The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1872-08-05
TIL ID PRESS,
MONDAY MORNING, AUG. s, 1879.
Gleanings and Gossip.

A Paris journalist tells of man, recently
arrived in that city, who is the victim of a
steam boiler explosion to such an extent as to
make necessary the following additions TO
what was left of natures handiwork after the
the accident: One wooden arm and two
wooden legs, glass eye, nose made from
the skin of the forehead, a silver jaw, apalate
composed of bit of caoutchouc, and stom-
ach consisting of a sort of truss. He will
make the tour of Europe as an artificial curl
osity.
WeigePs famous collection of specimens of
early printing was lately sold at auction in
Leipsic. Very high prices were obtained.
The British Museum paid over seven thous-
and dollars for the only existing xylographic
copy of the "Ars Moriendi," and six hun
dred dollars were paid for one leaf of one of
Gutteuberg's earliest Bibles.
The keeper of the Duxbury, Mass, Light
house sweeps up from the deck every morning
two or three quarts of gnats, flies, and mos
duitoes, attracted by ithe light of the lantern
during the night and killed by the heat of the
flame.
An idiotic pastor in one of the Cincinnati
churches breaches against lightning rods and
insurance companies. He says the one is
defying the God of heaven, while the other is
a refusal to trust Providence.
Albany mourns the loss of its oldest inhabi-
OF fho of1
was her name, and Africa her nation. As a
matter of conrse, she was on intimate terms
with Gen. Washington and the personal
friend of Lafayette.
When Barnum's cannibals offered one of
the spectators at the show in Louisville $40 if
he would give him his little boy on the half
shell, for breakfast, in the morning, "My little
boy is not for sale," replied the fond parent,
''but Pve got stall-fed mother-in-law you
can have for half the money"
Carl Radel, German professor, has recent
ly published work entitled ''Fusang," in
which he brings proofs, which he declares to be
irrefragable, to the effect that the mysterious
country called ''Fusang' in the early Chinese
chronicles, and which many scholars have
had no reference whatever to this continent.
He asserts that it is simply absurd to believe
that the Chinese discovered this continent
prior to the Mortimer and Christopher
Columbus.
A motion las recently brought before an
English school board that corporal punish
should not be inflicted until twenty-four hours
after the commission of the offense for which
the punishment was deemed necessary. If
not only teachers, but parents also, should
adopt some such rule, many children would
escape unmerited stripes. Corporal punish
ment i, too often inflicted in the excitement
of anger and passion.
Young ladies at Cape May complain that
the ''Flirtation walk'' there is too brilliantly
illuminated at night.
scorpion BROTH is Southern for poor
whiskey.
The following notice is posted conspicuous
ly in a newspaper office out West: "Shut
the door, and as soon as you have done talk
ing business, serve your mouth the same
way"
''Talk about you shuttin' a feller's self up
with burnin' charcoal and dyin' easy" said a
disgusted Hoosier, ''why shut myself in the
OK yard, and burnt more'n bushel of the
| sfnR apH frnx hut 1ptf J;a
"Did you put the bars up?" 'sNo," replied
the Hoosier, looking blank, ''and that's what
beat me.'
The Mining Gazette has this delicate per
sonal item: ''Those who know old Mr.. Will
son, of this place, personally, will regret to
hear that he was assailed in brutal manner
last week, and was not killed."
The story is told in St, Paul of a young la
dy, who, being followed by her pet poodle
heard a little yelp behind her, and saw an en-
terprising urchin making off with it, with &
lasso around its neck. She followed, plead
ing for her pet, when the kind-hearted boy
gave it up, remarking, "You'd better keeI
him to hum, mum, or somebody will stea
himr'
1t is intimated that after the expiration o
his term as Vice-President, Mr.. Colfax will
remove to ST. Louis, and assume the editoria
management of the Democrat.
A Pennsylvania paper states that a table
spoonful Of quicksilver was lately found in al
old grave in York County, supposed to hav
the form of blue mass as medicine. This i
a tough story to believe, but they must hav
practiced medicine with heavy doses in tina
neighborhood, some years ago.
And now railroad is projected throug
the valley of the Nile. How will the mum
mics like this innovation? What will be tn
emotions of some ancient Egyptian, who ha
slept for unnumbered ages in the mysteriou
heart OF a dusky pyramid, when he heal
the shrill prosaic scream OF the nineteent
century locomotive? The Sphinx will, W
hope, celebrate the occasion by getting Il
some new conundrum in place of her prim,
val poser. Of course Yankee powers of CUES
ing will prevail against this original prototyp
of Joe Miller. 1t is quite possible that th
crocodiles may make it a little lively for pa
sengers at first.
Why is it that the minor poets of the pre-
ent day are so given to bowling? Perhaps
would be more civil for us to designate the
style as ''world-weary" "or heart-broken," (
something of that sort. But ''howling" is Il
, word we mean, and we ,riu say ''howling.
Take up magazine, and, nine cases out
ten, instead of finding there poem, dealir
it may be with some of the sad experience
that must come in life-but in a brave, healtl
full spirit-you will find some weak wall
the set might have been" school, of aspir
tions for-the writer doesn't know exact
what, and very likely wouldn't care about
if he or she did know, and despair, that
evidently the result of too strong coffee Al