RORQUAL 



5079 



ROSARY 



hemp, which is obtained from the Philippine 

 Islands, is the material most extensively used. 

 Sisal is obtained from Yucatan and is sometimes 

 called Yucatan, or Mexican, hemp. Jute comes 

 from the East Indies and from some parts of 

 Russia. The manila hemp is preferred for all 

 cordage where strength is required, because its 

 fibers are longer and stronger than those of sisal 

 or jute. Cotton makes the strongest rope, but 

 its use is limited because of its expense. 



Manufacture. The processes in rope making 

 are practically the same for all materials, and 

 with few exceptions the work is all done by ma- 

 chinery. Hemp is received at the factory in 

 bales averaging about 270 pounds each. The 

 fiber is taken from the bales, loosened, and 

 sprinkled with oil. It is then passed in layers 

 through a machine called a spreader. From the 

 spreader the hemp passes to the breaker, which 

 straightens out the fibers and arranges them in 

 a ribbon called the sliver. The sliver passes 

 through several breakers, each finer than the 

 other, until the fiber is prepared for spinning. 

 As the fiber is spun into yarn it is wound on 

 large bobbins holding about 1,000 yards each. 

 The yarn is twisted into strands, and the strands 

 are twisted into a rope. 



The smaller ropes consist of three strands; 

 this number is increased for larger ropes. Cables 

 used in drilling wells vary in size from one and 

 three-fourths to two and seven-eighths inches 

 in diameter and in length from 1,400 to 3,500 

 feet ; these are made by twisting together three 

 strands of manila rope. Such cables are light, 

 strong and flexible. 



Strength of Ropes. The strength of a rope 

 depends upon its size and the material of which 

 it is iiiadc. A hemp cord 1.53 inches in circum- 

 ference will withstand a strain of 1,670 pounds. 

 One 6.9 inches in circumference will lift a weight 

 of 33308 pounds. A cotton rope 6.51 inches in 

 circumference will lift a weight of 23,258 pounds. 



Wire Ropes. Wire ropes are made of a cer- 

 tain number of wires twisted together, steel wm> 

 making a considerably stronger rope than iron 

 wire. The twisting is done in the same manner 

 as in laying the strands of a hempen rope. 

 B ropes are extensively used for cables, for 

 the rigging of ships and in derricks for lifting 

 y weights, and for many other purposes 

 ill- rely displaced fiber ropes. W.F.R. 



RORQUAL, rawr'kwahl, the largest and most 

 numerous group of whales, species of which arc 

 found in all waters. The rorqual has a head 

 comparatively small and flat, a long, slender 

 body, a tail much compressed before widening 



into "flukes," short flippers, a dorsal fin and a 

 throat arranged in folds. The blue whale, larg- 

 est of known animals, is a rorqual. It some- 

 times reaches a length of from eighty to one 

 hundred feet, and has sixty-four vertebrae, six- 

 teen of which bear ribs. The whalebone of the 

 rorqual whales is small in quantity and of poor 

 quality, and the blubber is less abundant than 

 in other whales. See WHALE. 



ROSAMOND, roz'amund (about 1140-about 

 1176), the mistress of Henry II of England, 

 generally known as "fair Rosamond." Most of 

 the stories told concerning her are mere leg- 

 end; there is not even definite information as 

 to who her father was nor as to the length of 

 time she was Henry's mistress. In later centu- 

 ries there grew up romantic tales of a woodland 

 bower built at the center of a labyrinth through 

 which her royal lover was guided by a clue ; and 

 fourteenth-century chroniclers declared that she 

 died of poison administered by Eleanor, Henry's 

 queen. She was buried in the nunnery church 

 of Godstow, but in 1191, Hugh, Bishop of Lin- 

 coln, had her body moved to the chapter house. 



ROSA, MONTE, ro'zah, mohn'tay. See 

 MONTE ROSA. 



ROSARIO, rosah'rio, a rapidly-growing city 

 on the Parana River, in the northeastern part 

 of Argentina, South America. It is situated 175 

 miles northeast of Buenos Aires, the largest city 

 on the continent, and is second to that place 

 in size among Argentine cities. Rosario is an 

 important port for river and foreign trade, as 

 well as one of the foremost railway centers in 

 the province of Santa Fe, and exports large 

 quantities of grain, flour, sugar, wool and meats. 

 The city has the largest sugar refinery in Argen- 

 tina, besides flour mills, breweries and factories 

 producing a variety of commodities. Rosario 

 has fine schools and hospitals and a cathedral, 

 and is healthful and up-to-date. Population in 

 1915, estimated, 220,000. 



ROSARY, ro'zari, a string of beads, made 

 of wood, pearl or stone, by which prayers arc 

 counted. The rosary commonly used in the 

 Roman Catholic Church consists of a circle of 

 fifty small beads, divided into equal sections 

 by four large beads. A pendant is attached 

 which has two large beads, three small ones and 

 a crucifix. On the large beads are said the Pater 

 Nostcrs; on the small ones, the Ave Marias, an. I 

 on the crucifix the Apostles' Creed. During tin- 

 ivtion of the rosary, the various mysteries of 

 the faith are meditated upon, and at the con- 

 clusion of each group of Avc Marias a doxology 

 is said. The complete rosary consists of three 



