The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1899-08-18
Choosing A. Profession.


Choosing a Profession.
For years the law was easily the first
of the professions, but we have the tes-
timony Of eminent lawyers in recent
years that. the profession has deteriorat-
ed. Whether this be SO or not, certainly
it's opportunities have been largely alb
sorbed by the trust companies and other
similar corporations. At the same time.
however, its big prizes remain, and their
value Increases every year, and it will al
ways be trtie that about the only success
ful road to politics aiid statestnan.hip will
run through the lawyers office:
In it's earniilg ability medicine hts
grown by leaps and bounds, and there Is
hardly any limit nowadays to the sic
What makes this profession additionally
attractive are the facilities fer medical
education; the perfection of modern APP
pliances, and the Wonderful development
Of the whole science.
For fine men the pulpit of today offers
the best advantages of any of the profess
sionS. and there is nothing i'll the outlook
that disturbS the promise of continued
opportunities. The right sort of clergy
man nowadays can get all the money he
needs for any reasonable purpose. and
the people were tIever more. willing to
give tiff they like the preacher
In the fourth estate there is Il coltittt-
GUS deindiid fdr good niels; Increasing a.
the Improvement Of machinery and other
progress reduce the cost; enlarge the size
and iilcrease tile humber of publications..
The pri4es iii joHrnallstn are not as llally
as i'll other professions; hut it is said that
the ;ivefaet Of lifetime is the highest Of
all the professions.
Personal preference and personal pre-
objection will count heavily in the decis-
ion of any young man choosing profess
sion. Frequently his father will try to
persuade him out of following iii his foot
steps. but this is one Of the curious mis-
takes of professional men, and it ought
not to have any weight in the choice.
ter at something else. but it does not even
follow that we would have done one-half
as well.-Leslie's Weekly.
History of the Compass.
In order to trace the history of the
compass it is necessary to carry the read
er back nearly 5000 years to the time
that the great warrior Ho-ang-ti ruled
the Chinese empire 1t was in the first
year of the reign of that Emperor which,
according to history, was 2tSS b. g.. or
almost 5000 years before the mission of
our Savior. that certain CelestialS dis
covered that if Il narrow splinter of tho
loadStonc. or natural magnetic iron ore,
found in Asia Minor, was placed upon a
piece of wood and the latter allowed to
float in a bowl containing water, that the
iron would invariably point in north
and south line They also devised cir,
cular wooden card on which twenty-four
rays were drawn. and to each one of
these lines was given name, and the
whole called ting-nan ching. which is the
point of the circle was dignifed with a
distinguishing mark. in the same way
that the Christian nations today define
the north point of their compass by a
fleur de lis or arrow. To show how lit
tie change has been effected by the Chi
nesc in the manufacture of this instru'
n,ent, it is only necessary to state that
their native-made compass Of the present
time shows only the twenty-four points
given to it 5000 years ago.
The earliest reference that Chinese his
tory makes to the practical employment
of the compass deals with the year 1854
B. c.. at which time the Emperor Ho-
ang-ti had reigned sixty-four years. Aft
er great battle with the forces Of the
Emperor Tchi-yeou, the latter having
been beaten. retreated toward the south,
but was followed by Ao-ang-u unt1t a
dense fog bewildered the nursuers and
hid the escaping armies from them on the
great plain Of Tchou-lou, Ho-ang-ti then
had compass set up in a chariot, and
the army followed this vehicle as it
moved toward the south point indicated
by the dragons head, the legions of Tchi-
yeou were overtaken and made prisoners
New York Nautical College Quarterly.
Polite Dresdenites.
This story is told to illustrate the DO
likeness of the citizens of Dresden. A
stranger was one day crossing the great
bridge that spans the Elbc, and asked a
native to direct him 10 a certain church
which he wished to find. Really, my
dear sir" said the Dresdcner, bowling
low, Il grieve greatly to say it, but l
cannot tell you." The stranger passed
on, little surprised at this volubie an
swer to a simple question. He had pro-
ceeded but n short distance when he
heard hurried footsteps behind him, and,
turning around, saw the same man run
ming to catch up with him. In a mo-
ment his pursuer was by his side, his
breath nearly gone, but enough left 10
say, hurriedly: "N1y dear sir. you asked
me how you could find the church, and
it panied me to have to say that did
not know. Just now ! met my brother,