The Sun.
London, England, 1869-08-18 00:00:00

AMERICAN AFFAIRS.

(From the Anglo-American Times.)
NEW YORK, July 31.
The great event of the week has been the grand
ball at Long Branch in honour of the President.
The wind howled outside as the evening was
ushered in with a south-west storm, but it only by
contrast made the well-lighted rooms the more bril-
liant. The President entered about 10 o'clock to
the music of" Hail to the Chief," and that we are
becoming a military democracy may be gathered
not only from himself, but from his surroundings.

Lieut.-Geueral Sheridan, who hail passed throug.

this city from Massachusetts on Monday, with
General Sherman, followed General Grant, and
they were received by the Hon. A. IL Cornell,

Lewis B. Brown, Daniel Pettee, B. H. Brewster,
Nathaniel W. Chatter, IL 11. Ruggles, Spencer B.
Driggs, Robert Rennie, Gen. Wallen, Gen. Horace
Porter, Geo. W. Childs, William F. Leach, Robert

Campbell, John Hoey, jun., and Chas. Chamber-
lain. The " Royal" party paired off as follows for
the opening quadrille :—General Grant and Mrs.
Boric, Mrs. Grant and General Sherman ; General
Sheridan and Miss Sherman ; Mrs. Boric: profusely
adorned with diamonds, wore a lavender-coloured
silk (Pompadour) with white lace, and Miss Sher-
man was in pretty contrast without diamonds or
other ornaments, but in a plain white and blue dress
(panier.) Mrs. Grant wore a white satin dress,
with IoW neck and short sleeves, white lace being
thrown over the shoulders. General Grant's forte
is not dancing, and he had to be " coached"
through the " Lancers," in which he and General
Sherman became entangled. Over the chair where-
on the President sat was a bronze medal, pre-
sented by 'ex-Secretary Boric, consisting of a bas-
r,lief of Washington, Lincoln, and Grant, with the
insc. iption :—" Triumviri Americani—Pater, 1787
—Salvator, 1867 —Custos, 1869." The room was
well got np with the usual emblazoninents and fes-
toons of national 11 tgs, but what chiefly marked it
was the brilliant gathering of uniforms. Among
those noticed by our press was Sir John Barrington
of Dublin, a gentleman who does not hesitate to
express hiz opinion that that press is superior to
your's in London, at least so far as the dailies go.
We do as much in the Jenkins line as any people,
not excepting the old trunk of which so consider-
able a portion of this country was a cutting. Every-
thing Grant does is telegraphed throughout the
United States, and as Grant does nothing, tele-
grams of nothing are flying about on all sides to the
hindrance of real business. While we all laugh,
and all sneer, we all read, reporters write, and
papers print. One of the absurdities is that the
object, out of whom the reporters have to make
this capital, is one of the most plain, unassuming of
men. Here is the general description of him as he
appears on the piazza :
"Ho is dressed in broadcloth of strictly genteel cut, bu
studiously independent of fashion; he wears a small, nar-
row-rimmed silk hat, without gloss, a little black silk
necktie, and a plain gold chain hanging over his black
vest. Ife' bows to the ladies without lifting his hat; one
arm is behind him, the, other hangs in a cramped way by
his sid.!. He is approached at intervals by friends and
acquaintances with common-place remarks about the morn-
ing, the weather, and kindred subjects, to each of which he
drops his eyes a moment reflectively before answering.
His whole manner is that of a man not lacking self-pos-
session, nor yet marked by indecision so much as that of a
man entirely practical, and lacking the savoir faire—the
ease and elegance of society. His character is in his
action, the pose of his head, the step, and attitude.
Thoughts come slowly; he has no impulses, so he never
starts, never moves quickly, never turns half way and
comes back. He is unimpassionable; so he never notices
the sunlight, never opens his mouth to get an extra breath
of the sharp oxygen ; to such a one action speaks more
forcibly than condition; the movements of a spirited horse
interest him."

