The Portland daily press., 1869-03-22
Varieties.


"A man in Kansas City, Mo-, pleaded be-
fore Justice that he wasn't drunk by any
means-he had only been made dizzy by
watching the movements Of a yeiocipede. He
was let off on the payment OF costs.
Among the members of the British Par
lament who have been unseated on account
of bribery in the elections is Alexander W..
Kinglake, the historian of the Crimean war
The Judges exonerated Mr.. Kinglake person.
ally, but it seems that his friends used
questionable means for influencing votes, =,
1t is estimated that the snow in Tucker
mans ravine is at least thousand feet deep.
Hopes are entertained of q magnificent snow
arch there, next August. nfi rgsf s,s1a
Japan thinks the young fellows whom it
sent out to be educated know enough, and has
called them all home. sao3 ffs .-rssr. .i-
The worship OF stone and wooden idols in
China Is quite expensive Beside the actual
expense OF making them, wHIcn places good
private assortment of gods out of the reach OF
poor men, large sums Of money are spent to
appease them them, under various circumstan-
ces. The worship of ancestors is comparative
ly cheap, costing an economical family only
about $1-5O per year. 4n.. IN fl sr-r.
AT a recent naval court martial, the fol-
lowing dialogue is said to have taken place be-
tween one OF the witnesses and the Court:
"Are you Catholic?' "No, SIR" 'tAre You
Protestant ''No, sir "what are you.
then?' Captain of the foretop." a. .ir
"A correspondent Of San Francisco paper
has started the theory that the spread of the
smallpox is attributable to the presence
of cats. He has made o Careful in
vestigation, and discovered that where cats
are, there always is, or has beer, the loathsoms
disease. and that on the other hand it has
avoided catless premises He proposes gem
eral slaughter of the innocents. .s.,.. =.
"A queer bet was made in Swansea, Mass.,
recently One man wagered that no horse in
town could pull four bushels Of corn (244
pounds) in a bag or bags, four feet on barn
floor, the bands to be fastened to an inch
rope 100 feet in length. The novelty Of the
bet attracted quite crowd to witness the per-
formance, but the first horse did the business
easily. The principle which induced the wa
gerwas, that a small anchor attached to q long
cable will tasten large vessel, even in very
| high wind.
| A New Bedford paper says: "The choristsr
Of one of our church choirs availed himself yes
terday of the talent of stranger in the city,
| who had bass voice as ponderous, II not As
musical, as that which Lablache possessed.
Deep and strong it rolled forth, burying under
its sonorous tones the other voices Of the
choir, and challenging the heaviest notes Of
the organ. At the conclusion of the last
singing, the minister arose, and read: And
heard voice from heaven, as the voice of
many waters, and as the voice ofa great thun-
der. 1t was his text"
| -Au Irishman was employed to trim some
| fruit trees He went in the morning, and, on
| returning at noon, was asked If he had COM
pleted his work. NO." was the reply; ~I have
cut them all down, and am going to trim
them in the afternoon tN
"A traveller having dined at Paris caf6
proposed to pay his bill. "How much do
owe your" he asked Of the waiter. HLet me
see, chocolate, 16 sous; bread Eve, 21; butter
four. 26-no cigars:" "No cigars" mo Ell
gars, seven, 80; one franc, twelve sous, mon
| sieur.'
| Speaking of the American passion for Of
fee, the Chicago Tribune says: "One reason
| why so many thousands volunteered as 'nign
privates' was because soldering was regarded
as sort of office-holding.
A daughter of Murat, Bonapartes dashing
Marshal, whom he made King OF Naples, Is
keeping a girls school at Bordeaux.
The queen of the gpsies Of the southwest
Of ENGLAND arrived in New York, Monday, and
PROPOSES trying gipsying in America,
| A change in the colors of some of the fixed
stars has certainly taken placs within the
memory of man. In the days of Ptolemy Sir
ius, the dog star, was described as being Of q
fiery red color; but few years ago it changed
to pure white light, while now it is an un-
mistakable green.
Our exchange; report that the demand for
court-plaster has been largely increased since
the introduction Of velocipedes
Prof. G. w. Eliot, who has been chosen
President of Harvard College on the part OF
the Corporation, is the author OF the articles
published in February and March in the At
lantic Monthly on ''The New Education
These papers are supposed to indicate some OF
the views he will endeavor Is carry into effect
should he be confirmed by the board OF over
seers. a.
The Memphis Avalanche says: Next to
the obituary of the man who invented the ac-
Gordon, the adjournment of a Tennessee Radi-
cal Legislature is the most cheerful reading
we can conceive Of
The Russian clergy in Alaska, it is re-
ported, are suffering serious inconvenience
from the transfer ofthat country to the United
States. Under the Russian rule the members
of the Greek Church, were obliged to pay .
tax for the support Of their pastors The uni
ted States authorities, ON taking possession, do
clined to collect taxes for the Russian clefgy,
and the people, not being disposed to maze
any voluntary offerings, the pastors were ieis
entirely without resources
"A virginian walked seventy nVs miiss~
Washington to see the Inauguration