Items Of Interest

The sa1t iisöd by the pac Vers am] buichcrs of San Francisco is obtamed by solar evaporaüon from the waters of the occan; The proces? is feaèyi Gcor'iais'rapidlydevelopiriraïrrat luniber business. The eslima ed product, lor this year will cotnprirt 300,000.000 feet valued at more than $5,000,(100. TIkti' is an excellent mavKci iui putato floiir in Europi-,and wilhontjflvat effori tlie manufacture of this nrticle conld beqtiiie Inrgely and profitnbly ilevcloped in this country. Mr. Glailstoue al way s insists on having s-evcn houis' sleep a dtiy,and right il possible, and sips tea as a narcouc at 2 o'elock in the morning, atler hts niirtit's work is over. öo much better and better p"t np is American tlian Rawiaü tall(jv tlmt tlie principal steariiie tíictories of Moscow no w use the American aiticlc. Vast qimntitiesof iron are now benig trimsportcd Innii the iron mines of Spain to England, tlie shipnieut to Cardiffin the lal ter country amoiiniing to 20,0u0 toas duilug a center The intcrcsting experiment of nmnjnjr tho tires of a locomotivo by gas burnt froffl gas bags in the tender is tried on a half mile strip of railroad in England, knowu as the Ryde Pier Railroad. Utensils made of steel are not only li-hter but strenger than those cohsirncied of iron. Consequcntiy steel is rapidly being substituted tbr cast and wroiight iron in the inanutuctuie of agricukural implements. Iron building is becoming a notable industry in Cliina. One tliousand one hundred Cliinese workinen aie now employed in a ship building yard at Shanghai, tbat wjis estabiished several years ago by Scotchmen. The Yukon, a river nearly ás large as ihe Mississippi, is reported by explorcrs to flow thiougli Atoêka. Öieamers can navigate it, and 500 miles iïom its Hiouth a great basin, twentyfour miles wide, is forined at tlie flux of a lai-e tribu tary wlncn can also be ascended by vesscls. The weight of the bell of Moscow, the bi"--est bell ever made, is estimated to be 355,772 pounds, its height is 19 feet, and it nieasures around tho rim 64 feet. It has neyer been hung, but in a broken condition lies on ihe g round at Moscow. 'Empresa Aune of Ku8sia had it cast in 1653. The capacity of the pig-iron furnaces in ibis country is about 6,50U,00U tons, and the present production at the animal rato oí 4,uou,wu tons. n ís esi matea that 3,5UO,00U or 3,750,000 tons will be used duriiig the ciuieut yoatt. ÏUe consuinptipn in 1879 ainouuted to nbout 3,000,000 tOnü: In Louisiana and soutliérh Üítóls ■inpi an industry giving eniployinént lo tliou-ands of whites and blacks is tiie g:ithering of beautiful moss that tliickly liangs in festoons íroin tlie I rees. The moss is almüst as flneas Iiíh-sí! hair whp.ncui-ed and briiigs a high pricc. Americana probably consume in one fonn and another, iucluding gieat quantities of candy, more molasses and sugar thau IUy otlier nation, it having been estimated thatevery man, wonian and cliild of our populalion eals forty pounds annually. The demand lias increased SO per eeut wilhiu twelve ycars. A Germán newspaer claims to have discovered tliat Goethe was descended froin a Bavarian family bearing tlie name of Goize, and living in 1449 at. Henstien. That b ranch ot' the family which migrated to Thuringia afterward bore the name of Gotliu,Gothes and Gotlie, which last, uy me resioration of the original umlant, beoanie Goethe. Wheii Goethe was at the Univërsity of Leipsic the students ■wére classificd ofticially as "Saxons, l'oles, Boilörtiians and Uayarians," and Goeihe's name Was iiisöribcd aniong tho latier. . ScTOPone has nndertaVen the bnri ness of lion-breeding at Boid, Algena iu order to supply hienagenes and zoolDi(;al