BIG THINGS.

Inangahua Times, Volume VIII, Issue 1276, 25 May 1883, Page 2

BIG THINGS.

The largest suspension bridge' 'jyifll be the one now building;, bjatsrfce^ Brooklyn and New York. Tjbe iangt.b of the main span is 1,596 ft 6 in. The entire length of the bridge, ria fyi 989 ft. . ' ,7

Fortress Monroe is the largestsingle" fortification in the world. ..It ]]ffa already cost the American Craven*,-: inent over 3,000,000d01. The TOter battery is considered one of tbo,: fio#sfc military works in.the world. . ...•>•;"

The loftiest active volcano is PpJH>« catepetl (Smoking Mountain), thirty five miles south west of Pueblo, Mexipoj It is 17,714 ft above the sea-level, and has a crater three miles incircumfefenceand I,oooft deep. . . „.:}

The largest university is that *ofr Oxford, England. It consists of twenty five colleges and five halls. Oxford was the seat of learning in tbe rtirae of Edward the Confessor. It « claims to have been founded bj£ : Alfred.

The largest ship is the GreattY Eastern. She is 680 ft long, 88% beam, and 60ft deep, being 25,087.; tons burden, 18,915 gross, and- 18^ 344 net register. She was builfc'afc'f Willwall, on the Thames, and was. launched January 31, 1857. .

The most extensive park is Deer • Park, in the environs of Copenhagen, Denmark. The enclosure contains 4,200 acres, and is divided by a small river. The largest pleasure ground ' in America is Fairmount Park-* Philadelphia, which contains 8,T40i acres. .

Thelargest sheet of freshwater on the globe is Lake Superior. It is 400 miles * long, 160 miles wide at its greatest "• breadth, and has an area of 22,000' square miles. Its mean depth is Baid to be 20ft, and its greatest depth about 600 fathoms. Its ftrl&oe is 685 ft above the sea.

The largest tunnel in the world is " that of St. Gothard, on the line of • railroad between Lucerne and Milan. The summit of the tunnel is 990 ft beneath the peak of Kastelhorn, of the St. Gothard group. The tunnel is 2QUt wide, and 19ft lOin from the

floor to the crown of the achord roof. . ' It is 9^ miles long If miles longer that the Mont Oenis tunnel.

Tho most extensive cavern is th© Mamir.oth Cave; in EcTmouson County.

Kentucky. It is near Green River six miles from Cave City, and 28 miles from Bowling Green. The cave consists of a succession of irregular chambers, some of which are large, situated on different levels. Some of these are traversed by navigable branches of the subterranean Echo River. Blind fish are found in its ■waters. The largest trees are the mammoth trees in California. One of a grove in Tulare County, according to measurement made by members of the State Geological Survey, was shown to be 279 ft high, 105 ft in circumference at the base, and 79ft at a. point 12ft above the ground. Some of trees are 376 ft high and 84ft in diameter. Some of the largest that have been felled intlicate. auage of from 2,000 to 2,500 years. The Chinese Wall is the largest wall in the world. It was built by tLe first Eniperor of the Tain dynasty, about '22o b. c, as a protection against the Tartars. It traverses the northern boundary of the top 15ft. Towers or bastions occur at intervals of about 100 yards. The largest inland sea is the Caspian, lying between Europe and Asia. Its greatest length is 760 miles, its greatest breadth .270 miles, and its area I^o,ooo square miles. Great Salt Eakein Utah, which may be properly loaned /an inland sea, is about 90 jmilea long, and has a varying breadth ioi from 20 to 25 miles. Its surface .4,200 ft above the sea, whereas the of the Caspian is 84ft below the ocean level. The. largest empire in the world is that of Great Britain, comprising 8,557,658 square miles (more than a sixth, part of the land of the globe), And embracing under its rule nearly a axth part; of the population of the ■world In territorial extent the United "States rants third, containing 3,580, 1242 square miles, including Alaska ; in SQpqJattpn ft ranks r fjiurth with its' *f^C^,OOQ t jpeopfe,. 'Jtussia ranks fj&qopd, 'B,B^i^^Gt square; miles.. . " '* I jPße higbesp^mopplith is the obelisk. |$* 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 ijatasu, sister of Pharaoh Thothmes TIL, wno reigned about 1600 b. c. Its,, whole length is 122 f t; its weight .4-00 tons. Its height, without pedestal, as. 186 f t, lOin. The height of the $jej|i»k in Central Park, New York, ■without , pedestal, is, . 68ft 1 lin ; its . ; Ttie largert library js the Bibliothe<jne National in Paris, founded by Louis XIV. It contains.l,4oo,ooo volumes, 300,000 pamphlets, 175,000 manuscripts, 300,000 maps and charts, 460,000 coins and medals. The collections -of engravings exceeds 1 ,300, 000, contained in some 10,000 volumes. "Eha building which contains these treasures is situated on the Ptue Eichelieu. Itslength.is 540 ft, its breadth 130 ft. T?he largest library in New York, in respeofceff separate works, is the Astor. About 190,000 volumns are on its shelves.- ■•>-'• The largest bell in the world is the .great bell of Moscow, at the foot of the Kremlin. ; Its circumference at the bottom is nearly 68ft, and its height Uaore that 21ft In its stoutest part it 18 23m thick, and its weight has been computed to be 443,7721 b. It baa- never been hung, and was probably east on the spot where it now •stands. A piece of the bell is broken oft The fracture is supposed to have 3>een occasioned by water having been jtitrown upon it when heated by the ttrailding erected over it being on ilhe largest cathedral in the world ia.St Peter's in Rome. From the laying of the foundation in 1450 until its dedication 170 years were consumed iv its erection : and if we include the work done under Pius VI, three and a-half centuries passed before it was completed, during which time fortythree popes reigned. The dimensions •of the church are : — Length of the interor 613$ft;.pf transome from wall to wall, 446£ f t; height of nave, 1 52£ f t; of side aisles, 47ft;. width of nave, 79.89 ft; of side aisles, 83|ft ; circumierence of pillars,- -which.support the dome, 258 ft. A jfhe height of the dome Jrom the pavement to ihe,:base of the lantern is 405f0 to the • ckoss, 448 ft; The dome is « encircled arid strengthened by six bands of iron. A stairway leads to the, uoof broad rand-easy enough to allow a horse and team to ascend. The annual costs of keeping the church in repair is 30,000 *cudi