The Portland daily press., 1869-05-05
Gleanings and Gossip.

The Gazette OF Saxony relates an incident
which took place at an auction sale, at Cassel
of the horses of the Elector of Hesse, confis-
Gated with the rest of his fortune by the King
of Prussia. A superior officer, a Hessian,
bought two of the finest at very high price,
and paid down the money at once to the
Prussian Commissioner. He then drew out
revolver from his pocket and shot them both
dead
-PennsYlvania has taken effective measures
to prevent the indiscriminate slaughter OF the
innocents" in that State. The Legislature be-
fore-adjourning passed an act, afterward ap-
proved by the Governor, which imposes PEN
atty of twenty-five dollars for the killing of
any insectivorous bird one half of this fine to
be paid to the informer The birds that are
classed under the head of insectvorous are
robins, martins, swallows, blue birds, wood
peckers &C.; in fact all the various small
birds generally seen in that latitude.
Prince Napoleon, who is not wanted in
France during the elections, is to be sent on
his travels again by an imperative order Of the
head of his family 1t is stated with certain
ty'' that he is going for a cruise in the Adri-
attic.
-Treasure-seekers respect nothing. The
story is told that a man lately died at
White Pine. When the procession arrived at
the grave, the digger said that he had struck
fine lead and intended to locate a claim there,
and that he could not think of allowing the
body to be buried in the hole he had dug.
"A writer now in Rome says that the dir
test people on the face of the earth are the
Romans. He thinks our reputation for being
the best expectorators is not deserved We
cannot beat the Italians. Men, women and
children make the floors of the churches dur
ing worship, not excepting ST. Peters, filthy
beyond description.
cleveland proposes to follow the example
of Chicago in obtaining supply of water by
tunneling under the lake. Investigations have
been made and it is found that there is a stra-
tum of clay underlying the lake of sufficient
thickness to admit Of even a larger tunnel
than that used at Chicago.
The manufacture Of the French Atlantic
cable is rapidly approaching completion. The
total length manufactured is 3,O3S nautical
miles. and there only remain 537 miles now to
he finished. The Great Eastern and Seande-
ria have taken on board 1850 miles and 45O
miles respectively.
Ernest Feydeau, a French magazinist, has
been writing same articles ON Christine Nils.
son. "the Swedish nightingale" He thus re-
fers to the history OF her humble early days:
Christine Nilsson has preserved her violin, that
fragile instrument of her fortune. She con.
stantly looks at it, touches it, and, queen of
art, as she now is, she remembers the time
when she carried load of faggots on her
back. Useless to remark that she is the Prov
idence Of her famiiy-seven brothers and sis
ters. neither more nor less, have been edu-
Gated and fed by her. She betrayed herself
the expenses of her own education. Her mas
ters. her board, even the money paid by her
benefactress of Gutenberg, have all been
piously repaid by her 1t is well to divulge
such facts.
The shooting season has opened in ireland.
A magistrate was shot last week,in Tipperary.
Irish sportsmen bag such game without going
through the form oftaking out q licence.
The enterprise of which Sir Samuel Ba-
ker, the celebrated traveller, has undertaken
the lead, includes the extension of the author
ity OF the vicoroy of Egypt up to the Albert
Nyanza-the great lake from which flows the
wonderful Nile. The horrible slave traffic of
the White Nile, carried on by armed bands of
desperadoes under cover of seeking an ivory
trade, will, it is hoped, be seriously checked by
this expedition, and there is a belief that not
only will new world be opened to geographi-
cal and chronological discovery, but a new con-
tinent to commerce and civilization. Steamers
will be taken up the river in pieces, and
launched ON the lake. Whether tangible adj
vantages accrue or not from this Journey,
there will clearly be an end to the mystery o.
the Nile.''