The Sun.
London, England, 1870-02-07 00:00:00

(From the Anglo-American Times.)

Messrs. Fisk and Gould were examined on the 22d of
January by the Congressional Committee at Washington.
Gould was reticent, and little could be extracted from
him, but Fisk went " straight off" with his narrative.
Ho commenced by stating what the management of the
Erie Railroad was, and proceeded to tell how he and
Gould had decided to accompany General Grant, who
was then on his way to Boston, to ascertain, if possible,
the policy of the Administration on Finance. They gave
the President a supper, and talked on finance for three
hours. Fisk concluded that the President was working
up the subject of finance, and learnt that he favoured
specie payments and cheaper gold. He naively shows
how opposed General Grant's views were to his specula-
tions. They saw Mr. Boutwell, but could get nothing
satisfactory from him. Then he told how Butterfield was
decided on for Assistant Treasurer of New York, after Gould
had determined to put up gold, and through Corbin's influ-
ence he got the place. "If you want to know about Corbin,"
said Fisk, "when he goes into anything he wants to take
ail. He takes shelf, nails, and boards, as well as goods,
withers :tithe touches," and nearly killed Gould and Fisk,
Corbin conceived the idea .)f working through Butterfield
with Gould and Fisk, firmly bAieving he could regulate
the Government, but as Fisk expressed doubt about run-
ning up gold he was by them at first left out. Gould began
at 137, Mrs. Grant having $500,000, Gen. Porter $500,000,
and Corbin $1,500,000, and it was then Fisk came in ; but
gold had settled down to 131, so Gould was in a fix. It was
then Fisk was consulted, and be got up the ring, commenc-
iug to buy through Heath and Co., but he soon discovered
he bad all he could to carry. In an interview with Cor-
bin he found that Mrs. Grant's half million dollars had.
been sold, and a cheque for $25,000 forwarded, and it was
represented that theywere doing a great national good as well
as aiding the Erie road to secure a large transport of grain.
Fisk thought Corbin bad got all "nicely fixed up." This was
on the Monday before the black Friday. While in company
with Corbin he was imposed on, but when away ho lost
confidence in his being "right behind the throne." as he
pretended. He got a letter sent by a special messenger from
Corbin to General Grant, who reached Washington and
met the President on Wednesday morning. Gen. Grant half
read it, then loft for 15 minutes, and returned, saying "All
right," words immediately telegraphed back to New York.
On that day gold closed at 141. On Friday morning Mr.
Belden introduced Speyers, who was to execute any orders
on Belden's account Fisk might give. Gold was then 143,
and Fisk told Speyers to get some quickly at that price.
directing Speyers to buy all he could. Away he started, but
before he got to the room gold was 160. Speyers, seeing it
had risen 15 in half an hour, thought it would go up to
2(0, and bought at 160 a good cartload. An article then
appeared in the New York Times, which Fisk read ou his
way down town, which made him feel rather weak in the
knees, knowing the effect it would have at Washington ;
and so it proved, for Mr. Boutwell called at the
Executive Mansion, and in fifteen minutes afterwards the
order, which struck like a thunderbolt, was sent to New
York to sell four millions dollars of "live gold," Fisk
acknowledging that he would prefer carrying 40 millions
of short gold to 4 millions of the "real stuff, which is a
good deal heavier." At that moment Speyers was still
picking up gold at 160. Down went gold to 141, but
Speyers continued to pick it up at 160. " The next
thing I saw, continued Fisk, was Speyers rushing into
the office with his cravat off, and without any shirt
collar, and his hair sticking up straight what
little there was loft of it. He did not have over 10
or 15 hairs. Said lie, "Mine Gott! The whole ting ish
played out! I haves fifty millions at 160, and it ish now
selling at 141. What shall Ido ?" About that time my
own affairs had got a little disorganised, and I was not as
much interested in Mr. Speyers's business as I was in my
own. I told him, " You fool, have you not any better
sense than to be standing there and to buy my gold at 160,
when it was down to 141 ; if you find any amusement in its
I suppose you might as well keep right straight on."
As it was getting hot where we were, I told Gould we
had better go to some milder clime, and the first thing we
saw on getting out by the back door were accounts
placarded about the crazy broker, Speyers. By that
time Fisk had become pretty mad, and he rushed off to
Corbin, from whom he demanded " if this was some sharp
trick to wipe us off the face of the earth." What situation are
you in, asked Corbin ? It looks, answered Fisk, as if
we were ruined. Corbin quieted him down, and said he
would go to Washington and have all the gold withdrawn
from the market. Mrs. Corbin also thought there was
some mistake, adding that Mrs. Grant had written to close
these gold transactions, as they made her husband nerv-
ous. Corbin started for Washington to be back on Mon-
day morning, and that was the last Fisk saw of him. The
Committee often asked the question whether any Go-
vernment officials were in connection with the clique?
and Fisk's invariable answer was that all he knew
he got from Mr. and Mrs. Corbin relative to the posi-
tion of General Grant's family in the matter ; but
General Butterfield had a share, Gould carrying
$1,500,000 of gold for him. When asked what had be-
come of Mrs. Grant's half million, General Porter's half
million, and Corbin's one and a half millions, Fisk replied
they had gone with all the rest, "where the woodbine
twineth ;" anti, when closely pressed about Mrs. Grant,
he still answered, he only knew what "that old thief
Corbin" said. Finally, ho acknowledged that the only
mistake made was in not learning what that letter con-
tained, which Corbin sent to the President, and it was
there they were over-reached. Fisk's evidence tallies with
his former statements, but adds nothing to the story
of the gold gamble, only confirming his assertion that
Corbin was " the biggest toad in the puddle," and un-
warrantably used the President's name.

