The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1895-11-01
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.

any scion of a royal house. -
In Wales it is believed that il any
one kills wren he will fall down and
break IL bone before the end of the year.
A new kind of bicycle has been in
vented. The pedals are practically pump
handles and force water to q waterWheel
attached to the rear wheel of the ma
chine.
-CaShmere Shawls- are much cheaper
than some years back. but there are many
worn by ladies' of rank and fashion that
have cost $500 or f10OO.
Fox spoke without apparent fore
thought, and once said he never wasted
Il body as the English House of Com
mons. -
Osborne house. Isle of Wight, is the
private property of Queen Victoria;
Windsor castle, Buckingham palace, etc,
belong to the nation and cannot be dis
posed of by the sovereign.
knights Of the Garter wear the EN-
hem of the order on their left leg: the
Queen wears the riband over her Shout
ters and across her breast, and brace
let on the left arm with the motto and de-
vices of the order.
The flying fish is not suppositious
CREATURE They are to be constantly
met With in certain attitudes. The fly
lug fish rises ten or twelve feet out of
the water and keeps in the air for 100
yards. when it is obliged to wet it's fins
by dipping.
1T is probably to the too frequent use
of the hot bath that the debilitated con-
situations of the Greek women are to be
aScribed, says an English writer, and
this abuse. added to their natural indO-
lence. tends to shorten their lives.
The Shawls of Cashmere are made
between Hindoostan and Thibet, from
the wool of the camel. while their sheep
also produce fine white, silky wool. The
Who'll. population is engaged in preparing
the thread and weaving these articles
for commerce.
In 1861 the sea retired from the
shores of Peru. and returned i'll mount
airouS waves, which destroyed every
thing on the coast. among other places
Callao. In 1I46 the same phenomenon
took place, and only 200 out of 1000 in
hahitants of Calao saved themselves,
-rilhury fort, opposite Gravesend,
Eng. WAS constructed from plans after
Nauban and Coehorn, the greatest en-
sineerS of the Eighteenth century. In
the time of Queen Elizabeth, and until
Il far later period. it was u strong de-
Tense to the River Thames.
-t,raSshopperS are remarkable for
nnSSeSSing in an almost equal degree
the powers of flying and leaping. The
body is thin, long and fattened ut the
sides; the legs are six in number. the
hinder ones being much larger than the
others and longer than the body.
OF the recruits entering the English
army in 1894. 81 in 10000 of population
came from England and Wales, 70 in
10000 from Scotland. and only 70 in
10000 from Ireland. The actual figures
were: England and Wales. 26, 1853; Scot
land 1892: Ireland, BAG; total, 33,441.
The modern Greek women have lost
much Of the distinguishing regularity of
feature which renders the race so re-
markable for beauty. Like Spanish fe-
males, they marry at very early age
they are short-lived and begin to exhibit
the marks Of age soon after 25.
Chelsea hospital, England, was built
from the desi gn of Sir CHRISTOPHER Wren
in the reigns of Charles H., James H..
and William III. There is nothing par
ticularly remarkable in its construction
as an e,lifice The chapel contains
taken from Waterloo.
A correspondent on arrival at Ispa-
han. Persia. found the following notices
posted on the walls: Beware of Mos
uuitoes." Travellers are also advised to
have their native servants sleeping with
them in the same room so that the in
sects should settle on them first, and to
Olef d Scl ucItl LUZ tuclE eueISleS.
1t is said that a hypnotist in Utah
has begun a series of experiments in the
territorial reform school at Ogden, look
ing to the cure of kleptomania and kin
1red mental conditions Of children by
hypnotism. He claims that the suggest
tons given in the hypnotic state will
overcome criminal tendencies.
Mr.. Edison's spring attachment to
his bicycle save a considerable part of
the power which is wasted in going down
hill. and utilizes it in going up hill. When
the device is perfected Il pressure of the
brake may be sufficient to charge the
cell with power or to apply the stored
power to turning the wheel on an up
grade.
Fashions change in wine as in every
thing else. For Il long time sherry was
in allowance, but it is now rising in fa-
vor. 25.495 more gallons having been
imported into England during the first
half of this year than in the correspond
ing period Of 1894. On the other hand,
champagne and port have been some
what off"
Berlin has a shorthand writer with
a unique specially. He attends all flu
Derals of prominent persons and takes
down verbatim the addresses of the Off
ciating cIergymen: Then he prepares
highly ornamented copies of the adj
tlSSStS uliu ScIlS tucIl W Tie IFleQOS OIL
the eulogized dead. His business is so
good that he has taken one assistant,
and has advertised for another.
The method of cultivating the vine
in Malaga is in every way simple. The
only feature which is not observed in
other countries is that the "crowns'' of
the vine are kept very close to the
ground: The object of this is to enable
the surface growth to benefit from the
close proximity to all moisture rising
from or descending upon the soil.
"A felt hat is now made by pneu-
matte process. A conical cup perforated
with holes is provided. The air beneath
is exhausted. while by curious device
the felt is forced evenly to all parts of
the outside of the receiver, and by the
strong pressure and rush of the air, is
thrown upon the frame and distributed,
thus forming the basis CT the hat.
As late as 1850 smoking was al
lowed in some churches in Wales. The
communion table stood in the aisle, and
the farmers were in the habit of putting
their hats upon it. and when the sermon
began they lit their pipes and smoked,
but without any idea of irreverence
The oldest building in the world that
has been uninterruptetlly used for church
purposes is st. Martins cathedral at
Canterbury. The building was original
~ erected for church. and has been reg
ularly used as place for religious gath
crings for more than 1900 years. ~@
The hottest mines in the world are
the Comstock. On the lower levels the
heat is so great that the men cannot
work over ten or fifteen minutes at u
time. Every known means of mitigat.
ing the heat have been tried in vain.
Ice melts before it reaches the bottom
of the shafts.
The fidelity of the male and female
whale to each other exceeds that of most
animals. Anderson, in his History of
Greenland" mentions that some fisher
men, having struck enc of two whales, Il
male and Il female that were i'll company
together, the wounded creature made a.
terrible resistance
Havoc Wrought by a Swortlfish.
Not many days ago the mackerel-fish-
ing schooner Centennial of (t1o1rcasfnr