The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1897-12-10
MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS.

enleraluS.
The Phoenix umbrella is the state UNI,
brella of the Chinese, and is always used
in the imperial professions. of which it
forms most important feature.
The chiefs of Africa are particularly
fond OF umbrellas, and upon any special
occasion YOU will be sure to SIZE it pro-
duced with great state and ceremony.
A goldfish will die in ninety minutes
if placed in water which contains l per
cent Of alcohol. In water which con-
tains 20 per cent. of alcohol it will die
instantly.
In Eastern countries the parasol or
umbrella has always been used as sym
Dol of royalty, and upon all state oc-
casionS it is borne over the heads of
the rulers or chiefs.
When the Prince of Wales visited In
uia some years ago, it was found neceS-
Sary for him to be placed beneath gold
EN- umbrella in order that the people
might easily recognize his person.
To bore Il hole half way through the
sole of Il shoe is said to prevent its
S.lueaEinS. The reason ass gned for the
cure is that the air between the layers
uf leather is released by the boring.
In Bucharest Roumania, women per-
form some of the severeSt form of labor.
They mix the mortar and carry 1t, as
we'll as the bricks, to the topmost stories
of buildings in course of construction.
In some of the European art galleries
the dust is removed from the paintings
and Statuary by means of an air pump, Il
jet of air being thrown with great force
against the article which needs busting.
There is railway equipped with
comfortable carriages that runs from Jaf-
fa to Jerusalem, and it is possible to
reach Bethlehem and other places of in
tereSt in the vicinity by means of tram
ways.
The smallest horse in the world is Il
Shetland pony owned by the Marchese
Carrano, in Milan. 1t is II inches high,
and when Stantling beside its owner, the
puny'S back is only an inch above his
knee.
The oldest newspaper in the world is
the Kin Pan. Of Pekin. For nearly a
thousand years it has been published reg
ularly, first as Il monthly, up to the year
1861. when it became weekly, and for
the last 90 years is daily.
Horse IA cling without jockeys is in
obliged in at Rome during the summer.
The horses are started by Il gun, which
is discharged behind them. They carry
little spiked balls on cords which swing
round their bodies, and thus act as spurs.
An anarchist society in Italy secretly
DEGREES the death of 10 rich men every
month, SO that their wealth will then be
scattered among new hands. The dread
of death. the anarchists claim. will make
the rich less pompous and more generous.
SO great has been the demand fer
Scotch whisky of late that. according to
the Pail Mall Gazette, only the hest
houses have any matured spirits left. The
Irish manufacturers in consequence ere
trying to revive the English taste for cid
Irish whisky.
There is not a single female voice in
the choir at St. Peters in Rome. and yet
the most difficult ora torioS and sacred
music written are rendered in such Il
manner as t" make one think that 1Ade-
lima PATHS high soprano is leading. The
choir Is composed of 60 boys.
A perfect skeleton of the extinct
Irish elk has been discovered at Bella
Tough, i'll the Isle of Man. 1t was found
in Il standing position ten feet benra tn
the surface The Irish elk was the con-
temporary in Britain of the mammoth
and of the woolly rhnoceros.
The London parks committee and
technical education hoard have been in
structed by the county council to report
upon the practicability of laying out pats
of ground in certain parks in such man
ner as will afford assistance to school pu-
pills in the study Of practical botany.
There has been discovered among the
Ute Indians of Colorado q sGrt of caro-
net. which has Il sweeter and alore plain
tive tone than an! of our orchestral in
struments. The effect Of it's sound watt
ed up to the mountains from the Indian
villages is described as being magical.
Here's chance for some one. No
one has ever seen cells eggs. 1t is be-
leved that they spawn in the ocean, as
they never increase in 4 lanllOcked pond
Fame and distinction await the one who
will solve this problem that the natural
lists have found too much for them.
The poSt-mortem on the poor giraffe
which was sent from Bechuanaland to
the Queen and died in the London Zoo
showed that the Immediate cause of
death had been acute bronchitis. The
body generally. however. was in good
condition. The animal was apparently
rising t years old.
If yon wish to get an idea of the long
time that has ella used since the Queen
visited Ireland. you cannot get Il better
notion OF 1t than by looking at the oak
which the Queen planted at Muckross
hemesne, Killarney. Her majesty and
her court can almost be accommodated
beneath it's branches today
There is IA college for dentistry at St.
Petersburg, Russia, and one at wilma, at
which most Of the students are women;
and women have during the last two
years been admitted as pupils to apOthc-
carries in Russia. with the restriction that
there must not be more than one of the
sex at each apotheraryS
Here is little Georgia boys compO-
sition On the Georgia Legislature: THE
Georgia Legislature has done met My
pa was Georgia legislator. He says he
worked hard. | don't suppose they pay
legislators anything. as pa always came
home dead broke. Pa sa VS. he was work
ing for the people. | wish the people
would take UP Il subscription for him.
The Turkish woman is manageable
ut the age of years, and by Turkish
law. 1T that age. if married, she is COM
petent to manage her property and dis
pos" Of onr-thrd of her fortune. The
law allows her to abandon her husbands
house for just cause, and will protect her
III so doing. She cannot be compelled to
abor for the support of her husband.
The caribou or reindeer of Newfound-
iand roam over an area of some 20WO
miles Of unbroken wilderness. They are
ma Snihcent creatures, some of the larger
StaE =; which haye been shot having
weighed from 300 to 600 pounds AS
might be expected, vcniSon is pretty pcn-
tlful in st. Johns market and has been
sold for as little as 2lAd per pound
"A Condensed College Course,
\ remarkable feature of the proposed
shortening Of the course of instruction for
Il college degree to three years is, that
the experiment has never been made be-
fore in 4 land where 80 much is sacrificed
to a saving Of time, and where conserva-
tive sentiment so rarely stands in the
way of an innovation along lines of util-
ity. The utility here is the gain of a
year for the graduates actual battle with
life. Under the elective system at Har-
ward it has long been possible for Il bright
student to read up satisfactorily in three
years on the subjects required for a de-
gree, and he has been encouraged to do
this by the president. who. ever since
he became the chief officer of the univer-
sity, has been changing the old order
in many particulars; but formal recogni-
ton of this procedure has been delayed.
The marked Improvement in preparatory
academies some of them now colleges on
small scale. and several comparable
with Englands celebrated, public schools
in standard. is an essential factor in this
evolution, But it is a question whether
boys digestion is equal to the robust
-