The Sun.
London, England, 1869-03-08 00:00:00

DUELLING.

Recent attemps to revive duelling in England have
ended in the ridicule of their originators ; but on the
Continent the practice of appealing to the sword is still
far too common, Setting aside minor conflicts, at least a
score of duels between persons of distinction have occurred
within the last three months. The correspondent of the
Daily .11Tcul records a distressing encounter which
has taken place at Turin. Two young students
had a discussion upon some trifling matter at
dinner, lost their tempers, quarrelled, and a challenge was
the result. The encounter was with pistols at twenty
paces, each combatant having the right to advance five
paces. Lots having been drawn, the lad entitled to fire
first discharged his weapon, and sent a bullet through the
other lad's heart. This event has brought affliction to
some of the first families in Piedmont

A delegation from the Union League Club of
New York has been sent to Washington with me-
morials to Congress, signed by 27,000 representa-
tives of all the States and territories of the Union.
They desire the new naturalization law shall vest in
the United States only the right to make citizens,
with a more strict system of registry—that no por-
son shall be naturalized for a given period extend-
ing over several months before an election, aril that
a residence of four and a half years shall be neces-
sary to qualify aliens for naturalization. Judge
Lawrence presented the petition, with a request that
it be referred to the New York Committee on the
election frauds. The delegation consisted of Dr.
Francis Lieber, with Mr. Collins, General G. P.
Howes, and Col. Painter.
Grave apprehension is felt regarding the con-
struction both of the Union Pacific and of the
Central Pacific Railways. Mr. Huntington, pre-
sident of the latter road, testified before a Com-
mittee of Congress that the former is not making
what the " law requires, a first-class road, but is
constructing a road with a view of getting a 3
many bonds as possible !" while the San Fran-
cisco Herald asserts Mr. Huntington's own road
to be both badly constructed and badly managed.
The correspondent of that journal says—" I can-
not speak knowingly of more than about two
hundred miles of this road, running east from
Reno, but I will defy any man to match those
200 miles in the United States. The road is literally
laid on the top of the ground ; and while the com-
pany had the best valley through which to con-
s:ruct a first-class road that there is in the whole
country west of the Missouri River, they have built
the worst that could be constructed and be a railroad
at all." This might be expected, considering that
they were literally contesting the ground to Salt
Lake, foot by foot, but when constructed it will be
for their own interest to ballast, and render the road
as sub-tantial as possible. It is but fair to both
companies to state that although they cirdulate all
manner of evil reports about each other, there is
strong testimony to prove that the roads are quite
as well built as mid have been expected under the
wrcimistances.

Despatches have been received from the Washita
mountains up to January 22. Excepting four or
five lodges, all the Kiowas had c-me in, and were
about to he settlt.ll on the reservation. Some Ara-
pahoes and Cheyennes had also arrived, and the re-
mainder were approaching, so the worst tribes may
soon be expected to be gathered on the reservation.
Generd -',lleri,inti was to arrive at St. Louis ~1:out

the 20th February, when the rt-turn of Gen. Sher
man was looked for. The 7th cavalry were to be
withdrawn from the plains. In the more distant
territories, however, the war still continued. A Sun
Francisco telegram of the 17th Feb. says, Arizona
advices have been received which state that Capt.
Young's command of 140 men were attacked by the
Indians, numbering 300, on the night of the 27th of
January, between Williams and Prescott. The
savages succeeded in capturing a pack train be-
longing to the command.
Bonds to the amount of $1,280,000 have been
issued to the Union Pacific Railroad on account of
the completion of two additional sections, termi-
nating 1,000 miles west from Omaha. On the
16,6 Feb. the President accepted the report of the
Government Commissioners on the, additional sec
Von of 20 miles of the Central Pacific Railroad,
extending to the 510th mile post, east from Sacra-
mento, and directed that Government bonds be
issued thereon. The junction is within less than
three- mouths of being effected; and Pullman's
palace sleeping-cars now run within fifty miles o
Salt Lake Valley.
Judge Campbell has presented a bill in the New
York Legislature making it a misdemeanour to
enter a railroad car without a ticket, and for a con-

