the Christian secks to chasten the body and to draw the mind to the con- templation of the vanity of all human in- dulgences, an evening contemporary favors its religiously disposed readers with a list of the different kinds of fish now offering on the market to enable them to carry out the rigid instructions of the Church in regard to their lenten duties. ‘There are bluefish, shad from Savannah and North Carolina, shad roes, red snappers, crisp little smelts, green smelts, land-locked salmon, salmon trout, blackfish, the glorious bass, white perch, yellow perch, “cis-cos,” brought irom the Western waters in refrigerator cars; eels, herring, halibut, whitefish, cod, ‘‘groupers,” mackerel and a variety of pan fish, to say nothing of oys- ters, clams, scallops and crabs. ‘the list shows whatan advantage we enjoy in the variety and quality of our fish over any other country and what a splendid oppor- tunity the New York markets present for a pious observance of the lenten season, As a proot of the religious bent of our people we are told that the demand is. active, es- pecially for the more choice and delicate qualities of fish, When our Saviour was led into the wilderness tobe tempted of the devil, we are to.d “And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights he was afterward an hungered.” (St. Matthew, iv., 2.) Will our Lent keepers be an hungered after fastingon the luxuries of our amply stockéd fish markets? Responsibility for the Pittsburg Riots. The press of Pennsylvania is just now en- gaged in an animated controversy as to who is bound to pay for the great destruction of property caused by the railroad riots of July, 1877. By the strict letter of the law they would fall upon the county of Alleghany, in which Pittsburg is situated, just as the great dratt riots here had to be compensated by the city and county of New York. The people of Pittsburg dispute the justice of sucha rule. They say that the raiiroad riots did not originate in their county; that they were not planned by people residing there whom the county authorities could have controlled, but were the result of a widespread conspiracy which happened to be executed in the city of Pittsburg. It is not disputed that the sufferers ought to be compensated, but it is contended that the lossesshould be paid out of the S'ate treasury. It would be a heavy and crush- ing burden to the one county which was the scene of the riots, but a light burden to the State at large, Had it’ been a mere local disturbance the county might justly have been held responsible; but, inasmuch’ os it was o@ general conspiracy of raifroad omployés extending over a wide region, and as the destruction of property did not begin until the Stato authorities and State troops had assumed control, it is maintained, with a great ap- pearance of justice, that the State, and not the county, should make compensution for the damages, rat, honeysuckle-suggesting An English: Murderer, Charles Peace, who was hanged at Leeda, England, yesterday for a murder committed some years ago, was one of those characters who, in spite of un-abgolute moral: repul- siveness, attract such attention to their carcers that they pass easily into what is loosely termed the romance of crime, Here was a murderer with a price on his head coolly taking up his residence in quiet and respectable suburbs of Lon- don, passing himself off as a British house- holder of easy means and refined tastes—par- ticularly addicted to costly violins—and at the same time pursuing a career of burglary which mingled audicity ,and suceess in equal proportions. Like all criminals of his kind, however, he fell at last into the toils. Hv who had bafiled all the detectives and hoodwinked whole communities, was arrested on one of his robbing expeditions by an ordinary policeman, though after a desperate struggle. He was some time in custody before it was known who he ‘really was. He will recall to Americans the equally strange career of the murderer Rulloff, executed at Binghamton in this State ‘some’ eight years ago, who pursued burglary as a means of livelihvod, not stopping at murder, but who devoted his spare time to profound philological! studies and was deeply versed in the whole body of modern set science, PERSONAL INTELLIGENCE. Senator Sargent believes that Chinamen are foreign to his tastes. ‘The Chinaman, ineanwhile, is alittle queuerulous about the affair. General Nathanigl P. Banks, of Maseachiinetie, is at the Fifth Avenue Hotel. John Chinaman replies to the attack with a good deal of industrious flat irony. Mr. Justice Strong, of the United States Supreme Court, is at the W.ndsor Hotel, Wiil Congress please pass a law.probibiting more | than fitteen Eli Perkinses to come to this country on ‘one vessel ? Fresh cod is improved by putting into the water in which 1t is boiled a sauna quantity of horseradish and vinegar. Gilmore is 80 used to hearing his band play that on off nights when he is travelling in the cars he takes ten grains of qitinine so us to have music in his cars. “Threadbaro, gentility,” says an English critic “may be exceedingly respectable, but it is sometimes very unscrupulous, and the professional begging letter writer or swindler who has seon better days is &@ more pestilent person than an ouvrier clamorous for remunerative industry.’’ Sidney Hall, the English artist, whose work on the London Graphic has never been more brilliant than it.was while he was accompanying the Prince of ‘Wales in India, and who came to America in the’ suite of Princess Louise, has been requested by -the Queen to return immediately, so that he may paint the portrait ‘of the Duke of Connaught, whose mar- riage is announced, Mr. Hall will leave New York by steamer to-day, London Truth:—‘Considering that most educated } persons are supposed to have a smattering of arith- metic, and that so many persons are fond of wager- ing, it.has always surprised me how few people seem to have thé most elementary knowledge of the rules that regulate probabilities, If it is 6 to 1 against a horse winning the Derby and 3 to 1 against another horse winning the St. Leger, what are the odds against the double event? Nine persons out of ten would reply 18 to 1; but they are really 28to1. The first horse has one-seventh chance of winning the race and the second horse one-fourth chance, and 4 multiplied by 7 is 28. So, again, how can the odds against either of two given horses winning a race be calculated in a minute? Let the odds against the first horse be 4 to 1 and against the second horse 6 to 1; multiply 6 by 4 and deduct 1, then add 44146+1. Tho totals are 23 and 12, therefore the odds against the two horses coupled are 23 to 12." OBITUARY. NEZIAH WRIGHT, Neziah Wright, who died yesterday sfternoon at his residence, No, 36 Seventh strect, was an old and respected inhabitant of this city. His birth occurred at Lyman, N. H., August 10, 1804, and at the age of twenty years he went to Albany and engaged in busi- ness as an engrayer, being admitted to the firm of Rawdon, Clark & Co. in 1827. Some months later ho came to this city and established s branch of the firm under the name of Rawdon, Wright, Hatch & Edson, This was me the wing into the American Bank Note Company, located at No. 142 Broadway, of se. Weight became the treasurer, the position until the year 1873, when his waa necessitated Since then, however, he hascontinued by ill health, to be connected with the company as # heavy stock- holder and trustee. Mr. Wright was suppored to be probably the oldest bank note wer in the coun- ry, having been in the business over fifty- two years. For forty-four years he had lived in the house bet ag he ll ie was a ny being noted tegrity exemplary deportment, note a. for his generosity to the poor. * CHARLES CAMBLOS, Charles Cambios, one of the oldest members of the Philadelphia Stock Exchange and an active and well known business man, for half a century identified with commercial and financial affairs, died at his residence, on Walnut streot,on Tuesday afternoon. Ho was born in Philedelphie November 7, 1807. and commenced business I in the counting house of Amos Butcher. In 1840 he formed « ‘tnership with Robert Johnson for conducting banking and stockbrokering business. For many years Mr. Camblos and his sons have rss age td usiness, the partnership with Mr. Johnsen for only two years. leaves # wife and nine cht idren—four sons and five daughters—and a large and valuable estate. HUGH M'ILVAIN, Hugh Melivain, a prominent citi@in of Philadel- phia, and president of the Lumberman’s Insurance Company, died yesterday, in tho sixty-fourth yoar of his age. He was born in 1815, in the old bome- stead in West Philadelphia, where the Pennsylvania Railroad Depot now stands, lived there’ until forced to leave on account of improveménts of the railroad, when he built a handsome residence on a portion of the estate late of his father-in-law, John Gib- won. was an active member of the So- ciety of Fricnds and ao trustee in that society. He was a worker among the poor, always ready to assist and help the needy, tree to give his time and money for such purposes, Although very active in his own affairs, he was never too busy to drap work and help itis friqpds and fellow man, ey, rep resented many cstates Gs executor and trustee, and was very efficient in settling complicated — He leaves » widow ond nine children and ah tate, He = ponent fo nme Mott was one of the carliest aud m minent nen bers of the Anti-Slavery Society. si CONSELHEINO MARCELLINE DE BRITO, On January 27 Conselheiro Joaquim Marcolline do Brito, Président of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice, died at Rio Janeiro, at the-age of nearly eighty years, He was