Sir John Barrington has returned to Ireland, and
his friend, as he called himself, Mr. H. Percival
Stebbing, generally known as " the missing Eng-
lishman," has gone back too. That young gentle-
man may tell his papa on his return what his expe-
riences in the United States have been ; but, judg-
ing from general appearances they have not been
encouraging. He is about 24 years of age, and was

dresed neatly enough when he left the Brevoor►
House on his celebrated and mysterious tour a la
Speke. (Is this a common practice among Eng-
lishmen ?) He is supposed to have reached Buffalo;
but, however this may be, he put in another ap-
pearance at the Brevoort House on his return, where
he could scarcely be recognized. In the meantime
his father, a highly-respectable English merchant,
I understand, had written to the Brevoort House
to have the young gentleman shipped back, a re-
quest which has been complied with, as he started
in the steamer Paraguay, on Thursday. One of
the items by Cable has excited much attention, the
suicide on an English railroad of one on whose
person bonds stolen from the Ocean Bank are said
to have been fiyud, and has puzzled the police.
The information as to the bonds may be wrong, but
if the suicide was one of the burglars, he could
have left by the Tues lay packet, the robbery
having been committed, as is usual in such cases,
on a Sunday. Talking of suicides, the mania is
extraordinary that seizs on people to follow a vici-
ous'examl•le. The fountain, in the Central Park,
has become the favourite resort ; last Tuesday the
third man for this month there blew out his brains.
Sir James Anderson and Mr. Watson are expected
here to-day; S r James is in charge of the French
cable expedition, and Mr. Watson is the American
agent. Sir Samuel Canning arrived on Thursday
at the Clarendon Hotel, and was called on by Cyrus
\V. Field. At the Duxbury, celebration of the
cable Sir James, in responding to the toast for its
success, gave the honour of laying it. to Captain
Sherard Osborn and Sir Samuel Canning, and in
alluding to the first cable the success of that was
mainly due to Mr. Cyrus W. Field and his intense
energy.' lie had heard that Mr. Field was opposing
the new cable, but this he thought natural. It is
not improbable that these gentlemen will receive the

honour of a banquet here. The death of George
Barclay was announced as having occurred on Thurs-
day evening at his residence near New Hamburgh,
Duchess county, aged 80. lie belonged to a re-
volutionary family who keep up to this day their
English tradition, the grandson even now being
educated at Cambridge, England. his father,
Thomas Barclay, who held the commission of Colonel
in the Royal Service, retired to Nova Scotia on the

close of the revolutionary war. Americans very
willingly allow the general superiority of such well-
trained gentlemen in good breeding and grace of
manner, which were strikingly marked in Mr.
Barclay, and there is a, very genuine respect for the

old families of the revolutionary time, even where
from strongly conscientious motives they adhered
to the wrong sile. The tailors have struck. On
IVednesiay morning a meeting was held, and the
German Tailors' Union issued an order. The dele-
gates responded to their names, and a revised lis
of prices was subscribed to, advancing the rate one-
third. Thirteen clothing firms declined to comply,
and are accordingly interdicted, placed under sur-
veillance, and barred from workmen. There was
a great procession on Thursday, when the various
establishments were visited, but the success has been
small. Of the 27 firms applied to these only acceded
—Carhart and Whitford, Coleman and Son, and
Peet and Co. Generally the answer was a flat refusal,
and of the 7 shops, 2 only answered satisfactorily.
The men assert that they are unable to earn above
$lO per week, even aided by their wives and sewing
machines, and that a rise of 25 per cent. will but
bring the prices to what they were five years ago.
There are ten unions, enrolling 9,000 men ; but the
number of shop tailors here and in the vicinity is
about 30,000. If the strike continues, and it
threatens to be very formidable, orders will flow
across to the London tailors, who are noted here
for the support they appear to give you ; nearly all

the best known London establishments, except
Poole, appearing in your advertising columns. It
is a common practice with American gentlemen, on
their return, to leave their address with the London
house where they have dealt, and in consequende
many of those whose names you give are well
known on this side the water. I mention our little
difficulty, as it may be of a lvantage to Ameri-
cans in England to be aware of it. The Hansom
Cab Company say that they will have cabs on New
York and Brooklyn stands within six weeks. The
rates are fixed for a mile or less for one passenger
30 cents, two passengers 40 cents, and a like charge
for every additional mile, or part of a mile. Per
hour, 75 cents for one, or a dollar for two pass:ln-
gers ; with a like charge for every additional hour
or a part of an hour ; 50 cents being added to
these prices for night work. The following gen-

tlemen have been elected directors : Mr. William
Watts Sherman, of Duncan Sherman and Co. ; D.
N. Arquimhan, of the firm of Gomez, Wallace, and
Co. ; John lioey, of Adams Express Company ;
Richard Schell, of 50, Wall-street ; Robert Coch-

