ROCK-CUIMBING 



ROCKET 



Rock- Climbing. Sport akin to 

 mountaineering. The equipment 

 is similar to that required in 

 mountaineering, and the most 

 important items are first-class 

 nervous and physical condition^ 

 good climbing boots, and an Alpine 

 Club rope of 60 to 80 ft. An ice-axe 

 should be taken if likely to be 

 required. 



It is also very desirable that a 

 climber should know something 

 of the nature of the various 

 rocks. Chalk is too friable to be 

 taken seriously, while limestone 

 is notoriously treacherous. Sand- 

 stone is rather more reliable ; 

 magnesian or dolomitised lime- 

 stone is generally excellent to climb 

 on, affording innumerable small 

 holds, but not always as sound as 

 might be. Millstone grit is very 

 rough and as a rule thoroughly 

 sound. It provides, however, only 

 short continuous courses. Granite, 

 owing to the even weathering of 

 the exposed parts, is often difficult. 

 It is also most uncertain in texture ; 

 one piece will be as hard and firm 

 as iron, and the next rotten. 



Porphyry and similar volcanic 

 rocks of the English Lake District 

 are for the most part sound, and 

 the same is true in a lesser degree 

 of the hills of North Wales. 

 Aiguilles, the isolated pinnacles 

 on Mt. Blanc and elsewhere, owe 

 their isolation to the fact that they 

 have withstood the weathering 

 that has worn away the adjacent 

 mountain mass. They are among 

 the hardest rocks in the world. 

 The Gabbro of Skye is the climber's 

 delight. The one objection is that 

 the extreme roughness may tempt 

 liberties which would prove dis- 

 astrous on other rocks. 



Rock-climbing may be divided 

 into two branches : Progress over 

 easy rocks as a member of a party 

 all moving together ; the scaling of 

 difficult crags with safety to the 

 individual and the party. Three 

 strong and competent climbers 

 form an ideal party. 



On easy rocks the climber must 

 learn to mark and keep his dis- 

 tance from his companions, must 

 take care that the rope between 

 him and them, in front or behind, 

 or both, is never jerked, is never 

 slack, and does not get caught or 

 hitched. He must be prepared to 

 check a slip, and must be careful 

 not to dislodge loose stones. These 

 accomplishments are not easy of 

 acquirement. It by no means 

 follows that a man who is capable 

 of scaling a difficult bit of rock is 

 a good rock-climber. 



In scaling difficult rocks only one 

 of the party moves at a time, and 

 it is essential that before one 

 moves, the remainder of the party 



should be securely 

 anchored, i.e. be 

 secure in positions 

 in which they are 

 able not only to 

 take care of them- 

 selves, but of the 

 man next them if 

 need be. Rock- 

 climbing consists 

 in ascending, de- 

 scending, and 

 traversing, i.e. 

 making lateral 

 progress across 

 rocks. These 

 movements are 

 effected for the 



Rockefeller Institute, New York. Building erected in 

 1901 for medical research 



most part with the feet and hands. 

 Beginners have a tendency to rely 

 too much on the hands. Frequently, 

 however, the back, knees, or elbows 

 are called into play. Progress is 

 often secured by wedging an arm or 

 leg into a fissure of the rock. The 

 climber should be able to tie 

 readily the following knots: the 

 fisherman's bend, the middleman 

 loop, the double overhand, the 

 bowline, the bowline on a bight, 

 and the clove hitch. See Ice Axe ; 

 Mountaineering. c. E. Benson 

 Bibliography. Rock Climbing in 

 the English Lakes, O. G. Jones, 

 3rd ed. 1900 ; Mountaineering, 

 C. T. Dent and others, 3rd ed. 1900 ; 

 British Mountain Climbs, G. D. 

 Abraham, 1909 ; British Mountain- 

 eering, C. E. Benson, 1909. 



Rock Cress. Large genus of 

 annual and perennial herbs of the 

 natural order Cruciferae, also 

 known as Arabis (q-v.). 



Rockefeller, JOHN DAVISON (b. 

 1839). American capitalist. Born 

 July 8, 1839, he began business as 

 a commission 

 agent at the 

 age of 19, and 

 in 1862 became 

 connected with 

 the oil business, 

 building the 

 Standard Oil 

 Refinery at 

 Cleveland, 

 Ohio, in 1865. 

 Branches were 

 opened, and five years later a com- 

 bination of firms was formed as the 

 Standard Oil Company with a capi- 

 tal of 200,000, J. D. Rockefeller 

 being president. By 1882 the com- 

 bine had absorbed or outrivalled 

 nearly all similar concerns in the 

 U.S.A., and Rockefeller had be- 

 ( come the wealthiest man in the 

 world. He retired from business 

 in 1911, having already devoted 

 large sums to charitable and educa- 

 tional objects. His son,. John D. 

 Rockefeller, jun. (b. 1874), was 

 associated with his father's many 

 enterprises. 



John D. Rockefeller, 

 American capitalist 



Rockefeller Institute. Short 

 title of an institute for medical re- 

 search founded by John D. Rocke- 

 feller, sen., in New York city, 1901. 

 Its full name is Rockefeller Insti- 

 tute for Medical Research. The 

 donor erected and endowed the 

 necessary buildings at a cost of 

 800,000, and the original charter 

 was amended, 1908, to extend the 

 scope of investigation. The insti- 

 tute includes well-equipped labora- 

 tories, chemical, pathological, etc., 

 and a large hospital. In 1907 a 

 farm in New Jersey was added for 

 breeding animals for experimental 

 purposes, and a further biological 

 laboratory was opened in Massa- 

 chusetts, 1911. A notable rule of 

 the institute is that all discoveries 

 "and inventions made by salaried 

 members of the staff must be 

 offered for the public benefit. The 

 institute issues The Monthly Jour- 

 nal of Experimental Medicine and 

 other publications. 



Rocket (Hesperis matronalis). 

 Perennial herb of the natural order 

 Cruciferae, known also as dame's 

 violet. The name rocket is also 

 applied to several other plants, 

 e.g. London rocket (Sisymbrium 

 iris), dyer's rocket (Reseda lute- 

 ola), sea rocket (Cakile maritima), 

 yellow rocket (Barbarea vulgar is). 

 See Cruciferae ; Dame's Violet. 



Rocket (Fr. roquet, or Ital. 

 rocchetta, a distaff, which it re- 

 sembles in shape). Firework, in 

 which the charge is so arranged 

 that, when ignited, the case and 

 charge are propelled through the 

 air. Rockets were probably among 

 the earliest missiles containing gun- 

 powder, and preceded artillery in 

 the use of explosives in battles. 

 In the early part of the 19th 

 century they were a still recog- 

 nized weapon in warfare, and 

 rocket brigades were organized. 

 The war rocket devised by Col. 

 Congreve consisted of a steel tube 

 case with a heavy cast-iron head, 

 and a stick. In the Hale rocket 

 the products of combustion es- 

 caped through a vent in one side of 



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