AUGUSTA 



475 



AUGUSTA 



stillest, so its heat is likely to be the "swelter- 

 ing" variety. Its special flower is the poppy, 

 and its gem the sardonyx. 



History of the Month. In Rome, during tne 

 days of the Republic, the year began with 

 March, and August was the sixth month, as 

 its name, Sextilis, declares. But after Julius 

 Caesar made his reforms in the calendar it 

 became the eighth month (see CALENDAR). 

 This alone would not have led to its renaming, 

 but Julius Caesar rechristened the month of 

 July for himself, and his successor Augustus, 

 desired a like honor. Requested to make his 

 choice, he took his "lucky month" the month 

 in which he had been elected consul, had 

 three tunes celebrated a triumph, and had com- 

 pleted the conquest of Egypt. But here a 

 difficulty arose: July had thirty-one days, and 

 the newly-named month had but thirty; and 

 thus Julius was yet more honored than Augus- 

 tus. Since this was not to be thought of, a 

 day was taken from February, already the 

 least of the months, and given to August. 



In the United States, as in Canada, there is 

 no general holiday in August, but several of 

 the states have set special days apart for 

 observance. Colorado celebrates the first of 

 August, the date of its admission to the Union, 

 and Missouri the tenth, for a similar reason; 

 while Vermont observes with fitting ceremonies 

 the sixteenth, the anniversary of the Battle of 

 Bennington. 



AUGUSTA, aw' gusta, GA., locally known as 

 the Queen City, is the largest cotton manu- 

 facturing center of the South, and second 

 largest inland cotton market in the world. It 

 had a population, chiefly American, of 49,451 

 in 1914, an increase of 8,411 since 1910. The 

 city is located 140 feet above sea level, on the 

 Savannah River, in Richmond County, of 

 which it is the county seat, in the northeastern 

 part of the state. Charleston, 3. C., is about 

 136 miles southeast; Atlanta, about 171 miles 

 northwest. Transportation facilities are af- 

 forded by the Georgia, Central of Georgia, 

 Southern, Augusta Southern, Charleston & 

 Western Carolina, Atlantic Coast Line and 

 Georgia & Flo M.I.I i always, and by utea 

 th rivi-r being navigable to Augusta. The area 

 is about nun square miles. 



Buildings. Among the structures of note 

 are the post office, erected at a cost of $350,000, 

 a fine courthouse, the 1450,000 Empire bml.l- 

 :md a granite Kmk buil.lnm construct! in 

 1913. The most prominent of its educational 

 institutions are the Richmond Academy, one of 



the oldest academies in the south, Mount Saint 

 Joseph Academy and the Medical College of 

 Georgia, founded in 1832. Paine Institute (col- 

 ored), three business schools, two high schools 

 and two public libraries also serve the educa- 

 tional needs. The most notable of its many 

 churches is Saint Paul's, which was the only 

 church for fifty years in Augusta. 



Commerce and Enterprise. Augusta is lo- 

 cated in the heart of the cotton district, and 

 its industries largely center in the manufactures 

 of this product. It supplies a larger quantity 

 of unbleached cotton goods than any other 

 city of the United States and the number of 

 its cotton factories has given it the name of 

 the Lowell of the South. It is also the second 

 largest cottonseed oil market in the world. 

 The Augusta Canal, nine miles long, con- 

 structed at a cost of $1,500,000, furnishes abun- 

 dant power for manufacturing purposes. It 

 was near Augusta that the first cotton-gin was 

 invented and operated by Eli Whitney, and 

 here the first steam-propelled boat was floated 

 by James Longstreet in 1806, a year before tin- 

 Fulton exploits were known. It is also claimed 

 that a sewing machine was constructed here 

 in 1830, several years previous to the Howe 

 invention. Here also was invented the first 

 burr-cleaning machine and from the noted 

 State Medical College came Dr. Crawford 

 Long, the discoverer of anaesthesia. 



History. Augusta was founded in 1736 by 

 General James Oglethorpe, founder of the col- 

 ony of Georgia, who named it Augusta in 

 honor of the daughter of George II; in 17<)S 

 it was incorporated as a city. Before and 

 during the Revolutionary War it was an im- 

 portant military post and the surrounding 

 country was the scene of heroic fighting. Fort 

 Cora wall is and Fort Grierson were located 

 in -ral Henry Leo, known in history as 

 nt Horse Harry," was one of the leaders 

 in the capture of these two forts, which 

 drove the English from Augusta. From 1790 

 to 1796 it was the capital of Georgia. The 

 government maintains an arsenal here for the 

 storage of arms and ammunition. It is the 

 Ixiriitl place of three of the signers of the 

 Declaration of Independence, Hall, Walton and 

 Cumn.tt oh, 1016, the city sustained a 



loos by fire, amounting to several millions of 

 dollars. MAMA. 



AUGUSTA, MK, the capital of the state, 

 tin- enmity seat of Kennebcc County, and a 

 trade center of importance in its territory. It 

 is situated in the southwestern section of the 



