Wilmington daily commercial. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1866-1877, 1873-04-12


MEETING OF THE AMERICAN sTEAMsHIP co.
MUSIC IN THE PUBLIC soHooLs, 10.
Special Correspondence ofate Commercial
PmLADELpHIA, April IL.
The best news OF the week is that the Legisla
ture has adjourned. The great laundering faro,
has come to an end and we all draw breath O
relief The close of the q session : wa
In perfect Keeping with the heightened
travesty Of Legislative business which
preceded it for so many weeks. The night ses
sion of the House before the adjournment wai
given over utterly to riot and disorder, the as
sembly turning itself into bear garden ant
losing in the operation whatever sense OF decencJ
and self-respect it had left. some idea of these
dignihed proceedings has been given the public
but am assured by reporters and others who
were present, that not q 1.-THE of the truth has
been told. Visits to the retiring rooms and ap-
plications to surreptitious whiBkey TASKS were
frequent, and during the small hours the excite.
ment came from other causes than the schoo
boy freaks of peting sleepy members with bun
dies of documents and government stationery
No decent citizen canhear or read OF these things
without disgust, and yet year alter year the same
set of disreputabes and ineompetentB go to Har.
risburg to make laws for the people OF great
State. And the case will never be changed unit
the Legislature is moved to this city. Buried In
a country town there is no restraint upon the
unruly element. Held here the force of public
sentiment would prohibit such scenes as those
Of Wednesday night. Though there might be az
much corruption here, there would be at least
more decency. r=f-.
One of the last outrnges Of the session was
the attempt to defeat the Constitutional provi-
sion that the State Treasurer shall be elected by
the people instead of by the Legislature. A
large majority of.citizens recently decided that
the choice of tins important officer should rest
upon the popular vote and not upon legis-
lative ohicanery, yet it is impossible to get ac-
ton at Harrisburg to carry the Constitutional
Amendment into effect. On Monday last,
Speaker Elliott had the audacity to present a
bill providing that the incumbent Of the office
should hold until May 1874. This if it had car
ried wonld have defeated the operation OF the
Constitution for another year. The bill was Of
fered by.trickery, the number Of 1t only being
read and no indication given of its contents.
Elliott is as bold and INSCRIPTIONS as Mcclure
himself. - - ~ - --4 8
The city has had several painful excitoments
this week in matters quite out of the common
way. Defacations, and abductions are unfor-
tunately common enough, but there are degrees
Of wretchedness, and the calamities to which
refer have exceptional bitterness. Those OF
your readers who are adherents of the Homeo-
pathio school of medicine have probably heard
of DIR. Richard Koch of Philadelphia His rep
utAtion was wide and high, and although youHg
man he ranked next after the eminent DR.. Her
ing among our Homeopath practitioners. He
was a loading professor in the Hahnemann
College, bad an immense practice, and
was everywhere regarded as one Of the
shining lights of the new school. II has just
transpirod that this brilliant man, a man with q
practically unlimited future, has shamefuliy
abandoned his family and absconded with the
funds OF his College, he being the Treasurer OF
the Institution. The affair is absolutely mex
plicable. The causes given are gambling and
drink, but the explanation is as hard to under
stand as the thing itself. Koch was much es-
teemed member Of a Library and Debating So
some years ago, and which included in its list
of membership Prof. Richie, Principal of the
High School, Judge James I. Mitchell. Messrs.
John and Frank Stockton, and many other
well-known men. Koch is remembered
among gentlemen of this character not only for
intellectual brightness but for moral balance
and earnestness even beyond that of his fellows.
He was then the soul Of truth and honor and
those virtues made him loved. There is some
thing unspeGkably terrible in such fall. Lii
quor must have quite turned his brain, 80 that
he was finally in no wise the man he had been.
There is great deal Of feeling in the city over
this news, li 49,
1t is lard to say whether the second Of the
two cases to which refer is mere or less
painful than that of DR.. Koch. 1t has made
even more sensation, but that is partly owing
ing TO it's peculiarly unapproachable char
acter. 1t is one of those things that will
scarcely bear talking Of at all. girl OF seven
teen, rich, beautiful, well educated, living in
delphia, and moving in the best society, delib-
erately makes choice of a negro lover, and
caves her fathers house for miserable down
lown den Those are the simple facts, and
tsuppose the most fertile Imagination could
scarcely dream anything more pltful. Strange
to say the girl is almost the only collected par-
ty to the tragedy. Friends and rel
atiyes are disgraced, the father and mother
are nearly crazy with grief, while the
cause OF all the woe declares the black man is
nnt m hp iii pnf
she loves him and followed him willingly. She
asserts this firmly and if there was no abduction
1t is difficult to determine what shall be done.
Explanation here is as badly needed as in the
case of tho Doctor, need not dwell on the
mesalance, for the horror of it will be sufici-
emily evident to any person of sensibility The
most charitable supposition is that the girl is
de:anged. but she has neverthelesB worked
mischief that she can never undo. .4
The second annual meeting Of the American
Steamship Company was held here this week.
The prospects of the enterprise are very bright,
though 1t il stated that work on the vessels is
not altogether as favorable as could be wished.
Nevertheless the "Pennsylvania," ~ the first Of
the series, is nearly lyready for sea, and will make
her trial trip in the course OF a few weeks. You
are aware that three of the four vessels have
been launched the fourth the 'Illinois" will
be launched before many days. The finances OF
the concern are very promising, and interest and
belief in the scheme grows steadily. The facts
recently demonstrated by the COMMERCIAL and
the Ledger, relative TO the superiority of Ameri-
can Iron ships over those of British make, and
which are so fearfully emphasized in the loss oil
the Atlantic, are very much to the point in
the discussion Of the Philadelphia project. The
argument in favor Of American. Iron is now
heard on every side, and it serves materially to
give the Philadelphia enterprise moral support
from the start. Rumors have been heard of the
projected building Iof other steamers for the
Amercaniline in addition to the four underway,
but there seems at present to be no foundation
whatever for such reports. At least. officials Of
whom have made inquiry profess entire
ignorance of any enlargement OF the original
plan. Or eourse,if traffic increases beyond the ca
pacity OF the four ships others will be added, and
as many as may be required. The company will
be only too glad to be put under such neceesi-
ty, but at present there is no likelihood of sneh
8 contingency.
The subject of music in the Public Schools
has again been made prominent topic by the
debate in the Board of Education upon the spe-
cial report of the Professors appointed to inves-
and not q little involved. Boiled down they
seem to mean that not much is to be expected
from this Wholesale studyof music unless more
time is devoted to it and under better system
tbaa now prevails. II the idea is simply to teach
children to sing by ear the task is not difficult,
but to give them any idea of the Science, or TO
enable themit to sing at sight, great deal more
time than an hour week Qt is even less in
some instances) is required An hour day
would scarcely suffice for the work. The ques-
ton is whether the fnhtter is worth such an ex-
penditure of time considering how much there
is to, do, and how small q proportion of schol-
ars have any real aptitude for music or would
be likely to employ the time given to 1t to ad-
.r.,Ao0a n ware inahla kha trua Dlan