Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1874-01-30

THE CHIEF JUSTICESHIP.
The appointment of Morrison Il. Waite,
of Ohio, to the Chief .Justiceship, meets
of New York. True, the average New
Yorker would have been better pleased had
some man better known, or rather more
widely-known, been selected but as Mr..
Waite came to them heavily endorsed, they
accepted him gladly. Any body but Cush
ing Speaking about "well-known," the
New Yorker means by that, well-known iE
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 the stars. L heard an
amusing colioquy between an Ohio man,
who had had ''thc mere Local reputation"
of Mr.. Waite thrown at him till he was
tired of it, and one Of these metropo Titan
gentlemen
"Who would you have had p asked the
Ohio man.
"Why, Pierrepont, Of course
"Oh. my dear sir, :" said the Ohio man,
she wouldn't have answered,at all. He is
something of lawyer but, my dear sir,
his as mere local reputation. IL Xenio.
,chere I lire, he as comparatively uHka",rn :
He wouldn't do
BLACKWELL'@ ISLAND.
There IS q narrow strip of land, dropped
into the waters Of the East River, and run
ming upward about two miles, from OppO-
site the fOot of Fiftieth street, which has
been brought into unusual prominence of
late, from its having become the residence Of
the Ex-Boss, Wm. Marcy Tweed. Devot
ed entirely to the Institutions of the De-
partment of Charities and Correction, it
contains population Of over seven thou
sand souls-and such souls From Lu-
macy on one end of the island, through all
the forms Of crime and pauperism and dis
ease, to Small Pox on the other, it is mine
of study for the sOciologist. and n place Of
grave interest to all.
The northern point of the island juts into
the boiling tides Of IielI-Gatc, and bears Il
fine lighthouse, newly constructed by the
labor Of the convicts in the Penitentiary.
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 Asylum, and who, for all this
length of time, moved by the same delusiOn,
has toiled and toiled, building and rebuild
ing, 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 utilized, and the
product. with its wooden guns, its moat
and draw bridge, and what-not is Won
der of patient, coherent wOlk and reason
ing, from an insane conviction. Near by
are the buildings Of the Lunatic Asylum,
with some twelve hundred inmates among
them many, the popularity of whose dclu-
sions renders them especially interesting.
These delusions are for the most part plea
SAINT Ones--dreams of exalted power I'M
WEALTH. iDdlCIltcS tCttutNs u wa
will see in that building woman of, per-
haps, forty-iive, who claims to be the moth
er 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 heaven last evening, and OF what
she saw and did there, and she presents
you with diamonds, which are glass, OBJ
tained from the cOal-scuttle. Another be-
lieves himself to be the Emperor of the
world, and is decorated with stars and gar
ters, cut from his bed-quilt. He turns
round three times at each sentence. and
tells you the exact way in which each cOun-
try of the globe came into the possession of
his family and himself Then there is 4
tall, fne-looking man, who-perfectly ra-
tional on all other ebiects-thinks that he
is our Saviour, and refuses to water his
garden because if his Father, God, wished
it watered he would send rain, and to in-
terfere would be disobedience on his part.
Further down the island comes the Work
House, filled with drunkarls, vagrants,
street walkers and further still the Aims
House for the aged, blind, decrepid. Orc
department of this institution is the Incur
able Hospital, occupied by old men and
women, paralytics, and sufferers from in
durable disease. More than one has come
here to end life which has endured al
ready for more than a century, and all have
exceeded the allotted three-score and ten.
Next is the Penitentiary, with its 800
cells, al full, and its distinguished guest,
Boss Tweed, performing resignedly and
quietly the menial duties hOspitG-.Orderly.
What an episode in the political annals of
New York Wm. NJ. Tweed, who ruled
us all, who gave aud who took away, whose
statue was to decorate out public squares,
brought up a felon on the very boat which
had so often borne him and his retainers of
the Americas Club as distinguished visl-
tors to the island, tumbled into the bath
tub by a man whom he had himself ap-
pointed, shaved, cropped, clothed in stripes
and cast into cell six feet by four! There
is funny side TO this as to everything
else. Upon the card which hangs over
Twced's bed, like those of the other con-
victs, his occupation is given as "states-
man, an unintended satire.
But have dwelt too long upon the instl-
tutions of this island. They are admira-
bly, managed. Dr. A. E. Macdonald, a
man of not more than thirty-cight, is the
chief of staff in the hospitals, and to him
the credit for the perfection of the manage
mcnt is entirely due. He is devoted to his
profession, and both in medicine and sur
gerry ranks with the ablest and best in the
country. He is man of wonderful at
tainments, which, combined with great ex-
ecutive ability, makes him emphatically the
man for the place.
LABOR IN THE CITY.
On Friday last another attempt was
made by The foreign agitatOrs to bring about
T. conflict between labor and capital. y
meeting was to have been held in the City