The Portland daily press., 1875-05-04
News and Other Items.

A Berne despatch says the states belonging
to the postal union have ratified the trt atty.
France signed subject to the consent of the
Assembly.
Prof. Hayden, United States geologist, has
been elected as foreign correspondent of the
Geolog cal Society of London one of the high
est honors conferred on biologists in any coun-
try.
A Boston lady has just received a letter from
Richard Wagner in which The composer ex-
presses much pleasure over the appreciation in
the United States of his works as rendered by
the orchestra of Theodore Thomas.
An Indiana woman claims to have died and
spent an hour in heaven. She doesn't state
the reason why she returned; but it is gener-
ally reported that tie average Indiana woman
doesn't desire to be an angel until she sees this
Bsecher business Strengthened out
Assignees of the estate of Armstrong & Co,
of Boston, have brought suit against that city
to recover the value of their stock aud store
blown up at the great fire. Plaintiffs claim
the stock could have been gotten out if half
hours time had been given. No one can be
found who acknowledges the responsibility for
blowing up the store.
The Metropolitan Railroad Co. in Boston has
adopted the system OF distinguishing their diff
ferent lines by the color of the horses attached
to the street cars, in addition to the usual signs
upon the cars themselves. Thus they equip all
the teams for Chelsea with grey or white
horses and all those for East Boston with bay
borses The Third Avenue Railroad Co. of
Boston once atte % pied the same system.
Representative Randall of Pennsylvania, has
been telling what he thinks the Speaker of the
next House of Representatives should do about
the committees. He thinks that the proclivi-
ties of the Speaker toward high tariff, free
trade, or any of the leading questions upon
which parties divide, must be eliminated from
his mind while making selections of members
of committees, and they should be formed as
nearly as possible in accordance with the views
of rhe House itself.
An exhibition is now taking place OF up
wards of 1000 tapestries of different kinds,
which are at the royal palace, Madrid. The
oldest of these are those which belong to Ferdi-
nand and Isabella, Philip the Handsome and
Charles V. The newest are those made at the
carpet manufactoary founded by Charles Ill,
which still exists at Madrid. A few of them
were exhibited OF very important occasions
during the reign of Isabella but even these
displays ceased during the short reign of
Amadeus. Now the public is to see them all
in one exhibition.
At spelling match in Pulaski, Tenn, few
nights since, the audience laughed at every
man who missed, of course Col Rogers gave
Out the word ''sachel." Mr.. Taliaferro spelled
it as Just indicated, whereupon the audience
lad down and rolled over and laughed and
bieated and roared and squealed and Uttered SO
and punched each other, and at last subsidized so
that Col. Rogers could be heard. He blandly
informed the audience that Mr.. T. had spelled
the word correctly. They then commenced to
look blank at each other and looked green and
foolish and had the dry grins, and you could
have heard pin drop.