HI 



ALTDORF. 



ALTRINGHAM. 



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stronghold of the republican party, from whom it was taken by storm 

 by a Calabrian force, headed by Cardinal Ruffo. It is a place of con- 

 siderable trade in the agricultural produce of the country ; good 

 wheat is grown in the neighbourhood. Its fairs are well attended. 

 Altamura is said to occupy the site of the ancient Apulian town 

 Lupatia. 



ALTDORF, or ALTORF, the capital of the Swiss Canton of Uri, 

 stands at a short distance S. from the Lake of the Four Cantons (Vier- 

 Wald-Statter-See), .in a valley surrounded by lofty mountains, and on 

 the right bank of the Reuss, which flows into the lake. It is situated 

 about 20 miles S.E. from Luzern, in 46 52' N. lat, 8 45' E. long. 

 Altorf being at the foot of a lofty mountain would be in danger of 

 suffering from avalanches, but for the pine forests on the slopes, which 

 serve as a rampart against the falling masses. It was burnt in 1799, 

 and has been since rebuilt in better style, but it is still and has always 

 been a dull lifeless place, without either trade or manufactures. The 

 town-house, a handsome parish church, and a school are among the 

 chief buildings: the population is about 1700. Altorf stands at the 

 Swiss termination of the St-Gothard Pass. The only claim to interest 

 this small place possesses is its association with the traditional glory 

 of William TelL A fountain, surmounted by stone statues of Tell 

 and his son, marks the spot where the former stood to take aim, 

 and another fountain now occupies the place of the lime-tree under 

 which the boy stood, and on which Gessler's cap, according to the 

 tradition, was stuck to be saluted by the passers-by. An old tower 

 ornamented with rude frescoes of Tell and Gessler does not, as is 

 sometimes said, occupy the site of the lime-tree ; for it is proved by 

 the records of the town to have existed before the date assigned to 

 Tell's history. 



ALT EX, a small sea-port town in Norway, is situated on the river 

 Alten, about a mile above its mouth in the Altenfiord, in 69 55' N. 

 lat, 23 ' E. long., at a distance of about 50 miles S. from Hammerfest. 

 The Alten is navigable for 4 miles above its mouth. It is a famous 

 salmon stream, and id the upper part of its course makes some 

 beautiful falls. The river runs through a pretty valley, which, 

 though in so high a latitude, contains corn-fields and meadows, with 

 abundance of trees, chiefly fir, birch, willow, and mountain-ash. The 

 town is neatly built ; it exports fish, skins, shark-oil, and copper from 

 the Alten Copper Works, which belong to an English company and 

 are situated on the south side of the fiord. The imports consist of 

 cotton and woollen manufactures, iron, coal, Russian linen, &c. The 

 waters along the coast of Finmark retain so high a temperature as not 

 to prevent the fishermen from carrying on their trade in boats during 

 the winter, although the sun disappears for so long a period in the 

 latitude of this country. The coast steamers between Christiania 

 and Hammerfest call at Bosekop on the Altenfiord, within a mile of 

 Alten. A fair is held here in November, which is well attended by 

 Swedes, Lapps, and Finns. 



ALTEXBURG, the capital of the duchy of Saxe-Altenburg, is 

 situated near the left bank of the Pleisse, in 50 59' N. lat, 12 27' 

 E. long., 24 miles 8. from Leipzig, by the Saxo-Bavarian railway : 

 population, 14,100. The town stands on uneven ground and consists 

 of a main part and several suburbs ; it is well built It contains a 

 castle, eight churches, a gymnasium with 189 pupils in 1852 and a 

 considerable library, an hospital, and a house of correction ; also a 

 foundation for noble ladies, a society of naturalists, a theatre, &c. 

 The chief branches of industry are manufactures of linen and woollen 

 stuffs, ribands, gloves, vinegar, starch, &c. There is also a considerable 

 trade in cattle and corn. 



The castle of Altenburg stands on a rock, and is known in German 

 history as the place from which the young princes Ernest and Albert, 

 the founders of the two chief lines of the Saxon House, were carried 

 off by Ktinz von Kauffungen, A.D. 1455. Altenburg was ouce an 

 imperial city and the capital of a district called Pleissen. After 1172 

 we find it mentioned as a place where the emperors sometimes 

 resided and held diets. Altenburg is the chief town of the Princi 

 pality of Altenburg, one of the two provinces of the duchy, which has 

 an area of 243 square miles, and had in 1851 a population of 84,614 



[SAXF.-Al.TEJiBCRfi.] 



ALT' i N. II ::t,|Mhire, a market-town, and the seat of a Poor-Law 

 Union, in the parish and hundred of Alton, is situated near the 

 source of the river Wey in 51 9' N. lat, 58' W. long., 18 miles 

 H.N.F.. fi-jni Winchester, 47 miles S.W. from London by road, auc 

 50 miles by a branch line of the London and South- Western railway 

 the population of the town in 1851 was 2828. The living is a vicarage 

 in the archdeaconry and diocese of Winchester. Alton Poor-Law Union 

 contains 18 parishes, with an area of 53,051 acres, and a population in 

 1851 of 11,910. 



