The Portland daily press., 1889-09-30
PERSONAL AND PECULIAR.

A Frenchlpaper says that sea monster,
such as no fisherman has ever seen before,
has been stranded on Bancais Rock, situated
to the west of the island of st. Honorat, near
Cannes. The creature measures five and one
| half meters In length and is five meters
/ round the thickest part of its body. IL mas
| beak resembling that of parrot ana TWO
| horns on its head; its eyes are at distance
| Of one meter from the extremity OF the pFaB.
The Sultan is much alarmed by his increas-
| ing obesity, and be has just summoned DR..
| Schwennenger to Constantinople from Ber-
| lin. for whose accommodation palace on the
| Bosporous at Therapia has been prepared
where he is to stay for week. DIR. Schwen.
| nengers treatment has immensely benefited
| Prince Bismarck, and the Gar was much the
better for 1t, but he soon gave it up, as he is
an inveterate gormandizer,. and careful and
very plain feeding was as impossible to him
as the prescription of one tumbler of weak
whiskey and Apollinarls at each meal, in
stead CT the magnum of champagne which he
usually consumes. be
Queen Victoria is one of the four most ac-
complished linguists among living ladies of
imperial rank, the other three being her own
daughter, Victoria, the widowed German
Empress; Marie Feodorovna, the Russian
Czarina, and Elizabeth, the Austrian Kaise-
rim. Sheis absolute mistress of the four Euro
pean languages French, German, Italian
and Spanish-which are most interesting
from literary point of view. Taking into
CONSIDERATION her strong prediction for the
a. Land O Cakes" and for the Highland people
~ is 6y no means surprising that Her Majesty
should be "weel acqIent with ia Gaelic" and
some years ago, she assiduously and success
iully studied one of the native languages of
her Indian Empire.
william Ernest Henley, whose "Verses,"
have Just been published by Scribner, is
Scotchman, literary protege of Robert Louis
Stephenson and the editor of the Scots-Ob-
server. He is one of the men who have had
literary greatness thrust upon them, and he
has paid fearful physical price for his men,
tai development. He began life as a laborer,
unconscious of latent intellectual power, un-
versed In the primary elements of education,
and man Of dissipaied habits. He met
with terrible accident, both lower limbs
being crushed beneath boulder, and while
at the hospital for treatment met Robert
Louis stephenson, who was also a patient at
the institution. Then commenced the mental
existence which has led him through the
stages vi newspaper correspondents, art
editor, and magazine contributor to the rank
Of poet. His limbs are still completely para
lyzed, and he does all his work in an invalid
chair, out of which towers his massive blonde
head, set on magnificent pair of shoulders
His conversation is brilliant and inspiring,
and he counts bis friends among the cleverest
and most brilliant literary men of London.
Dir. Louis A. Sayre, the very eminent
New York surgeon, paid short visit to
Lexington Ky, his native place, and sought
out "old Aunt Bell" an aged negress In
answer to his inquiries she gave him the
following spicy bit of recent experience
with the faith cure: 'Ise not very we'll; but
de old man he was" Accidentp "No laws
me, honey it was all on puppus. Here's de
way gone done it. l was dying with the
toofake, and had my head all tied up. De
old man says to me; says he: Bell, dere's
nufhn de matter wild You. Just tink dere's
no toofake; dere never was toofake; YOU
have no tooofake; never had. and never will
have; dere's no pain never was and never
will be: and you'se WELL. As soon as de old
man said dat / picked ub de old chair and
| hit him over de head, cut open great cash,
ana as de old man was ruunin' l showed
him and he fell out of de door and broke
free ribs. When dey carried him to his bed.
says to him, says, l; Now, ole man, you
take dat medicine yourself Just tink deere
Is no pain;. dere never was pain; and you
have no pain an, dat your ribs is not broke;
dat dey neber will be broke: and you'se
WE'LL tell you, honey. dat cured de ole
man of dat foolishness."