The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1895-09-20
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS,

The dumb piano" is Il new inven.
The edible dogs in China have blue
tongues. .
The annual profit of the Suez canal
is $15, 900, 1000.
mIhs railways of the world are worth
-Our farmers raised in 1893, 45O, 600,
WN pounds OF cane sugar.
-Fhe Empire of Charlenmgue covered
about 100000 square miles.
"A florist estimates that $500. 600. 900
Il year are realized from flowers.
Java and Arkansas are of nearly the
same size-o3,WO square miles.
Missouri raised in the census year
lM,H99,O lG bushels of Indian corn.
Lake Michigan was so named by the
Indians. The word means a "fsh-trap."
The Victoria embankment in Lon
don has Il surface of $4,000 square yards.
and costs $4,000 Il year to keep in re-
pair.
-Four hundredweight Of sealing WAX
per month is used by the Great Seal, of
which the lord chancellor is the official
custodian.
In the Fourteenth century the slaugh-
ter of women and children after Il town
or castle had been taken by storm was
one of the most common occurrences
of war.
-ClearchuS, the Spartan. laid down as
ont Of the maNimS of war the statement
that Il soldier ought to fear his own
general more than he did the whole hos
tile army.
Sergeant was once any lawyer. and
the name of this profession gave us the
SergeantS. S%argents, Saigents and 9th
rrs. while from the pltader came the
FleilOrS and I'leatlNrS,
-Ru>Sian Journals are still in mourn
ing tor the late Car. They will cull-
tlnue to surround their front page with
4 border of black until a year has
elapsed from the date of his death.
-Boarde,. Border. Bor,lerer, Bord-
man and some others recall the men who
titled the lands kept 10y Il nobleman for
the maintenance of his table and who
paid their rent in produce.
The Belgium government has decid-
ed to hold an information exhibition OH
Il large scale at Brussels in 1897. in
spite of the fact that the Paris cXhihi-
ton will follow only three years after
wards.
TIL, Order of Broom Flowers was a
French distinction which has long since
become extinct. The most conspicuous
badge of the order was Il cluster of broom
flowers. Worn in the hat or helmet.
The only American order ever found
ti was that of the Cincinnati, in 1888.
1t was soon dissolved, Il Society of Cincin-
natl taking its place. 1t was composed
Of the officers of the Revolutionary war.
There are doors in some old houses
of Holland which were in former days
never used except for funerals and wed
dingS. After the bride and groom had
passed the door WAS nailed up to await
the next occasion.
When the ESuuimauN man and wom-
an separate it is the practice of the men
l"nSingS. even stripping her of any part
Of her clothing that could be made useful
fer another wife.
III" sea serpent has migrated inland.
1t WAS seen in Lake Manitoba Il week
az" by a citizen of Minnewakan, Mani
toha. 1t WAS ut that time forty feet
long. had il head like IL bull dog. and was
covered with long. gray hair.
The Blue Bells of Scotland was the
work OF Annie MrNicar. afterwards Mrs.
''ranf. the daughter of Il Scottish officer
IN the British army The melody was
long believed to be Scottish. but is now,
known to be of English origin, being an
Old English folk song.
The Last Rose of Summer ono of
Iattls f%avorite songs, was the work OF
Thomas Moore. The melody is n very
ancient Irish tune. formerly known MS
the Groves of Blarney. This tune has
been found in collections of Irish music
at least 20O years old.
Among the treasures of tho .-Austrian
Crown are some religious relics that
would make the fortune of a church.
they include a nail from the Cross, a
fragment of the Cross itself. Il piece OF
wood from the manger at Bethlehem,
fragments of the apron worn by the Yir.
gin and a tooth of John the Baptist.
The total number of %lunatics, idiots
and persons of unsound mind in England
was. on January 1 of this year. 4.OS1. an
preceding year. The increase was con>
tined almost wholly to the parper ella S.,
and is due. apparently. it is said. to the
more general reception in asylums OF
cases of simple mental decay, resulting
from extreme old age.
The blue jay is proving a decided
pest in California by eating the eggs OF
other birds, particularly quail and game
birds. So the Olympic club of San
Francisco has appointed a ST.. Bartho oIn
news day. on which everyone who can
buy or beg or borrow a shotgun is to ioin
in the slaughter.
Because in Spanish etiquette tho
King can only associate with his EQUALS.
the boy Alfonso can have no oil
He cannot play with his own sisters as
an ordinary boy might. Plenty of TOYS
he has always had, among them q fine
rocking horse covered with the skin of
a real pony. This and his black cat-
Perrito. have been two of his greatest
comforts. so he is a real boy after all.
Adrian Diaconu, the Roumanian
architect and archeologist, claims to have
discovered in the ruins of the ancient
Roman camp at Bersovia. near Temes.
var. inco%ntrovertible proofs that the Ro-
mans. and especially the officers of the
Fourth Legion fFlavia felix. were ac-
Gualnted with the art of printing-that is
to say, with the use of movable tvpes-in
the Second century after Christ. The
professors of the Academy of Bucharest
confirm the assertion of Diaconu.