The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1895-03-22
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.


There are at present in England and
Wales 1850 football clubs.
-Forty-eight English pennies weigh
as nearly as possible one pound.
"A ton Of good coal is said to yield
about 5000 feet of purified gas.
The field of Waterloo is covered with
crop of crimson peoples every year.
According to Marie Tempest the fin
est opera house in the world is ut Du-
luth.
-Scientists predict that in a century 8
time there will be no disease that is not
durable.
About o0O soldiers are discharged
yearly from the English army for bad
conduct
In Il cubic foot of phoSphorescent sea
wafer there have been found 2I,OQO liv-
Ing creatures
Coal is dcarer in South Africa than
in amy other part of the world. 1t is
cheapest in CHINA.
If coat Of paint were applied to the
sue in five hours.
-StartiSh are found ut almost every
depth in the sea. Some have been drawn
up from 2tOO fathomS.
The oldest national flag in the world
is that of Denmark, which has been in
uSr since the year 1219.
The canals" of Mars, it has been
calculated. would contain about 1,tSs4,
600 of our Suez canals.
The present Sultan of Morocco is de-
Srendtd from an Irish girl who became
Il member of the then royal harem more
than lhl years ago.
The water Of the oceans, notwitl-
standing the numerous local influences,
- nt..lr ~ "
cry part of the world.
The time required by the stomach to
digest turkey is two hours and thirty min
uttS. Chickens require four hours and
ducks four hours and IL half.
The color of the sea- is usually de-
Srrih.d as blue, but it is by no means
uniform. In the tropics it is sometimes
an indigo blue. ut others Il deep green.
Franklin taught that the ocean cur
rents were due to the influence of perma-
nrnt winds. in which opinion he was sus-
tanned by Sir John Hcrschel.
The actinia swallow seashells and
their inhabitants. and when inconven-
fenced by the hard substances simply
turn themselves inside out like stock
in-.
1t is only when approaching forty
years that the chestnut tree commences
t" be commercially prohtable: and even
then only one year i'll three yields Il good
crop.
The tobacco raised in Beloochistan is
exceedingly strong and cannot be smoked
toy any but the most vigorous white men.
ne natives do not appear to be affected
10y it.
The Japanese are fond of bathing
In the city of Toxic there are 800 public
!'ath-hnu>rS. i'll which Il person can take
Il bath. hot or cold, for the sum equal to
rnr h,lfpenny.
The total number of emigrants from
tn" ports of England last month was
!E4S. and. as compared with 7491 so
given in last years corresponding return,
shows L net increase of 24o7.
The most elaborate pipes are those of
the Turks and Persians. The bowls are
rtol about. and the stems are several feet
long and flexible. Some of these pipes
cost $1,000 each.
In 1872 somebody sent Catherine de
Me'li''i Il box Of powdered tobacco leaves.
She acquired Il taste for the herb, both
chewing and snuftins, or rather smelling
it. and for many years the plant was
called in France hcrbe de Ia Refine.
-Nne of the most remarkabl portions
of the report which deals with insanity
iii Ireland is concerned with the use of
ii
cases, mental failure is caused by the
imm"leratt. Use of these commodities
-ApSey house is occasionally thrown
open on Sunday to limited bodies of Wis
itorS who are admitted by ticket. but the
Duke Of Wellington demands that each
guest Shnuil wear slippers. Forty pairs
ar' kept for the special purpose.
An English writer says: 1T may in
1'rc>t your readers to know that in the
seven weeks ending with the 51st of De-
rrmhrr last counted IA distinct species
t"n of the county of Somerset
Niagara is il corruption of the Seneca
word \eagar:. meaning across the
neck. an allusion to the strip of land
between the lakes. The name has been
subjected to as many as thirty changes
since the discovery Of the cataract
Missouri is 4 compound of two In.
dian words. meaning the great yellow
water" The Dakotas called it Mime
shosha. muddy water" Marquette
gives it as Wemesouret: Thevenot calls
it Ou-miSsouri. The Agonquins knew
it as the Pektanoni.
The Rocky mountains were frs,
called MontagneS de Pierres Brillantes,
mountains of Sparkling Stones:' then
came Montagnes Rocheuses and finally
the designation now in common use The
In'lians called them The Crest Of the
World.
Adirondack was a nickname applied
to the Iroquois Indians to their enemies,
the AlgonquinS. The name means ''thc
people who eat tree BARK The terri,
tory now known as the Adirondacks was
called by the Indians Coughsarage, the
Dismal Wilderness
The very ambitious scheme of drain
age of the Zuyder Zee is at last to be
taken in hand. 1t is expected by the
Dutch government commission that the
enormous cost lE30. OOO. 900 will be re-
covered by the reclaimed lands, and that
the task will occupy fully thirty years.
Tears are certain beauty destroyers
and bring wrinkles to the face sooner
than anything else. Women who weep
Oh all and every occasion lose their good
lo'.ks very early. A smiling face and a
cheerful. happy. temper are the best
nr,'servativcs Of beauty yet discovered.
-'Mississippi was formerly Meche
Scba. Father of Waters" 1t was first
spelled Misisipi by Talbot. Jesuit cx-
.plorer, and consonant after another has
since been added until it is now loaded
down. The Choctaws called it 1.-THE
Long River" the Illinois Indians knew il
as the Great Fish River"
A comparison of the maximum tenn
p"rat,lre in different parts Of the world
shows that the Great Desert Of Africa
is by far the hottest. This vast plain,
which extends 1000 miles from east to
west and 1000 miles from north to
south. is said to have a temperature of
$50 degrees Fahrenheit in the hottest
days Of summer.
In Great Britain out of every 100
women fifteen marry between the ages
Of IL and ~. ffty-two between 20 and
-, eighteen between - and 30, eleven
between 80 and 49, three between 40
and 30. while only one marries between
the ages Of 80 and GO. So that a wom-
ans chances Of matrimony are best be-
tween the ages of 20 and p.
A very curious custom in Seoul.
corea, is the law which makes it obliga-
tory for every man to retire to his home
when the huge bronze bell of the city
has proclaimed it to be the hour of sun
set and the time for closing the gates.
No man is allowed in the streets after
that hour under pain of togging, but the
women are allowed to 90 about and visit
their friends.
What the Porcupine Can Do.
The porcupine cannot shoot his quilts,