The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1874-02-04
CIR NEW YORK LETTER.
NEw YORK Feb. .. 1879.
~ CnlEF IusrICEsHlp.

wv '4'N q we - 40 -
TIE CHEF JUsTICEsHIP.
The appointment of Morrison II
Waite, of Ohio, to the Chief ,Iusticc
ship. meets with favor at the LINUS
Of the best citizens Of NJ" orA
True, the average New iSrhcr "oulu ~
have been better piraseu hau sohlc
man better knorh, OF rdtncr more
widelv-knowp. been selected but as
Mr. Mot came to them heavily en-
dorsed they accepted him gladly.
Anr body but Gushing. Speaking
about well known" the New York
er means by that, well-known in New
York \ man who is well-knOwn in
New York is esteemed by New
Workers as capable of doing anything,
and as fit for any position under :he
stars. heard an amusing colloquy
between an Ohio man, who had had
"the mere local reputation" of Mr..
Waite thrown at him till he was
tired of it, and one of these metropoli-
tan gentlemen.
"Who would you have had?" ask
cd the Ohio man.
"Why Pierrepont, Of course"
"Oh, my dear sir" said the Ohio
man. "he wouldn't have answered at
all. He is something of lawyer !;
but, my dear sir, has as q mere local
reputation. h, XenjG, 1rhere / iice,
he is comparatively a',t'RorR! He
wouldn't 90,
BLACKwELL's ISLAND.
There is narrow strip Of land,
dropped into the waters of the East
River, and running upward about
two miles; from oppsite the foot of
Fiftieth street, which has been
brought into unusual prominence of
late, from having become the resi-
dencc of the Ex-Boss, VIM Mercy
Tweed Devoted entirely to the
Institutions of the Department Of
Charities and Correction, it contains
a population Of over seven thousand
souls-and such souls From Luna
cy on one end Of the island, through
all the forms Of crime and pau
perism and disease, to Small Pox on
the olher,i is a mine of study for the
soliloquist, and place of grave inter
est to all.
The northern point Of the island
juts into the boiling tides of He'll
Gate, and bears a fine lighthouse,
newly constructed by the labor Of
the c0nvicts in the Pcnitentiary.
Near this is singular structure
Fort Maxsey-the work of an old
man, who for some forty years has
been an inmate Of the Lunatic Asy-
lum, and who, for all this length OF
time, moved by the same delusion,
has toiled and toiled, building and
rebuilding, with the belief that the
defence Of the city depends upon his
works. Every board washed ashore
by the current, every scrap Of iron or
stone he can pick up, all the paint
and nails which the small sums given
him by visitors can buy, is utalized,
and the product, with its wooden
guns, its moat and drawbridge, and
what-not, is a wonder of patient, CO.
herent work and reasoning from an
insane conviction. Near by are the
buildings Of the Lunatic Asylum,
with some twelve hundred inmates
among them many, the peculiarity of
whose delusious renders them espec-
ialiy interesting. These delusions
are for the most part pleasant ones
dreams OF exalted power, unbounded
wealth, matchless beauty Iou will
see in that building a woman of, per-
haps, fortv-fvc, who claims to be the
mother of God She was, twenty
years ago, the most prominent Of the
teachers of New York. Now, she
tells you gravely Of her visit to heav-
en- last evening, and of what she
saw and did there, and she presents
voa with diamonds, which are glass,
obtained from the coal-scuttlc
Another believes himself to be the
Emperor of the world, and is deco
rated with stars and gartcrs, cut
from his bed-quilt. He turns around
three times at each sentence, and
tells you the exact way in which
each country Of the globe came into
the possession of his family and HIM
self. Then there is o tall, fne-look-
ing man, who-perfectly rational on
all other subjects-thinks that he is
our Savior, and refuses to water his
garden because if his Father, God,
wished it watered he would send |
rain, and to interiear would be DISC
bcdience on his part.
Further down the island comes the
the Work-House, filed with drunk
ards, vagrants, street-walkers; and |
further still the Alms-Housc for the
aged, blind, decrepid One depart
ment of this institution is the lncu-
rablc Hospital, occupied by old men
and women, para lytics, and sufferers
from incurable diseases. More than
one has come here to end life which /
has endured already for more than a
century, and all have exceeded their
allotted three-score and ten.
Next is the Pcnitentiary, with its
500 cells, all full, and its distinguish
ed guest, Boss Tweed, performing
rcsignedly and quietly the menial du-
ties Of hospital-orderly What an
episode in the annals Of New York
VIM NJ Tweed, who ruled US all,
who gave and who took away,
whose statue was to decorate our
public squares, brought up a ielon
on the very boat which had So often
borne him and his retainers of the
American Club as distinguished Wis
itors TO the island, tumbIed into the
bath-tub by a man whom be had him.
self appointed, shaved, cropped, cloth
cd in stripes and east into cell six
feet by four! There is a funny side
to this as to everything else Upon
the card which hangs over Tweed's
bed, like those of the other convicts
his occupation is given as States
m an, an unintended satire.
But | have dwelt too long upon the
institutions of the island. They
are admirably managed, and, ror a