born at Bahia, obtained his lawyer's degree at twenty-three, served in various judicial capacities — fer mg tog several La be waa Minister of the Empire in entered the Supreme ys 1866, and in 1864 w intod atdes ie was Grand Cross, Cc peria) Order of the . oe lawyer - h repute, and he was generally ypondence and integrity in his ‘hin Judit tanetions. DEATH OF A CENTENARIAN, At No. 32 Oliver strect last evening lay tho re- mains of an old lady, Mrs, Mary McGrath, who had reached tho age of 106 years and 4 months, and who had never during her long life, previous to a fort- night ago, experienced an hour's sickness, Sho was born at Hilltown, county Down, Ireland, and during her later years she related many gt ge remin- iscences of the oppression of penal laws in the Emerald Isle at the close of the last century, She came to America twenty-six years ago pode oy her home in New York. Mrs. McGrath was the mother of eighteen children, and many of hergrandehildren surrounded her lifeless retaedie leat night, Her face oeren poet oh the slightest trace of a wrinkle, and few would Coutry before sath ruthisowad bere coved AMUSEMENTS, “‘LOHENGRIN” AT THE ACADEMY OF MUSIO, Richard Wagner's romantic opera of “Lohengrin,” with Signor Campanini in the title rdle, and Mme, Gexster us Elsa, attracted a very brilliant audience last night to the Academy of Music. It is = long time since the New York musical world bas had an opportunity of. hearing a performance of this most popular work of the | Bayreuth Meister, and lovers of Wagner's music therefore’ hailed Mr, Mapleson’s decision to give it with considerable pleasure. It i scarcely possible’ that thone among the audience, however, who know any- thing about Wagner's music, or who have ever listoned to’ a performance of “Lohengrin” before, could have left the Academy with the most favorable impressions, Indeed, it may be asserted that it is scarcely possible to conceive of @ performance of “Lohengrin” more thoroughly incomplete and wretched. It is true that Signor Campanini: made’ a most brilliant Lohengrin, and Signor Foli a majestic and excellent voiced King; but Mme. Gerster’s first essay to delineate the charming character of Elsa, was far from being satisfactory, while the chorus sang pecs ate iy out of. tune, and Signor Arditi as do most Italian conductors, to pee — rendering of the orchestral score. It would occupy much space simply note in brief the im- erfections ps of last it’s per- formance, putt we not know that . Maple- son can give us good opera, one would be inclined to believe that the performance, of “Lohengrin” was either intended as a huge jokaor as a deliberate insult to our New York Wagneritea, The rehearsals had ovidently been very few, while few more might have left only Loneagri and Elan few more mi ve to sing out the opera alone. ‘The entfre scene and duet between Friedrich and Ortrud, for in- stance, at the bgeere2 of the peo act, was left out, and t made to Elsa's “doug 'to the Niekt iio peng be supposed, “shi disastrous, petieheeren from an artistic si seria It was eae all light, ho into charmatut I etiet” The closing the second act, when Elsa goes to to the Si ‘ine ster, was lamontably™ bal nelgge rag as was tho gi ering in the bridal chamber, the singing of the chorus was disgraceful. There was, short, a ly : seene to SS can ba con- sciontiously given. ni’s ren of the title rdle, however, ompel sated somewhat for the deficiencies, the sins of omission and commission, noted all throu h the opera. He made the third act almost su) spite of his sur- roundings. His long narrat: “a in which he tells the story of his coming, his whence and where- fore, was a piece of musical declamation which would have delighted King Ludwig. The sipger was greeted at its conclusion with a genuine burst of hearty applause, most fully earned. In the last act especially Signor Foli distinguished himeelf by @ rendering of the character of Henry ina very majestic and exceedingly artistic manner. ime. Gerster’s assumption of the character of Elsa was not, bye greni 80 eget as the au right’ to » The gifted poe who has charmed r audiences with so many brilliant renditions, had made evidently an original, but a the oe a very crude conception of the character the Piao Ce trusting Ber rene i aha ag in. tune she was sprain in sympathy Riba batt ee coll had assumed. Sho learn r part perfectly, - but she had igre sey to pepe ery ters an loving study of the character the soulfulness so necessary to the ae delineation of Wagner's most charming heroine. Madame Gera! Elsa is too unnatural, too ‘operatic’ in pare movement and gesture, in every attempt facial expression and the revelation of yess to make it acceptable or Lerch eag oer with the peer delineations made familiar b; It must have been a surprise ay deed to to her many ad- mirers, who fully appreciate what she hap already