New-York tribune., 1896-04-03

sive and Infamous frauds In the construction oi
the new aqueduct.
In an article reprinted In another column"
"1.eslie's Weekly" conveys an extremely vivio I'M
nresson OF the manner in which Mr. Platt has
been playing Svengali to Governor MORTON
Trilbv. Possibly the tribute to Mr.. Platts
hvnnot,c mowers NAV be trife overdrawn, but
there have been several occasions during the
last three months when the most charitable con-
struction that could be put upon the Governors
course. and particularly upon his appointments
was that he had been hypnotized. The appoint
ment of Mr. Lyman as Excise Commissioner
however Is an indication that the SPELL II not
broken. Is growing little shaky
A competitive examination to fill three omces
in which just three men and no more paruci-
mated must be regarded as competitive III hahe
only.
General Horatio c. KIM, Of Brooklyn, VINO was
nut at the head Of the Democratic State ticket
last fall and defeated, comes forward as Cal"
didate for Governor. though he declares that on
the whole he would prefer to be nominated Tor
Congress in his district. He admits that when
ne accepted the nomination for Secretary OF
State he had little hope Of being elected, put
he believes now that his party has "a nghtine
chance" Of success in this years campaign. Mr
Kings canior is refreshing, but whether II I'M
proves his chance Of being nominated Tor any
thing by his party is another question.
One or the great difficulties met in the study
of contemporary history is surmounted py the
possession OF a newspaper index since 1910 1he
Tribune has each year published an INDEX 70 'ts
files by means of which II Is possible 70 trace
Items of news that with the myriad or sini'i"i
Items one reads are lost to sight ana maue al
bu. impossible of recovery. the dates anu III
o,de,,s of great accidents and meetings.
sketches Of men whose names nave come p'o'''
nent,v before the public the years necrology
the literary musical, political ana sociai L.
ords are all made available by the index. The
great public libraries pay increasing a''en''o.'
70 the preservation of newspaper files, but such
files are almost useless unless indexeu. ~
search for any article or find the date OF any
hornen,np without such aid IS a vertable search
,or q needle In a haystack, but with 1t the
thousands OF folio pages in The Tribune nies
,ocome easy of access, and the pages OF o'her
nausnaners are also made more accessible io'
IN. dste of any news item being settled reier-
,ca NAV he made to comments or other papers
IN ~ without trouble. Even by itseit Inc i''"
une Index has a value, for 1t Is caiehuar y.
wears happenings through all the "or'o' ne
Y,aov ,or 1898 has tust been Issued from the
press. and is for sale at so cents copy
There has been some criticism oi INC Wv"
Service Commissioners OF brooklyn oe'"'''
vhen thoy had occasion to select ne" ee''e
tarv lately they did not subject the app"oa"''
"a a competitive examination. ana theh "iaAe
their selection from the resulting eHsio'e '''
That certainly would have been taxing tne '''e"-
,c,ne which they unhesitatingly and' we ""'''
impartially prescribe 10 other OFFICIALS pe''ue''
,,a,, you'd have set a most excellent example.
while at the same time conforming s'ric,'y 70
tho spir,t and letter OF the Constitution as 1t
now stands.
One Of our compatriots has discovered what
ne thinks Il the cap OF the SPHINX pio"h o'i
in some old Egyptian gale or knocked OIL o'
tho ermored fist of some forgotten conquest
and II its authenticity be admitted the recoV-
cred headpiece will take a high place as an
archaeological relic II Is true 'ha' Ane'."
narticipated In the recovery OF sohe VI INV
ra,,c. y, that wonderful land. and all good pa
,,,,, ,y,ll hone that the fHd Is d genuine one
and ,ba, u will be replaced upon the majestic
brow from which 1t was SO long ago ra'isneu
Tho fact that the cap Is only about iour lee.
.cros, while the intellectual develcpmeh's VI
the sphinx spread several yards beyond 'ha'
,r.asursment need not be taken seriously ih'o
occou,, Many an Easter bonnet Is or ike
a,anroportion with the head II adorns. In the
rnvtholox,cal categor.es OF Manetho ana o'ne'
exnar,enced authorities tho SPHINX ranks as
fsmale and must have been entitled 10 us
nIav a feminine caprice In hats as III o'"e'
things II the discrepancy of size between 'he
head and the bonnet excited remark IL wouio
No doubt be set down one or the ehisi"aS
which the creature has constantly propouhoeu
,o- saveral thousand years and which NOBODY
ancient or modern, has yet found out. Inc san
Francisco colonel OF engineers who Is asserted
~ have made this important discovery exceeus
tho Prophets in being not only entitled 10 hohor
I, his own country. but quite sure to get H. ana
- any uncertainty arises In regard TO the vary
ing dimensions OF the head or the hat' the
matter ought to be referred to an international
commission There is only one SPHINX ana 50
FAR ae the probabilities go only one HsS'"s
can IN be discovered. and II the honor OF osco'
er,np Il belongs TO America We are not WILING
IN no deprived Of it by the intrusion or any arcn
geological pedantry concerning It's propor'onS