The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1900-04-27
CURIOUS CONVERSATIONS.

One rule of the Mormon church is
that the young people of the faith mus:
serve three years in mission work.
The total increase in the value of the
farm animals of the United States in the
last three years was $4,000, 600.
The Houses Of Parliament are partly
lit by 10000 electric lamps, a number
which is being constantly increased
France. with a population of 1000.
wv. has fighting force of 100000 men
able to appear in the field at very short
notice.
No fewer than 1000 tourists arrived
in the Land of the Pharaohs between
the LIST of November and Goth of Feb
ruary.
EVERY animal kept by man, excepting
the cat. is taxed in Austria, and now
there Is IL proposal to tax pussy in that
country.
There are more than 100000 Free
AlaSons III good and regular standing in
inc jurisdiction of the grand lodge of
New York.
The. marriage rate of Queensland
.\uStralla, has been steadily declining
from HID per 1000 in 1868 to G.3 per
1000 in 1898.
The latest statistics show that the
United States has over 2OO,OOO miles of
railroad, and less than 10000 miles Of
good wagon roads.
The River Mississippi each year
Washes away an alarming amount of
shore, equal to ten. square miles of ter
rlt"ry 81 feet deep.
A Nuremberg merchant has invented
a new kind of boot. with an apparatus
in the heel by means of which the whole
boot can be warmed
In the remote parish of Markby. in
1.ncolnShire. Eng. stands little
matched church. probably the only one
existing in Great Britain.
There are two schools Of yrSetarians
One favorS vegetable food which grows
below the carth'S surface and the other
fav"rS that which grows above
The United States government has to
pay royalty for the use of most of the
telescope sights now employed on the
scacoaSt and field artillery guns.
New Iraland'S flax industry has re-
Nlvtd and tlouriShel exceedingly. owing
t. the war in the Philippines having
shortened the output Of Manila fiber.
The Beers have during the war con-
S'lnrd large quantity Of diluted vine
gar in order to overcome the laSSit,ule
caused 10y the nnNiolS vapnr Of lytl,ltc.
-Rrnad-hraded horses are the CLEVER
est. In the British Household cavalry
the horses with broad f"reh:alS learn
their drill more quickly than the others.
AS rule. the consul who saves
m"nry-out>ide such prize places as Lon
don. Liverpool. Paris, Hamburg or Bre-
mtn--i> viewed with suspicion by his col
leagues.
silk is likely to go up in price, as
there is an epidemic among the Italian
and French >ilkwnrul>. They refuse to
eat and are dying by r1yriads on their
mulberry leaves.
The University of Illinois now has
six different colleges and four schools
united under one head In Thirteen years
the number OF students has increased
from 81 to 2225O.
A pack IF playing cards has been
patented in the West i'll which the faces
on the face cards are portraits of Dewey.
Miles and other navy and army officers.
he Queens are CnlumDilS.
There are c"mpenSationS for hein. an
absolute monarch. The kaiStr'S play.
"Dtr EiSenzahn.' though an utter failure.
in Berlin, is 81 performed at the Royal
theater by all highest command"
divers in the British navy. before
being passed as proficient in their craft,
have to be able to work in twelve faith
omS of water for ali hour. and twenty
fathomS for quarter of an hour.
American exports to British South
Africa. during 7ssast eight months. are
officially Stateds. SIC. 30, $50 which is
an Increase Of $1O1,9 over the same pc
rod Il year ago, and S2,SS2.3:D over two
years ago
-Maine'S state flower is the pine cone,
Nermonts the red clover and Rhode Is
lands the violet. The maytinwrr is pro-
posed for Massachusetts. but it is on the
coinage and the flag of Nova Scotia. with
the motto We Bloom Amid the Shows"
Justice Garrett Of the southwestern
police court Of London says it is il shock
ing thin. to find that the evidence in
that court showed sing drunken
ness among women, and that on one day
every prisoner charged with drunkenness
was woman.
-Rurrnwinc animals are driven ont of
tn, r holes or >uffncated by CalifOr-
mans compound. which is formed of sui
Vhur. tar and petroleum. applied by a
tihrous int1ammable material. being ig-
nitth and inserted in the burrow by a
pair Of slender tOngS.
Irish is being generally studied as it
never was before. Its process Of rapid
disappearance as spoken language has
been arrested. Next years census will
probably show an extension of its do
main. not as one only spoken, but as
spoken besides English.
Artificial silks are made of wood
fiber, reduced to cellnloSe by the action of
acids This is dissolved to glue-like
consistency. forced through holes in
glass, and drawn out into thrt ads. which
dry and harden in the air. just as those
of the silkworm or spider do.
The smart men and ladies of Paris
society have discovered Il new craze. 1t
is the formation of dancing classes
among fri. nds and coterieS where they
learn mnuets, and all kinds of old-fash-
toned dances. Each lesson ends with
Waiting and practicing cotillon figures.
In China a rich man gets as many
servants as he wants, and set he pays
them no wages while the common people
have to pay them well. Even then they
arc hard to get, for the reason that the
cmploye of the rich man can make more
than triple the ordinary wages in per
QuiSitts.
1t is stated that asbestos is to he
used in lining the Russian battleships
now building at the Cramp shipyards,
and that the officers Of the United States
navy are considering the advisability of
using the same precautions in the YES.
sells that are being built for the American
service.
Plum and apple selling by hawkers
was illegal in the Sixteenth century in
England. The reason was that servants
and apprentices were unable to resist the
sight Of the fruit, and consequently were
tempted to steal their employers money
in order to crafty their longing for these
dainties.
Pineapple orchards in Florida are
under cover. Ten or fifteen acres are
planted and covering about seven feet
above the ground is spread over the or
chard. This covering. of course, is ar
ranged so that there are openings at GER
tain distances, giving plenty of light and
air for the better cultivation of the trees
-Ceylon is the home Of the largest spe
cies Of spider that has vet been made
the subject of chronological investiga
ton. This web-spinning monster lives
in the most mountainous districts Of that
rugged island and places his trap-not a
gossamer snare of airy lightness, hut a
huge net Of yellow silk from 5 to 10 feet
in diameter-across the chasms and ifs
surcs in rocks.
Next fall a new commercial course
will be instituted at Michigan universe
ty. instruction will be given which viii
train students for diplomatic and con
sular duties, for newspaper work, fol-
higher commercial pursuits, for pastora
and philanthropic work. such as socia