The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-01-29
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

ings have been in the embryonic state in the
minds Of English and French engineers for
more than two decades, viz: the construction
OF a tunnel under that portion of the ocean
known as the English channel or the building
OF q bridge over the great waste OF water,
understand, says writer In the st. Louis Re-
public, that the tunnel scheme has been indeh-
nitely abandoned, but that there is still hope
that the bridge will be built by the end of the
century Recent progress in engineering sci
ence and in the art Of metallurgy makes the
construction Of such an immense structure DOS
sible If not altogether probable. The ex-presi-
dent Of the French Society of Civil Engineers
ure 80 kilometers in length, with a platform $50
feet above the sea at high tide. He argues
that the completion Of the Forth
bridge in Scotland is great stride toward the
final realization of the channel bridge dream.
Ex-PreSident Hersent's plans show bridge high
enough to allow large steamers and tall masted
sailing vessels to freely pass under it and wide
enough to support four railway tracks, besides
q road for carriages foot passengers. bicycles
etc Places Of refuge, watch houses. alarm bella
and electric lights will be placed at each pier.
the authors OF this gigantic scheme believe that
foundation for piers may be constructed with
out much trouble by the aid Of compressed air
diving bells, as the channels depth between
Calais and Dover does not exceed fifty meters
at any place, the average being from twenty
five to thirtyfve meters. The plans call for
concrete to the amount of 4,000,00 tons
wood and lead 100000 tons, and
iron and metal Of not less than 5000 900 tons
weight, which will make the bridge proper, ex-
elusive of watch towers, railroad, electric light
apparatus, ETC., weigh about 9,000, 900 tons. The
cost of the entire structure (Which is of course.
a secondary consideration, providing the gigan-
tic undertaking can be carried through to COM
pletion) will be some place in the neighborhood
of $500, DOC, 900, At present believe It Is under
stood that the plans will soon be submitted to
an international technical committee. II the
committee reports favorably and the coveted
concessions are granted the work will be COM
menced Immediately. NJ. Hersent says that
six years would suffice for the completion of
what would be the most important work of
man.
EARLY in the spring of 1892 says writer in
the St. Louis Republic, enterprising citizens Of
Henrique, Mexico, fitted out an expedition for
the purpose of thoroughly exploring this most
remarkable spot on the American continent
Jacobs sink'-that long -supposedto be myth
ical basin in the San Garcia mountains. Jacobs
sink" has been known, additionally at least,
for more than 100 years; under It's present
name. however, only since 1847, when "Lanky"
Jacob, the intrepid scout and erstwhile friend of
the great Western Kansas wolf poisoner, ven
tured to break the perpetual stiffness and tread
the cursed soil OF what the Mexicans firmly be-
lieye to be the DEVILS dancing ground. Accord
ing to the popular notion Jacobs sink was
once part and parcel OF the fertile table land
that lies between Tom Hills Peak and the main
range of the San Garcia mountains. At one
time IN the dim mlsts OF past ages, tins remark
1900 feet above the level of the Pacific; to-day
it would be lake 5000 feet deep, with perpen-
dicular banks on all sides but one, should some
CONFUSION Of nature or freak Of the elements
fill the "sink' with water. The true native
would rather suffer death by any known system
of torture than to venture into the awful soil
tude that Is known TO reign supreme at the bot
tom of the great basin, but Jacob, with the fool
hardness that induces or impels men to press
on where angels fear TO tread" boldly per-
mitted himself to be lowered into the grand but
| terrible abyss which stretches like the mouth
| of some yawning death-trap for II miles in one
direction aud ~ In the other. When once at
tho bottom, our bold explorer says.
sense OF extreme buoyAncy or specific
| lightness seemed TO pervade every fiber
| OF his anatomy. This feeling was prob
| ably due to the presence of noxious gases that
had collected at the bottom Of the sink; ct least
| 1t would be hard to explean the phenomena of
| such sensations with any other hypothesis as q
basis. After becoming partially accustomed to
! feeling like an animated balloon, Mr. Jacob
ventured to explore his unique surroundings
| Eternal silence regned supreme. AZ he after
| ward expressed II, "he could hear his own
| blood coursng through his veins and the grind.
| ing noise made by the turning OF the wheels Of
the universe" Near the center of the BASIN
| about six or seven miles from where he had
made the descent, he found fresh water lake
| about mile In circumference This was fed
by fountain having a gyratory motion and
strange periods Of activity and intermission
What finally became Of the. water was
a puzzle, there being no visible outlet
to the lake. The only Inhabitants Of this
| queer lake, as far as our explorer able to
ascertain. was short but very thick snake,
completely armored with round plates, which
were, in the language of the venturesome Jacob
exact counterparts of bolt washers, such as
| ore kept on sale at hardware stores each hav-
| ing disk about the size Of dime cut from It's
center" At the far end OF the sink he found
about 200 "cow brushes OF an unknown spe-
cies. These he believes were perfectly dumb,
as they emitted no noise when they, went
| The Henrique party of 1892 failed to find liv.
! ing creature in the great sink, but large stacks
| of horns and bones and few stray plates from
rad 60 h.R 4
| of the story told by the first and most daring
! explorer OF Jacobs sink"