Wilmington daily commercial., 1875-04-10

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The miners strike is the principal topic Will
us at present. 1t has become a local matter no
only through the intimate relation between thi
city and the coal trade but because of the per
sonal feeling established in dispatching ou
popular First Regiment to the riotous regions
Previous to tho ordering out of Colonel Benson'e
command one hundred Especial policemen, at
they were called, had been sent into the Goa
| region to aid in preserving order, and this it
another element in the case tending to make
our feeling in the revolt as much personal al
business one. The "policemen referred to
however, ITO not appear to have distinguished
themselves. There is considerable misappre
henson on this point, the men in question not
being special officers sent by Philadelphia as
| municipality but force engaged by operators
aud owners here to aid in the protection of tleii
property at the Mines Tho menIwere undiscip
| lined aud without money, arms Oh supplies.
Naturally the movement was failure, and one
| not very crcditable to the movers in it,
The promptness Of the miltia in responding
to this latest call for their services makes the
friends of the soldier boys very exutant, not to
| say vain glorious. 1t is indeed no little feat to
get several hundred men together in few hours
| time, to uniform and arm them, and to get
| them of, music and all complete, almost before
the public was aware that call had been issued.
These "citizen soldiers we're of course about
| their everyday affairs, and had no more notion
OF going to war than of going to China. They
lhu W po nuutbu up lIlllVluuHlly, ana d large
proportion of them made everything else sut
to the emergency; dropped work where it STOOD
and started for the armory. 1t was a
big thing; no doubt about it. In say
ing, however, that they left town com
pletely equipped some exception must be made.
The men were all right-spirt. discipline and
organization perfect; but there was bad man
agement somewhere in the quarter-master's de-
partment Thus the troops were sent off at this
very lncement season CT the year without blan-
ketH III follua impoHAIba tu pat tbpsa as.
seutial articles, and there was no time for delay,
so a serious risk had to be taken. good deal
of indignant comment has been excited. 1t is
generally agreed that the )yernor has acted
with commendable promptitude and decision A
wavering or uncertain policy at snch a juncture
would have been disastrous. No matter who
may be right or wrong in the present
conflict, it is clear that peace must be
preserved and the rights of property respected.
The military was the only force that could be
entirely depended on to keep order, and Gen
Hartranft proved himself once more the right
man in the right place.
Tho question of the water supply for the
Centennial grounds lis becoming pressing and
important one. At meeting of the finance
committee OF Councils. recently, it was urged
that if definite assurances on this head could
not soon be given to European deepesitors the
neglect might have an unfavorable effect on
the receipt of goods for the exhibition. The
water needs of the Exposition will be so
great and varied that no question con-
nected with the Exposition needs mtra
speedy settlement. The point mainly discussed
at the meeting referred to was whether the City
should contract to furnish the water OF the Ex.
position or the Commissioners should erect their
own works. III funds were plenty with the
Commission fancy the point would not have
been as much as raised, for the desirableness of
the Exposition having its own water supply is
clear enough. There would in that case be no
iisk whatever. On the other hand there is al
ways risk of drouth, more less severe, with
tlo flitv Vatar xynrka n nd althouul tlav ppuld
be largely increased in power if this large con-
tract WAS taken, the regular rate of increase in
City consumption is very great. The Centennial
water works, il they are built, need be
but simple and comparatively inexpensive.
The stand pipe need not be 30 large, AZ water
will be needed only on the ground floor. 1t
cannot be said yet which plan will be adopted
although the Commission is evidently anx-
ous to have its own works.
tragedy of more than usual horror has
marked the public intelligence of the week. A
German named Loyle, machinist in the Bald
win Locomotive works. making good wages and
living very comfortably, first cut his wfe's
throat and then his OWL. The woman died i'm
mediately and the murderer expired within a
few hours after being taken to hospital.
distressing incident of the crime was the
presence OF a little boy, a son of the murdered
woman, who barely escaped immolation himself
at the hands of his infuriated step-father There
il a remembrance to carry through life The
incentive to all the wretchedness was jealousy
What cause, or fancied cause, the husband had
is not known, but he left three lines of eXplana
ton of his bloody conduct in which he says he
killed his wife ''for roning arount nit other
men," Thus is embodied prevailing social
idea.
The death of Colonel James Page excited
great deal of painful interest. Scarcely any
Philadelphian was better known than Colonel
Page, and although he had outliyed
nearly all of his contemporaries he still
was kept constantly in the public
vi 1Iptil uuita n raro1 The of |
this lay in his temperament which was essen
TALLY youthful and joyous. Young and middle |
aged men delighted in the society of the patri-
arch, to the last, for he had that precious gift
of elasticity of spirit which is given to but one
man in II thousand. Most men lose long before !
they reach their three-score and ten their SYM |
pathy and forbearance with youth, but Col. Page |
did not, and as u consequence he was making |
fresh troops of friends at every stage of his |
career. When nearly 80 years old he was as |
fond of company, of frolic, and of all kinds of |
social enjoyment, as when he was
a young man. or course this trait |
Colonel Page was man of fine abilities aud had |
filled many positions of public trust and honor. |
He had boon Postmaster, Collector of the Port, |
President of Councils, was prominent in mill |
tary matters and Free Masonry. Everybody |
liked him and he is sincerely mourned.
The annual meeting of the American Steam
ship Co. was held this week and the report of |
the business for the past year was not AZ favor
dDle hb Lile 1Tenub Of tue enloTpTlSe COulu WISH.
1t was shown, in fact, that the Philadelphia and |
Liverpool steamers had been run at considerable |
loss for the year. Effort was made to explain
the figures, and to let down as softly as
possible, but there WAS no evading the |
central result of serious LOSSES confessed to |
amount to something like $4,000, and proba.
bly, amounting to much more if the figures could
be read ''between the lines" We know, OF |
course, how hard year it was for all kinds of |
busness and that imports largely fell oil under
the general pressure of economy. Many ocean
steamers have been entirely withdrawn until
better times, and the best established lines will
hardly claim to have mad much money. There
is the best reason for hoping and believing that
the Philadelphia & Liverpool line will share the
profits of a returning season of prosperity. A
little breeze was raised at the company meeting
by protest of some stockholders against
the policy of reserving space on the steamers
for Western freight. 1t was stated that our
merchants often could not ship their goods be-
cause the vessels were engaged by distant ship
pers. In answer to this it was ayerred that if
the ships depended on local freights they would
often sail empty, and that it was simple mat
ter of self protection to negotiate for freights
that certain. This is very nice question,
but it may be affirmed generally that the Penn
syvania railroad which is the real support of
the steamship enterprise desired Its establish
ment for this very purpose of accom-
modating freight brought east over it's
road. That consideration alone, probably,
induced ita co-onaration in the enterrrise and