total loss of life was about forty. The gales in the autumn upon the great lakes were unusually severe, occasioning great loss of life and destruction of property. Forty-nine vessels, of which seventeen were steamers, were wrecked, involving a loss of more than two hundred lives. The most disastrous of these casualties was that of the steamer Superior, which went on shore near the Pictured Rocks, on Lake Superior. Out of fifty persons on board only sixteen were saved. On the 24th of September, the steamboat Niagara was burned on Lake Michigan, and from fifty to sixty lives were lost. The steam ferry-boat New Jersey, while running from Philadelphia to Camden on the 15th of March, took fire and became unmanageable; about fifty lives were lost by the disaster.

1857 James Buchanan was inaugurated President on the 4th of March, and Vice-President John C. Breckinridge took the oath of office,

Congress passed an act entitled the Atlantic Telegraph Bill, in aid of a company formed for the purpose of establishing a telegraphic communication between our continent and Great Britain. It provided that the sum of seventy thousand dollars per annum might be paid to the company for the transmission of government messages, until the net profits reached six per cent per annum, after which it should not exceed fifty thousand dollars, the tariff of prices to be fixed by the Secretary of the Treasury and the British Government. The bill also provided that the citizens and the Government of the United States should be put on an equal footing with those of Great Britain, and that Congress might at the expiration of ten years terminate the contract by giving one year's notice.

Congress passed a bill in February, directing that Spanish quarters, eighths, and sixteenths of a dollar should only be received by public officers at the rate of twenty, ten, and five cents, and that they should not be paid out, but sent to the Mint. The object was to drive those worn-out coins from circulation. Provision was also made for the coinage of a new cent, much smaller than the one in use, to be composed of eighty parts of copper and twelve of nickel.

A case which had attracted great interest throughout the country was decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in March. A slave named Dred Scott, who was taken by his master from Missouri to Illinois, where he remained two years, and then taken back to Missouri, sued for his freedom, on the ground that since Illinois by its constitution prohibited slavery, by his being domiciled in that State he became free; and if he became free in that State be continued free, since there was no law in force to remand him to slavery. The majority of the court decided that every person, and every class and description of persons, who were at the time of the adoption of the constitution recognized as the citizens of the several States, became also citizens of the new political body, but none other; it was formed by them and for them and their posterity, but for no one else; the legislation and histories of the times, and the lan

guage used in the Declaration of Independence, showed that neither the class of persons who had been imported as slaves, nor their descendants, whether they became free or not, were then acknowledged as a part of the people nor intended to be included in the general words used in that memorable instrument; that they had for more than a century been regarded as beings of an inferior order, and altogether unfit to associate with the white race, either in moral or political relations; and so far inferior, that they had no rights which the white man was bound to respect; and that the negro might justly and lawfully be reduced to slavery for his benefit. Two of the judges dissented from that opinion.

In September, an emigrant party arrived at Mountain Meadow, about three hundred miles south-east of Salt Lake City in Utah, and camped at the south end of the valley. They had thirty wagons and several hundred head of cattle. For several days they were attacked by whites and Indians, until a treaty was made by which they were permitted to return to Cedar City, but were compelled to give up their property. After the latter had been complied with the treaty was basely broken, and of the emigrants, one hundred and twenty men, women, and children were massacred.

Early in January, the Mormon dignitaries went to the offices of one of the United States Judges at Salt Lake City, seized all the books, papers, and documents belonging to the court, and burned them, upon the plea that as Congress would not admit Utah into the Union, they would not allow the officers of the government to remain in the Territory. For that circumstance, and for the reason that numerous depredations and outrages had been committed upon travellers in Utah said to have been instigated by the Mormons, and that persons arrested for crime could not be convicted by Mormon juries, the President despatched about six thousand United States troops to Utah to compel the Mormons to respect the laws of the Government. Upon receiving intelligence of this, Brigham Young prepared to resist, and issued a proclamation forbidding all bodies of armed men from entering the Territory under any pretext whatever. Meanwhile the grand jury of the United States Court brought in bills of indictment for high-treason against Brigham Young, and nineteen others specifically named, besides a great number of persons whose names were not known to the jury. The difficulties were, however, settled in the next year without bloodshed, the Mormons consenting to the demands of the government, and their leaders were pardoned.

The first attempt to lay the Atlantic cable was made in August. Four vessels composed the expedition, two of them the Niagara and the Agamemnon, containing the cable. It was determined to lay down the wire in a continuous line from Valentia Bay, in Ireland, to Newfoundland, the Niagara taking the first half to the middle of the ocean, and the cable from the Agamemnon being joined on, that vessel to lay the remainder. Everything being ready, the ships sailed from the Irish

coast on the evening of the 7th, and the operation of paying out the cable worked satisfactorily. Early in the morning of the 10th, the water began very suddenly to grow deeper. In the course of eight miles its depth increased from five hundred and fifty fathoms to seventeen hundred and fifty, and soon afterward it reached two thousand fathoms. This occasioned an additional strain upon the cable, causing it to run out at a greater speed than that of the vessel. The retarding force of the brakes was accordingly increased to prevent the too rapid pay-out of the cable, which still, however, continued to run out much faster than the vessel advanced. At this time there was a strong wind and heavy sea. At a quarter before four in the morning of the 11th, the engineer of the company, who had personally superintended the working of the machinery, was obliged to go to another part of the vessel, leaving the breaks in charge of another person. In a few moments he heard the machine stop, and when he returned he found that the cable had parted at some distance from the ship. Of the cable three hundred and thirty-five miles had been paid out, being fully one hundred miles more than the ship had run. The vessels at once returned.

