PRESTON 



L8U 



PREVAILING WESTERLIES 



county of Pressburg, is situated in the new 

 state of Hungary, thirty-five i. r of 



Vienna. Locally it is called Poztoirj. It has 

 a picturesque location on the north bank of 

 the Danube River, in the region of the Carpa- 

 thian Mountains. Pressburg, with ius many in- 

 teresting churches. .md historic build- 

 ings, and its spacious boulevards, is one of the 

 most attractive cities in Hungary. Among the 

 chief points of interest are the Landhaus, where 

 formerly the Hunt: ' held its sessions; 

 the medieval town hall, with a museum of Ro- 

 man antiquities; a handsome equestrian statue 

 of Maria Theresa, and a finely appointed li- 

 brary. Industrially the place is important as a 

 manufacturing center. Here are located a dy- 

 namite works, a large brush factory, an oil re- 

 finery and manufactories of cloth, leather, ma- 

 chinery, chemicals and other products. The 

 an area of twenty-nine square miles 

 and a population of 78,223. At Pressburg, in 

 1805, the Emperor Francis and Napoleon con- 

 cluded an important treaty. 



PRES'TON, an important manufacturing 

 town in England, situated at the mouth of the 

 River Ribble, in Lancashire, twenty-one miles 

 northeast of Liverpool. The original staple 

 manufacture of the town was linen, but it has 

 been superseded by cotton, and Preston is now 

 one of the chief centers of cotton manufactur- 

 ing in Lancashire. It is also an important rail- 

 way center, while the dredging of the river and 

 the harbor improvements have given a strong 

 impetus to the shipping trade, which consists 

 mainly of the export of coal and the import 

 of timber, iron and grain. There are brass and 

 iron foundries, iron shipbuilding yards, machin- 

 ery and boiler works, breweries, malt houses 

 and tanneries. During the civil wars in Eng- 

 land, Preston was a center of Royalist senti- 

 ment. The Scotch Royalists were defeated there 

 by Cromwell in 1648, but the town stanchly 

 supported the Old Pretender in 1715 and the 

 Young Pretender in 1745. Population in 1911, 

 117,113. 



PRESTON, a town in Waterloo County, On- 

 tario, popularly known as the Hub of Waterloo 

 County. It is on several electric interurban 

 lines and on branch lines of the Canadian Pa- 

 cific and Grand Trunk railways, four miles north 

 of Gait, eight miles south of Kitchener (for- 

 merly Berlin) and fifty-seven miles west of To- 

 ronto. Running through the town are two 

 small rivers, the Speed and the Grand, which 

 are not navigable, but they add greatly to the 

 attractiveness of the site. Preston is an im- 



portant manufacturing community. Its largest 

 Mishment, having about 500 employees, 

 makes steam and electric passenger cars ; of the 

 latter it is the greatest manufacturer in Canada. 

 Other large factories make stoves and ranges, 

 office and school furniture, shoes, metal shin- 

 gles, window sash and other metal materials 

 for building, cloth and dress goods, household 

 furniture, boys' sleds and express wagons, flour, 

 woodworking machinery and hockey sticks. The 

 pioneer factory to make hockey sticks on a 

 commercial scale is located at Preston. 



The town owns and operates the waterworks 

 and electric-light plant. The public library and 

 the post office, the latter completed in 1915, 

 the Merchants Bank building and the public 

 school are noteworthy structures. Preston is 

 said to be the best paved town in Ontario. 

 Mineral springs draw many visitors each year. 

 About a third of its population is German, or of 

 German descent. Population, 1911,3,882. C.E.II. 



PRETORIA, pretoh'ria, the seat of govern- 

 ment of the Union of South Africa and the 

 capital of the Transvaal province, is situated 

 forty-six miles by rail northeast of Johannes- 

 burg. It occupies both banks of the Aapies, a 

 branch of the Limpopo, and has wide avenues 

 lined with willows and many attractive build- 

 ings. The chief structures are the University 

 College Library, the government buildings and 

 the post office. Pretoria was founded in 1855, 

 and was named after Andries Pretorius, the 

 Dutch leader. When the Union of South Africa 

 was constituted in 1909, Pretoria and Cape Town 

 were rivals for the honor of being named the 

 capital; this was adjusted by making Pretoria 

 the seat of administration and Cape Town the 

 seat of legislation. Population in 1911, 49,743, 

 of whom 29,618 were whites. 



PREVAILING WEST'ERLIES, the pre- 

 vailing winds that blow over the north and 

 south temperate zones in an easterly direction. 

 In the southern hemisphere these winds come 

 from the southwest, and in the northern hemi- 

 sphere, from the northwest. In the southern 

 hemisphere the prevailing westerlies attain such 

 force and velocity on the sea that the sailors 

 call them the "roaring forties." Owing to the 

 great land masses in the northern hemisphere 

 the prevailing westerlies of the north temper- 

 ate zone are frequently diverted from their 

 course by mountain ranges. They are also in- 

 terrupted by the great cyclonic storms that are 

 common over land and sea in this zone. The 

 United States and the southern half of Canada 

 are within the path of the prevailing westerlies, 



