St. Landry democrat., 1888-10-06

l ~>~SAS =" AlAASo II oI4 tlAS SoAA4CS AAfSl
1t extends over Cedar Creek. Tn
height of the arch is two hundred feet
aud the upper surface of the bridge i
240 feet above the stream.
The largest suspension bridge in tn
world is The New York and Brooklyn
Bridge. It was commenced under tn
direction of j. Roebling in 1870, ant
completed in about thirteen years,
The highest tower In the world vii
be the Eiffe1 Tower when completed
The iron tower which the engineer
Eiffel proposes to erect on the taiiks o
the Seine, OPPOSITE the Trocadero Pal
ace, as feature of the Paris Exposi
ton of 1889, will, if completed, dwar
all other structures vet keated by hui
man haris. Its height is to be nomi
nally one thousand feet-actually abou
$50 feet.
The largest church in the world Il
the basilica of St. Peters in Rome
It's dimensions ari IS follows: Length
bt Interior, 613 feet; breadth OF nave
and aisles, 1877 ga feet; height of the
nave, l52 feet, length of the TRANSCRIPTS
446 i-2 feet; diameter of the dome, in.
Guiding the walls, 1875 feet, or nearly
two feet more thai! that of the Pan
theoni diameter of the interior, 139
feet; height from the pavement to the
base of the lantern. 4ii5 feet; Il the
summit of tho cross outside, 448 feet.
The whole of St. Pauls Cathedral in
London might stand within the shell OF
st. Peters. with room to spare. The
tc,"ors OF the Cologne Cathedral, when
completed, will be the highest church
towers in the world-511 feet-whieh is
the length of the Cathedral. The
breadth OF this edifice is 23i feet;
The greatest fortress, from a strategi-
cal point Of view, is the famous strong
bold OF Gibraltar, belonging to Great
Britain, situated upon the most southern
point Of land .pon inc coast of South
""toalern Spain. It occupies a rocky
peninsula, jutting out into the sea about
three miles long and three-quarters of O
mile wide. One central rock rises to a
height of 1889 feet above the sea level.
Its northern face is almost perpendic-
ular. while its east side IS fill Of ire
f1enlous precipices. On the south it
terminates in what is called Europe
Point. The west side is less steep than
the east, and between its base and the
sea is a narrow, almost level span, on
which the town of Gibraltar is built.
Tho fortress is considered i,nprsghable
to military assault The regular garri-
son III time of peace numbers about
seven thousand men.
The greatest river of the world is the
Amazon. 1t rises in the Peruvian An
aes, about sixty miles from the Pacific
Ocean, and flows, including It's ssind-
lngs, q tlistance of 1000 miles to the
Atlantic, which it enters under the
equator in Brazil The average veloe-
lty Of the eurretit is three miles an
iouf. 1t is navigable for large ships
1900 miles from its mouth. The area
drained by the Amazon and its tribu-
aries is estimated at 1000, 900 square
niles. The Amazon enters the sea
through an estuary about $50 miles
vide: So grest ats the volume and I'M
,etus of the river that it's fresh water is
carried, unmixed, into the sea about
800 miles. If the Missouri and Lower
were considered one river,
Is many geographers claim they should
%, It would exceed the length OF the
Amazon about 500 miles. The length
If the Mississippi from Itaska Lake to
he Gulf Of Mexico is estimated DIT 3.16O
niles.
The greatest cataract in the world is
hat of Niagara. The Horseshoe fall,
N the Canadian side, has a perpendicu-
ar descent of 1853 feet. The height of
he American fall is 1877 feet. The
horseshoe fall, which carries d. larger
0lume of water than the American
all, is about 600 yards wide, and ex-
ends from the Canadian shore to Goat
sland. Biologists are agreed that the
attract was once six miles nearer Lake
than at present. Although
'iagara is the largest cataract, it is by
o means the highest. The Yosemite
all, in California, surpasses all other
staracts on the globe in height. This
!, formed by the Yosemite creek, which
) an affluent of the MERGED river. The
verage width of the stream in summer
J about twenty feet, and its depth
b out two feet. From the edge OF the
lif, from which the water plunges, to
10 bottom Of the valley the vertical
istance is about 1850 feet, but the fail
not in one perpendicular sheet.
The biggest diamond in the world
indeed it be diamonds the Bra
ANA, which forms part of the Portuguese
own jewels. 1t weighs one thousand
ght hundred and eighty carats How
yer, not little doubt exists of its being
diamond, as the Government has never
lowed it to be tested. 1t was found in
rail in 1741. The largest tested but
lcut diamond is the NATHAN, belong
g to the Rajah of Nathan, in Borneo.
il of pure water, weighs 367 carats,
I'd Is OF pear shape, indented at the
lick end. It was found about 100 at
auflak, in Bornea. 1t has been the
use Of a sanguinary war. Before it
as cut the Kohinoor, which is one of
q English crown jewels, was the larg-
t tested diamond. It then weighed
3 carats. When in the possession OF
nperor Aurengebe it was reduced by
lskillful cutting to 1856 carats. Dur