New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-11-22

privilege of tearing I'D streets in order to repair
its pipes, or for any other purpose where excava
ton is necessary, it is that company's obvious
duty to restore the pavement to good condition.
1t is notorious that this is not done. On Thurs
day the Board Of Estimate voted $4,000 to
Commissioner Gilroy to make good the neglect of
these companies IL is an outrage that the public
should he called on to foot the bills for this
work Is it not possible to bring the delinquents
to terms by refusing to grant them further permits
until they have repaired the damage already
wrought?
The burning of numbey of frame tenement
houses in Brooklyn, imperilling the lives of many
people, teaches an important lesson. We mean
the necessity Of preventing the erection of any
more such dwellings in what will in few years
be crowded districts of the city. At present such
houses are duplicated by the hundred every
year in those wards which lie outside Of what are
termed the :" fire limits" Within these limits
only brick stone and iron can be used as build
ing materials but the fire limits are not delef-
mined on any rational basis and beyond them
frame houses are erected without restraint.
solid block Of them is extremely liable to destruc-
ton by fire, just those in Nostrand-aye. were
burned the other night, and the next time fire
occurs the occupants may not all lie so lucky as
to escape with their lives. The fire limits are
fixed by the Aldermen, being changed from time
TO time but these officials are so needless of the
public welfare that action by the Legislature seems
to be demanded.
Why should there be any further discussion
of the question of removing General Grants body
to Washington? The effort in Congress last
winter was failure. and that ought to have ended
the matter. TIE tomb at Riverside is in every
way appropriate and the work Of erecting
magnificent monument to the great Generals
memory is now in progress there. Let well
enough alone.
There is a mystery about Byram Lake and it's
failure TO form a source of water supply for the
CITY, Some six years ago New-York acquired this
body of water and work was begun to connect it
with the Kensico reservoir This was carried
on for months, and then for some reason that is
painfully obscure the job was abandoned. All
the money expended on the work was thrown
away. No effort has since been made to carry
out the original PLAN Some one must know the
why and the wherefore of it. The quantity Of
water procurable from this source would 60 some
distance at least toward relieving the water
famine. Who will solve the Byram Lake
mystery?
The custom of inviting eminent clergymen to
speak at the great public dinners has grown much
in favor during the last few years. and 1t is one
whose wisdom is amply justified by the results
The clergy who have been thus honored have
shown capacity for saying the right thing in the
right way that puts them in the front rank of
afterdnner orators. We hear much in certain
quarters about the growing chasm between the
fha frpuupnflv 70
that hard-headed men of the world to-day look
upon ministers OF religion a sort of third sex,
whose views on questions of real moment are
deserving of little respect consideration. The
reception accorded to the speeches of Bishop
Potter and Professor Briggs at the Chamber Of
Commerce dinner, and to the speeches Of other
clergymcn at similar gatherings, is a sufficient
answer to this wild statement. At no period in
the history Of American Christianity have the
clergy been in closer touch with the life OF the
Nation, and at no period have intelligent men
in every walk Of life been more anxious to listen
to their words Of counsel and advice. This state
of affairs imposes a tremendous responsibility on
the clergy, which we are glad to say most of
them fully realize. Every year they are coming
10 have q more vivid appreciation of the great
questions that so vitality concern the world, and
as a result the message Of Christianity is now
listened to with respect and even docility by
men who would ordinarily treat pulpit homily
with polite Indifference.
An interesting contribution to the experiments
with cooperation In this country is furnished by
the Harvard cooperative society. which has just
published the report Of its most prosperous year.
Successful ventures of this sort have not been so
plentiful in this country that the results AZ
Harvard can be properly neglected, though they
undoubtedly are obtained through the workings Of
a rather special set OF circumstances. The thou
sand or so of members are all students, for the
most part in residence at the university and Great
ing special demand for certain not very numer-
GUS commodities. The enterprise has received
special favors too, from the college authorities,
On the other hand, IL has been carried on By the
students themselves, without the employment OF
any unusual business ability, and has taken firm
root from it's peculiar fitness. The idea of filling
the student demand at cost from one
central agency, instead of allowing it TO
contribute to the profits of Cambridge and
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