212 CONYNGHAM, MARQUIS OF. 



COSTA RICA. 



CONYNGHAM, FEANCIS NATHANIEL, Mar- 

 quis of, an Irish nobleman, born June 11, 1797; 

 died July 17, 1876. He was educated at Eton, 

 where he had among his school-fellows and 

 form-fellows Lords Feversham, Bayning, Har- 

 borough, Camden, and Ellesmere. In 1821 he 

 entered the army, obtaining a commission as 

 ensign in the Life Guards. He rose by steady 

 1 and regular promotion, becoming captain in 

 ' 1823, major in 1827, colonel in 1854, and, at- 

 taining field rank in 1858, he was promoted to 

 lieutenant-general in 1866. Having served an 

 apprenticeship of three years (in 1823-'26) as 

 Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, 

 he entered the Lower House of Parliament in 

 1825, while bearing the courtesy-title of Lord 

 Mount Charles, as M. P. for the county of 

 Donegal, which he represented in the Tory 

 interest down to the period of the first Reform 

 Bill, holding office as one of the Lords of the 

 Treasury under the Duke of Wellington's ad- 

 ministration in 1827-'30. He succeeded to his 

 father's title and a seat in the Upper House at 

 the close of 1832. About this time he changed 

 his politics, as lie held the postmaster-general- 

 ship twice though on each occasion only for 

 a short time under Lord Melbourne, and sub- 

 sequently for four years (1835-'39) held a high 

 office about the court as Lord Chamberlain of 

 the Household. In 1849 he was appointed 

 Vice-Admiral of the coast of Ulster, and in 

 1869 Lord-Lieutenant of Meath. He was an 

 ardent sportsman, having one of the finest stud 

 of race-horses in Ireland. He was also Com- 

 modore of the Irish Yacht Club, and Vice- 

 Commodore of the Royal Yacht Squadron. He 

 is succeeded by his son George Henry, Earl of 

 Mount Charles. 



COOPER, PETEE, an American philanthro- 

 pist, born in New York, February 12, 1791. 

 At the age of seventeen he was apprenticed to 

 the trade of coach-making, in which he con- 

 tinued for some time. He next engaged in the 

 manufacture of patent machines for shearing 

 cloth, which were in great demand during the 

 War of 1812, but lost all value on the declara- 

 tion of peace; then in the manufacture of 

 cabinet- ware ; then in the grocery business in 

 the city of New York ; and finally in the man- 

 ufacture of glue and isinglass, which he carried 

 on for fifty years. His attention was early 

 called to the great resources of this country for 

 the manufacture of iron, and in 1830 he erected 

 extensive works at Canton, near Baltimore. 

 Disposing of these, he subsequently erected a 

 rolling and wire mill in the city of New York, 

 in which he first successfully applied anthra- 

 cite to the puddling of iron. In 1845 he re- 

 moved the machinery to Trenton, N. J., where 

 he erected the largest rolling-mill at that time 

 in the United States for the manufacture of 

 railroad-iron, and at which, subsequently, he 

 was the first to roll wrought-iron beams for 

 fire-proof buildings. These works have grown 

 to be very extensive, including mines, blast-fur- 

 naces, and water-power, and are now carried 



on by Mr. Cooper's family. While in Balti- 

 more he built, after his own designs, the first 

 locomotive-engine constructed on this conti- 

 nent, and it was used successfully on the Bal- 

 timore & Ohio Railroad. He took great in- 

 terest in the extension of the electric telegraph, 

 in which he invested a large capital. He served 

 in both branches of the New York Common 

 Council, and was a prominent advocate of the 

 construction of the Croton Aqueduct. His 

 great object was to educate and elevate the in- 

 dustrial classes of the community. He early 

 became a trustee of the Public School Society, 

 and at the time of its being merged in the 

 Board of Education was its vice-president. 

 He subsequently became a school commis- 

 sioner, but, feeling that no common-school sys- 

 tem could supply a technological education, 

 he determined to establish in his native city an 

 institution in which the working-classes could 

 secure that instruction for which he, when 

 young and ambitious, sought in vain. In fur- 

 therance of this object, the " Union for the Ad- 

 vancement of Science and Art," commonly 

 called the " Cooper Institute," was erected in 

 New York at the junction of Third and Fourth 

 Avenues, between Seventh and Eighth Streets, 

 covering the entire block, at a cost of $650,000, 

 to which Mr. Cooper has since added an en- 

 dowment of $150,000 in cash. This building 

 is devoted by a deed of trust, with all its rents, 

 issues, and profits, to the instruction and eleva- 

 tion of the working-classes of the city of New 

 York. The plan includes regular courses of 

 instruction at night, free to all who choose to 

 attend, on social and political science, on the 

 application of science to the useful occupations 

 of life, and on such other branches of knowl- 

 edge as will tend to improve and elevate the 

 working-classes. It includes also a school of de- 

 sign for females, now attended by 200 pupils ; a 

 free reading-room and library, resorted to daily 

 by about 1,500 readers; galleries of art, collec- 

 tions of models of inventions, and a polytechnic- 

 school. The evening schools are attended ty 

 2,000 pupils, mostly young mechanics, who 

 study engineering, mining, metallurgy, analytic 

 and synthetic chemistry, architectural drawing, 

 and practical building. There are also for 

 women a school of telegraphy, which in four 

 years has sent out more than 300 operators, a 

 school of wood-engraving, and a school of 

 photography, all of which are free and are 

 well attended. These schools employ upward 

 of thirty instructors. In May, 1876, Mi-. 

 Cooper was nominated as a candidate for 

 President of the United States, by the " Inde- 

 pendent Greenback party," which met in con- 

 vention at Indianapolis, Ind. (For the result 

 of the election, see UNITED STATES.) 



COSTA RICA (REPLICA DE COSTA RICA), 

 one of the five independent states of Central 

 America, extending from 8 to 11 5' of north 

 latitude, and from 81 20' to 85 53' west longi- 

 tude. Its boundaries are : On the north, Nica- 

 ragua ; on the east, the Caribbean Sea ; and on 



