Evening star., 1870-01-01

w ASE1llNUlO yin
EVENING STAR.
Washington News and Gossip.
The COURT OF CLAIMS mees on Monday.
About forty important cases "ill come before
the court.
A TEST VOTE on increasing the volume OF cur
rency will be again attempted in the House soon
after Congress r~issembles.
SKNAToK NORTON, with his family, is spend
ing the New Year holidays in Baltimore, the
guest OF James Cortlan, Jr., Esq.
THE ORDER prohibiting officers from visiting
the District OF Columbia without the permission
of the Secretary OF the Navy is rescinded.
The NAVY YARDS at New Orleans and Mound
City, Illinois, are to be discontinued and the
vessels stationed at them sent either to League
Island or Washington.
TIE NAVAL EXPEDITION, under Captain
Selfrdge, to make survey of the most pract-
cable route for a ship canal across the Isthmus
Of Darien, will leave about the middle of jan
uary for its destination.
GENERAL GEO. Il. MCCLELLAN called yester-
day on the President, Secretary of War, and
General Sherman, and was cordially received
by each Of them. lie was accompanied by his
father-in-law, General Marcy.
THE PUBLIC LAND in the Southern States re-
manning unsOld and unappropriated is AZ 1859
acres. The Nirginias, the Carolinas, Georgia
Texas, Kentucky and Tennessee have no public
lands within their limits.
THE PRESIDENT TAsUMPIRE-PresidentG Grant
has been selected to decide between Portugal
and Great Britain as to the ownership OF the
Island of BAHAMA, and piece of territory oppo-
site, on the west coast of Africa, claimed bv
both. stated that these positions are valuable
only in connection with facilities for carving
on the slave trade.
TRANSFER OF POsT QUARTERNAsTERs.-Th
following transfer Of Post Quartermasters has
been ordered: C,lOnel George ii. Weeks, As
sistant Quartermaster, is directed to report to
the Commanding General at st. Louis; Colonel
C. W. Thomas, Assistant Quartermaster, is
transferred from st. Louis to Fortress Monroe.
vice Colonel H. W. James, who is assigned to
duty in Oregon.
THE STANTON FUND-The New York Union
League Club has taken hold in earnest OF the
project to present the family Of the late Mr..
Stanton with fund as testimonial of his great
public services. At the meeting on Thursday
night committee was constituted for this pur-
pose, consisting of A. r. Stewart, Marshal o.
Roberts, Moses H. Grinnell, Legrand b. Cannon.
Il hn1t
s. Bl0dgett.
REVENUE SEIzUREs.-Among the important
seizures reported at the Internal Revenue
Bureau yesterday was a dstillery i'm the fourth
Texas district: cigar factory i'm the fourth iowa
district; sixteen hundred pounds Of tobacco in
the first Iowa district; fifty four barrels of whisky
in the first Pennsylvania district; one distillery
in the second California district a brewery i'm
the tenth Virginia district; and the extensive
tobacco factory OFF. z. Pace, third district OF
Virginia, valued at SG6 900. The total valuation
of seizures reported was S92 900.
a PARDoN.-The President has pardoned
William w. Copper, convicted at the March
term of the District Court in Baltimore. in 1866
of the crime OF counterfeiting, and sentenced
May 18th of the same year to pay fine of fiftv
dollars and be imprisoned four years. The par
don was granted on the intercession of citizens
residing near Chestertown, Md, and on the
recommendation of the district attorney, on the
ground Of the previous good conduct of Copper
and that he had served out the greater portion
Of the term. He has been released from JAIL
THE GOVERNMENT NoTR-PRINTIyG-The
new legal-tender notes of the denomination of
ives, twenties and tfties will be ready for gen.
eral circulation the early part of next week
The Secretary of the Treasury, being convinced
that the Government Will save at least $500 900
annually, has ordered that the new series of
legal-tender notes be hereafter executed at the
printing bureau; and it is possible that before
long the entire work of printing both legal-ten-
ders and fractional currency will be transferred
to this city.
THE EUROPEAN MAIL.-POstmaster General
Creswell and Mr.. Blackfan, Superintendent OF
the Foreign Mail Service, returned from New
York yesterday. Full arrangements were made
with the Williams q Guion line for the trans
portation OF the mails on Wednesdays from New
York, and the steamer of the North German
Lloyd line will take the mails to- day at the rate
allowed by law. 1t is probable that the offer of
the Canadian government will also be accepted,
and o mail dispatched weekly from Portland or
Montreal, which will be convenience to the
Eastern States.
PROPOSED REARRANGEMENT OF JUDICIAL
DIsTRIcTs.-On account of the excess OF judi
cial labor in some Of the circuits as now allotted
to the Justices Of the Supreme Court Of the
United States, a member of the Senate Judioia-
~ Committee has prepared bill for the rear
rangement Of the circuits, as follows First
circuit, Massachusetts,, Maine, New Hampshire,
Vermont, Rhode Island; second circuit, New
York, Connecticut, New Jersey; third circuit,
Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia,
North Carolina; fourth circuit, Arkansas, Mis-
sissippi. Louisiana, Texas; fifth circuit, South
Corolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Tennes-