REVOLVER 



4990 



REYNOLDS 



Ticonderoga. Battles of White Plains, N. Y. 

 Trenton, Battle of Writ of Assistance 



Valley Forge Yorktown, Sieges of 



BIOGRAPHIES 



Adams, Samuel 

 Allen, Ethan 

 Andre, John 

 Arnold, Benedict 

 Burgoyne, John 

 Carleton, Sir Guy 

 Clark, George Rogers 

 Clinton, George 

 Clinton, Sir Henry 

 Cornwallis, Charles 

 De Kalb, Johann, Baron 

 Franklin, Benjamin 

 Gage, Thomas 

 Gates, Horatio 

 Greene, Nathanael 

 Hale. Nathan 

 Hancock, John 

 Henry, Patrick 



Howe, subheads Richard 



and Sir William 

 Jones, John Paul 

 Lafayette. Marquis de 

 Lee, Charles 

 Lee, Henry 

 Lee, Richard Henry 

 Marion, Francis 

 Otis, James 

 Pickens, Andrew 

 Putnam, Israel 

 Revere, Paul 

 Ross, Betsy 

 Stark, John 

 Steuben, Baron von 

 Warren, Joseph 

 Washington, George 

 Wayne, Anthony 



REVOLVER, a firearm which is at once a 

 benefit to mankind and a menace to the peace- 

 ful citizen, was the invention of Samuel Colt. 

 It contains a revolving cylinder with five or 

 six chambers for cartridges, immediately be- 

 hind the barrel. Each chamber is brought au- 

 tomatically into line with the barrel by the 

 pulling of the trigger, all the bullets being dis- 

 charged through the one barrel. Many im- 

 provements in the mechanism of the revolver 

 have been effected since the early models were 

 made; the most perfect model is the so-called 

 automatic pistol, which is hammerless and fires 

 its cartridges from chambers with great rapid- 

 ity, requiring only a continued pressure upon 

 the trigger. In the War of the Nations the 

 type of revolver used by officers and cavalry- 

 men was the automatic, or magazine pistol, 

 which proved wonderfully effective. 



In most civilized countries the carrying of a 

 revolver by unauthorized persons is a criminal 

 offense. The irresponsible person, who may be 

 defined as one whose personal views, too often 

 criminal, are held superior to the mandates of 

 humanity and law, would be less a social dan- 

 ger if deprived of a revolver. Persons author- 

 ized to carry firearms include soldiers, police- 

 men and others whose duty it is to protect life 

 and property. The police of most cities and all 

 peace officers in the discharge of their duties 

 are permitted to arm themselves with revolv- 

 ers, or such pistols as meet with official ap- 

 proval. English policemen are at all times en- 

 tirely unarmed, save for a baton, or club. 



Revolvers are made in many sizes and vary 

 greatly in price, ranging from $2 up to $100 or 

 more in case of specially ornamented weapons. 



Metal cartridges with steel-jacketed bullets are 

 used in the higher grade of weapons, super- 

 seding the softer-headed bullets in cheap car- 

 tridges. 



REXFORD, EBEN EUGENE (1848-1916), an 

 American poet and writer on gardening subjects, 

 best known as the author of Silver Threads 

 Among Ihe Gold. This ballad has been set to 

 music and has won international popularity. 

 Rexford was an authority on horticulture and 

 floriculture, and during his later years he was 

 the editor of the "Gardening" column in the 

 Chicago Tribune. He began writing for the 

 press at the age of fourteen and has contrib- 

 uted poems and articles to nearly every maga- 

 zine published in the United States. Although 

 born in Johnsburgh, N. Y., he is claimed by 

 Wisconsin, as that state was his home from 

 boyhood, and he was a graduate of Lawrence 

 University, at Appleton. He was prominent in 

 . social and philanthropic work, and for twenty- 

 five years was organist in the Congregational 

 Church in Shiocton, Wis. Among his works are 

 two volumes of verse: Brother and Lover, 

 containing poems of the war; and Pansies and 

 Rosemary. Other titles include Home Floricul- 

 ture; Grandmother's Garden; Flowers How 

 to Grow Them; Four Seasons in a Garden; 

 The Home Garden; The Indoor Garden; Ama- 

 teur Garden Craft. 



REYKJAVIK, REIKJAVIK or REIKIAVIK, 

 rakyahveek', the capital of Iceland, is situ- 

 ated on its southwest coast, at the head of 

 Faxa Fiord. The town has professional, ele- 

 mentary and secondary schools, an observa- 

 tory, a library and a university. The minister 

 to Iceland, appointed by the Danish king, lives 

 in Reykjavik. Iceland has had home rule since 

 1874, and the Althing, or Parliament, meets at 

 its capital. Most of the year the port is ice- 

 bound, but in summer a steamship line to 

 Copenhagen operates. The population is about 

 12,000. See ICELAND. 



REYNOLDS, ren'ulds, SIR JOSHUA (1723- 

 1792), one of England's masters of portrait 

 painting, sometimes called the "Van Dyck of 

 the Eighteenth Century." It is said that he 

 painted between two thousand and three thou- 

 sand portraits; among his patrons were beauti- 

 ful women of society and men prominent in 

 art, literature and politics. He had the gift for 

 conveying to the canvas the individuality of 

 his subject, and so his portraits are wonder- 

 fully lifelike, though the drawing is often faulty. 

 He was a master of color, but his fondness for 

 experimenting in this field had unfortunate re- 



