The Portland daily press., 1872-07-31

"A Engllsh peer recently tried TO dlsfranchlse
himself When the last reform bill was be-
fore the House of Lords the noble lord offered
an amendment that no one should be allowed
the franchise who could not write his name
in legible hand. The clerk whose duty it
was to read the amendment to the house was
unable to decipher it, SO wretchedly was it
written.
A professional tea-taster in England recent
ly met with an accident on railway by which
his sense OF taste was impaired, thereby in
juring his business capacity, and jury has
awarded him $1,000 damages.
1t is always pleasant to get an inside view
OF tale or poem, to know to whom belong
the real characters, which we know in the
guise of fiction. A correspondent of the
Washington Chronicle tells us something
about the people who figure in the ''Wayside
Inn," and to whose tales we have listened.
Mr.. Luigi Monti, our consul at Palermo, a
Sicilian by birth, is the "young Silician,"
and tells the story of King Robert, of Sicily.
The landlord was Lyman Howe, of Sud-
bury, Mass. Henry Wales was '.the youth of
quiet ways" Ole Bull, the musician -
Prof. Treadwell, of Cambridge, the ''theolo-
gian," and 7. W. Parsons, "the poet"
The following legend relates how certain
grand duke of Florence built bridge without
expense to the state: The grand duke issued a
proclamation that every beggar who would
appear in the grand plaza, at certain des-
ignated time, should be provided with new
suit of clothes free of cost At the appoint
ed hour the beggars of the city assembled,
whereupon the officers caused each avenue of
the public square to be closed, and then COM
PEELED the beggars to strip off their old clothes
and gave to each one, according to promise, a
new suit. In the old clothes thus collected,
money enough was found concealed to build
beautiful bridge over the Arno, still called
the Beggars' bridge.
" An Omaha paper advises the people ''not
to make such fuss about the shooting of a
constable, as there are forty candidates for
the Office"
The travellers in a balloon which recently
started from Boston say that the bottom of
the ocean in shoal places was distinctly visible
to them while passing over the sea, and the
abundant growth ofsea weed caused the YES
sells to appear as if sailing in a field of grass.
1t appears that Lolita, the charming little
actrss, and the brightest of them all, has been
missed from Long Branch the present season,
whereat the visitors, especially the spoony
young gentlemen, are greatly exercised. Her
cunning little phaeton and auburn-haired
driver are no longer to be seen. The story is
that she has packed up her play books, put
aside theatrical wardrobes and gone. into a
French convent school, where she is to re-
main year or two devoting herself to the
study of languages and music. 1t is stated
she is not to return to her profession at least
until year from the approaching autumn.
The idea of sending the New York morn
ing papers to Chicago by pneumatic tube iu
time to read at the breakfast table, does not
seem so feasible when we know that the law
governing pneumatic power is said to be :"The
meanspeed doftransmission varies inversely with
the length, and inversely also with the square
root Of the diameter of the tube" If this be
true, body which flashed through a tube a
mile long in one minute would take sixteen
minutes to go through four miles of tubeing
and would crawl through the thousand miles
between New York and Chicago in one year,
229 days, 10 hours and four minutes.
A man in Oneida, N. Y, depends on lee
turing for living beyond any other man we
know Of His sister left quite property in
trust tor him; but, knowing him to be peculiar
and likely to spend it all, her VIII provided
he should receive five dollars for every lecture
he should deliver. And so he lectures morn.
ing, noon and night as opportunity offers, or {
little audience of children or adults can bt
gathered, if it be only a complaisant family
group around breakfast table.
The queen of Denmark has been sued for q
dry goods bill of S104, contracted in Copen
hagen. She thought the bill exorbitant, anG
refused to pay it.
Julia Schenck, the daughter of the Ameri
can minister at the English court, is better
diplomatist than her father. She has nego
tiated a treaty of alliance with Mr.. Sturgis, 9
well-known millionaire.
A remarkable reporter has appeared ir
New York, who, in addition to the usua
qualification, of the profession, possesses the
gift of clairvoyance, and will undertake tC
report without being personally present the
proceedings of any meeting which may take
place. The Herald and World have Ions
had such fellows on their stats without the
pretension of clairvoyance.
How non committal in politics are the
breezes? Flags of every stripe are thrown t.
them daily, and they receive them all indis
criminately-a kiss and blow for each.
Bravo, Dutchman! A member of thu
Prussian band wrote home that he woulC
give the whole French band for one keg o
Berlin beer on ice. Have they an Artemu
Ward among them, who would sacrifice al
his wife's relations?
Two friends meeting, one remarked, 81
have just met man who told me looked
exactly like you" "Tell me who it was thai
may knock him down." replied his friend
"Don't trouble yourself" said he, 81 did tina
myself"
A truly scientific revenge was recent.
effected, by young chemist in Venice
named Orlando Farnerini. He loved youn!
lady, but she loved young tailor better
Orlando owed the tailor for clothes, and sen
word that he would pay him and make hi
betrothed present, if they would both COM
to his laboratory. They accepted the invita-
ton, and were politely received and slyly lie,