LATEST AMERICAN GOSHIP.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVII, Issue 6273, 24 December 1881, Page 6

LATEST AMERICAN GOSHIP.

[I'ROM OUR SPKCIU. CORRESPONDENT.] San Francisco, November 21. THE DIVA PATTI. Tills exquisite canatrice is now in NewYork, where she is engaged to give a series of concerts. Despatches tell us of the poor reception she has met with. The managers have foolishly charged ten dollars a ticket, and ou the first day of her appearance the sale of tickets was so small that, in a panic, the price was dropped to five dollars, and even then the hall was only half full. The relations between Patti and the tenor Nieolini tell against her in America, and, whereas she would have been feted and received with eclat, socially as well as professionally, the virtuous leaders of fashion iu New York turn the cold shoulder to the idol of Europe, as they did also to Sarah Bernhardt. I think they serve her Fight, and it is 110 more than she deserves." The proceeds of the first concert were SOOO dollars, but should have been 14,000 dollars, as expected from the size of the hall. There is no chance of coming to our coast ; indeed, she would nnd it a hard matter to get more than two and a half dollars a seat, setting aside ten dollars, which means £2. Not but what Jenny Lind commanded as high as £25 for one stall in the Opera House, London, and in Dublin an old man sold his doukey cart for £0, sooner than die without hearing the Swedish Nightingale. However, there never will live another Jenny Lind, either artistically or socially ; and, being ou the subject of sweet strains, I may tell you that we are a' out to have a Philharmonic Concert Society established. Just fancy, San Francisco so far behind Auckland as not to have such a society before—a city thirty-two years old, and brimful of talent. Ah, how well I remember being the solo singer of your society " a many years ago." How I used to sing soprana, alto and tenor ; and even once, when they were squabbling, started the "Pro peocatis." That jovial, best-tempered man in the world, Joseph Browne, used to lean on me—beg pardon, my voice—uncommonly, and how the women hated the very sound of it; and yet I sang on, always better when I knew they were most jealous, and to-day I am just the same, for ever getting into scrapes with jealous feminities, and not minding them one particular bit. Poor Mr. Browne had a hard time of it when 1 insisted 011 the best solos, which, by the way, 110 one else could sing, and lie, in fact, always reserved for me. How the dear creatures fought and turned up their noses, and left the society ; and how I then got all—both the cream and the skim milk—and how I was encored and petted up by the not jealous portion ; and so I was triumphant, and enjoyed my success after the fashion of my sex. Ah, well, it comes back like a pleasant dream, but one I would not live through again.

POLITICS. The result of the last municipal election was a surprise to everybody. The Democratic party went into the field with a clear majority of 2500, marshalled by the political firm of lliggius, Gannon, and Chute, who had been kicked out of the Republican party, and were ignoniiniously defeated. The Democrats, en masse, voted the Republican ticket, refusing to be led by the "bosses," and elected it by an average majority of 3000, with the exception of Tilson, Eastman, and Litclificld, who had been smuggled on it by Higgins, and were found out to be his men before election. The Democratic machine politicians resorted to every means imaginable to win the fii.ht — voted men absent from the city, and even took in the dead. In this way : a man died who had not been able to vote first, and, while 011 his way to be buried, they actually procured another man to stand in his shoes, and vote in his name ; but nothing could alter the result, the people had declared against the " bosses," and so it remained. Higgins and Co., being rebuked by the Democracy, are now trying to get hold of the Republican Party machinery .main. Having a few followers iu the Republican County Committee, they made war against the antiring candidate for chairman, Fred. A. Eliott — no, the caucus nominee—and, through the perfidy of some of the members of the County Committee, who broke their solemn pledges, defeated liini. If lliggins, Gannon, and Chute should succeed in getting control of the machinery of that party once more, the Republicans will be surely defeated at the next State election. They are making a fight in the interests of Horace Davis for Governor. The Railroad Company is for the Democratic ticket, and for Jim Farley for United States Senator at the next election. Sargent will be in the cabinet, as Secretary of the Interior, and may bo a possible candidate for United States Senator if the Republican Party should be successful. Sargent has been in the United States Senate from California, and a very hardworking member thereof; in fact, he has been one of the best senators we ever sent from this coast. As Secretary of the Interior lie will be an invaluable helper to General Miller, our Republican Senator, in his efforts to get rid of the Mongolian cuivc. lliggins and Co. are against Sargent, and, in order to beat him, if necessary will go band in hand with the railroad monopoly to defeat tlio Republican Party. The Republican candidates for Governor are General Evans, M. M. Estec, James McShafter, Horace Davis, Jewett (of Yuba County), and John F. Swift ; but it may become necessary for the Republican Party to stand on an anti-monopoly platform, because the Railroad Company is against them anyhow, and will put up

NEWTON BOOTH as their standard bearer, who \vould stir yp the masses, and lead them to victory again, as he did of yore. A word about this Newton Booth, he is a man of remarkable brain power, and as an orator is unrivalled. He is the only man who lias ever beaten the railroad monopoly, and when he goes about the State making his soul-stirring speeches lie literally holds the masses under a spell by the brilliancy of his outspoken thought. Newton Bootli is not a politician in the accepted sense of the word. While in the Senate of the United States he did but little for those who were instrumental in sending him there ; therefore it will be only on an emergency that ho will be nominated for Governor of this State. Perhaps he sees the folly of this mode of procedure in the forgetfulness of his friends, and doubtless if re-elected will change his course of action. There certainly could be nothing more beneficial to the people of this State than to have Newton Booth in the Governor's chair and W. A. Sargent in the United States Senate. It is necessary for this coast that Senator Miller, who is our only salvation at this crisis, should succeed in passing his Bill in the United States Senate to limit the immigration of the Chinese to this coast, otherwise, in ten years time, a new condition of things will be in order; first, Flood and Co. will bo possessed of all the money; second, the savings banks will have all the depreciated property ; third, the former owners ol this property, who had borrowed the money from the banks on mortgages, and given it to Flood for mining certificates, will have nothing ; fourth, the people who had deposited their money in the savings banks will have nothing but their valueless bank-books; fifth, the Chinese will carry on every kind of business on money borrowed from Flood, because they can afford to pay a higher rate of interest than the whites ; and, sixth, the whites will have to work for the Chinese or leave. This is my prophecy, gathered from close observation of the existing state of things, Mark it well, and see how it turns put SliYfiji PJSN,