The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1895-05-31
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.

The garter was first Worn by men,
During the SiXteenth century it reached
the dimensions of 4 large scarf around the
leg.
-Spectacles were worn only by people
of means in the Sixteenth century. as
they cost not less than $15 a pair. and
the larger the lenses and heavier the
rims the more they were sought after.
The phrase almighty dollar" was
first used. as far as known, by Washing,
ton Irving. 1t has since passed into gem
rral employment to indicate the Worship
of wealth, both in this country and in
England :
To pile on agony" is popularity sup
posed to be All Amcricanism. 1t is. how
ever, found in one of the letters of Char
l"tte Hronte. and was used in English
popular literature before the beginning
of thc present century.
-"Cruru,iile tears are alluded to by
several Latin and Greek authors, it be-
ing Il superstition among the ancients that
the crocodile. after killing man. ate all
his body but his head, and shed tears over
that before eating it also.
Barley is the most widely diffuSed of
any of the grains, 1t grows equally well
in Laplan.l and in the valley of the Nile,
the only difference being that in the lat
ter country it is capable of producing
two crops Il year.
-Alexan,ler the Great about B. &. 400
made an attempt t" Introduce many Ash
attic plants into Europe. Rice was among
the number. but the Greeks did not take
kindly to it's cultivation, preferring to inn
port it from India ami Egypt.
1t is said that the history of wheat
cultivation in this country shows steady
decrease. Fields in New York that for
merly produced 20 to 30 bushels an acre
now bring from I to T.. The falling
eff is due to lack of proper cultivation.
ReroSuS says that wheat grew wild
found growing wild on the Indus: Homer
thought that Sicily was it's native home,
while in our own time Balansa found it
wild on Mount Sipylu> in Asia Minor.
TO take French leave" is to depart
quietly from an evening party without
formal farewrllS. in order not to set an
example and so spoil the pleasure of the
entertainment. In England it soon ac
uured an entirely different meaning.
In water in which decaying vege-
tables have been infused the microscope
discovered creatures SO minute that TO-
600 of them would not exceed in bulk I,
grain of mustard though they are sup
piled with organs as complicated us those
of Il whale.
Within the present century the heads
of hair of whole families in Devonshire.
England. were let out by the year. An
Exeter periwis maker went round period
irally. cut the locks, and oiled the
ground thus left in stubble to stimulate
fresh crop.
Every year a number of boys are sent
from Siam by the King to England to
learn different things. One learns uphol-
Stery. one learns typewriting, one learns
languages. one learns science. and so on.
When they return to Siam each takes
with him some different information to
imi,art to others
There are at present 1000 languages
spoken by the inha hitantS of the globe
whose religious convictions are divided
between 1000 different confessions of
faith. The number of males is nearly
equal to the females
he system of washing linen with
petroleum. which is customary in parts
of Russia. has recently been introduced
into a German military hospital Fifteen
grammes Of petroleum are added to twen-
ty-SlN pints of water containing soap and
lye. and tho linen is boiled in the mixture
Placed end to end in continuous line.
the streets of London would extend from
The Mansion house across the entire con-
tlnent of Europe AMI beyond the UraI
mountains into Asia. The number of in
habtantS exceeds the population of
Paris. Berlin, Vienna and Rome put to-
g"ther.
In addition to several lakes in this
country in which the bodies Of drowned
people never reappear. there are numer-
land and Northern Russia. in which
dead bodies sink from view and are lost
forever. owing solely to the low tcmpera-
ture Of the water.
The ordinary Chinese meal consists
OF eight dishes-two vegetab les, eggs. a
fish. some sheIlfish, a bird and two
dishes of meat. pork and goat in the
South and mutton and beef i'll the
North. Beside this large tureen of
soup is served with rice. which at Chi
nese tables take the place of bread
The Eskimo dogs, with the equally
savage mosquitoes. make life ashore a
burden during summer in Labrador. a
stick to heat off the dogs and veil as
Il protection against the mosquitoes are
absolutely necessary. 1t is a. curious
fact that the further north you go the
more pestiferous mosquitoes become.
They are worse in Labrador than in
New Jersey.
1t is very difficult to get position
in the Marlborough house menage. The
preference is usually given to those pre-
viously trained in the household of the
Duke Of Saxe-Coburg. When the fam
lily are away the servants are placed on
board wages. just as in ordinary house
holds. When the princess is at home
the various rooms are crowded with the
rarcst flowers.
A French optician has recently
brought out an entirely new kind of
field or opera glass, which may be folded
up fiat and carried in the pocket. 1t
has no tube or barrel whatever, the OBJ
ject glass and eycpiece are hinged at
either end, and to the underside of a
horizontal bar, which is capable of being
heightened or shortened by a simple
ratch and pinion adjustment.