The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1889-05-25
THE MAINE STATE PRESS.
PERSONAL AND PECULIAR.


| In 1882 the Chairman OF the London and
Northwestern stated that there had not been
been single passenger killed on their line
within the previous three years. Sir John
Hawkshaw. speaking Of safety on railways
generally, said shat only one passenger was
injured for every 1000 900 Of miles travelled
and on an average 9. person may travel 100,-
600 miles each year for forty years and the
chances are Of not receiving the slightest
injury" Again, Sir Z. Watkin maintained
thaf railway travelling was safer than eating
because 1t is fact that more people choke
themselves In England than are killed ON all
the railways Of the United Kingdom"
II never had an experience like last
nights" Abraham Lincoln said to General
Simon Cameron the morning after his
second inaugural reception. Here are my
fingers all blistered with the hand shaking
The old man looked a little incredulous.
But Lincoln led him to the light-they had
met by chance in the main hallway of the
White House, where it is rather Oakland
showed him his blistered fingers. The palm
OF his right hand was swollen. The parts
which the President most complained Of
were almost raw. ~
According to Prof r. Lanciana in his
"Ancient Rome In the Light Of Recent Dis
c0veries, many Of the famous statues, over
whose discovery so many grave treatises
have been written and so many wordy quar-
rels waged. were purpcsely buried for preser-
walton during some crisis Of war. An in
stance given Is OF statue discovered in 1885
at the side OF the Quirinal, which had been
carefully buried in sifted earth, so that the
surface of the bronze might escape injury.
Prof. Lanclani asserts that numbers Of sup
posed lost statutes were preserved In private
residences, many being so cared for in the
pope's palace at the Lateran. a
A well-known wine dealer in San Fran
cisco has just determined the result of a very
Interesting experiment with California wine.
The question which he undertook to solve
was the ability of California wine to bear
long sea voyages without deteriorating. To
Determine this he shipped four casks of
Zinfandel from San Francisco to Havre,
France, around the Horn. Thence the wine
was taken to Antwerp, and from there
shipped back to San Francisco, again around
Cape Horn. The wine left San Francisco in
June, 1888, and arrived there again on the
return voyage in April OF the present year.
Two casks of wine were fortified with nearly
one per cent Of California brandy and the
other two were shipped in their natural
Francisco the shipper invited number Of
experts to be present when the casks were
opened. 1t was found that each cask had
lost about two and half gallons by evapor-
alton. The wine was compared by the
experts with similar wine kept In the ship
per's cellar while the four casks were away,
and It was unanimously agreed that the wine
which had taken the voyage was in perfect
order and was better than that remaining in
the cellar. ertIlFrsas 80,
The inscription on the tomb Of Colonel
John Custis, the father OF Mrs. Washing
toms first husband, Daniel Parke- Gusts,
should be added to the list of Washingtonian
relics and curiosities which are being brought
out this centennial year. The colonel's wife
is represented to have been hayward, i'll
tempered and self-willed, and tradition says
that the colonel was no more a saint than
she. Their honeymoon had scarcely ended
when war Of words between them began,
and ended only with her life, which was ter
minated by smallpox. Her tongue was
more expert than his and she actually man
aged to have the last words in their oral
cQmbats: The colonel, however, provided in
his will for having the last word OF all, for
Daniel Parke Gusts, his son and heir was
ordered, on pain Of disinheritance, to have
the following epitaph inscribed on his fathers
tomb:
"Under this marble tomb lies the body Of the
Hon. JOHN CUsTIs. ESQ.,. e.
OF the city Of williamsburg
and Parish of BrutOn,
Formerly OF Hungar's Parish, on the
Eastern shore
CT Virginia, and County Of Northampton.
Aged q years, and yet lived but seven years.
which was the space OF time he kept
bachelors home at Arlington, -
on the Eastern shore OF Virginia."
On the opposite side Of the tombstone is
the following:
"This inscription put on his tomb was by
his own positive ORDERS"
Gen. William Tecumseh Sharman Is kept
as busy as belle posting his social journal,
acknowledging books, prints, hampers of
game and cordials, and accepting as many OF
the cards of invitation as the all-too-short
days win permit. Every morning he is at
breakfast by s o'clock, looking as fresh and
sweet as new babe straight from the bath.
There are always two or three young ladies
at the table, guests Of the Misses Sherman.
and the butler has a trick of serving the
fruit, delicately Drowned omelettes, sea food,
rice cakes rolls and coffee so as to squander
at least an hour and half Of the morning
for the old warrior, who breads being alone,
or with his own thoughts. From the break
last table ne goes to the library, seats him
self In a big prune-leather chair and with a
toothpick between his lips, and fierce look
ing miniature scimetar between his fingers,
cuts his way through mass of mail Of
character to move whole university OF
beaux to envy. There are letters from all
parts OF the country, and from all sections
Of the city, and "all from girls" as he con-
fesses himself. He has q pretty habit of
sending rosebud, or spray of mignOnette,
to one lady by another and in return Is re-
paid by letter Of acknowledgment. The
dainty notes are read aloud to the little
group who enjoy the smiles that play, about
the soldiers face, often without needing the
fav0rs that provoke them, and when the
last seal is cut one OF the daughters piles the
open letters on salver and gives them to
her father, who goes up to his Office, where
the secretary awaits him. Here the two
work till luncheon time as diligently as any
merchant and stenographer in New York,
and in the afternoon IL there are no COM
panies, no receptions, no teas and no NATL
nees, the general busies himself on some
"reminiscences to be published later.
As is well known the Indians of our CONT
nent use rising smoke to give signals to dis
tant friends. A small fire Is started and, as
soon as it burns fairly well, grass and leaves
are heaped on top of it. Thus a large col
umn of steam and smoke rises. BY covering
the fire with blanket the rising of the.
smoke is interrupted at regular intervals.
and the successive clouds are used for con-
veying messages. Recently, r. Andree has
compiled notes on the use of signals bv
primitive people, and finds that they are
well nigh in universal use. Recently atten-
ton has been called to the elaborate system
of drum signals used by the Kamerun
negroes, by means of which long messages
are sent from village to village. While il
was supposed that this remarkable system Of
communication was confined to limited
region, exploration In the Congo basin have
shown that 1t prevails throughout Central
Africa. The Bakuba use large wooden
drums on which different tones are produced
by two drumsticks. Sometimes the natives
Converse" In this way for hours and from
the energy displayed by the drnmmers and
the rayidity of the successive blows, it
seemed.tbat the conversation was very AMI
mated. The Gala south of Abyssinia have
drums stationed at certain points fthe roads
leading to the neighboring States. Special
watchmen are appointed who have 10 beat
the drum on the approach of enemies.
Cecchi, who observed this custom, designates
Il as 'ssystem of telegraphs." The same
use OF drums is found In New Guinea. From
the rhythm and rapidity Of the blows. the
natives know at once whether an attack. a
death or a festival is announced. the same
tribes use columns Of smoke or lat night
fires to convey messages to distant friends.
The latter are also used in Australia. Col
umns of smoke OF different .forms are used
for signals by the inhabitants Of Cape York
and the neighboring islands. In Victoria
hollow trees are filed with fresh leaves.
which are lighted. The signals thus made
I'd nm Saretood nv their friends In Eaetarr