The Sun.
London, England, 1868-10-24 00:00:00

MISCELLANEOUS NEWS.

(From the Anglo-American Times.)

The Central Press is coming out in an enterprising
way, which the English public ought to encourage.
They have supplied within the last few days many
telegrams from America. One of these gives the
result of the great boat race NS. hich was run on
Wednesday on the Connecticut river at Springfield,
the Ward brothers against the New Brunswick
crew, who distinguished themselves by whipping
Europe at the Paris Exhibition regattas. The Ward
brothers were supposed to be the best oarsmen in
the world ; but this honour really belongs to the
four oars of St. John's, New Brunswick, for in a
course over six miles they beat the Ward brothers
by forty lengths, doing their work in 39i minutes.

The extraordinary nature of the convulsions in
the greatest of the volcanic belts has received fur-
ther illustration by an earthquake which last
Wednesday wrecked the lower portion of San
Francisco, and was felt throughout the whole of
California and other States. According to the Cen-
tral Press telegram—
"The town in many parts is a complete heap of rubbish
—houses, stores, churches, and other buildings being
razed. The lower part of the city has experienced the
greatest amount of damage. The fissures left in the
ground in many places aro from seven to eight feet in
width. The effect on the water in the bay was very
striking, but as yet no word has been received relative to
any damage to shipping. The loss of life is thought to
be inconsiderable ; but, of course, no correct idea can be
formed as yet of the number of persons who are missing.
The damage to property is estimated at over a million
dollars."

The advices which have reached Messrs. Campbell,
Heatley, and Co. are so far reassuring that busi-
ness has not been interrupted, their correspondent
advising them that the loading of ships continued,
of which one was to sail on the following day.

There has not been much business of late before
the Washington Cabinet, hence we are not surprised
that the session of the 9th inst. was passed in dis-
cussing whether a marble statue of Washington
sent for safe keeping from New Orleans during the
rebellion, and stored in the Patent Office, should be
returned on the demand of the State of Louisiana.

The President, Mr. Welles, and Mr. Randall joined
in the discussion, and eventually concluded that the
statue should be sent back. The Foreign measures
of importance before the Cabinet were the re-
cognition of the new Government of Spain, and
the protocol signed by the American Minister
with the British Government regulating the
rights of naturalized citizens. There was little
question as to the course to be taken in the former
case, for the Cabinet rather enjoyed the opportu-
nity of paying Isabella back in her own coin, re-
membering that she was the foremost Sovereign in
Europe to urge the recognition of the Confederacy.
She has, we are told, $2,000,000 invested in Philadel-
phia in the name of the Duke of Riansares, accu-
mulated during ten years, and George M. Dallas
was a trustee at the time of his death. The nature
of the protocol had only been communicated by the
cable, and therefore the particulars were unknown
further than that the compact was similar in feature
to Mr. Bancroft's treaty with the German Powers.
General Gordon Granger has arrived at Memphis,
where he has established the head-quarters of the
department of the Cumberland, in relief of Gen.
Thomas, who has, as we last week announced, been
appointed by Mr. Johnson, president of the Court
Martial, which is to sit on General Dyer. We may
here mention that Dyer has been relieved from the
charge of the Ordnance Department, and he is to
be assisted in his defence by Colonel S. V. Ben-
' nett. Granger's friends are pressing strongly for
his promotion for the Brigadier-Generalship iu the
regular Army, vacant by Hooker's resignation.
Granger is now a Colonel of Infantry, and though
the Senate could reject the promotion, yet, as in
the case of Rousseau, that Chamber is slow to
interfere with the appointment of the President as
Commander-in-Chief.

