AMERICAN ITEMS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1762, 9 February 1888, Page 3

AMERICAN ITEMS.

♦ — ("Australasian sod South Americas.") THE SBir BAIL WAT. A Rumor is current m Mexico that Senor Delfin Sanchez has secured eleven mllHoDi of dollars m London for the o mpleticn of the Tehnantepeo ship railway . BLATB-DEALISO IN COLUMBIA, There is considerable excitement In Gotambla concerning the slave t»ade that U betag carried on with B &bll, the victims being members of the savage tribes Inhabiting the Interior of the republic One large dealer carries on a flourishing business tn Colombian women on the lower Amazon, EULFHUB DEPOSITS IN MEXICO The soiphur deposits on the sides of Popooalapetl, the great Mexican volcano, are among the richest In the world, bat owing to the slackness of the natives they have not been worked with any syst* m or vigor. Bat new it is said the mountain Is to be attacked energetically, and if co, the commercial result* wilt be important. IXOItIDA OHANGBB. Dlreot shipments of Florida oranges are befog made by steamer to Europe. They arrive In the market the^e before the Spanish and Italian fruit is ripe and will have practically no competition for the first two months. They c&u be cold at a profit for less than the immature frait that has heretofore been supplied to Eampeac coniamera darlag November tnd Deeemb r. TBADK WITH THB CONGO. A benevulent Messecooseitß mill owner sent a quantity of print goods, sheeting, •to., to Africa for gratuitous distribution among the Congo nat.y s. The quality of the goodr, m cotnpaiißon with their purobMe* from European traders, delighted the recipients, and the donor has juit be«n agreeably surprised by the receipt of a respectable order from Africa for similar lines. AHBBIOAH TUitXITS. John Bun fekßted ibis Christmas on American " Norfolk' turkey, m additfo i to the "Roast Beef of. Old England," as Interpreted by Oblcag-i abattoirs. Fast steamships took hundreds of cases of prime American tut keys s cross the Atlantic, whence ligbtoing express trains transported them to London. It Is ex peoted that similar transatlantic shipments will be made by every steamer leaving New York darins the winter months. BALLASTING WITH SALT. %n the Colorado desert, near Idaho, there Is a large bed of rook salt, and the Southern Pacific Railroad, m laytog the track to the salt bed, has been obliged to grade the road for 1200 ft with blooks of these erysttls. This is the only instance where the roadbed is laid and ballasted on salt. The sea, which oi/ce rolled over this place, dried op and left a vast bed of salt nearly fifty miles long. The sopply is inexhaustible and th» quality excellent A. »>W CEREAL A plant called quit*va. whloh is a cereal indigenous m \b» higher districts r f Pern •nd whloh is there used as an article of food, is being grown to some extent In California, and the attention of the agriculturists (s oalled to its edible qaalit'es. It his be n tried m Geainany on a small scale, hnt was not received with much favor, appearing to be an artlole of food for which the taste muse be culiyated., as was the case with potatoes, tomatoes, t)ea and o' her things when first liitrodacnd into public notice. The gr*io Is prepared for table m various ways, similar to the method of cooking beans and is regarded by the Pomvlaus and many travellers ab a g r eat delicacy. The plant has been grown for several years' on tbe experimental grounds of the University cf California, at wfyfoh plane seed can be obtained for free distribution, A novel publication has been started under the title of "Jjfc Neoropole," m which any person subscribing fifteen Ebilljngs w|ll be eptitled to have the name, surname, age, date of death and bnrial.place of deoeased friend or relative printed m it, supplementary lines of eulogy being charged extra at tbe rate of fifteen shillings per line. In the first number, Bide by side with an obituary notioe of tbe famous At6lard and of Parmen ier, who introduced the potato into France, ia a record of the death and burial of one Chrysoetome Cfirard, who was ore of tbe compositors engaged on the dictionary of P. Larousse, and of an artist named tefournier, who is V fceeribed »f a "olovtr •□iq^ir * :ii^ .-.,.. i.i^v-<*