The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1868-05-18

| An ingenious lunatic in San francisco
lately invented q self -propelling vessel 1t
was o combination Of three boats, hitched
together tandem, and the. theory was that
as the leading and. hindmost boats each de-
scended q wave, their impetus would draw
and push forward the middle one out of the
trough the latter, in. turn pushing its
leader up the next wave, and so ON. AT o
cost of $4,000 or $4,000 o working model
was constructed of. this odd variation OF the
old idea of azmau lifting himselfzinaa zbas-
ket and an e3perime ntalrtrip under
taken. The thing wassturnedE ioose,s
the inventor and two or three confding
companions, on board ) it drifted down the
harbor with the tide, and met the waves
outside which were to demonstrate the sue
cess of the invention. Five minutes had
suffced to show the party the utterrab
sdity of the plan; five minutes more placed
the establishment keel upward, and the ad-
yenturers contriyed to get into asman boat,
and were returned to the city, sadder, wet
ter, and something wiser than when they
started. A tug offered to take the sef-pro-
.peller back. to- port for $500, but the in
yentor had fooled too much money away on
il already, and declined the offer. At last
accounts the queer establishment was drift
ing Sandwich Islandsward, and we shall
next hear of it, probably, doing duty in
the exciting narrative of .some, shipmaster
as the latest and most Indispensable speci7-
men Of the sea serpent. .a-413.s
u The Congressional Globe Of the Thirty
seventh Congress contains two speeches,
one made in March and the other in April,
by different gentlemen, which are dupll-
Gates, the Bohemian who undertook to sup
ply them having sold the same speech to
both purchasers. This ID but o repetition,
however, of what happened in 1913, when
a ready writer furnished one OF the" let
tiers to constituents" in which Congress
men then aired their eloquence, to Hon.
John Clopton, of Henrico county, Va, and
then sold a. verbatim copy Of the same
epistle to Hon. Thomas Claiborne, OF the
Brunswick district. Somehow, the two let
tiers we're compared, and although each gen
tleman endeayorea to show that the other
one stole the letter from him, their constitn-
ents refused to reelect ether Cincinnati
Commercial.
I hear good story of colporteur who
ATTEMPTED to distribute some Spanish Tesla
ments among the New:Mexicans passing his
house with trains. They would not take
the books as q gift F.; SO, knowing their pro-
pensity for pilfering, he hit on the expe-
dent of hiding the Testaments in various
places about his premises, and they were
always taken when train passed. In that
way o considerable amount of gospel was
sdistributed," - but probably most of it had
still another. distribution as Waading to
Mexican guns.-Kansas correspondent.
A lady who changed an for a y and
added an e to her name (Smythe) while
abroad was recently asked it she had seen
the Dardanelles? 80 Oh, yes" she replied,
tive dined with them in Paris" The same
lady says that while abroad she "met with
a real Latin family, and Tom, who is Won
derfal lingnist,, conversed with them in
Latin, and translated it for the benefit of
the rest of the people ut the hotel"
Arkansas newspapers are not very valu-
able, if we may judge from the following
notice by the workmen in the office of a
Batesville paper Ito the absent editor
6 The editor has not yet returned, If he
don't come soon he will hear of the Office
being pawned for suit Of clothes and a
months board
A dandy, ordering o pair of pantaloons
of his tailor, said that he wanted them very
tight, according to the latest fashion. If
7 can get them on" said he, 81 won't take
Them q
A man is about to be tried for murder in
Paris for having blown out the brains of q
friend who wanted to commit suicide but
hadn't the courage.
Some Of the Fifth avenoodles of New York
are now dressing their. male servants in
scarlet breeches and cream-colored coats,
in imitation Of English snobbery.
An ambitious mechanic in New York dis
plays as sign The First National Car
penter Shop"
Threatening attitndes that never excite
journalistic ire-Raising clubs for neWspa-
pers. ..sss So
g Inyeigling tactical distillery /" is the
Cincinnati phrase for stealing q COW.
Josh Billings says: The best cure |
know for tite boots is small feet.
The most classic Of operas-0pera Cice-
ronis. /. gs-.
Query: Are earthquakes weather.