ductor to receive money for the fares. The public

carriers all over the United States have been con-
stantly victimized by persons who choose to be
carried without payment, and the question when
the money is demanded has to be settled by the
conductor. This frequently brings him into colli-
sion with the passengers, gives rise to a brusqueness
of manner, and a habit of " promptly ditching"
those echo cause him trouble, or who he imagines
intend to evade payment. At the same time, it
cannot fail to be a source of loss to railroad com-
panies if the conductor be permitted to receive
fares without a check.
Both the pilots of the steamers America and the
United States, which collided on the Ohio Rive r
with such disastrous consequences, have been found
guilty of carelessness and discharged from their
posts. Considering how fatal was the result of
their negligence, merely to revoke their licences is
almost an encouragement to such conduct. In Eng-
land they would be tried for manslaughter, and the
companies might consider themselves fortunate if
th.. 3, escaped heavy damages.
In addition to Professor Goldwin Smith's histo-
rical library, the Cornell University is to rec.'ive a
spl !mild cabinet of the cereals of Great Britain (of
which there are only two sets) from the Government
Museum of Science throu,:h Dr. Lyon Playfair
M.P. for the University of Edinburgh ; and Mr.
Greene Smith, son of Gerrit Smith, has presented
to the University his large and valuable collection
of birds.
On the 16th February Senator Sumner moved

the grant of i pension • to Mrs. Lincoln, the blank
being filled up with the words five thousand dollars.
A long and rather angry discussion followed. IVir,

Morton considered. that Mr. Lincoln had been
killed by the enemies of the country during war,
while Commander-in-Chief of the Army, and if so,
his widow was entitled to such a pension as became
that rank. A million of dollars had been expended
in doing honour to his remains, and if now they
should refuse to make a moderate provision fur the
mother of his children, it would be a new evidence
of the truth of the old adage, " Republics are un-
grateful." Senator Van Winkle was informed that
the lady had got $30,000 of her husband's estate,
which, with the balance of the President's salary
for the year, made $50,000, a sum he considered to
be a very comfortable provision for a lady with
children grown up and provided for. The debate
proved bow strong was the opposition, although
the pension was powerfully advocated by Senators
Sumner, Morton, and Nye, the consideration of
the question being eventually postponed.
The scene towards the afternoon in the Senate,
on the same day, became simply uproarious. After
' the morning hour expired, a round dozen of Sena.
tors spent an hour in shouting at each other whe-
ther this bill should pass or give way to another,
and Mr. Wade, perhaps subdued by his late treat-
ment at the hands of Butler, appeared unable to
control the situation. On Mr. Morton moving to
bring up the report of the Tenure-of-Office Act the
confusion became general, and retorts were freely
bandied. Senator Edmunds accused the mover of
desiring to appropriate the thunder of the Retrench-
ment Committee, characterizing his action as dis-
courteous; whereon Mr. Morton insinuated that the
committee wished to stifle the bill, in proof of which
he referred to the fact that although it had been
before them for four weeks they had made no effort
to take it up. Mr. Sherman strongly advocated
the repeal, and alluded with asperity to Mr. Morrill
and other Senators' Railroad Subsidy Bills, on
which Mr. Morrill literally began to scream, for his
voice ran into such a key that no one could under-
stand what he said. Then Mr. Fessenden, in great
disgust, censured the whole Chamber, and moved
an Executive Session, as ho despaired of anything
practical being done ; whereupon the naughty,
noisy boys felt rebuked, and Mr. Fessenden's mo-
tion was carried, but this did not prevent a repeti-
tion of the row on the following day.
It is probable that the Rev. Paul Bagley is now
in London on a mission from America to obtain the
release of the Fenian prisoners. He was to have left
New York on the 17th Feb., after an interview with
Secretary Seward, who read to him letter he was
about to forward to the American Minister at St.
James's. Mr. Seward was acting in response to a
pe.ition to the President signed by 40 Senators and
108 Representatives. We are happy to say that
Mr. B,igley will find most of his work anticipated,
and he has our best wishes for his success in what
remains to be done. The petition was worded as
follows :—" The undersigned respectfully request
your Excellency to give the bearer hereof, Paul
' Bagley, mis=ionary, such moral support, or letter,
to our Minister at the Court of St. James, as may
enable him favourably to present to the British Go-
vernment such petition as he may desire in behalf
of our fellow-citizens there held as prisoners." We
now learn be has arrived, and commenced work
with interviews with Mr. Reverdy Johnson. The
Rev. Paul Bagley is well known as a missionary 'in
China and India, and an earnest philanthropist, to
whom no Government could refuse to listen with
respect, for his exertions are entirely independent
of any political motives, having been made as
strongly for Southerners when the tide of Northern
opinion set hard against them, as they can be for
the Fenians. A numerous and influential meeting
was held at the Adelphi Club, Adelphi-terrace, on
Thursday, and it is evident that the Government in
abolishing a great wrong to Ireland, will accom-
pany this act of justice by another of clemency and
conciliation in liberating all the prisoners.
We regret to learn that Colonel Finley Anderson,
who, since the close of the war, has resided in London
as the representative in Europe of the .New York
Herald, is about to return to the United States.
Even the columns of the Times during the
Abyssinian expedition often gave proof of the
extraordinary efficiency with which the work of
gathering and transmitting news was performed
by him for that most enterprising of all papers, the
New York Herald. It was little short of ridiculous to
see England instructed in the progress of her own
expedition by a gentleman on the staff of a foreign
newspaper who threw telegrams to the Times from
Abyssinia as scraps in which England was more
interested than America. Those who know Colonel
Anderson's indefatigable energy, and his quiet, un-
a•sitming, yet practical way of gathering news of
interest arc not surprised to see in thq columns of
the Herald important items of European intelli-
gence unknown in Europe. The fact is that Minis-
ters and men in authority speak to him more freely
than to the rei resentative of any European organ,
for the information transmitted to America takes a
fortnight to get back, when what was under discus-
sion has occurred. It often surprises us who have to
read the principal papers of both nations frequently
to see English intelligence published in America
which has escaped, or perhaps never been known to,
English papers.