After lying in the Monarch in state the remains
of Mr. Peabody were formally delivered to Governor
Chamberlain, of Maine, last Saturday, being borne by ten
British seamen to the funeral car. Captain Commerell
addressed a few appropriate words to the Governor, who
made a telling reply, closing with the remark that the
Monarch had achieved a greater victory than her guns
could ever win. Admiral Farragut commanded the fleet
and the whole Legislature of Maine, together with many
State and municipal deputations, were present. Last
Tuesday the coffin was rem 'ved from Portland to Pea-
body, where it arrived at 5 p.m., and was deposited in the
Peabody institution to await the final obsequies next
Tuesday. If we may be permitted to apply an expression
of Artemus Ward to so venerated an object of public re-
gard as the late Mr. Peabody, we might remark that he can
truly be considered "the much-buried man." The American
papers give the following account of the way in which ha
was embalmed in Loudon :—" The process consisted in
first iejecting all the arteries with a solution of arsensic
and corrosive sublimate, and after the lapse of 21 hours
with a saturated solution of tannic acid. By these means
the softer tissues were actually converted into leather, and
decomposition effectually arrested. Into the cavities of
the chest and abdomen there was also introduced a paste
of arsenic, camphor, and alcohol, and the coffin was lined
with a layer of animal charcoal."
The' Birmingham Chamber of Commerce has
just published a report on the cause of the depression in
the metal trades. What interests us in this is the asser-
tion that American iron manufactures in some instances
i beat those of Birmingham in the colonial markets, not be-
cause they are cheaper, but because they are better. This
is passing strange and worth weighing in America. Iron
and steel are there much dearer, and labour is more
costly, therefore the article manufactured which can
supplant that from Birmingham must have great merit.
The report attributes it to till American " novelty of
construction and excellency of make." To a lumberman
the quality of his axe and its adaptability for the work
required is of primary importance, not the cost, for his
work is done better and cheaper with one good axe than with
half a dozen bad ones. If the report is correct, iron and
steel can bo exported from England, manufactured in
the United States after paying a heavy duty, and the
products sold in Canada more readily than similar ar-
ticles from Birmingham. The first necessity for arrest-
ing a decline in commercial prosperity is to ascertain
the true cause, no matter.how distasteful, and to keep
this well before the mind in searching for a remedy, and
this report is of value, dealing as it does with the real
causes of the depression.

A disastrous storm raged over the United States
on the 17th January. At Cave City Station, on the
Louisville and Nashville Railroad, groat destruction was
caused to life and property. Eight persons wore killed,
and eighteen were more or less injured. Many houses
were blown down and trees torn up. We presume this is
the tornado which, on the previous day desolated the Red
River, and was followed by intense cold. The same re-
sult ensued throughout the Western States, for no sooner
did the storm pass away than the mercury fell from 42
dog. to zero. A large number of persons were killed, and
reports of disaster were coming in from all directions.
Accompanying the rainfall wore hailstones the size of wal-
nuts, and inundations followed from the sudden rise of
the rivers. The water in the Scioto was higher than has
been known for 20 years, and between Columbus and Cin-
cinnati the trains were stopped, as the bridges had been
washed away. The storm passed over St. houis, and
produced a panic at the " Varieties Theatre " and the
Olympic," people trying to escape injuring each Miler.
At Albany, in New York, there was a drizzling rain, but
the Hudson felt the influence, and rose so as to overflow
the docks and streets, to the surprise of the people, who
were not aware of the cause.

While General Butler was exerting himself in the
Senate to upset Mr. Bingham's Amendment on the Bill
for the re-admission of Virginia, the lion. Rcverdy John-
son made his first appearance in the Chamber since his
farewell speech on his departure from England. Ono
of those who most cordially welcomed him was Senator
ilummer, with whom he had a long and pleasant chat ;
and it is noticed that while on these friendly terms with
the man who denounced his treaty in the celebrated
speech, he never approached the Kentuckian M'Creery,
who cast the solitary vote in its favour. Mr. Johnson has
a pleasant way of meeting his political foes that is, if the
Lairds can be regarded as his foes.