The Fisheries Dispute

üix-becretary jjisb, ïu an interview with a reporter, says the Chicago Tribune, tokl how a Belgian carne to be appointed umpire of the Fisheries Commission at Halifax. The nufairness of aelecting a nntiye of Bëlgiuni for this j position was admitted by the representativos of the British Governm nt. The MnrqiÜR of Ripon, the Britiah Commissioner, said, in conversation with a member of the American Government: " We don't want to suggest Mr. Delfosse, for wc suppone you will raise against him the objection that he repreeents a Goverument supposed to be under the British influonce." In spite of this warning, tho British Government afterwards did presa the appointmeDt of DelfoBse, and Mr. Fish, in a fit of foolish magnanimity, consented to it. The price of his blunder was the $5,500,000 award. He now expresses amazement at the result, but it is diffioult to underst nd how he could have looked for any other. He might as well havo named Lord Dufforin or any other British subject as the umpire. Indeed, the appointmont of a Belgian was worse than that of an Englishman would have been. A plain advantage in numbers might havo compelled a just verdict from a sense of decency and fairness, whereas a preteu 5e of impartiality was an excellent cover for extortion. Except in name, the Belgian umpire was an Englishman. Belgium exists as an independent nation under the guarantee of Great Britain. Gratitnde, sympathy I and self-interest bind the two countries together. A few considerations will Buffice to show that the award was grossly unjnst. It is supposed to represent the value of the mackerel caught by United States fiahermcn in Canadian waters during twelve years. Evidence produced before the' Oommission, and admitted by both sides, cstablished the fact that cod and halibut are caught without the threemilo limit, and are not subject to the terms of the treaty. The whole j ! erel catch brought into our ports by j United States veseels and soid in our 1 markets has not averoged more than 875,000 per annum for tlia last six years. But the commission estimated the value of this catch for twelve years at $5,500,000. The United States is consequently called upon to pay $458,333 per annum for the privilege of catehing $75,000 worth of fish. There is another point. Our Goverment has, by the terms of the Treaty of Washington, given to Canada the privilege of wending fish and fishoils into the United States duty-free, the conccssion baing distinctly made as compensation for the benelits enjoyed ! by American fishermeu in Canadian waters. The loss to our revenue in conI Boquence of this remission of duties was '$181,778 in 1873; $179,386 in 1874; $155,076 in 1875 ; and $153,076 in 1876. Tne net loss to the United States, over and above the total value ot the mackerel caught - not the proftts of the catch, it will be observed - was about $100,000 per annum ; and the value of the catch was constantly decreasing, while the loss of revenue showed no considerable abatement after 1875. The award being thus unfair, and obtained only throug li the f avoritism of tho Belgian umpire, it becomes a serious questioa whether the United States Government can honorably avoid the payment of it. The treaty does not provide I for a verdict by a majority, and it is held that the diesent of the American member of the commission invalidates its decisión. FACTS AÏD FIGURES. The iinports of France during 1877 nmonnted to $751,273,600, and the exports to $696,864,600. The incomc of the Peabody Eduoationnl Fund, which in 1876 was $100,000, in 1877 was but $60,000. The average steer in Texas is worth $9.24. The average steer in Massnchnsetts is worth $41.81; in New York, $33.15. The numbe.r of Chinamen who arrived at San Francisco in January was only 228, whilo 882 returned to their native land. , The number of books in the Congressional Libriiry at Washington is 331,118 volumes, and there are about 110,000 pamphlets. Fiiie destroyed $720,000 worth of eawmills in Michigan la&t year. Includiug the salt blocks, etc., that went up, the losses foot up nearly or quite $1,000,000. A whisky tax of SI,. 