Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1884-07-13

At Seaside Park q number OF boys were
PLAYING with broken telephone wire. One
Of them threw it over IN clectric-light wire
and another grabbed II. SO strong was The
current that he could not let 90 OF il, AMI
be died before it could BE taken out o! his
hand.
Two crowns, which are supposed 70 have
belonged 10 French soVereigpS. have been
unearthcd in pawn-shop nj Paris. One
IS OF tie Charles Y. period; the othor Is 50
battered and disfgured a. 10 be very dill
cult OF identification, but il i thought thlt
it may have been pledged by The thieves
who robbed the Cathedral OF -. Denis
some time ago.
There were curious dishes in Queen
Ehzabcth's time, ana many OF them were
esteemed great dclicacies. Among Them
were: sea gulI"; picked goose. with
cloves and ginger; "s1uScd TURKEY
boiled in white wine and vinegar and
soaked for 4 month; "cOld FOWL chopped
up with currlnts. -four and eggs, shaped
into The form oi pear, and baked The
stalks OF tulips wee cooked Ike peas.
There were also omelct- on aaloW stalk,
harish0rn jelly, apple syrup. and qllnc'
cheese.
Cavalier Mocrath. civil engineer, who
has devoted himself 10 the improvement.
OF wafer supplies in Italy, exhibit, q d ID in
England which he took from a tuhe-TcU in
Foniana del PratO, near the old city OF
Cori. between Rome and Naples. Thisifh
had passed into The tu1r-we,i II . depth OF
about seventy ct through the ordinary
perioratiors OF ahOut one eighth o. AZ
inch. il is without eyes, clearly indicatin-
that it belonged f. an order intended q in
habit subterTanCan waters. The SOL from
which the fish came was fine sand and She
water was fresh, with temperature Of
about 4Oo Fahrenheit.
The last census shows that IN The State OF
Massachusetts, there were 1j,G5j persons
above the age o! ten who could not read,
being 5.3 per cent. OF all persons above
that aga proportion which is exceeded
by no other eastern State except Rhode
Islsnd. The last Legislature passed a law
which, it is hoped, will tend 10 check The
advance OF this percentage. IL provides
that any person who employs minor four
teen years OF age who cannot read and write
shall forfeit from go TO $50, aud that any
person who employ a minor over fourteen
years OF age who cannot read and write.
providing such minor has been for one
year resident OF city or town wherein
free evening schools are maintained, shall
forfeit from 80 TO 800 for every such Of
fence, to 80 to the benefit OF the evening
schools.
There are fabulous stories about how
long a toad can live without food or air, as
they often get into places they cannot get
out of. and bury themselves in the mud for
months at a time. Mr.. Buckiand has Just
concluded series Of experiments which
show that they cannot live this way Tor
two months. which leads TO the conclusion
that the legends OF the discovery in the
bowels OF the earth OF tOads that possibly
lived before Noah are misleading. They
certainly get modicum OF air in their
| hiding-places. There is no trustworthy
account OF live geological toad. There
are toads found IN stones. but they are
merely housed up in a solid coat OF sun
baked clay. which, on the exterior, seems
as hard as stone, but which, in all prob9-
| bility, contains some tissure invisible 10 the
naked eye through which it gets air and
| drink.