The star. (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1874-1875, 1875-02-18
Gay Remtntscences- Romantic 'N'sosp"-
per. .FictioW--Ike AstOr HOMO @ha Otu
Time HOiet Keeping.
Correspondcnce of the Star.
Npxv YnpW Feh f0 1875.
THE UNPRECEDENTED COLD,


Correspondcnce of the Star. 4
NEW YORK, Feb. 10, 1875.
THE UNPRECEDENTED COLD,
unprecedented In forty years) still con-
tinues. 1t was in 1886, the winter of the
great fire, that the North river was last
passable for pedestrians, and 1t is Just
forty years the same phenomenon has
been again presented. The East river,
only about one-sixth as wide, has been
several times bridsed with ice during
that period-the last time seven or eight
years ago, believe, but never repeated
.ly within The same winter until this. 1t
is not purely the cold that does it.
The ice comes mainly from the North
River, and does its worst when forced
down into the harbor by mighty nor
wester which sends it around the Bat
terry, recoiling troin the islands opposite,
win an impetus sufficient to reuch the
channel OF the food tide into the East
River, Once in that Darr0y strait, the
ice iammeu hard and last, and number
of its swift tides may be required, altor
the wind-pressure il relieved, to loosen
out the pack. -,
Somebody said the delay of the trial
on Friday was due to
NOTHING BUT JUST ICE,
which was more than could be said OF
some other days. ...
| have commented perhaps enough on
the alternative stupidity aud mendacity
of our newspaper descriptions OF the
trial. And yet it is provocative to reLe-
tition, to see the papers all over the
country swallow the fabricated trash OF
the Herald or the Chicago Tribune cor
respondence. TO say nothing OF the minor
nonsense of other papers. DO they care
us little as the writers Tor those papers
do for veracity, or even good name, or
don't they really know that the descrip-
tions they copy are got up with just as
llittle reference to TACT as The travels OF
Jules Vergne III the center of the earth?
Take, Tor instance, the Chicago corre-
spondent's description Of the effects or
| TiltOn's appearance on the stand upon
Mr. Beecher. "Stupehed," "whiter than
| he will be when he is dead" expression
OF horror" "apparitIon OF his accuser,"
"a stupendous surprise" ''petr,fied
him." ..the shock unnerved him." 're-
lentless orbs blisterlng his beart;", and
| so on and on, this writer piles up tho 'ag-
ony, in terms which any judiclious editor
would instinctively know were coined
out of mere Imagination ana morbid
| one at that. But every one who was
there knows that there was not hbre
| OF fact even to hang one oi these cheap
story-paper phrases on.
| saw Mir. TiltOn take the stand, and
before he had looAed toward Mr. Beecber
or any body else except the of1cer VINO
| rendered him the book and the cierk, VINO
commenced tine oath. The Truly ORA
matte element of the scene was intro
/ Afr l.
lence and exclalming, Il object TO the
witness v'-and MIR. rilton stepped down
again, without giving any body sight o:
| anything more Supplying, petriiying OF
slupendotls than his luxuriant ''bacE
haii' and profile. That Mr.. Beecher ex.
| hibted any special emotion In presence
OF Tilton at his first or second appear
ance, is pure invention. On the contrary,
he has recovered his natural appearance
| TO a degree since the close OF Moulton's
examination, under which he had really
seemed TO suffer severely.
THE DESTINY OF THE AsToR HOUSE
| seems to hang in doubt, Notwithstanding
| the wise oulgiyings OF our "looals," ut
| which the parties concerned only laugh.
| The architect has plans, but no hr al Or
ders; the work of interior destruction has
commenced but suspended; negotiations
with lessees have been nearly completed
ANNOUNCED in the papers as quite COM
| pleled-and then broken off. The best
approacb to information l can get from
| trst hands is u hint that 1t is still to be u
| hotel. and that negotiations are now
! pendiug with reference to a lease tor that
| purpose; and further, that the altera-
lions will probably have that end In
view OF any rate, and Will be 80 con-
triyed, il possible, as to reconcile Win
| n n
erty and The depressed and precarious
condition OF the hotel business, especially
| down town.
| Meanwhile the slaughter of the Astor
House furniture goes Oh, and consider
| ing that it has been used eight years ago,
il s.cuts up' pretty fairly, with the eX'
i ceptlon of costly articles which must
needs go for small fraction OF theli
value. The whole Quilt cost Sl2I,0ot
cash, and it is thought may now realize
not over $4,000; though this is the hsure
of interested parties, ana ten per cent
tmay be an underestimate. L hope youi
readers enioy the fine romances of New
York locals and letters about virtuost
i prices realized for the furniture used by
i Webster, Clay and other great men o.
the AstOr's palmy days.
Perhaps they would have enjoyed. too
the chacKle with which ''mine host as
sured one that not thing on Wnlch thf
ewes. much less. the persons, OF any @
those lamented gentlemen ever rested
has been in the Astor House these elgh
wears past. So imuUh tor ono OF our prot
test little newspaper sensations.
No. those old times are gone, like th'
! days of chiyalry, never to return. Th'
, aye of personal bookkeeping, like Una
I personal generalship, about whicl
, all the romance and fame OF both clus
J fer. has become merged in final syss
tenn of pure finance and mechanism, al
figured out by the engineer.
A tirst-class hotel is now spiendi
5 machine, as modern fire-engine IL
working by its own mechanical forces
p without any use or place for human IL
: diyiduality. 1t is perfectly impersona
J.. uninteresting and commonplace. AS ID
e mechanical element goes up the huma
S element goes down. The host is no longe
s | a host, but mere engineer, hid ava
0 amongst The machinery. SO the Sic
s sons and Colemans and Barnums, th
d Astor and TreMont,and all their tutelar
8 demi gods, go into the romance OF hi
n tory with the might of old, and becom
II classic shades, no more to reappear
+. earth, but forever to live in lteratui
Is and legend. "
aeS----