Alton (written Aultone in Domesday Book) is a place of considerabl 

 antiquity. In the neighbourhood a tessellated pavement was ploughec 

 up a few years ago, and coins and other relics have been at various 

 times discovered. Funeral urns, lachrymatories, Ac., recently dis 

 covered in making some excavations within the town, show tha 

 there was a Roman cemetery on the site of Alton. The church i 

 in the perpendicular style, having been erected in the reign of Henry 

 VII. ; the tower, which is the oldest part of the edifice, rests on itt 

 original massive Norman arches. In the church are several objects o 

 archax'logical interest. A curious fresco painting of Henry VI., wit] 



wo bishops, still remains on one of the pillars ; and there are two 



omewhat remarkable ancient brasses. During the civil wars the 



royalist troops under Lord Hopton were surprised at Alton by the 



wrliamentarians under Sir William Waller. The battle was fought 



m the hill behind the present National school ; but some of the 



defeated troops took refuge in the church, the door of which still 



testifies to the fact, being pierced with shot. Alton church has 



ittings for 1400 persons. There are places of worship for Wesleyan 



Methodists, Independents, and Quakers ; a grammar-school, founded in 



640 ; National and British schools, and a savings bank. 



The town is pleasantly situated among picturesque hills and woods, 

 m the junction of the chalk with the green-sand of Hampshire, mingling 

 with which are many patches of the rich unctuous clay, locally known 

 as malm, very favourable to the growth of hops. Alton is a well-built 

 )lace ; the streets are paved, and lighted with gas. A new road has 

 >een made from Alton through Selborne to Petersfield. The town 

 las a flourishing trade, but the only branches of manufacture now 

 carried on are ale-brewing, which is on an extensive scale, aud paper- 

 making. In the neighbourhood are several hop-plantations. The 

 market is on Tuesday, and there are two fairs in the year. A county 

 court is held in the town. 



(County Histories ; Communications from Alton.) 



ALTONA, the second city in the kingdom of Denmark, is situated 

 n the lordship of Pinneberg, duchy of Holsteiu, on the right bank of 

 ;he Elbe, a little west of the city of Hamburg ; 65 miles by railway 

 S.S.W. from Kiel : population about 33,000. The observatory of 

 Altona stands in 53 32' 45" N. lat, 9 56' 39" E. long. When 

 Pinneberg was united with Denmark, in 1640, Altona was only an 

 inconsiderable village. In 1664 it obtained the rights and privileges 

 of a city. It was burned by the Swedes Jan. 10, 1713. The town is 

 about 75 miles from the mouth of the Elbe and about 2 miles below 

 and to the west of Hamburg ; but the suburbs of the two cities are only 

 separated by a field. The site is higher and more healthy than that 

 of Hamburg, many of whose merchants reside in Altona. The 

 wharfs and warehouses of the two cities join, and present a fine 

 appearance of one long unbroken line of building's, stretching along 

 the river with rows of tall poplars behind. The streets are long, the 

 houses spacious, and remarkable for their high pointed roofs. The 

 finest street is the Palmaille, in the centre of which is a double avenue 

 of trees, and at the head of it the handsome railway terminus, whence 

 fine views of the rjver and of the plains of Hanover are obtained. The 

 number of streets is close upon 100 ; there are besides six squares. 

 The town possesses one Roman Catholic, five Protestant, and two 

 Jewish places of worship, an orphan asylum, two hospitals, a mint, 

 a gymnasium, founded in 1730 by Christian VI. which has a library 

 containing 10,000 volumes of printed books; an anatomical school, 

 and several other places of education. The most remarkable 

 buildings are the Evangelic-Lutheran church and the celebrated 

 observatory. 



Altoua is a free port, and has a very important commerce, though 

 its streets present little of the activity of Hamburg. The industrial 

 products comprise silk, woollen, and cotton goods; tobacco, soap, 

 candles, and leather ; there are also several glass-works, distilleries, 

 breweries, and sugar-refineries, besides several establishments of minor 

 importance. There are docks for ship-building, and several vessels 

 belonging to the port are employed annually in the herring and whale 

 fisheries and in trading to the Mediterranean. 



As one of the means for putting an end to the hostilities between 

 Denmark and the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, the city of 

 Altona and other towns in the duchies were occupied by Austrian 

 troops in February 1851. 



ALTRINGHAM, or ALTRINCHAM, Cheshire, a nmrket-tov-n, 

 and the seat of a Poor-Law Union, in the parish of Bowdou aud 

 hundred of Bucklow, is situated near the Duke of Bridgcwater's Canal 

 from Manchester to Runcorn, in 53 23' N. lat., 2 22' W. long., 

 distant about 8 miles S.W. from Manchester, with which town it is 

 connected by a railway, and 180 miles N.W. from London : the popu- 

 lation of the town in 1851 was 4488. It has by charter a mayor and 

 burgesses : the mayor has no jurisdiction, and no duties except 

 opening the fairs, and providing dinners for the burgesses to the 

 amount of about 80?. a year, the rental of land left at some remote 

 period to the mayor. The township of Altringham is under the 

 management of a Local Board of Health. The living is a perpetual 

 curacy in the archdeaconry and diocese of Chester. Altringham 

 Poor-Law Union contains 39 parishes and townships, with an area 

 of 73,565 acres, and a population in 1851 of 34,013. 



The town is neat and clean. A town-hall has been recently erected 

 by the Earl of Stamford and W r arrington. St. George's Church is a 

 chapel-of-ease to the parish of Bowdon ; on the canal is a floating 

 chapel in connection with the Established Church. There are two 

 chapels for Methodists, and one each for Independents, Roman 

 Catholics, and Unitarians ; the Jubilee School of Industry for 80 girls, 

 a literary institute, and a savings bank. The chief occupations are the 

 manufacture of linen-thread, and bobbin-turning. The neighbourhood 

 supplies Manchester with vegetables and fruit. The salubrity of the 

 air renders Altringham a place of resort for invalids. The market is 

 on Tuesday : there are three fairs in the year. A county court is 

 held in the town. In the vicinity are numerous good mansions, the 



