The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1867-11-30
Varieties.

The Philadelphia Age abuses Newman
Hall to the extent of column, because he
was a friend of the Union through the war.
An English writer calls Mr.. Thornton,
who il proposed as the successor of Sir Fred
erick Bruce at Washington, "the wisest man
our diplomacy affords"
The Providence post of the Grand Army
of the Republic has organized d system of re-
lief ior the destitute families of soldiers, and
will endeavor to generously aid them, and also
detect and punish the numerous imposters
who are asking aims for the same pretended
purpose. laaW
1t is settled in New England circles that
by Norwood Mr.. Beecher meant Northampton.
And now it is established, on the same relia-
BILE authority, that "Oxbow Village" in DIR.
Holiness Guardian Angel" is but another
name for Haverhill, N. HI. l2 tl.H a.l.
"A student Of Dartmouth College recently,
in reply to question by his tutor, defined the
word passover" to refer to the crossing Of the
Red Sea bp the Israeites.
The value Of coral depends upon its color
"a delicate peach blossom tint being far more
valuable than blood-red color. The present
fashion for coral iewelry consists in rose pat
terms with pendants. Some of these arc so
fine that they are tipped with diamonds
I'm digging a trench in garden at STRAIT
ford, Conn.,, last week, an earthen pot was un-
covered, which contained thirty old copper
coins, dated from 1904 to 1924. They were Of
English, Scotch, French and Irish coinage,
and some of them evidently new at the time of
their concealment f+-t-, H.,. i.,.T
Success, says Josh Billings, is very apt to
make us forgit when we wasn't much 1t is
just so with the frog on the iump-he can't re-
member when he was a tadpole, and other
folks can. f..tJ hi
"A California paper speaks disrespectfully
of the century plant-thus: "They grow in
nearly all the gardens in Los Angeles, and are
frequently taken up and thrown into the
streets as nuisance. They are not only found
in the gardens, but grow wild upon the plains
in many places" ...,s Jas.s ..s.i0. j..
Cameo jewelry is again becoming very
fashionable. Rome, it is believed, is now the
chief seat of the art of cameo-cutting, two
kinds ct which are produced-those cut in
hard stone, and those cut in shell. The stones
most valuable for this purpose are the oriental
onyx aud the sardonyx, provided that they
have, at least, two different colors in parallel
layers. Shell canoes are cut from large shells
found on the African and Brazilian coasts and
generally show two layers, one white and the
other q pale coffee color or deep reddish or
ange. Shells adapted for cameo cutting are
| dense, thick, and consist usually of three lay
| ers of differently colored shell material. The
cheap medallions sold for canoes are merely
pressed glass; t4aat tu
| Sir John Herschel has recently advanced
| the theory, not wholly new, but never before
| supported by well-known facts, that meeeor'c
showers are simply the light caused oy 'ne COZ
lision of the earth's atmosphere WIN '"e .enu-
/ - ,. r =. Comet Professor Adams,
/ -, Ieyerrier tho credit of dis
W A., ,,laHet Neptune, not only accepts
Inn attempts to establish the iden-
.n'S '" ne comet through which the earth re-
'us w, - rassed with Tailler's comet, whose Or
-. annarently comedies with that which, if a
comet, the recent visitor would have taken
Those who have read Professor Tyndall's work
on heat may find in this theory an additional
| reason to accept tho learned writer's hypothe-
| sis as to the origin of the suns light and heat
| The newly excavated statue of Hercules
/ at Rome, has been purchased Dy the Tapal
government at the cost of $62, 900, and trans
ferred to a room in the Vatican. The figure is
colossal, beautifully executed in bronze, ana
much Of the original gliding remains on the
surface. al- -tfff ~ H..HaI
| A London paper gravely announces that
"Major General Tom Thumb is going into pol
itcs."
Some inhuman mother in Wethersdeld,
Illinois, last week left her infant in stable
expecting it to he found and adopted. Direc-
lions were pinned to the baby's dress, also
4 So greenback. The child was deposited IN
such an obscure place that it was not found
until it had perished of Starvation
"A medium-sised centipede was captured
! in a letter-bao in England recently. 1t was
sent in a letter from jamaica