An extraordinary, violent, and destructive financial panic occurred late in the summer and autumn. The first actual shock was the failure, on the 24th of August, of the Ohio Life and Trust Company, which had borrowed largely on call in New York, and loaned the funds where they were not immediately available. The liabilities were about seven millions. The credit of this institution had been very high, and its failure not only shook public confidence, but involved many corporations and individuals in serious loss. Several stock and money dealers failed in New York, and the daily meetings of the Board of Brokers were characterized by intense excitement. Every individual misfortune was announced on the news bulletins in large letters, and attracted curious crowds, which were continually fed by the passing throngs. The N. Y. Clearing House report for the 29th of August showed a reduction of four millions of dollars in the bank loans during the previous weck. The most substantial securities of the market fell rapidly in price at public sale. Doubts of the safety of bank-notes in circulation were generally entertained. One of the Associated Banks of New York fell into default, at the end of August, and a fraud of seventy thousand dollars by the paying teller roused suspicion of similar misconduct in other institutions. The regular discount of bills by the banks was mostly suspended, and the street rates for money, even on unquestionable securi ties, arose to three, four, and five per cent a month; on the ordinary securities of merchants, such as promissory notes and bills of exchange, money was not to be had at any rate. House after house of high commercial repute succumbed to the panic, and several heavy banking houses were soon added to the list of failures. The statement of the New York banks for the week ending September 5th showed a further reduction in loans

of more than four millions of dollars. Commercial embarrassments became the chief staple of news in all the papers of town or country. The purchase and transportation of produce almost entirely ceased. From this period there was nothing wanting to aggravate the common distress for money. Toward the close of September, three of the leading banks of Philadelphia failed, and the remainder resolved upon a temporary suspension of specie payments. This was followed by a similar step on the part of the banks in Pennsylvania, Maryland, the District of Columbia, and New Jersey. Early in October there was a decided increase in the stringency of the money market, and a consequent accession to the number of mercantile failures. Houses whose assets exceeded their liabilities by hundreds of thousands of dollars were unable to meet engagements of comparatively small amounts. Domestic exchanges became so unsettled that it was utterly impossible to remit funds from distant points. A steady demand for specie set in upon the New York banks, which was promptly met until the morning of the 13th, when a universal panic prevailed. By noon, the run upon the banks was general; Wall Street was choked by thousands of people endeavoring to force their way into banking-houses to demand specie for notes and checks. Before the close of business hours eighteen city banks were forced to close their doors, and announce that they had suspended specie payments. During the evening a meeting was held of representatives from the other banks. It was found that the specie in their vaults had been reduced from eleven millions four hundred and seventy-six thousand dollars to five millions five hundred thousand dollars. It was then unanimously resolved that all the banks should temporarily suspend the payment of specie. This was done with but one exception. The example of suspension was at once followed throughout the country. The immediate effect of the suspension was that the notes of New York, New England, and other solvent banks were at once received and paid out as usual in all business transactions, and a fccling of relief began to be experienced. The pressure passed away in the course of the winter. The liquidation was rapid, and by spring business was again in motion. The New York banks resumed on the 12th of December, and others followed gradually and informally. The effect of the panic upon business was disastrous, and it was almost annihilated. The same may be said of the industries of the country. Almost all the large manufacturing establishments either suspended operations or worked upon short time. In New York City alone it was estimated that thirty or forty thousand mechanics and workmen were thrown out of employment.

All the old books, papers, drafts, checks, and letters which had been preserved in the United States Bank in the long course of its immense business were sold at Philadelphia to a paper manufacturer. The whole mass weighed over forty tons. Ten tons of it consisted of autograph letters of the first statesmen, politicians, and financiers of this and other countries.

The conductors and others having charge of the freighttrains on the first and second divisions of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad stopped work on the 29th of April, and refused to do duty. For several days of the following month, these men molested the different freight-trains running into.the city, and on two occasions a desperate fight ensued between the rioters and police who had been sent to guard the cars. At last the Governor of the State issued a proclamation, warning all persons to keep away from the neighborhood of the disturb ances, and dispatched the military to the ground. A desperate fight took place between the troops and the rioters, in which many were killed and wounded before the disturbances were quelled.

By an act of the Legislature of the State of New York, the control of the Police Department of the city of New York was transferred from the municipal authorities to those of the State, and a police district was created, comprising the counties of New York, Kings, Westchester, and Richmond. Upon this a contest arose between the Mayor of the city and the new board of Police Commissioners for the. control of the Police, the Mayor having resolved to retain his power until he could test the constitutionality of the act in the courts. During the progress of the conflict between the two different authorities the Police Department became disorganized, and mob-law and crime increased in the city to a fearful extent. On the evening of the 3d of July, a disturbance commenced between two gangs of rowdies, which was continued on the following day. Sticks, stones, and knives were freely used, and men, women, and children were wounded. A few policemen were dispatched to the spot, but they were driven off with several wounded, and the riot continued. The rioters tore up pavingstones, and seized drays, trucks, and whatever came to hand, wherewith to erect barricades. The greatest consternation prevailed throughout the city; several regiments of soldiers were called out, but the disturbance was not quelled before six men had been killed and over a hundred wounded. On the 13th another outbreak occurred, lasting two days, but which was finally put down by the police without military aid.

From the 23d to the 25th of January, a severe term of cold weather prevailed throughout New England, the mercury ranging from twelve to twenty-four degrees below zero. Railroads were obstructed by drifting snow, and Boston harbor was frozen over.

William Walker was driven out of Nicaragua and escaped to the United States, where he determined to organize another filibustering expedition against the former country. On the 10th of November, he was arrested at New Orleans on a charge of violating the neutrality laws. Being liberated upon giving bail, he departed for Mobile and there embarked on a packet, from which he was transferred to a steamer which had set out with three or four hundred men, as previously arranged, for another expedition to Nicaragua. On the 24th of November,