The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1895-04-12
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.

CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.
Bohemia was early famous for glass
production.
january blossoms fill no mans cellar,
says an old adage
In 14O7 the severe cold weather killed
all the small birds in England.
-Wrestlins was III favor in Scotland
long before the English adopted it.
AS late as the Seventeenth century
glass windows We're 4 rarity in Scotland.
The fulmar petral lays but one cgS.
yet 1t is believed to he the most nunler-
GUS bird in the world.
the French took to glass blowing in
the Sixteenth century and made great
progress in the art
Sea birds outnumbrr land birds, be-
cause their food never fails, not because.
they are more prolific.
,-Eandyke the painter. was fond of
the l'ecame1pn, and often, in convers,-
t'on, quoted from its pages
On Il tomb of Benz Hassen. supnos,]
to date from 5000 Il. c., there are repre-
sensations of glassblowers.
In England in the Twelfth century
houses provided with glass windows wert,
regarded as magnificent.
,-('ar,linal Rirhelieu once said that Tib-
ulluS. the Latin crotic poet. was the most
hatur;ll or all the anclentS.
-Hannah More made Il collection of
educational works and read extensively
on the line of female education.
,,-h"ilnghroke WAS warm admirer of
the French philosophical writer's and had
large collection of their works.
LOUIS NV. thought that Oyid's Art
OF Love- was one of the most charming
books that had ever been written.
THE word skate comts from the
Dutch. In the German language it siyni-
htS to glide along smooth surface.
In Holland the farmers wives and
daughters skate OH the canals to market
with H!lk. eggs, butter, etc, carried in
baskets on their heads.
--lht first positive a1luSion to the use
nt glass in windows was made by Lactan,
t:us about the close of the Third cent
ury. and by st. jerome about the close of
the Fourth.
The author of Piers plouyhman'.
're'tt who wrote probably at the end of
the reign of RICHARD H.. speaks of heral,
d't devices and merchants marks being
introduced in windows.
The largest Matchmaking machine in
the nited States is said to be at Everett.
WASH 1T was made by firm ut Green
point. l." l.. where this industry has been
handed down for generations.
In 1854 the forest trees. and even the
oaks in England. were split by the frost.
Most of the holies were killed: the
Thames WAS covered with ice II inches
thick; and nearly all the birds persisted.
In each and every month since the
new tariff laws went into effect from
2h" up to $3.50 more invoices of for
clEn goods entered at the New York
custom house than there were be fore that
period.
The United States has 1872 light
houses: S3 lishtshil~. % electric Luoys,
and 1889 lights on the Western rivers.
III" coast lights of this country REQUIRE
ll:'o men to keep them in order; the river
lights 1903.
Hone. in the "Every-Day Book" tells
us that the lcelanders used as skate
the shank bone of deer and sheep about
4 foot long, which they creased because
they should not be stopped by drcps of
water upon them.
1t is asserted by the Venerable Betle
that glass windows We're first introduced
into England in 67i by the Abbott Bene,
dict; but at this time, and for many
years AFTERWARDS, the use of glass wa:
limited t" ecclesiastical structures.
Lincoln had a kindly voice that at,
trarte'l all who heard it, Even in public
efforts ne raeIy spoke in 4 loud tone but
the d!stlnctneSS of his articulation caused
him to be- heard and understood much BET
ter than were some speakers with louder
voices.
The Church of the Annunziata in Ma,
pies Is coHsidered t" be one Of the most
majestic Of the many churches of that
city. 1t WAS erected in 1921 by Queen
SAM ia. and aftrward enlarged and t!eco>
rated by Queen Joanna H.. whose tomb
it contains.
John thrysostom. or John the Golden,
m"uthed. was the patriarch Of ConStanti-
n"ple IN the latter part of the Fourth
Il Il; "a
larry pleasing character Of his oratory,
which appealed more to the feelings thar
t" the reason.
-Fortland prison. erected on Portland
hill. is the largest prison in England.
Nearly 2NWO cnnvicts are located there.
being employed chiefly in the .:crown
quarres, from which something like 80
'hH| to t1D,OaM tons of Portland stone are
annually exported.
NJ. de Brettes. French traveller, has
found in Il cave Of the Sierra Nevada q
number of gold plates. They are slammed
with human heads and other figures in re-
lief: Apparently they We're worn by
c.arilues, probably Of the Chibchas In
d'ans of Colombia, who are among the
most civilized Of the South American ma
tiyeS.
Tine Escural. the palaces of the Span
iSh King. an architectural marvel. for
merry described us the 'Eighth Wonder
If tn" World. is now seldom spoken of.
1t was built by Philip in fulfiilment of n
r"" to erect the finest monastery in the
world' should his forces be successful in
their great battle with the French and
cost $50. WNWW.
The Sinking mountain, an isloated AL
gtrlan peak. is now only about 800 feet
high. and is known to be slowly but surely
disappearing. In the time of the Caesars
It was nearly twice it's present height
Near the Sinking mountain is a large.
clear lake called Fezzara, which is said
to have risen over Il large city that sank
in the year 400 A. ID.
Platinum was discovered by = Mr.
" 0GdS. an asSlyer in jamaica. Il was
not recognized as a distinct metal until
about 1W years ago. Platinum is chiefly
supplied from the mines of Mexico, Brazil
and tn" raj mountains 1t differs from
gold in being much less fusible, in having
greater specific gravity and in it's yaue
1t is about five times more valuable than
silver and about one-fourth that of gold
In the Thirteenth century, and for
several centuries, the Fenetians were colo
bratcd for the excellence OF their glass
The principal works were at Muurow. one
of the islands adjacent to Venice. The
superiority Of the Bohemians was cyincnd
i'll tn" production of white glass. made
with pure quartz and lime and the Dotash
obtained by burning the trees of their i'm
lrnsc forests. This glass was for q long
time in the highest estimation.
Even Enough.