, 1866-12-16
Matters and Things in the He
tropolis-

'kAting stsson each Of the three ponds In the
central Park Is Kept constantly In excellent
tor skating, LeIther 1aboe nor ex-
peuse being SPARED to satisfy the require.
nents OF the thousonls Of skaters who vi1ft
he palk every day q the winter. The d.
be- repuguaot to the fashionable aristocracy,
who arc accustomed TO rendezvous In the
Fifth Avenue Skating Rink, at the corner OF
Madison ayeune and Fifty ninth atreet, which
- hardly to be compared with the skating
finks In Chicago. although the papers here
eItrayaEInt praise. It Is merely hollow
formed BY the elevation Of the streets on each
side Of block VI ground, covered By q cheap
roof Of rough boards, aud fitted up With few
sas.ughts and stoves. Then there is the
Filth Avenue Pond, n block west
Of the rink. formed lfku the latter By
BY high streets. Neither of these two prl-
vate Londs a.c half as spacious OF half as
attractive as the Central Park ponds, nor
tho 1cusely populated districts
but good round prices Are charged for adj
mission Tickets, and therein they possess the
WHICH to the narrGw.chested, weak. minded
btl|ts and beauz Of Filth Avenue amounts to
everything. a little Of the same lbcrality
nd enterprise whfch have given Chicago
three tine sknting parks and two comfortable
Kinks orc needed here, and withont these
aids New York will have hardly anything to
boat Of iu the way Of outdoor wiuter
amusemcnts.
TEE REsn TO PARIS.
The steamship companies anticipate tre.
1nendCus tfans-AtlAntEc rush carly ue1t
spring. The Paris EXPEDITION Uufyerscl1e,
which 1t is now settled will be even greater
Worlds Fa,r than Its predecessor at London,
JyfI nm 1v$f 4 IT,
steamship accommodation for the multitude
Of fsislt-kecrs who arc certain to 60 FROM this
side Of the ocean. To partially meat This
dcn,aud q society has been organized in
Paris, witty ample caplta1, to charter tho
Great Eastern for semi-monthly trips bu-
tween New YoEk and Brsat; 4 contract has
been made for repairs and attings, Including
new screw bo11crs, to be finished at cost
OF tSl0, 900. by the 5kh Of next March.
Having accommodation for two Thousand
tivc hundred passengers, and 1t being the IN
tention Of the company to issne through re-
turn tickets to Paris At reduced rates, 1t is
thought that this arrangement Will amply
satisfy the wishes Of Ill who are beginning
TO count the cost and calculating the chances
Of viewing the great Exhibition.
SEw YORK AND CHINA.
The steamship Henry Chauncey sailed on
Tuesday, with the first mail ever taken d.
rect from the United States to China, The
thence to San Francisco. theace to
fohohama, Japan, whence the mall will
tc sent to Hong Kong. China. Under this
ne~ at1angenent, mat, will be- sent month
'E TO Chspa, rc:AShiis tnsE destination
!rxse,,'s days qaieeeF t:'an formerly.
hi..nry of International trade with
the Metropolitan mart Of ELstern Asian
era that IL destined to affect and i.lc7ta>e tho
fvrelgn commerce Of The GAisel States du-
ring the. PERIOD of The present generation,
with ricLer results to The natlun than can
With tho early comp'etion oi the Facidc
Eaiircud, mud rapid steAm naviEatitu be-
tween Astatic porta aud San Francisco, the
United States will ta';e petition hcnceforth In
the course OF the centuries at the head Of The
maritime commerce Of the world. AL lhas
will he needed to expand aud develop the
advantages Of our nnrivaaiea facilities fot
International trade will be q judlcious aad
moderate system Ut revenue t. it that will
.nab1c Lur merchauts to import the varied
products Of AsIatlc agriculture and man
Nfacture without paving such excessive
viii tbcopesaiier Of FREQ trade ir England
l have spoken of the ne~ Pscidc STEAMSHIP
lint. and the completion Of thc Pacific Rail
road os likely 10 mark the commencement o
Eersod oi Unparalleled commercial pros
pc1it5. But what most particularly drsirt
III I.lFfESS QINu tuC u HCS4EfU IcHU
crs and Chicago merchants especially, Is Tbs
Importance Of making carly efforts to sccurs
for Chicago that proportion of this ue~
Astatsc trade which Will Justly aud Of nc
cess,ty belong to It. San Frane!seo Will en-
10y mere intimate relations with the grsa
HSsts 4 Ch'oa and Japan; AMI !;
and London, but Chicago is nearer t,
Asia than either New York or London, an
With the ultimate fscsailies FIR transpnrtatSo
Oh The Tactic Railroad, there Is no reason wi,
Chicago cannot import teas. silks. aud othe
Asiat:e products Is easily and ~ cheaply a
NV York and London; Ut If not that, VII
Chicago cannot bug from the San Fraaclsc
importers more chez ply thsn In New York.