ran, No. 36, Broad-street; and James Brown, o
the firm of James Brown and Co., of No. 54, Ex
change-place. Printing-house-square is, as you
know, opposite the City Hall Park, and a consider-
able crowd usually moves about there. On Wednes-
day a great explosion occurred inthe vicinity, conse-
quent on one of a party returning from a pic-nic in
vans dropping a spark into the fireworks they were
sending up in rockets as they moved. As in nature
bound the fireworks exploded, with a disagreeable
effect to those seated on them and to the passers
by. Eight persons were so damaged that three
have died, and I can only hope that this will be the
limit. You remember, some time ago, the case of
Mrs. Melissa J. Morton, who sent for Mr. Scott L.
Morse, and shot him, under the plea that he had
insulted her. Well, this gentlewoman, who enu-
merates among her rights that of shooting a man
like a dog, has, of course, been acquitted, for
what Indiana jury, or, indeed, what jury of any
other State could find a woman guilty for merely
shooting a man. But men by women are not
the only beings who can be shot with impunity.
A paper says :—" A Missouri negro had the auda-
city to drive into Shelbina village as if he was on
a splurge,' and was promptly shot dead." It is an
ill wind that blows no one good, and Mrs. Stone-
wall Jackson has been left $lO,OOO by Wade
Bolton, who, at Memphis, was recently shot by a
Col. Dickens. He left $lOO,OOO in charity, and ten
acres of land to each of his former slaves. Mr. Wade
Bolton was formerly apartner in the firm of Bolton,
Dickens, and Co., and a strong feud existed be-
tween the families of Dickens and Bolton. They
had been extensive negro traders in the South, be-
fore the war, and had amassed a considerable sum,
but this unholy gain led to fatal results, for at least
12 persons, in as many years, have been killed
through the feud which arose over its division, and
the last is Mr. Bolton himself. Ile died in agony,
refusing to the last to allow the wound to be probed.
Colonel Dickens shot him in the street, alleging that
he feared Mr. Bolton intended to kill him, as threats
to that effect had been communicated to him,
but after arrest he was bailed for $5,000. Mrs.
Bolton gets but $20,000 and 300 acres out of an
estate valued at $250,000. I suppose the case will
furnish the Anti-Slavery party with a theme to
enlarge on, and it cannot be denied that it is a far
more striking one than that made a handle of by
the Anti-Tobacconists through poor Mr. Halleck's
dreadful end, who, they say, would not have been
burnt to death in the Erie smoking car bad he
not indulged in the pernicious weed. Among
the arrivals is that of Gen. Reins, of the late Con-
federate army, inventor of the marine torpedo, and
son-in-law of Homer Randall of Newburgh. His
wife carried $5,000 in greenbacks to Augusta,
Georgia, in her chignon. We are good at sensa-
tional rumours, but the Canadians appear to be
better still. The Montreal News gets this telegram
from Quebec and blazes it abroad :-
4, Mysterious rumours prevail in the city to-day. It is
said that a fight has taken place between a British and
American frigate in the Mediterranean, and that an Ame-
rican war is imminent. The authorities will not divulge
what aro the contents of their despatches. Sir F. Ilincks
has stated publicly that he does not believe the story."
Why should people who have no gold-room, no
stocks to elevate and depress, get up such inven-
tions. With us the case widely differs, and queer
stories are told of the doings of our bears and bulls.
One little trick occurred before the sailing of the
Cuba, by which gold was affected from one to one
and a half per cent. The gold-room barometer sensi-
tively feels the export, and large shipments have
lately recommenced to England. When it was
known that no specie was to be shipped in the
Cuba the price went down, and a party drew a large
sum from one of the banks, and with great osten-
tation and noise drove the packages to the stage as if
a heavy shipment was about to be made. The news
was immediately carried to the gold-room and took
effect, for the premium closed at 1371, opening
next day, when it was known that the Cuba had
sailed withont any specie, at 136. Mr. Washing-
ton A. Roebling, I am glad to say, has been ap-
pointed to superintend the work on which his
father, the able engineer who so unfortunately
lost his life, was engaged. The surveys of
the East River Bridge are still in progress, and
workmen aro now employed on material for the
structure. A shockin g case of drowning when bathing
occurred at South Hampton, Long Island, on Thurs-
day afternoon. Mr. Chas. Meyer, with his wife and
a young lady, were bathing, when Mrs. Meyer, on
venturing too far out was unable to resist the cur-
rent, when she called for assistance, which both the
young lady and her husband endeavoured to render,
but, all getting into the current, were carried out
and drowned.