RAMIE 



I92S 



RANK IN ARMY AND NAVY 



he conquered Ethiopia and sought to over- 

 come the Hittites. At the api> of twenty-one 

 he formed an offensive and defensive alliance 

 with the Hittites, marrying the daughter of their 

 king as an evidence of good faith. The latter 

 part of his reign was peaceful. In 1881, sections 

 of a colossal statue of Rame> - II were found 

 near Memphis. The mummy of the king was 

 discovered in 1881 near Thebes, and several 

 years later it was removed to the museum at 

 Cairo. See PHARAOH. 



Consult Wallace-Budge's A History of Egypt; 

 Breasted's Ancient Records of Egypt. 



RAMIE, ram'i. See BOEHMERIA. 



RAMSAY, ram'zi, DAVID (1749-1815), an 

 American historian and statesman, was born in 

 Lancaster County, Pa. He graduated at Prince- 

 ton, and, after studying medicine at the Univer- 

 sity of Pennsylvania, moved to Charleston, 

 S. C., where as a physician, writer and advocate 

 of colonial rights he rendered services of excep- 

 tional value. While acting as a surgeon in the 

 Revolution, he was taken as a hostage after 

 the capture of Charleston in 1780, and confined 

 for eleven months at Saint Augustine. A mem- 

 ber of the Continental Congress from 1782 to 

 1786, he was its president during the last two 

 years of this period, and later, president of the 

 Senate of South Carolina. He was shot to 

 death by a maniac in the streets of Charleston. 



His orations and medical books are now 

 largely forgotten, but his History of the Revo- 

 lution in South Carolina, History of the Ameri- 

 can Revolution, Life of Washington, History 

 of South Carolina and History of the United 

 States contain so many facts based upon per- 

 sonal knowledge and experience that they are 

 of value to present-day students of American . 

 history. Considering his period, Ramsay was 

 fairly impartial. 



RANDOLPH, ran'dolf, JOHN, "OF ROANOKE" 

 (1773-1833), an American statesman of the 

 early national period, a native of Virginia and 

 a descendant of Pocahontas and John Rolfe. 

 After completing his studies at Princeton and 

 Columbia colleges, he began the practice of 

 law, but soon became interested in politics and 

 in 1799 was elected to Congress. As the Demo- 

 cratic-Republican leader of the House, he sup- 

 ported Jefferson in the purchase of Louisiana, 

 but later broke away from the Jefferson fac- 

 tion. Strenuous opposition to war with Eng- 

 land cost him his seat in 1813, but he regained 

 it in 1815. He bitterly opposed the Missouri 

 Compromise (which see) and styled its North- 

 ern supporters "Doughfaces." In 1825 he was 



JOHN RANDOLPH OF 

 ROANOKE 



elected to the Senate, where he served for two 

 years, and in 1830 he was sent as special envoy 

 to Russia. Randolph was opposed to slavery. 

 and in his will 

 freed all his slaves 

 and provided for 

 their support. In 

 Congress he 

 gained a reputa- 

 tion for sarcasm 

 and invective, 

 and his strong 

 language in re- 

 gard to the ap- 



point ment of ^fjff^^. 

 Clay as Secretary 

 of State by John 

 Quincy Adams 

 led to a bloodless duel between himself and 

 Clay (see CLAY, HENRY). 



RANGOON, rang goon' , capital of Burma, 

 the largest and most easterly province of Brit- 

 ish India. Its location on the Rangoon River, 

 a branch of the Irrawaddy, makes it a center 

 of the Burmese shipping trade, both foreign 

 and domestic (see BURMA). Rangoon lies 

 twenty-five miles from the Bay of Bengal (see 

 colored map of Asia following page 416), and 

 has a water front along the river a mile in 

 extent. The city is the foremost port of Burma 

 and ranks third among the ports of British 

 India, being surpassed only by Calcutta and 

 Bombay. Teak and rice are the chief exports; 

 cotton, petroleum, wines, silk and woolen 

 goods and household wares are included in 

 the imports. In the city there are lumber, oil 

 and rice mills and manufactories of silk and 

 cottons, pottery and other commodities. 



Rangoon is probably the greatest rice mar- 

 ket in the world, and its rice mill is as up-to- 

 date as the best in America (see illustration, 

 article RICE). The city has street railways 

 and substantial public buildings, a free library, 

 a college, a museum and a hospital. The visi- 

 tor there would find especially interesting a 

 famous shrine, sacred to Buddha. This is a 

 pagoda 370 feet high, the mecca of thousands 

 of pilgrims. Two attractive parks and several 

 Oriental bazaars are other features of interest. 

 Population in 1911, 293,316. 



RANK IN ARMY AND NAVY. Rank is a 

 word used to designate the different grades or 

 steps in command of naval and army officers. 

 In the army the highest rank is usually held 

 by the head of the nation, though that position 

 may be honorary and not entailing active field 



