ASBJ6RNSEN 



408 ASCENSION AND DECLINATION 



cloth curtains form one of the safest barriers 

 against fire in theaters. After the disastrous 

 Iroquois theater fire in Chicago in 1903, many 



s passed laws requiring theaters to be 

 equipped with such curtains. Asbestos is used 

 ly as a covering for steam-pipes, to 

 provide against loss of heat, and asbestos 

 cement is used for hot-blast pipes and fire- 

 heated surfaces. Compressed asbestos fiber 

 board may be used for flooring and woodwork 

 in general, and when so used may be stained, 

 polished and finished the same as wood. As- 



>s is quite frequently used for upholstering 

 and for carpets; a peculiarity of the latter is 

 that the longer such a carpet is used the 

 tougher it becomes, although it does not im- 

 prove in appearance. Asbestos is also ground 

 fine and used in paints. Roofs are made by 

 treating strong canvas with a combination of 

 asbestos and felt. Mittens for iron and glass 

 workers are made from asbestos yarn. Asbestos 

 soldering blocks are used by goldsmiths. In 

 combination with rubber, it is much used as 

 an electrical insulator. Asbestos cloth is used* 

 for acid filters in all sorts of chemical processes, 

 for the reason that no acid will eat it. 



Consult The Production of Asbestos, issued by 

 the United States Geological Survey ; Circle's 

 Chrysotile Asbestos, Occurrence, Exploitation, 

 Millhirj and T'ses, published by Canadian Depart- 

 ment of Mines. 



ASBJoRNSEN as by urn' sen, PETER CHRIS- 

 TEN (1812-1885), a distinguished Norwegian 

 naturalist and writer of fairy tales, who wan- 

 dered on foot from one end of Norway to the 

 other collecting the legends and folk tales of 

 the peasants. He worked with his friend 

 Jorgen Moe, and many of the tales which they 

 published they wrote together. Asbjornsen 

 was an eager student of zoology and forestry, 

 but his work as a collector and writer of fairy 

 stories overshadows what he accomplished as a 

 scientist. 



ASBURY, az'bery, FRANCIS (1745-1816), 

 famous as the "Father of American Method- 

 isiu" and as the first bishop of the Methodist 

 Episcopal Church to be ordained in the United 

 States. He was born near Birmingham, Eng- 

 land, was converted to Methodism at the age 

 of thirteen, and in 1771 went to America as a 

 missionary. Through his efforts the member- 

 ship of the Church rapidly increased, and in 

 1784 John Wesley appointed him bishop. This 

 appointment was a little later ratified at Balti- 

 more by a conference which marked the real 

 beginning of the Methodist Episcopal Church 



in America. To the end of his life Asbury 

 worked with untiring zeal for the Church, and 

 during his ministry preached over 16,000 ser- 

 mons. 



ASBURY PARK, N. J., in Monmouth 

 County, sixty miles south of New York City 

 and eighty miles northeast of Philadelphia, is 

 one of the most popular summer resorts on the 

 Atlantic coast. Wesley Lake, on the north, 

 separates Asbury Park and Ocean Grove. The 

 city is served by the Pennsylvania and the 

 Central of New Jersey railroads and by electric 

 interurban lines. In 1910 the population was 

 10,150; in 1914 it was 12,763. 



The city owns a fine two-mile beach bor- 

 dered for a part of its length by a board walk 

 and bath houses. It has a Federal building, 

 public library, municipal hospital, splendid 

 hotels, theaters, lecture halls and pavilions, 

 several small parks, an aviation field and a 

 national rifle range. There are attractive drives 

 in all directions. The summer population fre- 

 quently exceeds 100,000, and the season's fes- 

 tivities include a baby parade, lake carnival, 

 masque fete and fireworks displays. The 

 manufacturing of sleeping garments gives em- 

 ployment to 300 people. 



Asbury Park, named in honor of Bishop As- 

 bury (which see), was founded in 1869, in- 

 corporated in 1874 and became a city in 1897. 

 In 1914 the commission form of government 

 was adopted. The water system and beach 

 are owned by the municipality. C.E.W.B. 



(a) Vernal equinox; (6) point on equator at 

 which circle through lli.it from pole crosses; 

 (c) position of star; (d, e, /) celestial equator; 

 (g, h) horizon of person standing at (i). 



ASCENSION AND DECLINATION OF 

 STARS. As the position of places on the 

 earth is described by the terms latitude and 