done and what sho is capable of doing, to sec her give a characterization at once so ¢1 | and so imperfectly rendered. mor Puente sang the réle of Telramund. in @ jlo fashion, and Lablache hd erted herself itably Ortruda. beauties of the overture were lost “to the vasjority. ne the audience amid the clatter made by late comera and steer of the small boys who are permit- ted by @ htful management to offer tor salo the bese graphs of the eminent mem- bers of Her 0 a ee ts Se auite unique for hy disgraceful rendering and mufi- lated shape. ‘MUSICAL AND PRAMATIC NOTES. A testimonial concert to Mme. Ashforth will be given in the Church of the Divine @aternity, Forty- fifth strect and Fifth avenue, this evening. M. Re ményi, Mr. W. Courtney, Miss Isabella McCullough and other well known artists will assist. * In De Murska’s next Sundsy night concert at'the Grand Opera House she will sing one of the populag arias from H. M. 8. Pinafore, and other sevens tions, Ch, Fritsch, the well known tenor, will give a con cert during March, which is likely to be pne of the musical events of the season. The “Black Crook” will probably be produced at Niblo's Garden on Monday ‘night. Preparations of an extensive and gorgeous character for the revival of this spectacle have been going forward for several weeks under the supervision of the Kiralfy brothers, Itis stated by the management that thousands of dollars have been spent to render this presentation of the strange play in every way superior to any here- tofore witnessed by the people. fue New York Philharmonic Club give the last of their soirées of chamber music at Chickering Hall on the 4th of March. The fifth public rehearsal of the symphony So ciety, Dr. Damroach conductor, takes place this after’ noon at Steinway Hall. HEINRICH HEINE. ‘Miss Kate Hillard delivered last evening before the Gocthe Club, at Steck's Hall, No. 11 East Fourteenth street, a lecture on Heinrich Heine, the German lyric poet. The lady gave some interesting speci- mens of Heino’s wonderful yawers of satire and re~ cited some translations of his poems. Her quaint nounciation of certain words added a uliar Plquancy to the recital, Miss Hillard skete! the poet “a life and the long, painful illness preceding his th with a spo hand, and was listened to with attention to peste e FINE ARTS. SOCIETY OF AMERICAN ARTISTS, At a meeting of the Board of Control of the Society of American Artists, held on Tuesday evening, the fol- lowing was decided upon :—Pictures will be received at the Kurtz ghliery up to the afternoon of Saturday the Ist prox. “Varnishing Day,” and the private view for the press, will take place on Tuesday the4th. The following day and evening will be devoted to the re- cepion or private view for invited guests, and on the morning of the 6th x, the Pb will open to the'public, The exhibition will remain Re A one month, From present indications there will about twenty-five pictures from Paria, et trom Munich, ten to fifteen from cle, rant some seventy-five from this efi wor eee froma - eae and about ron ie froin Phil anging committee wil Chase, Homer Martin and 2" ‘uldon on Welt, ‘assisted by the Board of Control, THE PURIM BALL. The preparations for the Purim ball are 80 far ad> vanced that the managers feel certain of an immense success, This association gave @ succession of mas- querades from 1862 to 1871, which were remarkable for their magnificence and excellence. The pro gramme for this year will be especially fine, it ie med, andl Bll the egg mree will be tho tea every particular, Three thousand dollars’ wo! of boxes have already been sold for ae occasion, f some of Which as inuch as $140 have been None of them has brought less than §40 80 far. managers declare it to be theif intention and mabe tion to make this grand masquerade @ Douay reopen of New York residents, to commemorate delightfully Fig Esther's reign of merriment anid merey, The will take place at ‘od Acauemy of Music om Tuursday evenings March 6. ° A STRANGE PLEA, ‘Thomas Oliver, his wife Elicn, and Matthew Carr, who wero arrested in Brooklyn on complaint of Philip Clarké, who accused the men named of steal ing from him $350 and a gold watch and chain valued at $200, wero arraigned before Justice Semler, in the Sixth District Court, yesterday, and remanded to jail, with the exception of Mrs. Oliver, to swait ex. mination next week. Pending the oxamination of the case Mrs. Oliver was adinitted to bail in the District Attorney's office. Mr. Clarke, who docs not appear to be anxious to press the » Inost of the money having beon restored, became ber bonds maa. Oliver admitted the robbery, but claimed he did it because Clarke had been intimate with his vie Suntee who was for many years ou in the milk ness, retired from active labor @ long time ago, bint ie since been living on the reveuue deri his investments and rents,