553,51fi collected f rom sis distillerif s in St. Louis in 1874 increased to L1, 883,481 frora three of the samo distilleries in 1877, owing to the breaking up of tho whisky ring. Chubch organista in New York get from $600 to $1,000 a year, though a few dietinguished performers receive a much larger sum ; sopranos receive generally from $400 to $500, some $1,000 or even $1,500 ; tenors f-om $800 down, save in exceptional casos ; contraltos from $700 down, with some exceptions. Gbeat Britain paid to foreign nations for grain, cattle and meat during the year 1877, $484,398,685, while during the year 1876 the totaWas $435,646,930. Of the total in 1877. $315,961,] 20 was for grain, $86,568,370 for cattle and meafc, $47,691,525 for butter, $23,815,265 for cheese, and $12,326,405 for eggs. DciUNG the year 7,802 lodgings were given free nt the Bowery branch of tlxe Young Men's OhristianAssociation ; 210 garments were given away, 33,441 meala were sold. The meal tickets given to business men amonnted to 10,750. There were 623 applications for employment, 119 of whieh were successfnl. Ti)e aggrcgato attondance at all the meetings wus 6f,574, and 149 hopeful conversations wore reported. Enough letters, circulara and postal cards anuimlly pass through the Postofflce in New York to extend, if placed enil to end, froin one side of the Atlantic to the otlier ; or, in round nnmbers, they aggregate over 240,000,000 per year. To this must be added over 100,000,000 newspapers, which in the same j period are dispatched, and then a ronghly approximated idea of the enormous mass of mail matter which is handled in the lower floors of the new Postofnce building will be obtained. It is curious to remark thnt the aggregate of letters is more than half the total number disputched in all France, and over four times as many as are forwarded in Kussia, whilo a uotion of how extensivcly news and information is nated in tliis country may be obtained by comparing the above total of newspapers transmitting from New York alone witli that represeuting the aggregate number sent in all Germany (2,300,000), or even the same in all Great Britain, which i only about 50 per eent. in excess. Canses of Sudden Dcnth. Very few of the sudden deaths which are said to arise from diseasea of the heart do really arise from that cause. To ascertain the real origiu of sudden deatlis, experiments have been tried in Europe and reported to a scientific congrees held at Strasbourg. Sixty-six cases of sudden doath wero made the subject of a thorough post-mortem i nminatiou. In these only two were i found who had died from disease of the , heart. Nine out of sixty-six had died of apoplexy, -wliile there w?re forty-six cases of congestión of the lungs - that is, the lungs wero so full of blood that tliey could not work, therc not being room enoogh for a quantity of air to enter to support life. The causes that produce i congestión of the hings are cold feet, nght clothing, costive bowels, sitting still cJiijled after being wai-nifld with labor or rapid walking, going too suddenly from close, heated rooms into the cold air, especially after speaking, and (radden depressing news operating on the blood. The causes of audden death being knowu, an avoidance of them may serve to lengthen many valnable lives which would otherwise be lost under the verdict " heart complaint." ïhia disease is snpposed to bo inevitable and incurable; henee, many do not take the pain s they would do to avoid sudden death if they knew it lay in their powei. Á 1 1 u mor i t on th Duling Field. There is ono figure that stands out rofreshingly cool and uniquo during these troublous times. This was Jonn M. Dooly, the man who announced that he would not flght under any circumatances. He was probably tho most brilliant man produced in that era, proliflo of giants. He was the peer of Crawford on any field, and his stiperior in the legal forum. His abilities were transcendent, and his failure to make a national reputation aróse doubtless f rom no other cause than his refusal to fight ou any and all occasions. A nn-combatant could not húld his head up in those turbulent times. Dooly had the most delicious humor, and a sharp tongue withal. He was continually getting into trouble bocauso of his satirical sayings. He was perfectly f earless of speech. Judge Gresham once threatened to chastise him. Dooly replied: " You can do so if you like. You will get no credit for it, however. Anybody can do it, and a great maay have doneit." He was once knocked down. by a gentleman that he had introduced as the inferior Judge of the inferior court of the inferior oounty of Lincoln. He called lustily on the spectators for help, and, when rescued from his antagonist, rubbed his head and remarked dryly: " Well that is the forly-second fight I have been engaged in, and, if I ever got the best of a singlo one. 1 do not now remembar it. " Before Dooly's peace proclivities were fuily known he was challenged to mortal combat by a Mr. Tate, who carne to the field with Mr. W. H. Crawford as his second. Dooly accepted the challenge. Tate . had lost a leg and wore a wooden one. When he and his friend reached the field they found Dooly alone, sitting on a 8tump. " Where isyour friend ?" asked Crawford, in some surprise. " He is in the woods, sir." "And will be present in a moment, sir, I suppose ?" said Urawford. " Yes, as soon as he can flnd a beegnm." " May I inquire what he wants with a bee-gum ?" " Why, I want to put my leg in it. Do you suppose I can afford to risk my leg of flesli against Tato's leg of wood ? If I hit his leg, he will get another tomerrow, and peg away as usual. If he hits mine, it may kill me or compel me to stump it like him for the balance of my life. No, sir; I must have a gum. Then I will be jnst as much wood as he ' is, and we will be on equal terms." " I understand you, Col. Dooly; you do not intend to fight." "Why, really, Col. Crawford, I thought everybody knew that." "Very well, sir; but remember, Colonel, your name in no enviable light will fill the column of a newspaper morro w." "I assure yotl, my dear sir, I had rather fill every column in every uewspaper in Georgia than one coffln." - ft. W. Gtrady on Georgia Duels, in the Philadelphia Weekly Times. A liiully Noarccl Editor. An editor was sitting in Lis easy chair, buoyant in mind and heart, with the calta serenity and blissful tranquillity that none but editors know. A shufflin'g ■ sound at the door brought him back to j ' earth, and, faoing nervously about, he beheld a man of deep, determined look, closing the door behind him. With a siokly feeling of foreboding, the editor I motioned toward a chair, and gazed npon i the intruder, helpless and breathless, resigned to meet Uie worst. The hand of the man wandered toward j his breast pocket. The editor's cheek ' blanchod and his lips turned blue. Alas ! alas ! he had guessed aright the mission of the stranger. The man pulled out a bundie of ters and papers. The head of the editor i feil forward upon his breast and his hands dropped listloss from the arms of his chair. "Myerrand is not a pleasant one," said the visitor, speaking slowly. " Thank Heaven !" exclaimed the editI or, plucking up courage. " Out with it - suspense is worse than f ate." "I have nn execution on your home," continued the man, with professional sadness. ' ' The naottgage has been foreclosed." "Hoora! ha! ha! ha!" roared the editor, springing up and nearly shaking the man's arm off. " Heaven be praised ! but, Lord, what a scare you gave me ! Blister my corns, if I didn't think you had a chunk of spring poetry. Drive on- sell the old shanty - it's a rat-eaten barracks, anyway, and rents are cheap. Ha ! ha ! what a load you've taken off my mind ! Let's have your name - and I down it goes for two yeara' free subscription. You'ro an angel in breeches, old fellow, but you don't look like it - darned if you do. Ha ! ha ! Cut your hair, man; cut your hair, and wear a stand-up collar. It'll save yonr children sorrow." - Cinoinnati Breakast Table. Kepartee. A good thing is told of one of our city belles, Miss L., noted for her wit. At a dinner party the lady in questiou, who ia a daughter of a distinguished Jndge, was seated next to a gentleman whomshe had not met bef ore, and who was on a visit to the city on business which had brought him in contact with the Judge mentioned, who had shcrtly before deoided n case against him. At the dinner the gentleman, who had not eanglit the name of the lady when introduced, took occasion to vent his feeling and express his opinión of thp Judge in terms anything bat oomplimentary. An awful pause in the conversation indicated something wroug, and the gentleman took occasion to express his hope that the Judge was no relatioa of hers, to which, to the infinite amusement of all present, she replied, " Oh, no; only a connection of my mother's by marriage." A shont of laughter could not be preyented, and the gentleman, after a little reflection, came slowly to the conclusión that the Judge's family were too much for him, - Wa hing ton (L. V.) Herald. How to Consume Soup. " Dear Mr. Hawk-Eyfi, should one tak one's soup f rom tho side or the end of the spoon ? Edward." Oh, well, if you've got so stnck up and prond that you have to eat with a spoon, we dou't suppose it makos any difference, but we should tliink you would have enough reverence for the good old days and the grand simplicity of the better times, and take your soup as your father did; blow it until it is cold, then lift the plate with both hands and empty it by steady and long-continued snctiou, makiog a flip ping sound with your lips at the conolusion of the services to indícate to the waiter that you are ready for the next conrse. It is these new-fangled ideas that are driving the old simplicity and Üie old purity out of style and existeuce, (ind crowding society to the edge of the awful precipice that Jeans and totters in cmmbling weakness over the dark and fathomless abyss of corruption and deatruction. - liurlington Hawk-Eye. The "heil qnestion" is settled. A jommittce of tho Mississippi Legislature lias been considering it, and decides that " both nnnlogy and revelation teach the loctrine of punislinifnt in liell, and forser," 4