542 



THE STANDARD DICTIONARY OF FACTS 



only is carried on; in many of them upward of 

 600 power looms are in action, each producing 

 from fifteen to twenty pieces of fabric, of twenty- 

 four yards each per week. ' There are over 60,000 

 persons employed in the cotton mills, Id-sides 

 7,000 skilled mechanics engaged in the produc- 

 tion of steam engines, looms, and other machin- 

 ery. The climate of .Manchester is very healthy, 

 despite the disadvantage of the prevalence of 

 smoke arising from the number of factories, etc. 

 Population, 543,969. 



3Ianchuria (Chinese, Shing-King), a Chi- 

 nese territory occupying the northeast corner 

 of the empire; it is divided into three provinces, 

 Shing-King, Feng-Tien, or Leaotong in the 

 south (of which Mukden is the capital), Kirin 

 in the center (with a capital of the same name), 

 and He-Lung-Kiang in the north (with capital 

 Tsitsihar); total area, 362,310 square miles; 

 population (1900), estimated 7,500,000. The 

 country is mountainous, but on the whole fertile. 

 The climate is good; though the winters are 

 severe, they are healthy and bracing. The 

 vast forests of the north are rich in useful timber 

 of all kinds. The administration is military, 

 the governors of the two northern provinces be- 

 ing subordinate to the governor of Mukden. 

 The Manchus are a hardy race, and their country 

 has long been the great recruiting ground for 

 the Chinese army; but of late years vast num- 

 bers of Chinese proper have flocked into it, so 

 that now they by far outnumber the native race. 

 In the Seventeenth Century the Manchus invaded 

 China and placed their leader's son on the throne. 

 Since that time the Manchu Dynasty has con- 

 tinued to reign in China, and the Manchu 

 language has become the court and official lan- 

 guage. 



For a considerable time prior to 1891, when the 

 first sod was turned for the construction of the 

 great Siberian railroad, the Russian Government 

 was anxious to secure control of this territory. 

 On November 9, 1901, the Russian minister of 

 finance, in announcing the completion of this 

 railroad from Transbaikal territory to Vladi- 

 vistok and Port Arthur, used the phrase "Our 

 enterprise in Manchuria is practically, though 

 not entirely, concluded." A number of times it 

 was declared that the Chinese Government, under 

 pressure from Li Hung Chang, had signed a 

 secret treaty with Russia for the cession of this 

 territory. In 1900, while the allied army was 

 hastening to the relief of the legations in Peking 

 a Russian military force occupied the right bank 

 of the Amur River, and declared it to be Rus- 

 sian territory, and a provisional Russian ad- 

 ministration was established. Official declara- 

 tions were sent out from Petersburg to the effect 

 that the current rumors of an incorporation 

 of Manchuria with the Russian Empire were 

 groundless. 



In October, 1903, Russia having failed to 

 evacuate Manchuria on the 8th of that month, 

 as promised, Japan made military and naval 

 preparations of a warlike character, while Russia 

 also strengthened her forces in the distant 

 Orient, which eventuated in the Russo-Japanese 

 War. While, by the treaty of Portsmouth, 

 Manchuria was restored to China, it is still a 

 bone of contention between Russia and Japan. | 



Manila, or 31 a nil la, a seaport of the island 

 of Luzon, capital of the Philippines, situated 

 near the mouth of the River Passig, at the head 

 of a bay of same name. It possesses an excel- 

 lent harbor, and carries on a large and important 

 commerce with Europe, the United States, and 

 China. The climate is healthful on the whole, 

 but the place is subject to earthquakes, the last 

 of which, in isd;;, was the cause of serious loss 

 of life. In .Manila Bay, on May 1, 189S, Ad- 

 miral Dewey with six warships, destroyed Spain's 

 Asiatic Squadron, thirteen vessels, under Ad- 

 miral Montejo. Population, 219,928. 



Marseilles (mar-salz), French Marseille 

 (mar-say' -e), a city, principal commercial seaport 

 of France, on the Mediterranean, and capital 

 of the department of Bouchesdu-Rhone. It lies 

 in the form of an amphitheater round a natural 

 harbor of moderate size, now known as the Old 

 Harbor. Though a handsome city as a whole, 

 Marseilles is not rich in public edifices. The 

 harbor is strongly defended by various works. 

 What is called the New Harbor consists of 

 a series of extensive docks along the shore to the 

 west, with a protecting breakwater in front. 



In recent times Marseilles has made great 

 progress in its extent, street improvements, 

 population, and commerce, largely owing to 

 the conquest of Algeria, and the opening of the 

 Suez Canal. Marseilles was founded by a colony 

 of Greeks from Asia Minor, about 600 years be- 

 fore Christ, the original name being Massalia. 

 It attained great prosperity as a Greek colonial 

 center, and the Greek language is said to have 

 been spoken there till several centuries after 

 Christ. It was taken by Caesar in 49 B. C. On 

 the decline of the Roman Empire it became a 

 prey to the Goths, Burgundians, and Franks. 

 In 735 it fell into the hands of the Saracens, and 

 in the Tenth Century it came under the domin- 

 ion of the counts of Provence, and for some 

 centuries after followed the fortunes of that 

 house. Population, 525,250. 



Matterhorn, a peak of the Alps, between 

 the Swiss canton of Valais and Piedmont, rising 

 to the altitude of 14,705 feet. The actual peak 

 was first scaled by Lord Francis Douglas, the 

 Rev. C. Hudson, Hadow, and Whymper, with 

 three guides, July 14, 1865, when the three first- 

 named and one of the guides fell over a precipice 

 and were killed. 



Mecca, a city of Arabia, about sixty miles 

 from the Red Sea, the chief town of the Hedjaz, 

 and celebrated as the birthplace of Mohammed. 

 It is the sacred city of the Mohammedans, and, 

 in itself uninteresting, is important on account 

 of the pilgrimages which are made annually to 

 the Great Mosque, in which is contained the 

 Kaaba. From 100,000 to 150,000 persons are 

 said to take part in these pilgrimages annually. 

 The city, like the whole province of the Hedjaz, 

 now belongs to Turkey. Population, about 

 50,000. 



Medina, a city of Arabia, about 230 miles 

 north of Mecca. It is the second capital of the 

 Hedjaz, and is celebrated as the seat of Moham- 

 med's empire, as the place to which he fled from 

 Mecca, and likewise as his burial-place. To the 

 Mohammedans Medina is only less sacred than 

 Mecca, but it is a much smaller city, and is now 



