The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1892-05-08
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

In Wisconsin there are n postoffces kept
in saloons.
The entire coast line of the globe is
1876 900 miles
A late fad among womanklnd is gold
band ring for the thumb OF the left hand. 1t
is of Grecian origin.
The largest fresh water lake in Europe is
Lake LadOga, which covers an area OF
nearly 1000 square miles.
1t is seriously proposed to purify the
Thames by importing a school Of crocodiles
to act as river seavengers.
More than a fourth Of the gold and more
than third Of the silver produced through
out the world in the year 1891 was mined IN
the United States.
The Prohibitionists in Maryland for some
extraordinary reason have adopted as their
banner picture OF Washington surrounded
by the Stars and Stripes.
When the men and women OF the East
Indies want to wash their hands they
squeeze the juice of a lemon over them
briskly in water until they are clean.
In German literary publications during
1891 theology held the first place. Out of
$50 literary productions 1853 belonged to
the province Of theology. and 1871 TO ltera-
ture proper novels, poems. dramas).
There is said TO be a negro 65 years old
living near Rutedge, Ca, that bears a re-
markable resem blance to a sheep. His skin
IS DlacK, DuG MS Heau, lace anu the rest OF
his body are covered with long, thick, white
wool
The French Minister of War has issued
an order that heneeforth every officer and
every man 10 the French army shall. when
on active service, carry on his person mater.
al for a first dressing In case OF his being
wounded.
Mineral naphtha Is added to alcohol to
make it uDdrinkable. but according to the
Chemical News there are men working in
chemical works who not only drink the
nsuseated spirit, but are capable OF swai-
lowing coal naphtha itself.
Old-fashioned hunting matches have been
revived in Connecticut Fifty men. some
times twice that number, elect captains and
hunt for day and night, the side bagging
the most game winning game supper at the
expense of the defeated hunters.
English people eat more butter than any
other nation In the world. The Table points
out that the consumption per head is Is
pounds per annum, as compared with
pounds in Germany, pounds 10 Holland,
pounds in France and pound in Italy.
Nearly all the royal personages of Europe
are cousins, aud not very far removed, as ii
has been laid down by q German geneal0-
gist that every crowned head of Europe,
barring Turkey, Is descended from one or
two sisters who lived about 100 years ago.
In the tombs of the Pharaohs have been
human eye iE gold. Some OF them are left
eyes and others right. They are beauti-
fully execute d, the brows. lids and pupils
being carved ut Of little rectangular pieces
of metal.
Probably the only monument to Column
bus In the United States is in Baltimore,
and was erected 100 years ago. 1t stands on
the grounds Of the Samuel Ready Orphan
Asylum. singular feature of its inscrip-
tion is that the immortal egg breaker was
characterized as "Chris." Columbus
Italian boot factories are manufacturing
boots of a singular pattern. The heels and
soles are not sewn on, but riveted to the
uppers in such a way that II the heels are
worn down on one side they can be taken
off ard turned around. Worn soles can be
removed In the same way and new ones
put on.
Berlin is to have shortly erematory
erected at tile city's cost in the Friedrichs-
rub Cemetery, where bodies Of the poor and
unknown and of the subjects OF anatomical
investigation at clinics and hospitals will
be reduced to ashes. The bodies from the
anatomistS' tables alone number about 1000
annually.
The alleged connection between gypsies
and the nails used in the crucifxion has fire.
Quently been referred to. 1t is said that the
thinkers are descendants Of the one who
made the nails for the cross. and are con-
demned to wander continually without rest.
lHlS tTdultlOn Is VeIy cOmuOH III Tue aiSu-
lands of Scotland.
The Scandinavians, In their story of crea-
ton, tell us how Odin, Will and We, the
three sons of Bor, while walking along the
seash0re found two sticks OF wood, one Of
ash aud one OF elm. and sat down there in
the sand and shaped them into living, intel
ligent beings, known In the after ages of the
world as the first man and the first woman.
The natives of Gibraltar, and also the
Moors across the strait, have a tradition
that somewhere on the rock there exists
cavern whence a subterranean passage
leads under the strait to the mountains on
the other side. The existence of the pas
sage, they say, is known to the monkeys,
who regularly use it in passing from one
continent to the other.
The Norwegian snow and Ice midwinter
IS surprising to any one accustomed to the
English climate. The very snow and Ice is
what makes Norway and its customs SO par
ticularly interesting to a stranger. OF
course the cold is very Intense, the Their
mometer never rising above freezing point
for months, and often standing at zero; but
at the same time the atmosphere is so won
derfully dry that the cold is not nearly so
noticeable out Of doors, and indoors the
houses are kept very warm.
There is at the present moment very
curious building erected within the harb0r
precincts of Hamburg 1t is an immense
OF scatfoiding. The skeleton, entirely OF
iron, consisting OF uprights and cross
girders and beams fitted together by the
bolt system, is already in position. The
brick walls of the house will be built up
from the insde-that is to say the worknen
will use the skeleton while building the
outer walls and thus save the labor and