srAsN or ESTERrRIsE.
brooklyn ts waking mp from the Ion
ie'harey Of The past. The people Of thu
orsr.E1oxn village seem to realize It ID.
that ttcir city is not merely an COMPOST /.
New York, a convenient lodging place e
| TIC thousands who do buginess across I'll
| river. They are beginning to understan
that Brooklyn has some interests, interest
| Of WeiEhty importance, too. apart from til
interests Of New York. Very lately atte1
t1pn hne been called to the 'act that The cit
of Brooklyn possesses nearly all the grai
storage tAclllt:es Of The metropolis. It
estimated that Atlantic Basin and yirin.t
ct the present time contain enough grail
piled ten feet high, 70 cover eight acres
ground. The city OF New York has not sui
ctert decomposition for the storage Of OF
nnudsed thousand bushels Of graft
while the Atlantic Basin AID i
millions Of bushels, besides imnen.
quantities OF salt aud gnano. But even til
ErtAs storage capacity Is not adequate,
any means, 70 reteiTe the constantly inrrea
ing casgoea Of whelt, corn, oats, and barlt
wialch a11iTe here rom the Wcst. So Il
| af1 nj ~. 4
cIdcd to connect the Western with the Ea$
ern tWi'ltamsburg) District, By broad az
nue. acrpss Wallabont Bay. enclosing Z bas
two thousand feet long sud f1ft>en hnudrt
feet vide, which, 1t Is believed, will afford 4
necessary room for the storage Of grai
Nothing, ho~ever. has been sa:33 .to.t Il
tnccsftinn of the elevator systeu, and pEot
bly, nothing will erer be done 10 that dlse
ton until some enterpsising Western col
rany Introduces hero the Chicago 81
ten, just n New York had :
wait for few Chicago capitalf.
to erect the mammoth slaughter house
Communipaw. The latter Institution.
the Way. under the management OF VILLA
e1T naG@ N1M 9es a
Centssa RAtlsoad, has already ,yosked CO
p!ete revolution In the slaushtertng hueins
ofthe metropolis.
OFFICIAL rICypER.
What with taxes for city, county a
: State, taxes for streets, taxes f5r docks. ta1
lot markets, taxes Tor Fire and Police I
paItmcuts, taxes for schools, and taxes
!, pnohc buildings, to sar nothing OF taxes
the national revenue and considerable q
the citizens Of Manhattan Island, It woC
Seem, must be a sadly oTerburden
, people But the taxes Of thIs city.
proportion to the wealth and nQnbe, ot
population. are really somewhat less III
{ the l*1es Of such fourth rate cities a. Alba
. and Buffalo, notwithstanding that mi1lit
: oi dollars are netdlesa1y squandcrcd to s
+ isfy the rapactty Of corrupt Office -holde
II rigid economy could be enforced, in t
manaeemeut ofclty atfairs, the pr edpas II
|. oftA1atfon would be smaller THAI III a
: other city in the United States, for the 81
4 Pic reason that there IL 1norc Eealth in +
4 CITY. But extravagancc and corruption ?
= meate every department Of the corporate
;, root. trunk and hrnnch, ind Taxpayers
IS at the mercy Of the meanest and most
{ scrnpulous knAvea that ever infested
!, ranks OF any political organizati
Il The officials arc not 60 much
- ianlt as the men rho elcyate them to OF
"a for here party influence and power can o
"a be purchased and paid for Ike mere Il
r. chsadise. A prominent city officer '
~ holds place 1egttimatelf worth 5000
~ annum told me, tho other day, that haE
&c been only yearin Office he had already T
neu'fy tlettn uonsaud do1drs to his admir-
), adbefents for their services In managing
r. animation and election! Is It any won
thn, that the city funds are stolen SO lon'
the t,.> 'sut4 Is not emptyf The city Of )
4 Tnrk 81, mise by taxation, this year, {
= Ehich fa-+, ycars nEo, would hayt b
6 cnovrh 70 io,eS a1s,s N the cuttre expenses of
4 United States Gov.