BISCAY 751 



BISCAY, bis' kay, a great bay indenting 

 France, is an eastern arm of the Atlantic 

 Ocean, called by the old Romans the Canta- 

 brian Sea. It is bounded on the east and 

 northeast by France, and on the south as far 

 as Cape Ortegal by Spain, and forms a fairly- 

 regular curve about 400 miles long and 300 

 miles wide. The rugged Spanish coast is in- 

 dented by bays, but the low and sandy French 

 coast is broken by the great mouths of the 

 Loire, Garonne, Adour and Charente rivers. 

 Bordeaux, Bayonne, Nantes, Rochefort and 

 Brest are the principal French ports; the cities 

 on the Spanish coast include San Sebastian, 

 Santander, Bilbao and La Rochelle. The peo- 

 ple who live on the Spanish shore are called 

 Basques, and are industrious and active, raising 

 crops of nectarines, barley and maize in spite 

 of unfertile soil along the coast. From the 

 Basques the bay takes its name. 



On account of its exposed position and 

 diverse currents the bay is noted for storms 

 and is especially trying to voyagers. In 1588 

 the great Spanish Armada, as it was starting 

 on its career of conquest, encountered a terrible 

 storm on the Bay of Biscay, in which the un- 

 wieldy vessels were scattered in all directions, 

 and were assembled again only after several 

 days. Byron in Childe Harold says of the bay : 



On, on, the vessel flies, the land is gone, 



And winds are rude in Biscay's sleepless bay. 



BISHOP, bish'up. In the Roman Catholic, 

 Anglican, Greek and some other Eastern 

 churches, the title is given to one who has 

 jurisdiction over the local churches which con- 

 stitute his diocese. The office of bishop in the 

 churches named is considered as descending 

 without interruption from the Twelve Apostles, 

 but this order of succession is not accepted by 

 most Protestant churches. In the Methodist 

 Episcopal Church the authority of a bishop 

 is recognized; in this Church the bishops are 

 elected by the General Conference, and after 

 reaching a certain age they are placed upon 

 the retired list. 



The duties of the bishop vary with different 

 denominations. In general, he has authority 

 over the clergy and various church interests 

 within his diocese. He may call conventions of 

 the clergy, at which he presides, and he may 

 appoint clergymen to churches and for cause 

 may remove them from their positions. 



BISMARCK, biz 'mark, N. D., the state 

 capital and county seat of Burleigh County. It 

 is south and west of the center of the state, 

 and is 194 miles east of Fargo, 446 miles north- 



BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO 



west of Saint Paul and 685 miles east of Helena, 

 Mont. The city is situated on the east bank 

 of the Missouri River, a wide stream at this 

 point and navigable 1,500 miles farther north, 

 to Fort Benton, Mont. River commerce is 

 extensive. Bismarck is on the Northern Pa- 

 cific, which crosses the river on a steel and 

 iron bridge near the city, and on the Minne- 

 apolis, Saint Paul & Sault Sainte Marie and 

 the Chicago, Milwaukee & Saint Paul railroads. 

 The population, largely American, in 1910 was 

 5,443; it increased to 6,344 in 1915. The for- 

 eign-born inhabitants are largely Germans and 

 Scandinavians. 



Bismarck is an important trade center for a 

 large' part of the great wheat country of its 

 section of the United States and Canada. It 

 has more than fifty large jobbing and wholesale 

 houses. Manufactories are increasing rapidly; 

 grain elevators, a twine plant, flour mills, 

 foundries and assembly plants for farm imple- 

 ments and automobiles are the chief industrial 

 establishments. Near the city are rich clay 

 fields and the largest coal mine in the state. 



Fort Lincoln, an army post four miles from 

 town, has a plant valued at $1,000,000. The 

 property of the United States Indian School, 

 located in this city, is worth $150,000. These 

 two institutions and other posts and Indian 

 agencies are supplied through Bismarck. The 

 North Dakota state capitol, a building costing 

 $750,000, the Federal building, costing $150,000, 

 Bismarck hospital, Saint Alexius hospital, the 

 municipal auditorium, the National Guard Ar- 

 mory and the Masonic Temple are noteworthy 

 buildings. A Methodist college, a business 

 college and a school of music supplement the 

 public school system. There are two parks 

 which together contain nearly 200 acres. 



In 1804-1805 Lewis and Clark spent the win- 

 ter on or near the site of Bismarck. A prom- 

 inent settlement was made in 1873, and three 

 years later a city charter was granted. Bis- 

 marck, named for the great German statesman 

 of that name, was made the capital of Dakota 

 Territory in 1883 and in 1889 became the cap- 

 ital of the state of North Dakota. The city 

 adopted the commission form of government 

 in 1912. Q.L.P. 



BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO, biz' mark ar fa 

 pel' a go, the name given to New Britain, New 

 Ireland and other islands in the Pacific in 

 honor of the first chancellor of the German 

 Empire, in 1885, when they were declared 

 German territory. At the commencement of* 

 the War of the Nations in 1914 they were 



