The Portland daily press., 1868-03-20
Varieties.

Prussia has created Msssrs. Simon and
Abraham Oppeuheim, bankers at Cologne and
elsewhere, hereditary barons. They are the
first Jews who were ever raised to this digni-
ty in Prussia.
"A daughter of Horace Smith has written
the lbretto of very successful little operetia
called "The Rainy Day" The music is by
Virginia Gabriel.
"A female relltive If young Scotty, the
amateur puGlist, mas willel him So 900, to en-
able him to continue his studies in the art of
head-punchiug.
"A French doctor says that life remains a
long time in the body after the head is cut of.
His opinion would be Cf more value If he had
ever tried it,.
I might, said Heine, be induced to settle
in England were it not that 1 should And
there two thngs-coal smoke and English
men.
"A French writer in the Revue des Dcux
Mondes says of the numerous American visit
ors to Europe last year: "The men were dis
tinguished by an abundance of dollars in Their
pockets, the women by an abundance of brains
under their bonnets."
There is a story current In London that
Lord Lytton one day asked Earl Derby, who
has just resigned the Premiership on account
of the gout, whether he would rather be Pro .
mier and Peer of England, with rent roll OF
e1Go,00J a year, but sixty years of age, or an
officer Of the Guards, aged twenty-five, Just
upon town, with only e5 note in his pocket;
and Lord Derby is said to have replied that he
would exchange with the young officer that
moment, if he could
"A school for instruction in the art of tele
graphing has just been formed at Pesth. The
rapid extension of the telegraph system in
Hungary renders this necessary, as the de-
mand is much greater than the supply.
"A letter from from Washington says:
"The weather is, at last. spring-lke and Ge-
lightful. We have shad from the Potomac,
new potatoes from the Bermudas, and aspara-
gus from Norfolk, and in a few weeks straw
be ries and cream viii be here, with the spring
fashions"
Can I bid, Mister?" reared out country
looking individual at a recent auction in Bos-
ton. Certainly, you can" replied the auc-
tioaeer, with gracious bow; ''any ore can
bid that wants to-" "Well, sir" proudly re-
piled the fellow, "then I bid you good night"
and pushed his way out into the street.
DE Tocqueville says that the reason why
cause they make it themselves and are able TO
repeal it.
Tho "situation" in Washington affords oc-
cas'on for great deal of fine writing on the
part of the reporters. Judging from the way
some of the fellows pile up the adjectives, one
would think them the very ozes Shakespeare
had in his mind when he wrote, "They have
been at great feast of languages, and stolen
the scraps" Certainly they "draw out the
| thread OF their verbosity" in q manner perfect
| ly alarming.
The White Mountain elevated railroad
will be completed this year, in time for visit
ors 10 make use of it.
Gen. Lorenzo Thomas is pronounced by
| some Of the papers Secretary of War od cute
rim instead of Secretary ad interim.
Mrs. Celia Thaxter, Miss II. r. Hudson
and Oliver Wendell Holmes have poems in
| the Atlantic, for April.
An infant seventeen months old died In
Boston Tuesday from the effects of swallow.
| ing piece Of tobacco given to him by anoth-
er child with whom he was playiGg.
"A marble statue of "Susannah," by the
! italian sculptor L1mbardi, is on exhibition In
! Boston, where IL is attracting much attention.
| A morning paper says: This work represents
| the heroine of the apocryphal story surprised
by approaching footsteps just as she Is de-
scending into the bath. With divine in
stinct Of modesty she has thrown her arm
across her bosom and sits in a startled attitude.
h'r head turned in the direction of the in-
tuders, and her face expressing mo-t wildly
her alarm and indignation. The modelling tf
the q Iure in every part is simply exquisite,
and the accessories of drapery, bath, &c. arc
most graceful and harmonious. The flcs Il
susannah is purely oriental, but very beaut-
full and it is 1ely set off by her uniqu. and
elegant headdress.
Mr.. Dickens has accepted complimenta.
nv dinner from the Dress of the couutry, lust
previous to his departure for England, and It
it will be eaten at New York, April IS. Tho
affair was arranged and will be mostly attend
ed by the New York editors, and William Gull
len Bryant viii probably preside
One OF the most wonderful cities in the
world is Bankok, the capital of Siam. On
either side of the wide majestic stream, mco;-
ed in regular streets and alleys, extending as
far as the eye can reach, are upwards of sty-
euty Thousand neat little houses, each house
floating on a compact raft of bamboos, and tho
Mnolo iuteEuituitte space Oi 'hS ii'eA II QUO
dense mass of chips, junks, aud boats of evely
conceivable shape, co,or and size.
AT Fulton, ILL.,, n few Sundays ago, one OF
the town clergymen opened services by read
ing at length very fun and correct local
price current, how much -four, butter, meat
lard, eggs, etc., were worth; and the price o.
shoes, cloth, prints and muslins. He read the
report without explanation or comment But
the most obtuse soul in the congregation un
derstood very we'll what this unusual pro
cedure meant. The congregation took The
J hint, and responded by paying the clergyman
7 salary. -
There are certain typical forms OF error
that never die, though the facts and anaIogie'
on which they purport to be based, vary with
e the increase of knowledge and the progress
r of the human mind. Somebody, we forge
n who, has appropriately named these "cyclos
y dal errors