The stone house at Tappan on the Hudson River, in which Major John Andre was imprisoned before he was hanged as a spy, is about to be opened to the public. For forty years it has been owned by a gentleman who absolutely refused to allow any one to enter it. A few weeks ago a heavy storm of wind and rain threw down the whole front of the house, and immediately scores of relic-hunters descended upon the house, and, delighted that they no longer need be deterred from satisfying their curiosity, roamed at will over the ruin, carrying away scraps of wood and stone as mementos of their visit. Disgusted that he could no longer keep his property to himself, the owner sold the old house. The present proprietor intends to rebuild the front wall and preserve the rest of the building as it is, using it as a picnic resort. This old house has a very interesting record. During the Revolutionary times it was known as the Mabie Tavern, and the old tap-room, with its ancient bar, is still as it was in those troublous times. Major Andre was the officer who, as the representative of the British general, Sir Henry Clinton, made arrangements with the infamous traitor, Benedict Arnold, for the surrender of West Point. On returning from his interview with Arnold at Stony Point, Andre was arrested at Tarrytown and taken across the Tappan Zee. He was tried by court-martial and sentenced to be hanged as a spy. The sentence was carried out in October, 1780. The tavern was used as a prison, and the room in which Andre was visited by Alexander Hamilton, and the window from which the doomed man was supposed to have looked out on his place of execution, are still in good preservation. G.H. ROSENFELD. THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE. On Monday, December 6th, the first regular session of the Fifty-fifth Congress began. At twelve o'clock precisely the Senate and the House of Representatives were called to order by their respective presiding officers. The usual form of business was then gone through. After a prayer by the chaplain, both bodies appointed two members to inform the President that Congress was in session, and ready to receive any communication from him. At half-past one the President's secretary presented the Message to the Senate, and a few minutes later handed another in to the House of Representatives. The Message, which is President McKinley's first annual message, was listened to with the closest attention. After a greeting to Congress, and congratulations on the good work done in the extra session last summer, the President took up the CURRENCY QUESTION.--You will remember that he was very anxious to make some changes in our money system, which he did not consider satisfactory. He asked Congress to appoint a committee to examine into the subject, but Congress referred the matter to the Committee on Finance, and no special committee was appointed.