PORPOISE 



4765 



PORT ARTHUR 



most black, and are grouped into two classes, 

 light and dark. They are hard, take a high 

 polish and are valuable building stones. See 

 FELDSPAR. 



PORPOISE, pawr'pus, a group of sea mam- 

 mals belonging to the same order as the dol- 

 phins and the whales (see CETACEA). The 1 

 known species is the common porpoise of the 

 northern hemisphere. It is from six to eight 



THE PORPOISE 



feet long, and is covered with a smooth, hair- 

 less skin, black on the upper part of the body 

 and white below. It has a short, beakless muz- 

 zle, and a blowhole placed between its eyes; 

 its jaws are provided with from forty to fifty 

 h each. This porpoise is a relentless hunter 

 of herring, mackerel and salmon, and to capture 

 the latter it will venture into rivers, where it 

 frequently falls a prey to fishermen. Porpoises 

 swim high in the water, and a school of them, 

 with their A\my backs visible above the waves, 

 is an interesting sight. Porpoise flesh is not 

 popular as food, but a fatty layer beneath the 

 .-kin yields an oil of commercial value. A good 

 quality of leather is obtained by cutting down 

 the thick skin of the animal. See WHALE; 

 DOLPHIN. 



PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE, pohr tahzh ' la 

 prehree', a city in the south-central part of 

 Manitoba. It is on the Assiniboine River and 

 on the main line of three great transconti- 

 nental railways, the Grand Trunk Pacific, the 

 Canadian Pacific and the Canadian Northern. 

 - also served by several branches of these 

 railways, and by a branch of the Great North- 

 connecting with the main line of that rail- 

 way at Grand Forks, N. D. Portage la Prairie 

 is fifty-Hx miles west of Winnipeg, seventy- 

 oeven miles east of Brandon, and about fifteen 

 I .-onth of Lake Manitoba. It takes its 

 name, which means portage over ///. prairie, 

 from the fact that the Indians and the early 

 traders at this point began the portage from 

 Asainiboine River to Lake Manitoba. Popu- 

 n in 1911, 5,892; in 1916, 5360. 

 Portage la Prairie is in many ways a typical 

 Western city. Its large grain elevators, its flour 

 and oatmeal mills, indicate the character of the 

 li-trict. The Portage plain, in 

 is famous as a section where crop fail 



are unknown. The city has many manufactur- 

 ing establishments, including brickyards, lum- 

 ber yards and factories for making farm imple- 

 ments and machinery, steel grain bins, struc- 

 tural iron castings and pumps. The city owns 

 and operates its waterworks, installed in 1907, 

 and its electric-lighting plant, which was pri- 

 vately owned previous to 1911. 



Attractive features of the city are the many 

 trees, an unusually large number for a Western 

 city. Also noteworthy is Crescent Lake, in 

 which lies the pretty Island Park, of thirty-five 

 acres. Only fifteen miles away is Lake Mani- 

 toba, which provides fishing and boating for 

 the summer months and makes Portage la Prai- 

 rie a popular summer resort. The city is the 

 seat of the central judicial district, and has the 

 government buildings and courthouse. The 

 post office and the armory are splendid build- 

 ings, as are also the general hospital, the In- 

 dustrial Training School, the Old Folks' Home, 

 the Home for Incurables, and the Indian school 

 maintained by the Presbyterian Church. WJI.G. 



PORT ANTONIO, anto'nio, JAMAICA, a 

 seaport town lying between two sheltered har- 

 bors on the northeast coast of Jamaica. It is 

 the second commercial port of the island, rank- 

 ing next to Kingston, and owes its prosperity 

 chiefly to the fruit trade, of which it is the 

 center. It is a typical Jamaican town, with 

 quays piled with fruit for shipment and fre- 

 quented by lolling negroes; and narrow, mean 

 streets crowded with black market women car- 

 rying their produce in large baskets borne upon 

 their heads. The population in 1911 was 7,074. 

 See JAMAICA. 



PORT ARTHUR, the terminus of the South 

 Manchurian Railway, is an important Japa- 

 nese naval station in the province of ShtMip- 

 king, Manchuria, situated at the extremity of 

 the Liaotung peninsula, which projects from thr 

 mainland in a southwesterly direction. Port 

 Arthur is located on the Strait of Prchili. MM 

 oval-shaped inlet of which forms a tine land- 

 locked harbor. About the harbor is a ring of 

 high, barren hills, and on their slopes the town 

 is built; tin- harbor, which has been enlarged 

 and improved, is free from ice the year rouml. 

 The Japanese maintain a regiment of soldiers 

 here, and have so strongly fortified the place 

 that it is considered impregnable. In 1912 it 

 had a population of 17,884, consisting chiefly of 

 Japanese and Chinese. 



Port Arthur, originally a small Chinese fish- 

 ing village, became world famous when it was 

 converted into a fortified naval station to guard 



