FRJEWALSKI-PROHIBrnON PARTY. 



treaty of Washington provided for the settlement of 

 event! disputes between these governments, the chief 

 of which referred to those demands known as the Al.i- 

 II.IUI.L ( ' ! .i.:ns (q. v.). The commission met iu Decem- 

 ber. 1*71. at Geneva, and, after a hearingof 9 months, 

 greed upon the "Geneva award." l!y its terms 

 f I5,500.IK> in gold were paid by Great Britain to the 

 ! tin- satisfaction of the claims referred 

 to tli<' considi ration of the tribunal. Cungrcss subso- 

 qiicntly eon*titted a court to take charge of the Ala- 

 IMIIM t'l.iims, which court has but recently (1888) com- 

 pleted iu business. According to the present agree- 

 ments brtwern the leading nations of the world, then- 

 is no probability that any war hereafter will be alien. led 

 by such acts of privateering as have been frequent in 

 the : (F. O. M.) 



PRJEWALSKL NICHOLAS VON (IS39-I8SX). Rus- 

 sian explorer, was born Mareh 31, 1839, atSujolen.sk. 

 KJucated at the Military Academy in St. Peters- 

 burg, he became instructor in history at Warsaw. In 



ut his own request, he was sent to East Siberia, 

 where he steut two years. Then he journeyed south- 

 ward to the Yangtsekiang, and thence northward, 

 crossing the Desert of Gobi on his way to Irkutsk, 

 which he reached in October, 1873 V In his next expe- 

 dition, 1876-;"", he explored Lob-Nor, and the Altyn- 



lountains. In 187'J he crossed into Thibet, and 

 had approached within 120 miles of Lassa when he 

 was obliged to turn off towards the Hoangho, and 

 thence back to Orenburg. In 1883 he again cro.-sed 

 the Desert of Gobi, discovered the sources of the 

 Hoangho, and again reached the Yangtsekiang and 

 I/iib-Nor in Iss5. He gathered a vast zoological e. >|- 



i. containing over 500 reptiles and 5000 birds. 

 He held the rank of colonel in the Russian general 

 staff. His explorations have l>ecn published by the 

 Russian Geographical Society, but he also published 

 J'ltinirjin nmniiff the. MoHffOU "nil in the, Deserts of 

 North Thiltet, 1870-^73 (1875-76) ; Jnurnri/* in Thlliet, 

 1870-80 (1883). His travels were translated into Eng- 

 lish, and the geographical results given in the J ' 

 tuptof the Royal Geographical Society (London, 1887). 

 lie died in Central Asia in IS88. 



PROCTOR, RicH.uin ANTHONY (1837-1888). as- 

 tronoiner, was born at Chelsea, Eng. , March 2:>, \-:~. 

 He was educated at King's College, London, and St. 

 John's College, Cambridge, ana graduated B. A. in 

 I860. He devoted himself to astronomical labors. 

 and from his analysis of the researches of the Her- 

 schcls. Struvc, and others, as well as his own, he 

 formed a new theory of the stellar universe. For a 

 time he was a member of the Roman Catholic Church, 

 1 ut he left it in Is7."> on the ground that certain of his 

 tt'ifntific views were incompatible with its faith. Proc- 

 tor was a most industrious writer and lecturer, but 

 never held a really prominent position among scientists. 

 He was made fellow of the Royal Astronomical So- 

 ciety in ISOfi. and was its honorary secretary for a few 

 months in l*7 He spent the winters of 1873-74 

 and 1875-70 in lecturing tours in the United States. 

 In J88I he took up his residence at St. Joseph. Mo . 

 having married as his second wife a lady of that citv, 

 an 1 lie was naturalized as an American citizen. In 

 JS87 he removed to Marion co. , Florida, wherein 

 to build an observatory, lie died suddenly on Sept. 

 12. 1888. at New York, having come thither on his 

 way to Europe, where he was to lecture. His princi- 

 pal works are &iti<rn > tcm ( I Sll'i) ; Cnnmniiir. 



