The Washington times., 1906-06-17
ITEMS FROM ACROSS THE SEA.

The name of DR.. Richard Garnett.
who died in London the other day. Will
! ever be associated with the great work
of cataloguing the vast library of the
British Museum The treasury agreed
TO set aside so. 900 a year for the M
pose. and the work of editing the new
catalogue was handed over to him. BY
1889 the presses were at work and ten
years later the task was completed.
The catalogue OF today consists Of
volumes in all and contains nearly T..
900, coo entries. including the cross refer
ences Nearly CO. 600 fresh entries are
added each year.
Belgium is. despite its forty-two miles
OF .SeabOard. one Of the few nations of
the world without a navy. There are
rope-landlocked Switzerland and Ser
via. Even Bulgaria can boast of a tor
pedc gunboat and & few small steam
ers. while Roumania is proud in the
possession OF twelve small vessels.
Holland Belgiums neiGhbor, has quite
an imposing feet OF eight ironclads and
a flotilla Of 100 steamers If Bulgaria
has the smallest navy IN the world the
tiny principality of Monaco has the
smallest army-l26 men all told
Verona. in Italy. is now completing
the excavation Of its Roman theater. a
work which was begun in 1894 II Is
built in a semicircle 1t dates from
the time Of Augustus Caesar and was
Greece. Africa. and Asia. The theater
was formed of huge steps of granite
above which were rows of private boxes.
one of which stands in its original posi-
ton, in excellent preservation, and with
the name of the owner carved on II,
Above the tiers Of private boxes rose
the places where the plebeians were
seated and from where they looked
down on TO the stage or away 20 the
water jousts on the river.
The next tpanel to be made in Swift
zerland will probably be through the
the canton of Nalais- II Will be eight
and two-fifths miles long and cost near
ly $1,000 900.
There have been many avalanches IN
the Valais and Grisons cantons, Swift
zerland, and eight worlSmen have been
overwhelmed on the Furka pass while
cutting their way out of an avalanche.
two being severely injured.
OF all the modern writer's Sir Walter
Scott has the largest place in that giEan-
tic work. the British Museum catalogue
scott has larger number of entries Un-
/ der his name than any other author
save Shakespeare. who has two volumes
devoted exclusively to him.
The first section of the railway across
the Andes. thirty-four miles long. has
OF 2,es4 and ends at T22l feet The snn,-
NIT station will be 10, ,3S5 feet above sen
level Before that IS reached a ntu1b her
OF tunnels VIII have TO be opened; the
| longest will be 3,4O5 yards long,
Travellers in Africa have told how na-
tives communicate intelligentiy over
vast distances by means Of drums some
Of the messages in transmission being
almost telegraphic in their accuracy
The drum also furnishes the principal
instrument Of music" in certain tribes
1t is stated that the new British ',at-
tlcship Dreadnought win have only a
away with. Her tunnels will be very
narrow. so as TO make as little broad
side target as possible, the fiat being
seen fore and aft She will be fitted
doors.
Cecil Rhodes tomb In the Matoppo
hills. South Africa. has been desecrat-
tisement appeared recently in the Que
hec Daily Telegraph: For sale-A
piece Of stone from slab covering grave
OF me Hon Cecil Rhodes. in the Matop-
po hills. Southern Rhodesia. South AZ
rica- An opportunity for curio collect
orS- Apply D.. this Office
"A friend OF mine" says an Indian
correspondent. was motoring into Cal
cutta. and on the way the car passed
over native and only lust missed
scalping him. As compensation the ma
tive received $50 with which he hob
hled on quite gayIy. Ever since then
natives in the nelghborhood of Calcutta
| have been throwing themselves wildly
| in the way of every available motor car
in the hope of similar luck =
One Of the leaders of Mohammedan
| ism. very learned citizen of Cairo
| has recently issued pamphlets on the
subjects OF the phonograph and life
insurance and their relation TO the sac
red law of Islam. He declares that
there is nothing in the Islamic doctrine
| TO forbid Moslems to listen TO the
phonograph, and that. II the verses OF
the Koran are suitably intoned from
| the phonograph. the listener may be
| justly considered to be performing an
act Of worship. Fire and life iiisur-
ance are. however. condemned as gam
| bling. and hence contrary in spirit to
the teaching Of the Koran.