New York, Feb. 20,
Peter Bamberger is dead, and his victim is in a
had way, with little chance of recovery. The exe-
cution of Real, the murderer of Smedick, is likely to
be postponed, as it will fall on Good Friday, that is, if
ino law will admit of the change. Several cases of
trichina spiralis Occurred in a German boarding-
house in Carlisle-street, of which two proved fatal.
The keeper of the house is accused of supplying
. them with unwholesome meat, but the complaint is
said not to be confined to one house. A panic in
pork has been the result. Great excitement has
been aroused here by the race between the City of
Parts and the Russia, and heavy betting has been
male. Those who have backed the Russia are in
glee at the news by the steamer Siberia, whicli re-
ported seeing the two vessels 160 miles from Sandy
Hook, the Russia a mile and a half ahead, and thii
was confirmed by the City of New York, which
arrived on Wednesday, stating that she passed both
on the 13th, w hen the Russia was four miles ahead.
The well-known sailing qualities of the City of
Paris keep up the spirits of her backers, who: as-
sert that they can scarcely get across without a
westerly gale, when the Inman steamer will make
her running.* A grand excursion has been orga-
nized to start over the Union Pacific Milroad. to
San Francisco about the Ist July. The number is
not to exceed 250, but they will be a rare lot, as
invitations are sent over an immense area to lead-
: ing men in Europe as well a 3 in America, and it is
bound to be a grand affair, perhaps headed by the
President himself. One of its features is, that a
similar party will start from San Francisco to this
city, and the East and West are to shake hands on
the Rocky Mountains—a genuine occasion for high-
faluten, for if a Yankee is to be forgiven for bounce,
it would be on such a meeting as this, and on such
a spot. Last Sunday it rained more heavily than
has been experienced here for some time, but it
cleared up on Monday, and we have since had
splendid weather. The violets are out, and the
river will be opened to Albany if it continues
as mild. Business has greatly improved ; the stir
is perhaps due to the reviving demand for the South,
where the cotton crop has turned out well and the
prices better than expected. Speculation is increas-
ing, and there is a perfect flurry in Government
Bonds. Everybody is rushing into that security,
not merely to hold for a rise, but as a permanent
investment in anticipation of a rise ; the savings'
banks being among the largest buyers. Last week
the business in real estate was the largest sold at
auction for any week in February, being $6,000,000.
This week, however, it is likely to be the excess of
this amount, and the rise is marked, which is the
more surprising, as a fall has taken place in rents,
and adecided tendency is shown to an exocius towards
Westchester and New Jersey. The "strikes"
are spreading. The printers wec at Ashton House,
and drew up a scale of prices for the consideration
of the compositors. Some girls have been sent to
work, but as yet this is bat a very feeble effort to
meet the emergency. The Typographical Union
have declared every office to be "rats" who ref us„

* Our correspondent was right, for this is what actually
did happen, with a result that justified the backers of the
City of Paris.