General Sherman is blamed for neglecting the in-
terests of the exposed settlers in Kansas, who be-
came the victims of the late Indian raids. " The
savages have, however, re3eived severe punishment ;
the affair with Forsyth, the 9th Cavalry action
near Fort Davis, Texas, and the pursuit of 2,500
Arapaho warriors beyond the Arkansas river by.
cavalry, all show activity on Sherman's part. Rein-
forcements have been telegraphed for to Washington,
and the following is an authentic despatch from that
city :—" Gen. Sherman and Gen. Sheridan, in their
dispatches from the frontier, are both of the opinion
that there will be a serious war with the Indians
from this time until winter sets in. The latest in-
telligence shows that the Arraphoes, Cheyennes,
Kiowas, and Comanches have all cut loose, and are
ready for robbery and murder. The Kiowas and
Comanches have already swept across the country
from Fort Zarah to Fort Dodge. 'The total force
of these tribes is about 4,500 warriors. Fortu-
nately we have a larger force to meet them than
last year, though still not large enough to pun'sh
them as they deserve. General Sheridan will take
the field in person, and lively work may be ex-
pected in that quarter very 500 n.,,
The speculators have had a fine time lately in
New York and Chicago. In New York they got
some banks, and it is also asserted, tbough strenu-
ously denied by Mr. Van Dyck, the sub-treasurer
of New York, that officers of his department
joined in the scheme, which was to sell gold from
the New York Sub-Treasury, while the banks
locked up all the greenbacks. In this way 17 mil-
lion dollars were withdrawn from circulation, per-
haps half the amount afloat in the city; the banks
called in theircall loans, while the bears not only sold
largely but threw on the market a quantity of
speculative stocks. Gold fell five per cent. ; Go-
vernment securities on an average 2 ; the deprecia-
ton on shares ranged from 2 to 5 ; while discount
immediately doubled. 'This lasted a week, when
the " bears" themselves began to take fright, and
the market recovered its natural tone, but not till
after great loss and some failures. The intention
was to catch those who had large obligations to meet,
and who, unaware of the plot, trusted to their credit
and securities to realize what they required. On going
to the bank at the last moment to make arrange-
ments, the answer is, "No money." They then
fall back " upon the street," but all the greenbacks
have been cleared away ; when they awake to their
" tight" position, having to raise funds or to allow
their bills to be
hatdishonoured.ever
securities
u r t
eTshtehne
they
theyh have
e ;
d down
hurriedlywo
line of Governments, Railways, gproeesss
tfhoer
whole
Ex-
press and MiscellawneaoitustiSllhathr7s,
eheuelrpiteides
touchatfir stby
the clique, who
bot-
tom to buy and realize profits on the rise. In
Chicago it has been a " corner in corn," and both
these events are fully noticed in the comprehen-
sive money article we publish from the Springfield
Republican. _ .

The defence of the sub-treasurer, Mr. Van
Dyck, of himself and the Treasury officers, has
been generally criticised. He asserts that Govern-
ment held between eighty and ninety millions of
gold, but less than thirteen millions of greenbacks,
and for their increase it was necessary to sell gold,
which he the more readily did on an easy money
market, at from 141
to 143. On finding that the
speculators had grasped the opportunity to forward
their own ends, he at once stopped sales. Various
plans have been suggested for turning surplus
coin into currency,
but all are liable to abuse.
The best is to sell in the open market at
the current price, but the discharge of these
duties brings the Treasury officers into collision
with the selfish and speculative interests in Wall-
street by whom their characters are aspersed. He
goes on indignantly to deny any connection with
these jobbers who have circulated this scandal be-
cause their schemes have been defeated. By figures
he shows how well and favourably for the nation
he and his chief have managed the duties entrusted
to their care, and he closes his letter in the follow-
ing words :—" All this payment, purchase, and ex-
change, involving incessant labour, vigilance, and
responsibility, has been carried through with scarcely
the slightest disturbing influence on the monetary
or business interests of the country. While claim-
ing no particular praise for these results, accom-
plished under trying circumstances incident to the
deranged state of the currency and the business de-
pression resulting from an exhausting war, it is
respectfully submitted that they ought at least to
shield the officers of the Treasury from continued