The Mysterious Frog of the Quarry
A stone-cutter in a local lime-rock quarry discovers a live, albino frog inside a solid rock, sparking a brief, curious stir in town.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Many well-authenticated stories of the finding of live toads and frogs in solid rock are on record, and that such things are possible was demonstrated here on Thursday afternoon, when a workman engaged in Varley Everill's lime-rock quarry, north of the city, broke open a large piece of rock, which had been blasted out, and a frog hopped out of a pocket in the center of the stone. Of course, the occurrence created a tremendous sensation among the workmen, and operations at the quarry were for the time suspended. The animal was somewhat smaller than the ordinary frog and was perfectly white. Its eyes were unusually large and very brilliant, but the frog was apparently blind. Where the mouth should have been there was only a line, and on the feet there was a dark, horny substance. Mr. Everill at once took charge of the curiosity and put it in a tin can, but the frog died yesterday morning. He brought it down town and it was examined with interest by a large number of people, and it was afterward presented to the museum where it will be preserved in alcohol.
“A frog hopped out of a pocket in the center of the stone.”
While science has since debunked the idea of frogs living inside solid stone for eons, this story perfectly illustrates the late 19th-century public fascination with nature's anomalies and the era's tendency to document such 'wonders' as local lore.
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