The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1879-08-20
TIMELY TOPICS.

An international convention under
the auspices of the king of Belgium and
the honorary presidency of the court of
Flanders is to assemble in Brussels this
year to discuss the latest advances in the
knowledge of American ethnology, phil
osophy, history, geology, and in fact of
everything appertaining to America that
is of interest to mankind New light is
expected to be thrown upon the dis
covery of the North American continent
and upon its primitive inhabitants.
There are in Europe many students of
American history and science, and this
will be their third congress.
The far-famed Alhambra is in danger.
The hill above Grenada, on which stands
the palace of the ancient Moorish kings
of Spain, has recently given signs of
sliding away, so that this splendid inonu-
ment of a memorable epochin the history
of Europe is in danger of complete ruin
and downfall. 1t is also said that the
Alcabaya, a spacious and splendid struc-
ture at the base of the hill, which was
formerly the residence of the Moorish
nobility, is in danger of destruction from
the same cause. The wall of this great
Moorish palace is more than a mile in
circuit, incloses thirty-five acres and is
hanked by thirteen square towers. An
effort to restore the palace was made by
Queen Isabella in 1862, but the sums of
money devoted to it were not sufficient
to complete the work satisfactorily.
What will be the largest ferryboat in
the world is now being constructed at
San Francisco by the Central Pacific Rail
road Company to ply between Martinez
and Benicia. 1t is to be longer than the
great Pacific steamship City of Peking
even, and has a greater breadth of beam
than any vessel afloat. It's length is
424 feet, width 1l6 feet and wheels 80 feet
in diameter, and it will be propelled by
steam generated in eight steel boilers,
each twenty-eight feet long. The boat is
double-ender and is steered by four
rudders at each end. The hold is di-
vided into eleven water-tight compart-
ments, which will make it impossible to
sink her. Four tracks will be placed
upon her decks, which will accommo-
date forty-eight freight cars OF twenty
four passenger coaches.
A child at Dover South Mills, Me-,
eight years old, was born without eyes.
He has eyebrows and eyelids, but moth
ing which indicates the presence of eve
balls, and doctors say that he has moth
ing whatever in the nature of an eye
organism. The little fellow is an unusu-
ally bright boy. He has never been heard
to utter a word of complaint at his con-
dition, and he invariably rebukes his
friends If they give expression to any
plying words. That he appreciates,
however, the misfortune that afflicts him
is shown by this fact: His little niece
had cataract upon her eye, and he had
heard fears expressed lest it should de-
stroy her sight. 1t was not long after
this that his mother heard his voice in
an adjoining room, and going quietly to
the door she was surprised to hear
him praying to God that the little baby
might not become blind.
Paris recently celebrated the anniver-
sary OF the taking of the Bastile and even
the staid Journal deS DebdtS became elo-
quent over the event. "The taking of
the Bastile," it said, "is not mere mill
tary act, amaterial fact. 1t is an image;
it is an emblem it is, so to speak, the in
carnation of a great social revolution.
So it has been regarded both by France
and the universe. In history it will al
ways signify the abolition of royal war
rants, of condemnation without hear
ing, ofpersonal and irresponsible govern
ment." The Bastile, literally, "the
building" was built by Charles the Fifth, |
in 1869, as a fort at the gate of st. An
toine, Paris. Not long afterward it was
used as a place of custody for state
prisoners, and so continued until the
l4th of July, 1889, when it was attacked
by the populace and razed to the ground.
Its site is now marked by lofty bronze
monument known as the Column in
July, with reference to the month of |
which the Revolutionists did their work !
of destruction. At the top of the beau
tiful column is a gilded figure of Mer- |