gardens with specimens of the i-s?.. nfhpa9t.fi. lor which there is a jn-eat a:id growing demand. Iheextirpation of the lion in a wild state in Altreria, firom a variety of canee, is oiify a quesüon of a very short time. The yew tree is said to be plantëd in church-yards. not IVoiit áily superstition about its being appropnate to death and mourning, but because in the olden times chuvchyards were strono-lv fenced, and the yew, whlch was u'sed lor maktng boivs, was theieby preserved froni the dopredations ot the cattle. Modern warfare, in spitc of all lts terrible paraphernalia, does not uestroy nearly so many lives as did the sworclj bow and spear of the aneients, Whose loss i 11 battle compared Witli that of armies that fight nowadays is computed to have been 33 per ceut against only 8 to 11 per cent. ■It is unmistakable," says Dr. Holland, "that the temlcncy of the modern criticism upon novéis has been to niake tlicin petty and trilling to a ïauseatiiifT degree. It is a ininentauie consideration tliat the swliig of a petticoat or the turn of au ankle or ihe vapid uttcrance of a dandy, or even the delineado of a harlot and a harlot's dlagottintr lile, shall be coiintcd quite legitímale material fora novel, when the great questions whioli concern the lite and piosperity ot thosoul and the State are held in dishonor umi Ibrbidden to the novelist as material ofart." Bonsilste is a new material which is sttrneting considerable attention. lt can be matte into unibrella hand les, canes, checkers and dominóes, clookcaees and other thinas whid. heretofore have bien nianutactuied tioni ivory, aid rubber and siffiJar sul)stances.- lt is sal.l tobe hanler than celluloid, and, as in 0e case ot the Jatter material, if coforini,' matter be properlv mixed with it, can be mnde to imítate malnchue. expeiwive mibles etc. ltcan be readily moliled m die, and be tbrineU into slabs uv bars. lt may be umied, polisheü, or saweil uto aiy sha pe desired. Twen t y years ago, when Sardou was very poorf he piumised, in return tbr a stn'fül advance of cash. to wriic a oHiedy tor the lJalaiHoyal ïheaier. He postponed and poStpoHed. Tlireatened now wUh an action, he has compl ed, whfch ex pinina why tliai pctiy theiter will briiijf out a masKsi-piece. Foor Dunias pere wasïiotliko baraoo ; wluit lie proiM-Ued wnspunctually perfcmied. Dlunas carne to l'aris with 4W 'fiiincs in his pocket. He earned and sqnandered 40,000.000 fvawcs. When goiug 10 bed lo die he femni a 2U-fnmce piecc in lii uockoi. "ieok, ' 8uid lwr,.shoving tt wMs-sowproiialy 1 4. noSüCSS OU (uiillllg tliC world, aiid pëople acense me of oxtravnganci1." Wlieii DnHias ti Is n itpd Rn ron 'J'aylor to altend lils Caí lier' á fuñe-ral iit t!ie country, hc as-nuci tlie Baron, "You eau catea a return iraiu in time lor dinner." "Á very grand liend," sáys á Paris correspondent, '"ií Ganibclia's. The lines irc ampie, and express poWnr it iisease. About tlie temples iiiid over tlio éyes llie deveiopiiient o! the forel liead is abnornial. Guinbeita's superU brity is üot üt á kind tb awr kc jealoufiy. lt is very manifest, bul it is s unalloyeil witii egotiMii, and it is so soflened 1)J' good iellowslnp, thata man ol talent, who feels small in tlic presenee of the groat tribu n, does nöt tor tliat leel buiniliatcd. (iainbettó enjoys ëompaliiüiiihip inore t han 'society,' as 'society' is understood in our time. He likes clëvcr woinen if tliey are unatlected, ainl he does not believe a woman's conversition can clltuiii a man of intellect unless it is the outcome ot niuch stuily, Obsérv.ition and long snslainid mental eüoris. The professional beauty would bu neglected by Irini nnlew her lovelines wuru lighted up b wit."