POM-POM 



6243 



PONIARD 



Pom-pom. Maxim 37-mm. automatic machine gun on 

 cone mounting, fed by belts of 25 rounds 



Pom-pom. Small calibre can- 

 non in which the shells are loaded ; 

 and fired, and the empty cases 

 ejected by automatically operated 

 mechanism. These guns were used 

 largely by the Boers in the South 

 African War, and in the later 

 stages by the British troops. The 

 shells weigh about 1J lb., the small- 

 est explosive projectile permitted 

 under the Geneva Convention. 

 Usually the shells are fed in belts 

 of 25 for the Maxim and clips of 8 

 for the Hotchkiss. The name is de- 

 rived from the noise caused by the 

 projectiles bursting in rapid suc- 

 cession. See Gun ; Hotchkiss Gun ; 

 Machine Gun; Maxim Gun; Ord- 

 nance. 



Ponape. Chief of the Caroline 

 Islands, Pacific Ocean, under the 

 mandate of Japan. Off the shore, 

 beyond an islet-dotted lagoon 

 about Ik m. across, is a barrier 

 reef. The soil is very fertile. Its 

 area is 340 sq. m. Pop. 3,000. 

 See Caroline Islands. 



Ponce. Town of Porto Rico. 

 The second largest town of the 

 island, it lies 3 m. from its harbour, 

 Playa de Ponce, on the S. coast. 

 It manufactures lace, cigars, and 

 hats, and exports coffee, sugar, 

 tobacco, and fruits. Pop. 63,500. 



Ponce de Leon, JUAN (c. 1460- 

 1521). Spanish explorer. Born at 

 San Servas, Leon, he accompanied 



Pondicherri, India. Government House in the chief 

 of the French settlements in India 



Columbus to 

 America, 1493, in 

 1510 was appoint- 

 ed governor of 

 Porto Rico, and in 

 1513, voyaging N., 

 discovered Florida. 

 After cruising 

 along the coast 

 he visited the 

 Bahamas and then 

 made his way to 

 Spain, where he 

 procured a grant 

 for the colonisation 

 of Florida. He 

 wag killed whilst 

 attempting to 

 establish his 

 colony there in 1521. 



, Ponce de Leon, Luis (1 527-91 ). 

 Spanish poet. After studying at 

 Salamanca he became professor of 

 theology in the university, 1561. 

 Charged with heresy by the Inquisi- 

 tion in 1572, he was imprisoned 

 for four years, being then reinstated 

 as a professor. He died Aug. 23, 

 1591, within a few days of becoming 

 vicar-general of his Order. His 

 most famous work was the mystical 

 Of the Names of Christ, published 

 1583-85. His poems were issued 

 ' by Qnevedo in 

 1631. 



Poncho. Cloak 

 worn by men in 

 Peru, Chile, Ar- 

 gentina, and other 

 parts of S. Amer- 

 ica. It is a wide 

 strip of cloth with 

 a slit in the middle 

 through which the 

 head is passed, 

 thus giving pro- 

 tection back and 

 Poncho, as worn front, and leaving 

 in the Argentine the arms free. 



Pond, JAMES BURTON (1838- 

 1903). American lecture manager. 

 Born at Cuba, Allegheny co., New 

 lYork, he started life as a com- 

 positor and printer. In 1861 he 

 joined the 3rd Wisconsin cavalry, 

 and in 1863 was one of the sur- 

 vivors of the trea- 

 cherous attack at 

 Baxter Springs. In 

 1873 he bought a 

 lecture agency at 

 Boston, and in 1879^ 

 established the 

 American Lecture 

 Bureau in New 

 York. He died 

 June 21, 1903. 



Pondicherri. 

 Seaport and town 

 of India, belonging 

 to France. It 

 stands on the E. 

 coast, 85 m. from 

 Madras, and is di- 





vided by a canal into a European 

 and a native town. There is a 

 considerable trade with France and 

 elsewhere, and 

 the town has 

 some manufac- 

 tures. The capi- 

 tal of a dis- 

 trict, 115 sq. 

 m. in extent, 

 which belongs 

 to France, 

 Pondicherri 

 Juan Ponce de Leon, w a s founded 

 Spanish explorer by a French . 



man about 1675, and was made a 

 fortified post. The buildings in- 

 clude government house, the hotel 

 de ville, and the cathedral. Taken 

 by the Dutch, it was restored in 

 1697. The British captured it in 

 1761, 1778, 1793, and 1803, but 

 each time it was restored when 

 peace came. Pop. 27,500. 



Pondoland. Country forming 

 one of the Transkeian Territories 

 of the Cape Province, British S. 

 Africa. It stretches along the 

 coast, S.W. of Natal. British sov- 

 ereignty was proclaimed in 1878 

 over the tidal estuary of the St. 

 John's river and the country was 

 annexed to Cape Colony in 1894. 

 The inhabitants, the Pondos, num- 

 ber 234,000. The area is 3,906 sq.m. 



Pondweed(Potomogreton). Genus 

 of aquatic herbs of the natural 

 order Naiadaceae. They are na- 



Pondweed. Frond of curled variety, 

 Potamogeton crispus 



tives chiefly of temperate regions. 



They have submerged, translucent 



or floating, opaque leaves, and 



simple flowers in spikes. 

 Poniard (Lat. pugnua, fist). 



Term used for a small dagger. 

 It usually re- 

 fers to a slen- 

 der weapon of 

 this kind, in- 

 troduced from 

 France, having 

 a triangular or 

 square blade, 

 and used for 

 stabbing a t 



J. B. Pond, C j 08e quarters. 



Lecture manager See Dagger. 



