PORT ARTHUR 



4766 



PORT CHESTER 



Peking. Though captured by the Japanese in 

 the war of 1894 (see CHINKSK-JAPANESE WAR), it 

 was evacuated by them through the interven- 

 tion of Germany, France and Russia. Eventu- 

 ally it was leased by the Russians and made a 

 strong naval base, but was in turn taken from 

 them by the Japanese during the Russo-Japa- 

 nese War (which see). The Treaty of Ports- 

 mouth (1905) provided for the cession of Port 

 Arthur to the Japanese for the remainder of 

 the period specified in the lease, and an exten- 

 sion of the lease was secured in 1915. 



PORT ARTHUR, a city in Ontario, in the 

 Thunder Bay district. It is situated at the 

 head of Lake Superior, and with its rival, Fort 

 William, divides the Canadian water traffic be- 

 tween Great Lakes' ports and the West. It is 



A PORT ARTHUR GRAIN ELEVATOR 

 The largest structure of the kind in the world. 

 Boats are loaded and unloaded automatically ; 

 when a steamer comes here for a cargo of wheat 

 it can be filled in four hours. 



also an important railway center, being a divi- 

 sional point on the main lines of the Canadian 

 Pacific and the Canadian Northern railways. 

 By rail it is 872 miles northwest of Toronto, 

 988 miles northwest of Montreal, and 423 miles 

 east of Winnipeg. Duluth is about fifty miles 

 directly southwest of Port Arthur. Its loca- 

 tion, together with its excellent facilities for 

 shipment by rail and water, has made it a 

 great collecting and distributing point, espe- 

 cially for the grain-growing Canadian North- 

 west. Over 100,000,000 bushels of grain each 

 year pass eastward through the ports of Fort 

 William and Port Arthur. The grain elevator 

 of the Canadian Northern Railway, with a ca- 

 pacity of 10,000,000 bushels, is said to be the 

 largest elevator in the world. There is also a 

 large Dominion government elevator, one of 

 the system of interior storage elevators. 



In addition to its grain interests, Port Arthur 

 receives and ships vast quantities of coal, iron 

 ore, fish and lumber. The blast furnaces, a dry 

 dock and shipbuilding plant, sawmills, found- 

 ries and coal and ore docks are among the large 

 establishments. There are a number of note- 



worthy buildings, including the public library; 

 the armories; the post office; the splendid col- 

 legiate institute, one of the finest in Canada; 

 and the Whalen office building, which cost 

 $350,000. The city owns and operates its pub- 

 lic utilities the street railway since 1891 ; water- 

 works and electric-light plant since 1895, and 

 telephone since 1903. Current River Park (350 

 acres) and Lyon Park (ninety-nine acres) are 

 attractive pleasure spots. 



Port Arthur was founded in 1888. It was 

 first known as Prince Arthur's Landing, in 

 honor of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, 

 who was later Governor-General of the Do- 

 minion. Since its incorporation as a city in 

 1907 it has been known as Port Arthur. Popu- 

 lation in 1901, 3,214; in 1911, 11,220; in 1916, 

 estimated, 18,500. F.F.M . 



PORT-AU-PRINCE , pohr toh praNs ' , or 

 pohr toh prins' , is the capital and principal 

 seaport of the republic of Haiti, West Indies. 

 It is on the western coast of the island, and has 

 a good ^harbor in the well-sheltered Bay of 

 Conaives. The town is built on a low, marshy 

 shore at the foot of the hills surrounding, the 

 bay, and although it is well laid out with wide, 

 regular streets, the buildings are very poor. All 

 of them, even the palace and cathedral, are of 

 wood, and many are half in ruins. The people 

 are mostly rmilattoes or negroes, very ignorant 

 and lazy, who speak a French dialect. Port- 

 au-Prince has twice been destroyed by earth- 

 quakes, once in 1751 and again in 1770, and 

 many times large sections of the town have 

 been burned. Since the withdrawal of the 

 French, who founded the town in 1749, the 

 country has been so mismanaged that the com- 

 merce has greatly decreased, and the city shares 

 with the remainder of the republic in this mis- 

 fortune. The chief exports are cabinet woods, 

 coffee and cocoanuts. Population, 1914, 100,- 

 000. See HAITI. 



PORT CHESTER, N. Y, in Westchester 

 County, is a summer resort and a residential 

 suburb, twenty-three miles northeast of New 

 York City, in the southeastern corner of the 

 state. It is on Byram River, a short distance 

 from Long Island Sound, and is served by 

 boats, by the New York, New Haven & Hart- 

 ford Railroad and by an electric line. The 

 city covers an area of two square miles and 

 has several small parks, the Jared V. Peck 

 Memorial Library, the United States Hospital 

 and a $132,000 high school. Among the indus- 

 trial establishments are bolt and nut works, 

 iron foundries, cabinet and blind factories, and 



