The Newtown bee., 1879-09-03
TIMELY TOPICS,

IAMEL1 IOflCS.
 An international convention unSer the auspices of the king of Belgium and 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 AmeI1can 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 ot Spaln, has recently given signs of sliding away, so that this splendid nonu- ment of a memorable epoch in the history ot Europe is in danger of complete ruin and downfall. It is also said that the Alcabaya, spacious and splendid struc- ture at thel 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 Moorlsh palace is more than mile in circuit, incloses thirty-iive acres and is f1anked 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 R0nicja ic tr IN, h 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 ll6 feet and wheels 30 feet in diameter, and it will be propelled by steam generated in eight steel boilers, each twenty-eight feet long. The boat is a dOuble-ender and is stecred by four rudders at each end. The hold is di- vidcd 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 fortyeight freight cars or twenty four passenger coaches.
 In BelgTuUiG Richard A. Proctor shows that while it is theoretically possible to construct chess-playing automaton, it is practically impossible because the ma
 
 and complicated. There would scarcely be room on the earth for it, and it could not be operated. The number of differ ent combinations that can be formed on a chess-bOard is approximately repre- sented as 100, ,000,0O0 ,000, ,0O0, ,00O 900 ,0OO,- O00, ,O0O, 900, and if workman could make 1 200 holes an hour it would, to drill the required number of holes in metal | plate for one automatic cheSs-bOard 1 ,.r,1 |, L. 1 the earth 100000, ,0OO, ,0OO, ,OOO, ,OOO years! Therefore, MT. Proctor thinks there will never be a chess automaton that can play a game, unless there is Life in Othel Worlds than Ours"
 A child at Dover South Mills, Me, l eight years old, was born without eyes. He has eyebrows and eyelids, but nOth- ing which indicates the presence of eye balls, and doctors say that he has nOth- l 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 word of compIaint at his con- dition, and he invariably rebukes his friends if they give expression to any pitying words. That he appreciates, however, the misfortune that at1iicts him is shown by this fact: His little niece 1 had a cataract upon her eye, and he had | heard fears expressed lest it should de stroy her sight. It was not long after this that his mother heard his voice in an adjoining room, and going quietly to 1 the door she was surprised to hear him praying to God that the little baby might not become blind.
 According to the various official re ports of the most recent date. the gross
 
 ways of the world is set down at 250 900, GOO. Taking the life of a sleeper at an average of some eight years, and allow ing for the large increase of mileage every year, it would appear that above 5,000- 000 of sleepCrS must be the annnal re- quirement-or, making a deduction Ot about 50, ,000, ,000 on account Otmany rail- roads being laid with cast and wrought iron sleepers, the yearly destruction now going on may, it is thought, be fairly | calculated at 40, 900, ,000. These contain on an average, about two and One-halt cubic feet in each sleeper, or about lOO,- GOO, 900 of cubic feet, and even at the most moderate estimate of their value, an enormous sum is thus annually eX- pended and vast industry represented, in this single item.
 Poors "Railroad Manual for 1879 gives some interesting figures in regard to the railroads of the United States. During the year ending Dec. 3l, 1878, 2694 miles of new line were opened, the total mileage in the United States at that time being 81, ,84l miles. In 1880 there were but twenty-three miles in opera tion The total miles operated were 78,. y6O last year, against "A, ll2 in 1877, and 66, 237 in 1873; the capital and funded debt, S4, 5SO, ,O46, 793, against $4, ,56S, ,597,- 248 in 1877, and S3, 784 ,543, ,034 in 1873 the gross earnings, S490, l03 ,36l, against S472, ,9O9, ,272 in 1877, and S526, ,4l9, 935 iI 1873; the net earnings, Sl07, ,5l5,l77 against S17O, ,976, 697 in 1877. and S1o9, 579, ,958 in 1874 Gin 187 3 the figures were Sl83, ,91O, ,562); the freight earnings, S365, 466, ,O7l, against $347, ,7O4, 548 in 1877, anc S389, ,O35, sos in 1873; the passenger earn ings, SPA. .637 ,290, against $l25, ,204, 124 in 1877, $40. 999, ,OS1 in 1874, and S137, 384, ,427 in 1873; the dividends paid, S53, 269, ,366, against $58, ,556,3l2 in 1877, SI4, 294, POS in 1875, and $67, l20, ,709 in 1873 Paris recently celebrated the anniver sary of the taking of the Bastile and ever the staid JOat77aaJ des DebatS became elo ouent over the event. ''The taking 0 ) the Bastile,'' it said, $ is not a mere mill tary act, material fact. It is an image 1t is an emblem; it is, so to speak, the in ) carnation of a great social revolution So it has been regarded both by Franc } and the universe. In history 1t will al