The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1873-01-11
CURRENT EVENTS.


Extensive conAagrations have
been the Accomplishments Of the
cold wetherof the Last few daJsoat
various points, from Oregon to the
eastern extremity of the Continent.
Tuesday morning week Barnum's
Hippotheatron and Menagrie on
Fourteenth st., together with Grace
Chapel, Grote's Ivory establishment
and the Lawrence mansions; were
destroyed. Loss about 81, 5000
The Academy of Music also took
fire several times, but was finally
saved.
The settlement of the suits of the
Erie Railway Company againt Jay
Gould, by the transfer of the latter
to the directors property valued at
100000 in round numbers, in
Guiding sixty thousand shares of
Erie stock and the Grand Opera
House, to which reference was made
in our last, has drawn from the press
some sharp criticisms regarding the
morality of the transaction. Goulds
surrender of property confessedly
not his own, not only secures him
immunity from prosecution, but he
has been, according to common re-
port, taken into the confidence of
the corporation he had swindled-
Instead of losing caste by his past
transactions, there is said to be ssaa.
understanding that he is to be con-
suited on matters of Importance in
connection with the bushes of the
roadI The Erie Company thus
says, in effect: -"Steal nine millions,
take what you want, and then if
you think you can do better, we will
grant you full immunity and see
that you lose nothing by the restora-
ton of our property; besides, we
shall want to consult with you on
the future management of our af-
fairs!" As one of our contempor-
arios pithily remarks: off such
transactions are to be sanctioned,
there is danger of dry rot settling
upon the very name of commercial
honesty" !.
The weather all over the north
west the last few days has been the
most severe known for years. The
mercury at Fori Garry, Manitoba,
has been AZ degrees below zero; at
st. Paul and Minneapolis 80 de-
grees; Milwaukee rs degreas below
zero; and at Chicago 20 below. A
locomotive became disabled between
Goshen and Warsaw, Indiana, on
the Cincinnati, Wabash and Michi-
gan Railroad, Saturday night, and
the engineer and fireman in attempt
ing to reach residence a mile dis
tant were frozen to death. In
Michigan, heavy snow-storms and
bitter cold weather are reported
In fact, the weather at nearly all
points in the west has been the cold
est in ten years. It has also been
pretty cold in this vicinity, with
much consequent suffering among
the poor.
The Petroleum Producers and
Refners Association appear to be
firmly resolved upon carrying out
their programme of advancing the
price of crude oil at the sources of
supply, to IS per bbl, by the sus-
pension of drilling new wells and
other expedients for reducing the
supply to the level of the consump-
ton. The market has stiffened up
but little since the conference of
last week, and is still unsettled; not
withstanding the edicts of the pro
ducers, it is by no means certain
that they will accomplish their pur-
pose. The Titusville Herald says:
1.-THE attempt to reduce production
have met with only partial success.
It is difficult measure to enforce
suspension, as the argument appeals
more to the general interest than to
that of particular individual. The
suspension of pumping is often In
furious, and sometimes fatal. The
cessation of drilling goes against
the grain of the successful and EN-
terprising operator, who can well
afford to adventure, and is morally
sure of being ION the belt" Be
sides, the summary interruption OF
oil development is fraught with seri-
GUS embarrassment to the large
working class dependent upon stea
dy employment and wages for a
livelihood, and all branches of manu-
featuring and mercantile business
connected with oil Development
suffer severely from such stagna-
ton. Still necessity knows no law,
and calamitous as are the conse
quences and costly the expedient OF
suspension, it must of necessity be
resorted to, in cases of over-pro-
duction, if collapse is to be avoid
ed and the bottom is not to fall en-
tirely out. This is now an accepted
truth" The Herald is of opinion
that the better way would have
been to increase the worlds con.
sumption, but it fails to suggest by
what agencies and processes this
might be accomplished. It is, in
! deed, a costly experiment upon
| which the producers have entered,
and they win likely find in the END
that the problem can only be solved