The morning call., 1892-06-28
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

CAPTAIN Robert Gray Of the tea and far
ship Columbia was the first white man 70
sail into tie great river Of the Pac. &c Slope
which bears his vessels name. He crossed
The bar On May 10. 1872. The Columbia
drains a basin Of $4,000 square miles.
The system Of postal savings banks as
introduced IN France IN 1882 During 1892
the 6Sl7 branch postal banks received ,949.-
81 separate deposits, representing the 5 m
o Sj0,465, $50 Il. which IS a far larger u u
than vas handled during the previous year.
The dimensions Of the famous floating
dock in Bermuda. the largest IN the world,
are: Length over all, 3Sl feet: length be-
tween caissODs, $50 feet; breadth over all.
123 feet inches; breadth inside walls 81
fee; depth over all 70 feet; total weight,
SID tons.
Fu Mindinac, the farthest southeastern
Island n the Philippine group, upon one Of
It's mountains, the Volcanic AGO, a party
Of botanical and ethnOgTaphicsl explorers
found recently, ut height OF 900 ieet
above the sea level, a colossal flower as
large As a carriage wheel, Ia fact. 1t is the
largest flower known.
The bodies OF the spiders Of Ceyl0n are
very handsomely decorated, being bright
gold or scarlet underneath, while the upper
part is covered with the most delicate slate
c0lored fur SO strong are the webs that
birds the size Of l8Tks are frequently caught
therein. and even the small bit powerful
scay lizard falls lis victim.
BON bay, India, has opened magn fcent
new water works, supplying the city by
gravity with 100000 gallons Of water
daily. The water is brought from a great
artificial lake and passes through 60 miles
Of tunnels. The water works, including the
dam and aqueducts, are among the famous
engineering works Of the time.
Caviar, which is made from the eggs OF
sturgeon, is an important article Of exporta-
ton for many cities Of russia and As.
tTaklan, and principally TaganrOk. The
annual amount is estimated at 10000 ponds
lone poud is equal to 80 pOunis) The
greater part gaes TO Turkey, Greece, Italy
and Germany, very little to England and
Btill less TO France.
Carp are known to be hard to kin, but
one sent TO PendletOn from Portland. Or,
the ether day beats the record 1t had tray-
eled al the way from Portland on ice and
there were bruises on its head, showing
that an attempt had been made there 10
take its life; but when the box was opene d
tbi5 fresh fish" was found to be movin 2
around as though accustomed TO such
trifes.
While the Duchess OF Sanfelice was walk
Ing along the Via FiTenZe in Rome recently
the cord hOdng her necklace of pearls
broke and the gems, valued al $4,000, rolled
into the sewer. An alarm was sem to the
Department Of Streets and labOTeTs were
FirenZe in tile meantime being closed. The
nunt was successful and ali but four Of tue
jewels were found.
The Canadian census takers had trouble
with their Indians. The Indians are de-
scribed as being not unnaturally-very
curious TO know what the census WAS for
At one place they would demand to be paid
for giving their names, and at another the
enumerator had to bride them with tobacco
before they would tell the namea OF chill
dren and others who were cut hunting or
berTying in the woods.
a reason given for the use Of the third as
the ring-fnger by some authorities is that in
the early Christian marriage ceremonies the
bridegroom taking the ring put it first on
the brides thumb and then successfully on
the first and second fingers prououncing in
each case the name Of one person Of the
Trinity Immediately after the words, with
this ring l wed thee" namely, in the name
of the Father and of the Son and OF the
holy Ghost. until, with the final amen"
the third finger was reached, and there the
wedding ring was suffered to remain.