GATES 



5812 



Gates, LAWRENCE EDWARD 

 GRACE (1880-1912). British ex- 

 plorer. Educated at Eton, he was 

 gazetted to the 

 Inniskilling 

 Dragoons, and 

 served in the 

 South African 

 War, 1901-2, 

 where he was 

 severely 

 wounded, and 

 in India, and 



L. E. G. Gates, Egypt. He 

 British explorer joined the Ant- 

 arctic Expedition in 1910, and was 

 one of the sledge-party who accom- 

 panied Scott in his final dash for 

 the South Pole. On returning the 

 party was storm-bound, and on 

 March 17, 1912, Gates, crippled by 

 frostbite, went out alone into the 

 blizzard to die rather than be a 

 burden to his starving comrades. 

 See Antarctic Exploration. 



Dates, TITUS (1649-1705). 

 British conspirator and perjurer. 

 He was born at Oakham, Rutland. 

 Although ex- 

 pelled from 

 Merchant 

 T a y 1 o r s' 

 School, and 

 sent down 

 from Cam- 

 bridge with- 

 out taking 

 a degree, he 

 received ordi- Titus Dates, 



nation, but British conspirator 

 shortly after- A f' er R - Wltite 

 wards was imprisoned for disgrace- 

 ful perjury. In 1677 he joined the 

 Roman Catholic Church, and went 

 to the English Jesuit College at 

 Valladolid, whence he was expelled. 

 In June, 1678, Gates was in 

 London concocting details of a 

 Roman Catholic " plot " to kill the 

 king, to invade Ireland, and to 

 indulge in a general massacre of 

 Protestants. He duly revealed it 

 to Sir Edmund Godfrey, a justice 

 of the peace, who was found dead 

 shortly after. For a time Gates was 

 a popular idol. Nearly three dozen 

 people were executed through his 

 machinations. At last, in May, 

 1684, he was arrested for calling 

 the duke of York a traitor, and 

 after the duke's accession as James 

 II; was tried, and sentenced to a 

 heavy fine, to whipping, and to im- 

 prisonment for life, with annual 

 exposure in the pillory. After 

 William III came to the throne, 

 he was released, and enjoyed a 

 pension. He died July 12, 1705. 

 See Twelve Bad Men, T. Seccombe, 

 1894; History of My Own Times, 

 G. Burnet, new ed. 1897. 

 > Gates Land. That part" of 

 South Victoria Land, Antarctica, 

 lying between King George V 



Land (q.v.) and Cape Adare in lat. 

 70 S. and long. 160 E. See Ant- 

 arctic Exploration. 



Oath. In law, an appeal to God 

 to witness the truth of evidence 

 given. In English courts a witness 

 must, before he gives evidence, 

 take an oath that what he is about 

 to say shall be the truth, the whole 

 truth, and nothing but the truth. 

 The witness ought to take the oath 

 in the form that is binding on his 

 conscience. If any witness does not 

 believe in the oath, or if to take an 

 oath is contrary to his religious 

 belief, he is allowed to affirm, i.e. 

 to make solemn promise that he 

 will speak the truth, etc. The old 

 form of Christian oath was when 

 the swearer placed his right hand 

 on the Holy Evangelists (i.e. the 

 Four Gospels). This is called the 

 corporal oath. In England, for a 

 very long time, the witness had to 

 kiss the book. In Scotland he 

 raised his right hand and took the 

 oath. By the Oaths Act, 1909, the 

 English form is for the witness to 

 take the book in his uplifted hand 

 and repeat the words of the oath. 



There are extra-judicial oaths, 

 the principal of which is the oath of 

 allegiance, which has to be taken 

 by soldiers, M.P.s, privy coun- 

 cillors, magistrates, and certain 

 others whose employment is of a 

 public nature. See Perjury. 



Oatlands. .Estate near Wey- 

 bridge, Surrey, England. Here 

 Henry VIII built a magnificent 

 palace, surrounded by a large 

 hunting park. It was improved by 

 James I, but after the time of_ 

 Charles I it fell into decay. The' 

 estate came later to the earl of 

 Lincoln, who, about 1720, built 

 another house in the park, on a 

 different site. This was sold in 1794 

 to the duke of York, son of peorge 

 III, who rebuilt the house, which 

 had been damaged by fire in 1793. 

 In 1857 the house became an hotel. 

 The grounds contain a remarkable 

 grotto, and a cemetery wherein the 

 duchess of York buried her domes- 

 tic pets. The park, much reduced 

 in size, is noted for its cedars. 



Oats (Avena sativa). Cultivated 

 cereal of the natural order Gram- 

 ineae, whose native country is un- 

 known. There is every reason to 

 believe that it has been derived by 

 selection and cultivation from the 

 wild oat (A. fatua), which is found 

 throughout Europe (including 

 Britain), in Siberia, N.W. India, 

 and N. Africa. Prof. Buckman, ex- 

 perimenting with the wild plant, 

 found that in the short period of 

 eight years he was able to produce 

 from it a crop not to be distin- 

 guished from the cultivated vari- 

 eties known as Tartarian and 

 potato oats. 



Oats. 



Heads of Avena sterilis in 

 fruit 



Cultivated in Europe up to 

 about 70 N., oats are sown usually 

 in spring, the land being treated 

 with phosphates at the same period. 

 If sown in drills, 2 bushels of seed 

 are used to the acre, but if sown 

 broadcast twice the amount is 

 needed. The young plants are 

 harrowed and rolled, and it is an 

 advantage to top-dress with nitrate 

 of soda 1 cwt. per acre. The crop 

 is cut before the grains are ripe, 

 and as soon as the field has become 

 pale yellow. An average yield per 

 acre is 40-60 bushels of grain, and 

 30 cwt. of straw. Freed from the 

 husks, the grain is known as grits, 

 and for human food is rolled or 

 ground to meal of various fineness 

 and high nutritive value. The per- 

 centage both of fat and albumin- 

 oids is much higher for oats than 

 for wheat The straw, used in 

 chaff and as green fodder, has a 

 similar advantage over wheat 

 straw. The finest oats are grown in 

 N. Britain ; in the S. they are grown 

 mostly for green fodder, being sown 

 in July and reaped in autumn. 

 See Inflorescence. 



Oaxaca OK OAJACA. Maritime 

 state of S. Mexico, bounded S. by 

 the Pacific Ocean. It is largely 

 covered by the wooded spurs of the 

 Sierra Madre. There are numerous 

 small streams. Sugar, coffee, cotton, 

 tobacco, and cocoa are cultivated, 

 and cattle rearing is carried on. 

 A rly 4 extends from the N. to the 

 capital, Oaxaca ; a second line in 

 ( the E. crosses the isthmus of 

 Tehuantepec to Puerto Mexico on 

 the Gulf of Campeche. Area, 35,382 

 sq. m. Pop. 1,060,000. 