Slar Allot, recording 324,000 stars (1800) ; C'nuteHa- 



^'jjuumt (1867); Half hum-* irlth the Telencopf 

 -- llnlf-hourt with Star* (1809) ; Oiltn- 



- tn <* 



than Oun, with a star-atlas (1870) ; The Sun (1871); 

 The Moon (1*73); Transit! of I 



on lilt t'i/,!,:i',l inul Cf/rlniilol f'nri-r.1 (IS7S). He also 

 published an interesting pamphlet on \\'hi*t. and < ..... 

 trilmlcd largdy to periodical*. besides editing KOtot- 

 rtltjf a week Iv journal. At the time of his death an 

 elaljorale woik, The Old and New Aitn>n<ninj, was in i 



course of publication. Proctor's labor wns spent in 

 diffusing among the people a general, though nut exact, 

 knowledge of astronomy, ana in awakening interest in 

 its researches. His successive works combined theory 

 with ascertained farts, and discus--! them in such a 



v I fit. idih to diinini-li l:i> rej.iit.it;, Hi with ]>r.i..-;i- 



cal astronoi, 



1'KulimmoN PARTY. This party received its 

 national organization by a convention of nearly 500 

 delegates from twenty States and the District 

 lunibia. assembled in Farwell Hall, Chicago, 111. 



'. The convention continued its sessions during 

 two days. The call was issued by a committee of tho.-o 

 favoring independent political action during the ses- 

 sion of the R. W. Grand Lodge of (',>* d 'l'i mplars, 

 held in Oswego, N. Y. , in the month of May previous. 

 The committee consisted of James Black, of Lan- 

 ca^ter. Pa. : Prof. Daniel \Vilkins. of Bloomington, 

 III. ; John N. Stearns, of New York city ; Julius A. 

 r, of Cleveland, 0., and John Kussell. of De- 

 troit. Mich. W hen the convention assembled Mr. 1). 

 R. Pershing, of Indiana, called the meeting to order, 

 read the call, and nominated Rev. .John Russell, of 

 Michigan, as temporary chairman. On taking the 

 chair Mr. Russell, among other things, said : "The 

 people who fear God and regard the social and moral 

 welfare of their fellow-men are, in all pnrts of the 

 country, beginning to realize the impcrion- 

 for some stronger and more formal bond of union be- 

 tween those who favor legal prohibition of the liquor 

 traffic. While separated by other political pv.rty lines, 

 and absorbed in other issues, we are unable to act effi- 

 ciently together for what we conscientiously believe to 

 be the most important moral and political movement 

 of the ago. Hence, the object of our meeting is the. 

 organization of a separate nnd independent political 

 party, presenting complete legal prohibition of the. 

 manufacture and sale of alcoholic drinks as its para- 

 mount issue." These sentiments were, heartily ap- 

 plauded by the convention. Upon request of the 

 chairman, Rev. Dr. Evarts invoked the divine bless- 

 ing. After the appointment of secretaries and the 

 usual committees, Hon. James Black, of Pennsyl- 

 vania, was chosen permanent president, together with 

 a vice-president from each of the States represented. 



The committee on platform and resolutions was 

 appointed as follows : Rev. J. C. Stoughton, of Illi- 

 nois; Rev. John Russell, of Michigan; Henry I). 

 Gushing, of Massachusetts; I). R. IVrshiiiir. of Indi- 

 ana; ll B. Haines. of Ohio; Dr. S. \V. Wiison. of 

 Wisconsin ; O. K. Harris, of District of Columbia ; 

 Timothy Parsons, of Missouri ; M. D. Bartlctt. of 

 Minnesota: E. C. Judson, of California : Dr. Chas. 

 . I. 'Welt, of Tennessee ; Kev. J. II. Chase, of Vermont ; 

 Rev. Wm. Goodell, of Connecticut ; Frank Walker, 

 of Iowa; Hon. Gerritt Smith, of New York ; 8. B. 

 Ransom, of New Jersey, and Hon. Robt. M. Foust, 

 of Pennsylvania. A preamble nnd six resolutions 

 were presented, carefully considered, and adopted as a 

 platform. The second resolve, expressive of the chief 

 intention of the party, is as follows : "That the traf- 

 fic in intoxicating leverage is a dishonor to Chris- 

 tian civilization, inimical to the best interests of so- 

 ciety, a political wrong of unequalled enormity, sub- 

 vei>ive of the ordinary objects of government, not 

 capable of being regulated or restrained by any system 

 of license whatever; but imperatively demands for 

 its suppression effective legal prohibition, by both 

 State and national legislation." 



Previous to this convention, however, the question 

 had been tentatively discussed in tempi-ranee societies, 

 lectures, and in newspapers, and initiative local organi- 

 zations bad been effected in several of the States. 

 Michigan led the way by a small convention of alxmt 

 forty persons, held in the city of Detroit. Jan. S. I sr.7. 

 As there was no political canvass at the time this 

 meeting simply declared by resolution in favor of a 

 M -par.ite party, and appointed a Suite committee au- 



