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DEAR SIR:

CITY OF CHARLESTON,

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, October 14th, 1886.

I omitted to mention, that the large sum of money we have, has been deposited in equal amounts in our three National Banks, and have arranged for interest on balance. The serious question of labor, i. e., skilled mechanics, which at first threatened us, has been very successfully dealt with, by using the wires to spread the news of our wants, and arranging to answer all inquiries by enclosed circular. I think we have answered 1,000 letters and postal cards from every part of the country.

At this writing, there is a large increase in our working force, and a very large amount of work is progressing.

(Signed,)

Very respectfully,

WM. A. COURTENAY,

Mayor.

WM. E. DODGE, Esq., Chairman, &c.

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF THE STATE OF NEW-YORK,

Hon. Wм. A. COURTENAY,

NEW-YORK, October 20th, 1886.

Mayor, &c., &c., Charleston, S. C.:

DEAR SIR, The Special Committee of the Chamber of Commerce have great pleasure in acknowledging your valuable letter of the 13th inst., and thank you most heartily for your thoughtful consideration, in giving so detailed a report of your method of work.

All your plans and arrangements for the distribution of funds and supplies seem most wise, and the great care and pains taken by yourself and your associates in working up all the details will, everywhere, be cordially appreciated.

Your letter will form a portion of the closing report of the Committee to the Chamber, and will be preserved as a part of its history.

The Committee are grateful that, in this strange and painful crisis in the history of your city, your people should be so fortunate as to have for its chief executive officer one who has shown conspicuous ability and faithfulness to his trust.

You and all the members of your able Committee have won the esteem and admiration of the whole country, and all thoughtful men are your debtors for the lessons of high courage, prompt decision and wise methods to meet an emergency.

On behalf of the Committee, I have the honor to remain, with high esteem,

(Signed,)

Yours cordially,

W. E. DODGE, Chairman,

Special Committee for relief of the Sufferers by the

Earthquake at Charleston, S. C.

The report was unanimously adopted and ordered to be printed, and a copy sent to each contributor to the fund.

Mr. DODGE further submitted the following publications the Committee received from the Hon. WILLIAM A. COURTENAY, Mayor of Charleston, as a gift to the Chamber :

"Charleston, South Carolina, in 1883, with heliotypes of the principal objects of interest in and around the City, and historical and descriptive notices."

"The Correspondence of Lord MONTAGUE with General MOULTRIE, 1781."

"The Centennial of the Incorporation of the City of Charleston, August 13th, 1883."

"Photographic views of the damage done to the buildings in Charleston, after the great earthquake, 9.54 P. M., August 31st, 1886."

The thanks of the Chamber were tendered to Mayor COURTENAY for the donation to its Library of these interesting and valuable documents.

Mr. DODGE also presented to the Chamber, from Mayor CourTENAY, specimens of sand and earth thrown up in the fissures, near Summerville, S. C., by the earthquake shocks in September last.

RESOLUTIONS.

Mr. DODGE offered the following resolution, which was unanimously adopted:

Resolved, That the interesting specimens of sand and earth deposits, thrown up in the fissures caused by the earthquake at Charleston, and presented to the Chamber, through the kindness of the Hon. WILLIAM A. COURTENAY, Mayor of that City, be deposited in the American Museum of Natural History.

Mr. FREDERICK A. CONKLING offered the following resolution :

Resolved, As a testimonial of the high appreciation entertained by this Chamber of the valuable services rendered by Major-General JOHN NEWTON, while Chief of the Corps of Engineers, U. S. A., to the City of New-York, in the numerous and important works which he has carried into execution for the improvement and conservation of its harbor and approaches, that it be respectfully recommended that the new channel, between Flood Rock and Mill Rock, at Hell Gate, be named "The NEWTON Channel."

This resolution was seconded by Mr. A. FOSTER HIGGINS, and unanimously adopted.

COMMUNICATIONS.

A communication was read from Mr. AUGUSTUS KOUNTZE, dated New-York, November 3d, 1886, and addressed to Mr. JAMES M. BROWN, President of the Chamber of Commerce, requesting him to bring to the attention of the Chamber the great suffering existing at Sabine Pass, Texas, and Johnson's Bayou, La., caused by the recent storm and inundation from the Gulf of Mexico. Mr. Kountze stated that his firm, Messrs. KOUNTZE BROTHERS, would promptly transmit, to a reliable Committee, free of charge, any funds the members might contribute, for distribution to the sufferers.

A copy of the communication was ordered to be furnished to the press for publication, and the original placed on file.

The Chamber then adjourned.

Monthly Meeting, Thursday, December 2, 1886.

