MISSIVE 



5433 



MISTAKE 



8m., it extends from Lake Borgne 

 an. I Mobile Bay, and is navigable 

 by coasting vessels. 



Missive (Lat. misaua, sent). In 

 law, a letter exchanged be- 

 tween two parties, in which the one 

 specifies and the other accepts the 

 terms and conditions of an offer of 

 I'uivha.so or sale, or other mutual 

 transaction. A missive constitutes 

 a legal contract. 



Missolonghi, MESOLONGHI, OR 

 MESO LONG ION. Town of Greece. 

 Situated on a swampy piain N. of 

 ill'- (Uilf of Patras, and about 20 m. 

 N.\\. of Patras, it has a trade in 

 currants, valonia, and local pro- 

 din -ts. The town was formerly of 

 some military importance, being 

 besieged unsuccessfully by the 

 I inks in 1821-22 and in 1825-26 

 during the Greek War of Inde- 

 pendence. Byron died here on 

 April 19, 1824, and a monument 

 was erected to his memory in 1881. 

 Pop. 10,000. 



Missoula. City of Montana, 

 U.S.A., the co. seat of Missoula co. 

 It stands on the Missoula river, 125 

 m. W.N.W. of Helena, and is 

 served by the Northern Pacific and 

 the Chicago, Milwaukee and Puget 

 Sound rlys. It contains the state 

 university. The Northern Pacific 

 Kly. has workshops here, and 

 lumber milling is carried on. Lum- 

 bering, agriculture, fruit-growing, 

 and mining are important local in- 

 dustries. Missoula was founded in 

 1864 and received a city charter in 

 1887. At Jumbo Mountain, E. of 

 the town, an extensive series of 

 horizontal markings represents 

 shore lines of the former glacial 

 lake Missoula. Pop. 12,700. 



Missouri. River of the U.S.A. 

 The longest tributary of the Missis- 

 sippi river, it is formed by the junc- 

 tion of the Madison, Jefferson, and 

 Gallatin rivers, which have their 

 sources in the Rocky Mountains 

 and unite at Gallatin City in Mon- 

 tana. Thence it flows N. and N.E. 

 through a mountainous district 



id traverses a deep canon called 



le Gates of the Rocky Mountains, 

 the river here being compressed to 

 450 ft. for about 6 m. At Great 

 Falls it makes a descent of 350 ft. 

 in about 16 m., passing over a 

 series of cataracts of much 

 grandeur, the highest of which has 

 a vertical drop of 90 ft. Below 

 Fort Benton it turns E., passes 

 through N. and S. Dakota in a S.E. 

 direction, forms the boundary be- 

 tween Iowa and Missouri on the E. 

 and Kansas and Nebraska on the 

 W., and finally takes an E. course 

 across Missouri to join the Missis- 

 sippi about 20 m. above St. Louis. 



Measured from the source of the 

 Jefferson its length is 2,950 m., 

 while from Gallatin City to the 



Mississippi it is 2,700 m. Near the 

 Grand Falls its breadth ia 1,500ft., 

 at Sioux City 2,500 ft., and at its 

 entrance to the Mississippi about 

 3,000 ft. It has several large tribu- 

 taries, the principal being the Milk 

 and Yellowstone in Montana, the 

 James and White in South Dakota, 

 the Nebraska or Platte in Nebraska, 

 and the Kansas in Kansas. Itdrains 



Missolonghi, Greece. Statue of Lord 



Byron, erected over the mound in 



which his heart was buried 



a basin with an area of nearly 

 600,000 sq. m., and is navigable 

 during part of the year to Great 

 Falls, but in the low water season 

 only to its confluence with the 

 Yellowstone, its largest affluent. 

 On its banks are many important 

 towns, including Omaha, Atchison, 

 Leavenworth, Kansas City, and 

 Jefferson City. Its waters are 

 Virbid, which gives rise to its 

 name, meaning mud river. 



Missouri. Central state of the 

 U.S.A. Its area is 69,420 sq. m., of 

 which nearly 700 are covered with 

 water. It is bisected by the Mis- 

 souri river, which also forms the 

 upper part of the W. boundary ; 

 the Mississippi marks the E. fron- 

 tier. S. of the Missouri the sur- 

 face is relieved by the forest- 

 clothed Ozark Mts., the N. portion 

 consisting of prairie and bottom 

 lands, wooded only in part. An 

 agricultural state, it yields rich 

 crops of maize, wheat, oats, 

 potatoes, cotton, tobacco, and flax. 

 Stock-raising engages attention. 



Missouri is the largest zinc- and 

 lead-producing state of the Union, 

 has more than 14,000 sq. m. of 

 coalfields in operation, and a con- 

 siderable output of iron ore and 

 other minerals. Slaughtering and 

 meat-packing, flour-milling, and 

 boot and shoe making are among 

 the many valuable industries. 

 There are a state and other uni- 

 versities, besides numerous col- 

 leges, and, in addition to the 



riven, transport facilities include 

 8,160 miles of steam and 1,085 

 miles of electric railways. 



The state capital is Jefferson 

 City, but Missouri contains three 

 cities much more populous, St. 

 Louis, Kansas City, and St. Joseph. 

 Other cities are Joplin, Springfield, 

 Sedalia, Hannibal, Webb City, and 

 Carthage. The pop. ia 3,400,000, 

 only a small proportion being 

 negroes, but the state has a large 

 German element. 



Missouri was part of Louisiana, 

 and as such was settled by the 

 French. In 1762 it was transferred 

 to Spain, and in 1803 the large 

 district of which the future state 

 formed part was sold to the U.S.A. 

 In 1812 Missouri was made a terri- 

 tory, and in 1821 was admitted to 

 the Union as a state. It is governed 

 by a general assembly which con- 

 sists of a senate, elected for four 

 years, and a house of representa- 

 tives, elected for two. The fran- 

 chise is on a democratic basis, a 

 short residential qualification being 

 necessary. It sends two senators 

 and 16 representatives to Congress. 



Missouri Compromise. Ar- 

 rangement made in 1820 by which 

 the territory of Missouri was ad- 

 mitted as a state of the American 

 Union. The state constitution 

 submitted by Missouri recognized 

 slavery, a fact which aroused a 

 vehement agitation against it in 

 the Northern states, and caused a 

 two-years' deadlock in Congress, 

 the Senate supporting and the 

 House of Representatives oppos- 

 ing the application. Ultimately an 

 agreement was attained by which 

 slavery was prohibited in the 

 whole of the Louisiana Purchase 

 N. of lat. 36 30', except that 

 part of it forming the territory of 

 Missouri, nearly all of which lay 

 to the N. of that line. The arrange- 

 ment, which was repealed in 1854, 

 is the first instance in which slavery 

 in public territory was forbidden 

 by Congress. Missouri was admitted 

 to the Union Aug. 10, 1821. 



Mist. Cloud at ground level, 

 and very similar to a fog. After a 

 clear, cold night, mist frequently 

 fills the valleys ; in rainy weather 

 mist enshrouds the hill tops, 

 though the valleys are dry. See Fog. 



Mistake. In English law, an 

 error of fact which entitles the 

 party who has paid money under 

 the mistake to recover it, or a 

 party who has entered into a 

 transaction to have it set aside. A 

 jnistake of law cannot be pleaded, 

 nor will anyone be allowed to say 

 that he was mistaken as to the 

 meaning of the words in a con- 

 tract. Where there has been a 

 mutual mistake in the drawing up 

 of a contract or conveyance, so 



