The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1872-03-28
New Publications.

Roughing it, By Mark Twain.-Mark has
here made a sort of autobiography giving de-
tailed account of his life and experiences in his
first trip across the plains, his visit to Salt Lake
City, his life in Nevada and San Francisco,
concluding with an account of his visit to the
Sandwich Islands given in very much the style
of his lecture on that subject. On this bio
graphical thread he strings great numbers OF
his delightfully."- extravaganza stories and quaint
jokes, considerable part of which have been
put in letters by him long ago and have been
printed in every newspaper in America. In
fact the book is a compilation of his writings
for years, with but very little new matter and
that evidently put in merely for filling" His
account of the wild life and manners of the
early times in Nevada is vastly entertaining
1t has sort of savage flavor which is really
captivating. A capital picture is given OF the
desperate Slade who sifrom Fort Kearney,
west, was feared a great deal more than the
Almighty" Some of his descriptions OF scenery
are fine, particularly that of Lake Tahe. he
says-of the transparency of the water
$50 singularly clear was the water, tnat
bottom was SO perfectly distinct that the boat
seemed floating in the air! Yes, where u was
even eighty feet deep, every little people We
| distinct, every speckled trout, every n faau
| breadth of sand After, as we lay on our races,
Granite boulder. as large as a village church,
would start out of the bottom apparently, and
seem climbing up rapidly to the surface, till
presently it threatened TO toucn our 1aces and
we could not resist the impulse to seize an oar
| and avert the danger. But the boat would float
on and the boulder descend again, and then we
could see that when we had been exactly above
it, it must have been twenty or thirty feet be-
| low the surface. Down through the transpar-
| ency OF these great depths, the water was not
merely transparent but dazzlingly, brilliantly
SO. All objects seen through it had a bright,
strong vividness, not only of outline, but of
every minute detail, which they would not have
had when seen simply through the same depth of
atmosphere. So empty and airy did all space
| seem below us, and SO strong was the sense of
floating high aloft in mid-nothingness, that we
! called these boat excursions "balloon voyages?'
The well-worn stories and jokes seem like
old friends in their new setting, the whole is
thoroughly permeated with that dry drollery OF
which Clemens is master and, on the whole
we pronounce the book one of the best of the
season. .zi--ate Ea4s
Published by the American Publishing Com
pany. Sold only by subscription. John Rus
sell, Agent, As Exchange street. ~
tigation into the official conduct of H. R. HUI
burd, controller of the currency, made by the
House Banking and Currency. Committee, has
ended in the adoption by the committee of &
resolution requesting his removal The inyes
tigation has been in progress for nearly 81,
weeks and been chiefly occupied with the trans
actions growing out of the failure of the Ten
nessee National Bank of Memphis. During it,
last critical days and after damaging repor
by the examiner, Bull Hulburd accepted pres
ent of a carriage from Rutter, its president, ant
subsequently, on Rutter's demand, gave, hin
$100 to square the transaction. The principa
witness against Hulburd was Rutter, whose
character is not one of the best, but who
swears to liberal use of money among the Off
Gals sent from Washington to examine and
conduct his bank, and who said that they were
obliged to divide with Hulburd. Other abuses
such as charging money for charters to nation
al banks favoritism and connection with con
gressional subordinates are alleged. On thu
other hand Controller Hulburd's friends com
plain of the manner in which the House ha.
be taken with some allowance. The principa
charge against him was that six years ago HI
accepted present of carriage from banl
president, the bank at the time being in an un
sovnd condition. 1t must be considered doubt
full that he was influenced by this gift, for si1
liquidation and appointed a receiver.