THE BIGGEST THINGS ON EARTH.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2164, 22 May 1886, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE BIGGEST THINGS ON EARTH.

Some very interesting facts and figures relating to " the biggest thing* on earth," ; have been recently collected bfrtn American journalist, and some of the information given by him is at once curious and interesting For instance, the largest theatre is the new Opera House iv Paris. It covers nearly three acrr» of ground ; its cubic miss is 4,237,000 f t; it coat about 1 00,000,000f r. The largest suspension bridge is the one between New York city and Brooklyn ; the length of the main span is 135)5ft. 6in. ; the entire length of the bridge is 5980 ft. The loftiest active volcano is Popocatapeth " smoking mountain "— 35 miles south-west of Penbla, Mexico; it is 17.748 ft. above the sea level, wd has • crater three miles }n circumference aud a thousand feet deep. The longest span of w\n in the world i» used for a telegraph line iv India over the river Kistuah, betweeu Bezarah and Sectynagrutn. It is more than 6000 ft in length and ii 1200 ft high. ' The largest ship in the world is the Great Eastern. She is 680 ft long, 83ft broad, and 60ft deep, being 28,627 tons burden, 18,915 gross, and 13.344 net register. . She was built at MiUwall-on-the-Thames, and was launched January 31. 1857. The largest body of fresh watet on the globe is Lake Superior, 400 miles long, IGO wide at its greatest breadth, and haviug an area of 32.000 square miles. Its mean depth is 900 ft. and its greatest depth i« said to be about 200 fathoms. Its surface is about 635 ft above the level of the sea. The biggest cavern is the Mammoth Cave in Edmonson County, Kentucky. It is near Green River, about six mi.es from Cave City, and twentyeight from Bowling Green. Blind fish are found in its water*. The longest tunnel in the world is that of tho St. Gothard, on the line of railroad between Lucerne and Milan. The summit of the tunnel is 900 ft below the surface at Andermatt, and OGOOtt beneath the peak of Kastelhorn of the St. Gothard group. The tunnel is 26-i feet wide, v and U 18ft lOin from the floor to the crown of the arched roof. It is 9£ miles lone, I and 5-Sth miles longer than the ' Mount Gems Tunnel. The biggest trees ia the world are the mammoth trees of California. One of a grove in Tulare County, according to measurements made by members of the State Geological Survey, was shown to be 276 ft in height. 103 ft in circumference at base, and 76ft at a point l*2ft above ground. Some of the trees are 376 ft high and 34ft in diameter. >ome of the largest that have been felled indicate an ago of from 2000 to 2500 years. The largest library is the Biblioth^nue National in Paris, founded by Louis XIV. It contains 1.400,000 volumes, 300,000 pamphlets, 173,000 manuscripts, 300,000 maps and charts, and 150,003 coins and medals. The collection of engravings exceeds 1,300,000, contained in some 100,000 volumes? The portraits number about 100,000. The largest desert is that of Sahara, a vast region of Northern Africa, extending from the Atlantic Ocean on the Weßt to the valley of the Nile on the East. The length from east to west is about 3000 miles, its | average breadth about 900 miles, its area 2,000.000 square miles. Rain falls in torrents in the Sahara at intervals of five," ten, and twenty years. The greatest pyramid is that of Cheops, one of the three pyramids forming the Memphis group, situated on a plateau about 137 feet above the highest rise in the Nile. Its dimensions have been reduced by the removal of the outer portions to furnish stone for the city of Cairo. Its masonry consisted originally of 89,028,000 cubic feet, nnd still amounts to 82,111,000 feet The present vertical height is 450 feet against 479 feet origin* ally. The*total weight of the stone is estimated at 6,316,000 tons. The greatest fortress, from a strageticil point of view, is the famous stronghold of Gibraltar. One central rock rises to a height of 1435 feet above the sea level. Its northern face is almost perpendicular, while its east side is full of tremendous precipices. The regular parrison in time of pf ace numbers about 7000. The largest inland sea is the Caspian, lying bo* tween Europe and Asia. Its greatest length is 760 miles, and its are* 180,000 square miles. Great Salt Lake, in Utah, which may properly be termed an inland sea, is about ninety miles long, and has u varying breadth of from twenty to twentyfive miles. Its surface is 4200 feet above the level of the sea, whereas the surface of the Caspian is eighty- four feet above the ocean level. The highest monolith is the obelisk at Karnak, in Egypt. Karnak is on the east bank of the Nile, near Luxor, and occupies a part of the site of ancient Thebes. The obelisk is ascribed to Hetasu, sister of Pharaoh Thothmes 111., who reigned 600 B.C. The whole length is 122 feet, and its weight 400 tons. Its height without pedestal, is 108 feet 10 inches. The height of the obelisk in Central park, without pedestal, is 68 feet 11 inches, its weight about 168 tons. The largest bell in the world is the creat bell at Moscow, at the foot of the Kremlin. Its circumference at the bottom is nearly 68 feet, and its height more than 21 feet. In its Stoutest part it is more than 23 inches thick-, and its weighf has beeD computed to be 443,722 lbs. It has never been hung, and was probably cast on the spot where it now stands.

Too much grain is often sown whe'a seeding and too little grass seed. These are two common errors. Bajjtry— Petre. — On Feb. 18, in Rome, Miss Rosamond Potro. only daughter of the Hon. Mr and Mrs Edmund Petre, was married to the E»rl of Bantry. The marriage took place at the English Embassy, having previously been performed according to tho rites of the Roman Catholic Church by the Rev. Dr. Smith. The bride was attired in the richest white satin, and wore a tiara of diamond stars, the gift of her brother, and other diamond ornaments, the gifts of the bridegroom. The wedding party was small, on account of so few relatives on either side being in Italy, but among those proseut were Oount and Countess Lutzow, the Duchens Graziole, the Ambatsador, tnd Mr and Mrs Be»uclwk.