The Portland daily press., 1872-06-01
THE PRESS.
SATURDAY MORNING, JUNE 1, 1879.
News, Gossip and Editorial Notes.


News, Gossip and Editorial Notes.
A gushing New Yorker now suggests a
monument to Christopher Columbus. 1t
seems to be the general sentimentthat Colum-
bia is monument enough for any man.
No one need pride himself upon genius, for
it is the free gift of God; but of honest indus
try and true devotion to his destiny any man
may well be proud; indeed, this thorough in
tegrity of purpose is itself the divine idea in
its common form. and no really honest mind
is without communion with God.
A Western editor has heen languishing for
some material for sire fiend'' eloquence.
The other day the opportunity came; an
$500 house was burned down and he wrote !:
again has the terrible devastator visited our
ill-fated country"
The ecstatic bobolink has made his appear
ance in Boston, to be in season for the Jubi-
lee. s i-r. lsr[. tsI L t-4-
-rs..r .a..l l1.nas q - -..l t.I.
President Grant, it now appears, intends
going to Long Branch, when Congress ad-
journs. Afterward he and his wife propose
visiting the great lakes, returning by way of
the st. Lawrence River.
The Ch,vchnadn objects to the ''trade-
mark' system in literature and religion. A
merchant may order case of goods of such
or such brand, it argues, and be confident
of satisfaction, but when the public trusts to
reputation for fine writing they often encour-
age laziness and praise trash. Iff
The Chicagoans utilize their debris by us
ing it for stufing in their double-walled build
ings. a & .ata t-
Z Mrs. Helen Hunt, author of ssBits of Tray
ell" is treating herself to another ''Bit'' on
the Pacific coast, whereof we may expect to
have graphic report in some of the maya
zines. sna er
London correspondent thus writes of the
indulgence of English women in the flowing
bowl: "You go to the theatre, and between
the scenes well-attired women in the dress
circle will take out pocket-fask, and re-
fresh themselves with brandy or port. You
enter railway carriage, and your fair visa
Wis most nnblushingly takes her flask and
sucks her sherry before your eyes. sf.
A1esgQ sl ail g. Jtiii - 7if ntt
Col Thomas A. Scott, Vice-President of
the Pennsylvania Central road, has been or
dered by his physician to stop work if he
would live. The President of the road has
gone to Europe for his health, and the Sec
ond Vice-President has been taken to an in
sane asylum. Railroad men work too fast
Mr.. Beecher says that as soon as we have
got politics settled, business reformed, human
natnre elevated, he is determined to form
society for the reformation of botanical
names. -.......s.r -..
A young lady says that gentleman ought
never to feel discouraged when the ''momen-
tous question is negatived by the object of his
choice, for in life, as in grammar, we always
decline before we conjugate."
Persia famishes no more. Water is now
abundant, and crops magnificent. 9
Charles Kent, poet of some distinction,
and an intimate friend of Dickens, has in
press volume of 'Recollections'' of the great
novelist
An Iowa City chap has been compelled to
pay $500 to doctor for sewing up his throat
and the arteries of his wrists, which he had
voluntarily opened for the purpose of going
hence. 7r t
A recent writer says, .'It is mortifying to
see how largely our antipathies grow out of
ignorance, and how we regard as enemies
those who are simply strangers" $50
The Baltimore American suggests that
fund for the purpose of providing certain
number ofpoor boys with boots and clothing
that they may attend the public schools, feeling
decently clad, would do more good than the
establishment of school for the gratuitous
education of few of them.
The morbid craving for vegetable narcotics,
which among us is grattfied by the use of to-
bacco, in Java and the Philippine islands
finds its qualification in the betel nut. This
nut, which is used for chewing, resembles a
nutmeg and grows upon a tree that is spe-
cies of palm. Though its effects are deadly,
the habit once formed cannot be broken off,
and, with teeth, gums and digestion worn
out the victim dies with an unsatisfied long
ing for another quid. There are large planta-
tions of betel nut trees in Java to meet the
demand for home consumption and distant
| provinces a