RETAINER 



wso 



REVELATION 



nots, and the name parts in Faust, Lohengrin 

 and Romeo. He was for years a favorite star 

 with the patrons of the Metropolitan Opera 

 Company of New York. In 1904 he retired 

 from the stage to establish a singing school in 

 Paris. 



Edouard de Reszke (1855-1917) won fame as 

 one of the greatest dramatic bass singers of his 

 time, fle received his early musical training 

 from his brother Jean, and made his first stage 

 appearance in 1876 at the Theater of the Ital- 

 ians, in Paris. a> the king in Aida. He was fre- 

 quently engaged to sing in the same company 

 with his brother, and continued to appear at 

 Covent Garden, London, and at the Metro- 

 politan Opera House, New York, for several 

 seasons after his brother retired. In 1907 he 

 became a teacher of music in London. Among 

 -uccessful parts were the king in Lohengrin, 

 <-el in The Huguenots, Mephistopheles in 

 Faust, Hagen in Wagner's G otter dammerung 

 and Hunding in his Die Walkiire. He died in 

 Poland, at his estate in Erietrikov. 



RETAIN 'ER, the formal engaging of an at- 

 torney by a client to prosecute or defend a 

 suit at law, or the engagement of an attorney 

 by a client to act for him whenever the attor- 

 ney's services are needed. A retainer of the 

 first sort is special; of the second, general. The 

 retainer is accompanied by a retaining fee, 

 which is also called a retainer. The acceptance 

 of the retaining fee prevents the attorney from 

 accepting a retainer from the other party to 

 the case, or, in case of a general retainer, from 

 performing services that would be against the 

 interest of his client. 



RETRIEVER, re treev'er, a field dog trained 

 to find and bring back game, especially water- 

 fowl. There are two principal kinds, the Eng- 

 lish and the American, the latter known as the 

 Chesapeake Bay dog. This American retriever, 

 whose name comes from the district where he 

 first won fame, is the finest dog of his kind. 

 The coarse, thick hair, the color of sedge grass, 

 covers a large, heavy frame that is built for 

 strength and endurance. The dog weighs sixty- 

 five pounds. His legs are rather short but very 

 strong, and he has webbed feet. He is an ex- 

 pert swimmer and has an unerring scent, and 

 is well fitted to cope with the largest and 

 strongest birds and the roughest seas. There 

 are two distinct varieties of the English re- 

 triever, one with a black curly coat and sleek 

 head, and the other with a flat or wavy coat, 

 either black or reddish-brown. English re- 

 trievers have been bred by crossing the spaniel 



and the Newfoundland dog, or the spaniel and 

 the poodle, all of which are very keen of scent. 



REUNION, n- ijuhn' \iun, ILE DE LA, formerly 

 He de Bourbon, an island situated between 

 Madagascar and Mauritius, in the Indian 

 Ocean, belonging to France. It has an area 

 of 725 square miles and is of volcanic origin; 

 it has now an occasionally active volcano, the 

 Piton de la Fournaise, rising 8,713 feet above 

 the sea. The climate is healthful, but the is- 

 land is frequently visited by very destructive 

 hurricanes. 



Agriculture is the chief occupation, over one- 

 third of the total area being cultivated. The 

 principal crops are sugar, coffee, cacao, vanilla 

 and spices. The tropical forests are wonder- 

 fully luxuriant. Commerce is extensive, being 

 carried on, for the most part, with France and 

 other French possessions. The capital is Saint 

 Denis. The population is estimated at a little 

 over 173,300, and includes Indian coolies, na- 

 tives of Madagascar and Africa, and Chinese. 

 The white population is small, and is more or 

 less mixed with the colored races. 



The island is represented in the French Par- 

 liament by one senator and two deputies. 



REVAL, ravahl' , a coaling station and forti- 

 fied seaport of Russia, and the capital of the 

 government of Esthonia. It is picturesquely 

 situated on a bay of the same name, an inlet 

 of the Gulf of Finland (itself an arm of the 

 Baltic), and is about 230 miles southwest of 

 Petrograd. The upper part of the city occupies 

 a rocky eminence and contains the cathedral, 

 castle, governor's residence and the aristocratic 

 quarters. The lower town still retains many 

 relics of medieval times; special features of 

 interest are the town hall, the Church of Saint 

 Olai, with one of the highest spires in the world, 

 a museum of Baltic antiquities (in the guild 

 house) and a library of 60,000 volumes. Reval 

 is a popular bathing resort and has two harbors. 

 Among the Baltic ports of Russia it ranks third, 

 following Petrograd and Riga. During the War 

 of the Nations (which see) Reval was bom- 

 barded by the Germans, but was not captured. 

 Population in 1910, 98,995. 



REVELATION, rev e la' shun, BOOK OF, the 

 name frequently given to the last book of the 

 New Testament, in the English version called 

 the Revelation of Saint John the Divine, and 

 known also as the Apocalypse. It is supposed 

 to have been written by the apostle John when 

 he was living on the Isle of Patmos, to which 

 he had been banished. The first part contains 

 a message to the churches; the second includes 



