The Sun.
London, England, 1850-03-08 00:00:00

ITALY.

The Piednsontese Gazette of the 2d publishes a
proclamation of the Syndic of Turin, announcing that
a solemn religious service would he celebrated in the
Church of the Mother of God, on the 4th of March,
the second anniversary of the proclamation of the
Constitution, and of the institution of the National
Guard. We find in the same paper a circular,
addressed by order of the Minister of the
Interior, to the Intendants-General of pro-
vinces, for the better organization of the National
Guards, containing directions for the distribution of
arms to those who had not yet received any.
In
the sitting of the Chamber of Deputies of
iTurin,
of the Ist, Dr. Zunini moved that the Cham-
ber should celebrate the anniversary of the 4th
of March with peculiar solemnity. Dr. P. olto
seconded the motion, adding that the President
should be empowered to arrange matters, so that the
Chamber and National Guard might be present toge •
ther at the ceremony. Both motions were agreed to
unanimously. Another motion by M. Chenal, that the
4th of March be declared a perpetual holiday, was so
far agreed to that the Minister of the Interior was
instructed to present a law on the subject. The dis-
cussion of the Bill on postal reform was then resumed,
and advanced to Art. 24.

PnILADELPHIA, FEB. 18.—Antiquarians will feel
deeplyinterested in the discovery of vast regions of
ancient ruins near San Diego, and within a day's
march of the Pacific Ocean, at the head of the Gulf
of California. Portions of temples, dwellings, lofty
stone pyralmids (seven of these within a mile square),
and massive granite rings, or circular walls, round
venerable trees, columns and blocks of hiero-
glyphics—all speak of some ancient race of men
now for ever gone, their history actually unknown to
any of the existing families of mankind. In some points,
these ruins resemble the recently discovered cities of
Palenque, &c., near the Atlantic or Mexican Gulf Coast;
.
in others, the ruins of ancient Egypt ; others, again,
the monuments of Phoenicia ; and yet in many features
they differ from all referred to. The discoverers deem
them to be antediluvian, while the present Indians have
a tradition of a great civilized nation which their fero-
cious forefathers utterly destroyed.
The election of Lord Rector, Aberdeen, has been
made in favour of Sheriff Gordon, who had a majority
of 72 over his opponent, the author of the Latter Day
Pamphlets—Thomas Carlyle.

INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS.

On 'Tuesday, March 5 (William Cubitt, Esq., Pre-
sident, in the chair), before the business commenced,
it was announced by the Secretary, that an electric
telegraph dispatch had been received, communicating
the gratifying intelligence that. at seven o'clock in
the morning of Tuesday, three locomotive engines
and :aunty-two loatle, coal wa,,,,g0n., vvPi,Aing in all
three hundred tons, had passed through the Britannia
tube, over the Menai Straits, with perfect safety, and
very satisfactory to Mr. Stephenson, the engineer.
The discussion was resumed on Mr. Taylor's sys-
tem of Street Paving, and was extended to such a
length as to preclude the reading of any paper.
It was contended that a rigid and unyielding sub-
stratum had been tried by Mr. Telford many
years since, and had been used with success in
some parts of the City paving, up to the present
time. The average duration of the pavement of the
streets in the City was stated to be eight years, but
that it was constantly subject to injury, from being
moved by the water and gas companies. The pave-
ment on London-bridge by Sir John Rennie was
instanced as a good, but expensive, example of the use
of long narrow stones; and that by Mr. Walker, on
Blackfriars-bridge, was quoted as another instance
of the success that might be attained by great care in
the preparation of the substratum, which was of con-
crete, and the stones of the pavement being laid with
more than ordinary skill and care. The results in
both cases were eminently successful, but it was
allowed that such an expensive system, however
beautiful, was not applicable to the ordinary streets.
It was admitted that, although the principal streets
of the City and the main thoroughfares of the Wrest
and East ends were well attended to, yet it must be
allowed, that the paving of the majority of the streets
was not in a satisfactory state, and it was attributed,
in a great degree, to the want of a definite
system being adopted; there being too many autho-
rities in the shape of parish paving boards, each of
which had a separate surveyor, too often equally in-
efficient and ill paid. The water and gas companies
appeared to vie with each other in their endeavours to
destroy the paving ; and a portion of the Strand was
quoted as having been removed thirty times within
two years.
With respect to Mr. Taylor's system of paving, it
was contended that the Mount Sorrel granite was
a very superior material, both as regarded its
toughness and durability, and that its natural structure
enabled it to be worked very advantageously into the
small cubes. The main feature of the system was the
selection of the material for the substratum, and the
careful preparation, so as to afford a sufficiently rigid,
but yet imperceptibly elastic bed, whereon the small
cube stones should rest. These stones being well
driven down by repeated blows of light rammers,
attained a degree of solidity which defied the heaviest
traffic ' • and in the towns where the system was em-
ployed, considerable economy had resulted. The sur-
face of the paving appproached as nearly as possible
that of a macadamized road, affording even a safer
foothold for the horses, and with less noise of
passing vehicles. The surface possessed extraordi-
nary durability, and it might be considered as a solid
mass of granite. It was announced that within a few
weeks there would be specimens of Mr. Taylor's
system of paving laid down at the entrances of Hyde-
park, where they would be subjected to regular traffic
of a destructive nature, and which would be under
constant observation.

A model of an improved crossing point was ex-
hibited by Mr. Duncan, of Leeds; the notch in the
rail was shown to be done away with, and the two
rails in it were so dovetailed together, as to render
any vertical motion between them impossible, thus
materially strengthening the crossing.
A piece of brickwork, set in Greave's blue lias
lime, and which had been kept under water for nine
days, was also exhibited. This material was com-
posed of one-third of lime to two-thirds of burnt clay;
and it was stated to have been used with great suc-
cess in the tunnels on the Great Northern Railway,
as well as in many hydraulic works, in which it was
as durable as cement.

At the monthly ballot for Members, the following
gentlemen were duly elected :—Mr. E. 0. Tregelles,
as member ; and Messrs. J. A. Agnew, W. Bevan,
E. Goddard, J. D. M. Stirling, G. B. Thorneycroft,
C. C. Williams, and Lieut. Douglas S. Galton, R.E.,
as associates.

The next meeting was announced to take place on
Tuesday evening, March 12, when an interesting
paper will be read, " On Tubular Girder Bridges," by
Mr. Wm. Fairbairn, Al. Inst. C.E.