ALL-FOOLS' DAY 



ALLIGATOR 



playgrounds. Paterson, N. J., is the only city 

 of the United States that excels Allentown in 

 the manufacture of silks, 10,000 people being 

 employed in its twenty-three silk mills. It is 

 one of the largest furniture-producing cities in 

 the United States, and it also manufactures 

 iron, steel, cement and cigars. A mammoth 

 steel plant, located a half hour's ride from the 

 employs about 1,200 skilled mechanics, 

 and the thirty-four cement mills of the Lehigh 

 district employ 12,000 men and produce about 

 one-third of the total product of the United 

 States. 



A $1,000,000 courthouse was built without 

 bond issue or . increase of taxes ; the hospital 

 for the insane, the prison and other public 

 buildings are constructed of limestone found in 

 the vicinity. Besides these its city has a 

 $500,000 high school building, a public library, 

 Muhlenberg College (Lutheran), and Allen- 

 town College, for women. 



The first settlement was named in honor of 

 William Allen, then Chief Justice of Pennsyl- 

 vania, who founded the town in 1752. It be- 

 came the county seat of Lehigh County in 

 1811, when it was incorporated as Northampton 

 Borough. Here in 1799, John Fries of "Fries 

 Rebellion" fame, aroused the German opposi- 

 tion to the window tax, a tax formerly imposed 

 in Great Britain on all windows in houses, 

 above a certain number. In 1838 the original 

 name was restored, and Allentown was incor- 

 porated by special charter. The commission 

 form of government was adopted in 1913. 

 Allentown owns and operates its water works. 



ALL-FOOLS' DAY, the name given to the 

 first of April, a day quite generally devoted 

 to playing absurd but harmless jokes. Its 

 origin, though unknown, is not recent, as an 

 old English almanac printed in 1760 contains 

 the following rhyme: 



The first of April, some do say 

 IB set apart for All-Fools' Day. 



In English-speaking countries the victim of a 

 joke is called an April fool; in France, an April 

 fish; in Scotland he is a gowk. See APRIL, for 

 panel-shaped illustration. 



ALLIANCE, alii' an*, OHIO, an induct 



in Stark County, in the northeastern sec- ' 

 tion of the state, and on the Mahoning Ri 

 Canton is nineteen miles southwest, Cleveland 

 is fifty-five miles northwest, and Pittsburgh 

 is eighty-three miles southeast. The New 

 York Central Lines and the Pennsylvania 

 Company provide railway transportation, and 

 electric lines extend north, east and south from 



the city. The first settlement, in 1838, was, 

 called Freedom, the name being changed to its 

 present one in 1851 ; the village was incor- 

 porated in 1854, and the city was chartered in 

 1889. Americans comprise seventy-five per 

 cent of the population, which increased from 

 15,083 in 1910 to 17,718 in 1914. The city's 

 area is a little less than four square miles. 



Industrially Alliance is largely engaged in 

 engraving and in making account registers. 

 About 2,000 people are employed in its lead- 

 ing engraving establishment, and almost as 

 many are occupied in making registers. There 

 are steel works, manufactories of agricultural 

 implements and heavy machinery and large 

 machine shops. Pottery is an extensive prod- 

 uct of the vicinity. The city has two parks, 

 a $100,000 city hall, the Glen-Morgan building 

 which cost $300,000, a Carnegie Library, and 

 Mount Union College (Methodist Episcopal), 

 founded in 1846. 



ALLIGATOR, al' ligay tur, a large reptile re- 

 sembling the crocodile, from which, however, 

 it differs in having a shorter and flatter head, 

 and feet less fully webbed. A few alligators 

 are to be found in China, but for the most 



ALLIGATORS 

 (a) represents the bony structure of the 



part they dwell in and about the waters of 

 tropical America, where they may be seen 

 during the day basking on the ground in the 

 heat of the sun or floating near the surface of 

 fresh-water streams. Formerly they were very 

 common along the shores of the United States 

 from North Carolina southward, and far up the 

 Mississippi Rivrr. hut now they are not often 

 seen north of Florida. Millions have been 

 kilN.i for sport and because of their hide, 

 which makes a valuable leather, so there is 

 danger of their being exterminated, unless pro- 

 tective measures are undertaken. There is 

 one very successful alligator farm in Florida, 

 animals are reared for profit. 



