SOME BIG THINGS.

Observer, Volume 9, Issue 524, 5 January 1889, Page 14

SOME BIG THINGS.

The highest mountain range is the Himalayas, the mean elevation being oa'.iraated aL ltf,ooo Juet. The loftiest mountain is Mount Everest, or Gnarie.'iuker, of the Himalaya- ranjrc, havhig- an fclevalionoftlitjOOy fec-t nbove the sea level. Tho largest city in the worid is London. Its population vtinubei-s lir.M.HTo f.-oui>-. ISew 'York, with ii population oi' ] „". r io,ooo, coined fifth in the list of greafc cities. The largest theatre is the now opera liou.se m Paris. li; covers nearly thvee Jicres of gronmi. Its cabin m is.-; is 4.^7, <>i!l> I'ocfc. it cost W.-OOOjUIO fruncs. The loftiest ocHve -\oicano is Popocatepetl (Huiokiu'r mev.nhin;, tL'iMy-iU o miles southwest of Pucbl-t, IVl ex. It is 17,781 fcot above the sea, level, and has a crater three miles in circum-iV-rcinjc and I,<)OU feet cieop. The largest island in the v. oriel - which is t-.l?o regarded ii 3 a continent — in Air-^ralia. It is 2.;>00 miles in length from oa'-t to wot and meus-ures I ,'.tr>o miles from north to .-:oiii.!i. It.-; urea I* -!,!'-Bt. ■J)S7 ffjuare miles. Tho largest span of. v v:a in ii.'.' world is us.-: a for a if'legvp.ph iv fLulift o'.'ov 11-.c. river Kistuiili between Uezorah and Soct;n;auvjui. It is more than r..ii(!O tcet Jong-, and i? .-irctched between two hills, e;v.;h of which is I.'JOO fed. lii»li. The ].'ir',"jsi: ship in tho world is the <.'iea' KaisL- j cm. She i.sOH> feet lon.ir, S:5 feet broad and (0 fct't deep, boiiicr -J:'S'-'' te:.s tmi!<.i';v's. is.'.'ir. eiot-a ;uiri K'./.U! notV^JMer. She v.7;,; buiii. vi Millv/all, on the 't'hanit-:. urd was iaimehed January P.I. IK>7. The largest university i.* Oxfi-id. in England, in <he city of Iho same name, h'fry-iive miles from London. ' It consists of twenty-one colleges ar.d 'ivo hall*. Oxford was a teatof learning ;i« ejirly as the time of J'klward the Confessor. Vnijersily College el-wins to liave been founded by Alfred. The largest body of fresh water on the globe is Luke Superior— 4oo iiiilcs, V>'<u miles ■ivid.e at its greatest breadth and having an area of :)2.f;w aciuare miles. Its mean depth is said to ba'>o<> and its greatest depth 2v'O fathoms. Its r-nriaoe is about C/t") feet above the level o! the sea. Tho most extensive pork is Peer Park, in the environs of Copenhagen, in Denmark. Tbo eneloiiire contains !,i!00 Hi:; es, and io divided by a srnoll iiver. Tlie large&t pleasure gicuuil in the Tnited State?, and one of the hir<_ r c":t in (lie world, is .Kairmonnt Paik, fiiiltidelphia, vrliiuh contains 2.7-io acres, Tlie largest cavern is Mammoth Cave, in Kdmotulson Comity, Kentucky. It is near Green river, six miles from Cave City and about tweistyeijrht miles from Uowling Green. The cave consists of a succession of irregular chamber*;, some of which are large, situated on different levels. Some of these ove traversed by navigable branches of the subterranean A'Jcho vlver. I3!ind iish are found in its waters. The longest tunnel of tho world i-3 that of St. Hothavd, on the linn of railroad between Lucerne and Milan. The summit of tho t unnol '"s 9SO feet below the surface at Annermattand 2,100 i'eot beneath the peak of Kastelhom of the St. Gotliarcl group. The tunnel is twenty-si.-: and and onehalf feel: wide and nineteen i't'et ton itichea iron: the -:!oor to the crown ol the urched roof. It is niiiO and a lirs-lf miles Ir.iig— a Jittle over a mile longer than the .Mount Cennstiimiel. The biggest trees in the world are the nuutinioth trees of California. One of a grove in i Tulare County, according to measurement ruado ' by members of tho State * fOulogical Survey, v.-as j shown to be 270 feet hig-h. lOd leet in circumference at buso, and 70 feet nt a point twelve feet above tl:3 Some of the largest thathavo been felled indicate an age of from 2, 000 to 2,^00 years. \ The largest inland s;':i is the Ca?j>ian, lying between Europe and A&i-i. Its greatest length is j 700 miles, its greatest breadth 270 miles, and it-: area 180.000 square miles. The Great Salt bike in Utah, which may be properly termed an inland sea, is about ninety miles long and has a varying breadth of from twenty to thirty-five miles. * Its feurtace i 3 -1.100 feet above the sea, whereas Hie surface of tlie Caspian is eighty -four feet below tho level of the ocean. The largest Empire in the woild is that of Great Britain, comprising 8,5157,058 square miles — more than a sixth part of the land of tbo globe, and embracing under its rule nearly a sixth part of the population of the woi3d. In territorial extent the United States ranks third, containing' 3,551,2.10 square miles, including Alaska. In population it ranks fourth, with its (50,000,000 of people. Kussia ranks second, having 8,052,^:10 square miles. The highest monolith is the obelisk at Karnalr, in Egypt. Karuak is on the east bank of tho Nile, near Luxor and occupies part of the site of ancient Thebns. The obelisk is ascribed to Ilatasu, sister of Pharoah Thothmea 111., who ' reigned about 1000 B.C. its whole length is J2O feet, and it weighs 400 tons. Its height without pedestal is 108 feet 10 inches. The height of the obeliak in Central Park, New York City without pedestal, is 6S feet 11 inches, its weight about 169 tone. The largest bell is the great bell of Moscow at 1 the foot of the Kremlin. Its circumference at the bottom is nearly G8 feet and its height a little } more than 21 feet. In its stoutest part it is 23 inches thick, and its weight has been computed to be 410,772 pounds. It has never been hung, and ! was probably cast on the spot whero it now stands. A piece of the bell is broken^ off. The fracture is supposed to have been occasioned by water having been thrown iipon it when heated by the building erected over it being on firo.