The Portland daily press., 1870-10-19
A Cosr11MrNr ro A ponr1Axn nnx .

A COMPLIMENT TO A PORTLAND Boy
American Juvenile Literature is vety popu.
lar with English critics. The Saturday Re.
view, which rarely speaks OF any book in COM
plimentary terms thus refers to a volume pub-
lished by Lee and Shepard The sElm Island
Stories by Rev. Elijah Kellogg, is one of those
books OF boy-lfe which are almost peculiar to
New England-books which take up that lite
from real and practical point of view. and de-
scribe American boys as they are or NAV be,
but yet find room for such displays of industry
and ingenuity, Of mechanical skill courage.
and adventure, as fairly rival the impossible
exploits attributed to the boy-heroes of less
wholesome and romantic fictions. and are
doubly interesting to boys because thew relate
facts which the reader can believe-dificulties
troubles, and triumphs, in which he can prac.
tically sympathize. The tale of building the
West Wine, and the amusing catastrophe Of her
fate, is more readable, as well as ten times
more healthy reading than the trashy romances
of which our juvenile book-shops are full, and
the penny journals. devoted 20 the boys of Eng
land that load the news vendors counters -
ACCORDING to an official statement from the
Commissioner of Public Lands, the estimated
quantity Of reserved sections along the West
ern railroads, still undisposed of and now sub
| iect to entry under the homestead and pre-
emption laws, there are $50 900 acres in Min
nesota, 1,550,000 acres in Michigan, 100000
acres in Iowa, and 265o,0OO acres in Wiscon-
sin, of which the West Wisconsin railrecd,
from Tomah to Lake st. Croix, is credited
with 100000 acres, and the st. Croix and Lake
Superior railroad with $4,000 acres. I'm
der the law passed last July every soldier,
or seaman, or officer who has served ninety
days in the Union army or navy, is entitled, on
the payment of a fee of ten dollars and other
usual small commissions to the land offices, to
enter a quarter section of land, not mineral,
of any :of the even-numbered sections with
in the railroad land grant limits of ten miles
on each side of the line of the road
The CAPTURE OF So1ssoNs. ca.
pitulated only after a most terrible destruction
of life and property. Three hundred and fifty
houses were laid in ashes. The Prussians en-
countered desperate resistance from the ma
tional guard fighting hand to hand in TIT
streets and capturing one part of The city
house by house. They were driven bach
through the burning city four times in success
sion, but were constantly reinforced and drov'
the French through sheer weight Of numbers
No quarter was shown and the wounded wer'
bayonetted where they fell. The women hurl
ed missiles from the houses on the heads of tn,
invaders Tue sacrifice of life was awful. TIL
Grand Duke of Mechlenburg wept at tn
slaughter, and refusing to order an assault
begged tie French commander to captulate il
the name of humanity. The splendid glas
works OF Gobelin and the foundries, mills an,
refineries were destroyed. 4L
THE INSTRUCTION M MAR7NIQUE.-Letter
from Martinique say that the instruction il
that islsnd was consequent upon proclama
ton by the Governor of the establishment q