The Portland daily press., 1867-12-19
Varieties.

The converts Of France are the best mar
kets for hair. Thus the daughter of noble
house becomes the spouse Of the church, her
golden tresses are cut off by the ecclesiastical
scissors in view of crowded congregation of
the faithful, and fall on the marble pavement
of the convent chapel amid the sighs of the
fair refuses family. The ceremony over, the
long hair is carefully gathered up and sold for
considerable sum to an agent.
The "Galatea" of Cervantes, little known
by English readers apart from its place in Don
Quixote's Library, has been done into Eng
lish" by Mr.. G. w. CYL, and will shortly be
published. sf a mid
"A white wild cat is reported to have been
seen in the woods of Hartford county, Conn,
on THANKSGIVING day. Is there such an ami
NAL a tohite wild cat. Y. --. .r..
The Chinese beggars of San Francisco are
to be reshipped to their native country by the
See-Yup Company.
Christina, the wicked old Queen Dow ager
of Spain, is going to live this winter In
splendid house she has built in Paris. She
has plenty of money, none of it GO over scru-
pulously, but takes care to invest it in other
countries besides Spain.
In New York, last week burlesque upon
Norwood was presented at Hooley's Opera
House, and made such a hit that the manager
has determined to run it a little VIII lie longer.
The dam across the Illinois river at Mar
seilles ILL.,, is stated to be nine hundred and
thirty-six feet long. and contains two hundred
and eighteen thousand feet of timber and
eleven and one-fourth tons of spikes and bolts.
The work of tuuneling under the Indus at
Attock, commenced more than five years ago
and afterwards abandoned, has been resumed.
Mr.. Howe was recently so discourteous as
to compare q brother member Of the New
Dominion" House oil Commons to the Great
Bore of Nova Scotia, to which Nova Scotians
become SO accustomed that they do not pay it
the least attention. eHH
"A contemporary suggests that as the ball
playing mania bids fair to monopolize the en-
thusasm of our young men for some time to
come, a winter national game" of SNOWFALL
might be started in opposition. Contests for
the championship" between SNOWFALL cubs
would be quite novel and highly exciting,
while the dangers attendant upon the game
would be scarcely greater, if as great, as those
of base ball or even cricket. Who will start a
SNOWFALL club. Ths season, just now, is en-
inently propitious. ,r
"A certain countryman went to hear BIZ
shop preach for the first tins. When he got
bome the family asked him many questions.
one of which was, Did the bishop appear
stuck up?" "Oh, no." he replied, "not a
bit. Why, he actually preached in his shirt
sleevesp =, rf-.,l.
"A Bologna newspaper says Count Pietro
Carletti dOrvela, a nephew of Plus TX, was
the first Garioaldian in vallecarsa. He was
holding an italian flag. Having been wound
ed, and seeing that capture was inevitable, he
drew a pistol and shot himself through the
head. -.i-frtTf az r-..y.-. ,,.r..-ss- mos. -.,-
The greatest snow stor m recorded in Rus
sia occurred on the steppes of Kirgheez In ST.
IBERIA, in 1927, destroying $4,000 hor ses, 400
cattle, 100000 sheep, and 10000 camels. The
greatest recorded in England is that of 1915,
in which, for forty eight hours, the snow fell so
furiously that drifts Of sixteen, twenty, and
even twenty-four feet were recorded in various
places In the South of Scotland, in 1920,
there were thirteen drifting days, which killed
nine-tenths of all the sheep. On Eskdale
Moor, out of 10000 only As were left alive, and
the shepherds everywhere built up huge semi
circular walls of the dead creatures, to afford
shelter till the gale should end,
The Canadian papers assert as a fact that
the postmaster of Montreal has lately dismiss
ed four of the employees of the post-ofice, on
the authority of aphrenologist, who declared
them to be lacking in certain bumps neces-
sary to the proper performance of their func-
tions. One old man who had been in the Of
fee fifteen years, was brought from his bed at
night to undergo the fatal examination. We
don't yet half know the uses to which the
(pseudo- )sciences may be put.
1t has been legally decided in England
that stamped fac-simile of signature bears
| the same value as the written one.
The number of emigrants that arrived at
Castle Garden from the fist of January un-
till the 11th of December, was 235, Al, against
225, 127 during the same period last year.
"A letter from Fernandina says: "Of Fer
nandiua there is little to be said except that it
is easy of access, the climate good, and it has
fine beach nine miles long, which would
make a delightful drive if there were any hor-
ses or carriages in town. But although there
is here the only good harbor on the coast, the
town is dead and prosperity refuses to come to
| it."
The Charleston papers are talking of q
valuable discovery recently made near that
city. This discovery is that of fertilizing
substance, said to be found for many miles,
deposited along the banks of the Ashley river,
and to consist of decomposed bones and ami
NAL matter, solidified as hard as stone. Sam
pies have been found to contain from sixty to
seventy per cent. of pure phosphates, and
there isevery indication that the whole bed in
formed of manure which is more valuable
than Peruvian guano, which sells at ninety
dollars per ton. The deposits cover many
square miles, and may produce, it is said, tens
of millions of dollars.
In the course of his sermon, last Sunday,
Rev. Mr.. Gallaher, OF the Baptist Church, cor
ner of Nassau and Liberty streets, Brooklyn,
said Rev. Mr.. Beecher was one of the best
ministers and speakers in the country, OUT ne
had not succeeded as novel writer. This re-
mark 'broupbt down the house" in a mild
way.
A ne1v York correspondent of the Boston
rro,so-irt writes from here that Mr.. Dickens
reods more effectively in that city than he did
:, BOSTON. He explains this on the ground
that new OTh IL luuCu tuOEc IcSpOuSlNt IMAM
Boston audience; and that there is rapid
recognition of excellence quite peculiar to this
region" He writes that he, "could see Dick
ens's interest rise, at once, as plaudit after
plaudit greeted his sensitive ear. He accom-
plished his two hours task infinitely better
than he did in Boston, simply because his
New York audience evidently helped him by
the hearty sympathy and good nature of his
hearers.
The British Medical Journal says: After
twenty-seven years of CONTINENT in a crimi-
nal lunatic asylum, during which his conduct
has been exemplary, and no traces have an
peared of mental alteration, Oxford, the pot
boy, who shot at her Majesty in st. James's
Park, has been liberated. During this time
many appeals have been made in his behalf by
influential persons who have had the opportu-
nifty of watching his demeanor and gauging
his character His own story has always been'
and was so consistently from the first, that the
pistol which he had fred was not loaded 1t
will he remembered that no bullet was ever
found He is to leave the country"
-Four millions of bushels of wheat are
srovsn in on the New York canals.