AUSTERLITZ 



481 



AUSTIN 



JANE AUSTEN 



ilus Leigh, for fifty years master of Balliol 

 College, Oxford. No startling events ever in- 

 terrupted the 

 placid current of 

 her life, and her 

 novels, as free 

 from sensational- 

 ism as the au- 

 thor's own expe- 

 riences, hold the 

 .s interest 

 by reason of her 

 clear and flowing 

 style, delicate hu- 

 mor and admir- 

 able gift in story- 

 telling. Sir Walter Scott said of her: 



"That young lady had talent for describing 

 the feelings and characters of ordinary life, 

 which is to me the most wonderful I ever met 

 with. The big Bow-Wow strain I can do myself, 

 like any now going; but the exquisite touch, 

 which renders ordinary, commonplace things and 

 characters interesting from the truth of the de- 

 scription and the sentiment, is denied me." 



Miss Austen's stories have played an im- 

 portant part in the development of the Eng- 

 lish novel, and her fame among English writ- 

 ers of fiction is secure. Her novels, numbering 

 only six, are Sense and Sensibility, Pride and 

 i dice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Northanger 

 Abbey and Persuasion. 



AUSTERLITZ, ows'turlitz, the name of an 

 Austrian town which is conspicuous in his- 

 tory as the scene of one of the most masterly, 

 most complete victories ever gained over supe- 

 rior numbers. Here in 1805 Napoleon, with 

 70,000 men, defeated the allied Austrian and 

 Russian armies, with 95,000 men. The deci- 

 sive victory of the French led to the Peace 

 of Pressburg between France and Austria. 

 Austerlitz is in Moravia, ten miles east of 

 Brunn. In 1900 it had a population of 3,703. 



AUSTIN, aw'stin, TEXAS, the state caj 

 and county seat of Travis County. It is 

 about 200 miles from the Gulf of Mexico, east 

 of the, center of the state and on the Houston 

 & Texas Central, the Missouri, Kansas & 

 Texas, and the International A Great North- 

 ern railroads. Fort Worth is 198 miles north 

 and east, San Antonio rinhty nnlrs southwest, 

 and Houston 165 miles southea miles 



fart IK r is Galveston. The population in 1910 

 was 29^60; in 1914 it had increased to 33,219. 

 Tin* area is over twelve square miles. 



Austin is situated on hills rising from forty 

 to 120 feet above the Colorado River, which 

 31 



runs to the south and east of the city. Two 

 fine bridges span the river, which is navigable 

 at this point for small craft. Austin Lake, 

 nearly thirty miles in length, is about two 

 miles from the city; it was created by a huge 

 dam across the river, and supplies power for 

 the city and affords fishing, bathing and canoe- 

 ing for pleasure seekers. The old dam, which 

 was one of the largest in the world, broke in 

 1900 and has ^ since been replaced at a cost 

 of $1,720,000. 'The city is supplied with water 

 from a reservoir five miles distant. 



The state capitol dominates the city from 

 its position in Capitol Square, an elevated 

 park of about twenty acres in the heart of 

 the town. It is built of red Texas granite and 

 cost $3,500,000. In 1915 it was the largest 

 state capitol in the United States, and is said 

 to be one of the twelve largest buildings in 

 the world. Its floor space is almost eighteen 

 acres in extent. It is built in the form of a 

 Greek cross; the arm from east to west is 600 

 feet long, and that from north to south is 287 

 feet long. The dome at the intersection of 

 these two arms rises 313 feet. The building 

 was erected by Chicago capitalists in exchange 

 for 3,000,000 acres of Texas public land. It 

 contains a library and Confederate Museum, 

 besides many executive halls. 



The buildings of the University of Texas, 

 costing about $2,500,000, the largest state uni- 

 versity in the South, were opened in 1883. Be- 

 sides these the old and new Federal buildings, 

 costing $300,000 each, the county courthouse 

 and the state land office are prominent 

 structures. Austin has a number of private 

 educational institutions, among them being 

 Southwestern Presbyterian Theological Sem- 

 inary; Saint Edward's College; Tillotson In- 

 stitute (colored) and Samuel Houston Col- 

 lege. The benevolent and charitable institu- 

 tions include the Confederate Home; the 

 Confederate Woman's Home; a state asylum 

 for the insane; a state institution for the 

 blind and a state institution for the deaf and 

 dumb. 



Austin's naturally very pretty parks have 

 the great advantage of being green the year 

 round. Theso include Pease Park of sixty 

 acres, Woolridge Park. :i Ix-autiful amphithea- 

 ter of three acres, and East Avenue Park of 

 tin <>c acres, all a part of the city's park and 

 l"";lrvnrd system. 



-As ih. largest city in the central and west- 

 ern part of Texas, except El Paso on the ex- 

 treme western boundary, Austin is the trading 