A regular monthly meeting of the Chamber of Commerce was held this day, at one o'clock, P. M., at the Rooms of the Chamber, on Nassau-street, between Cedar and Liberty streets.

PRESENT.

JAMES M. BROWN, President.
GEORGE WILSON, Secretary.

And a quorum of members.

The minutes of the last regular meeting, held November 4, were read and approved.

REPORTS OF STANDING COMMITTEES.

Mr. CORNELIUS N. BLISS, Chairman of the Executive Committee, reported the following named candidates for membership, and recommended their election:

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These gentlemen were, on one ballot, unanimously elected members of the Chamber.

Mr. BLISS further reported the nomination, by the Executive Committee, of the following named gentlemen for delegates to represent the Chamber at the Seventeenth Annual Meeting of the National Board of Trade, to be held in Washington, beginning on the 19th of January, 1887:

JAMES S. T. STRANAHAN,

WILLIAM H. LYON,

FREDERICK A. CONKLING,
A. FOSTER HIGGINS,

JOHN E. SEARLES, Jr.

These gentlemen were, on motion, unanimously elected delegates.

THE DEATH OF CHESTER A. ARTHUR, EX-PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

Mr. BLISS said, two weeks ago to-day, when the report of the death of Ex-President ARTHUR was received in Wall-street, an informal meeting of the Executive Committee was held, and it was deemed impracticable to hold a special meeting of the Chamber prior to the time then fixed for the funeral services. A delegation was thereupon. appointed, consisting of the President, the Vice-Presidents and the two Ex-Presidents, to represent the Chamber on the occasion. Mr. BLISS said he had been requested to prepare a minute of respect to the memory of General ARTHUR, to be entered on the records of the Chamber, which he submitted as follows:

On Thursday, the 18th day of November, CHESTER ALAN ARTHUR, Ex-President of the United States, passed from life.

Mr. ARTHUR was an Honorary Member of this Chamber, and we, in common with our fellow-citizens, mourn the premature ending of a useful and honored life, and hereby incorporate in our minutes an expression of our high appreciation of his character and public services, as well as of our grief at the loss of a personal friend.

Mr. ARTHUR became a resident of New-York City soon after he was graduated from Union College; he was at an early day identified with the political activities of the period, and in his professional capacity conducted some noted legal cases in support of the rights of the colored race. His first very conspicuous public service, however, was in the early days of the Civil War, when, as a member of the staff of Governor EDWIN D. MORGAN, and still a young man, he was entrusted with the duty of raising, equipping and transporting to the seat of war the large body of troops furnished by the State of New-York.

The great executive talent displayed in this service, and the absolute and unquestioned integrity with which, in a period of demoralization of public and private life, he administered this trust, gave him the confidence and respect of his superiors in office and of his fellow-citizens.

As Collector of the Port of New-York he became widely known to the mercantile community, and the ability, courtesy and fairness with which he discharged the duties of this office won for him the admiration of all having business with or knowledge of the office.

As a political leader in the City and State it is a remarkable fact, that while he displayed great energy and skill in conducting the affairs of his own party, he possessed the personal esteem (even affection) of many who were opposed to the principles he maintained.

The office of Vice-President of the United States came to him unsought, and for a brief period he presided over the Senate with dignity and ability, receiving the respect and affection of Senators of both parties. His career from youth to the high station of VicePresident had been one of singular but well-merited success. The terrible days during which President GARFIELD lay dying at Elberon came upon the country; excited and venomous political strife again raged through the land, and he was for a time subjected to bitter factional attack and misrepresented even here in his own State.

It was not strange that, outside the State where his abilities and character were less known, that honest doubt and distrust of the future of the country, in the serious crisis, should weigh upon the hearts of the people. He bore all calmly, in silence, with rare fortitude, confident in his own integrity of purpose, and but few then knew how deeply his sensitive nature was wounded by the injustice to which he was subjected. When he became President, his wise and conservative course soon dissipated doubt and fear, factional disputes were stilled, confidence was restored to the country, and his administration won the approbation of all men of both parties. He came home to New-York at the end of his term of office to take such renewed part in the business of life as he might, but the iron constitution was undermined and the hand of death was upon him. After a lingering illness, sometimes cheered by the hope of recovery, he passed peacefully away. His successor in office, in a proclamation to the people of the United States, paid a feeling tribute to his memory, and from every State in the Union came heartfelt messages of sorrow, and distinguished and representative men of both parties and creeds, to attend the simple but impressive ceremony with which he was borne to the tomb.

So ends another great life; and when the events of the years 1881 to 1885 shall be recorded in history, the verdict will be, that during that period the destinies of the Republic were, under Providence, directed by a wise and sagacious ruler.

On motion of Mr. ISAAC PHILLIPS, the minute was unanimously

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