BLACK DEATH 



758 



BLACK FRIDAY 



Blackpool, one of the finest watering places 

 in England, receives annually several hun- 

 dred thousand pounds sterling in this way 

 from Blackburn operatives. In 1557 a gram- 

 mar school was founded here by Queen Eliza- 

 beth, and it now occupies extensive modern 

 buildings. Population in 1911, 133,064. 



BLACK DEATH. See PLAGUE. 



BLACK-EYED SUSAN, or YELLOW 

 DAISY, is a sunshiny wild flower found in dry 

 fields and along the byroads and highroads 

 almost everywhere. The flowers have orange- 

 yellow rays, or 

 petals, so gaily 

 they advertise 

 to the bees and 

 butterflies the 

 wealth of nectar 

 and pollen in 

 their purple- 

 black centers. 

 Just one flower 

 grows at the top 

 of each rough, 

 hairy stem. The 

 leaves, too, are 

 stiff and hairy, 

 and placed alter- 

 nately along the 

 stems. It is diffi- 

 cult to pick these 

 inviting flowers 

 without pulling 

 up the whole 

 plant, because 

 the stems are 

 tough and rigid. 

 Cut them, and 

 you will be re- 

 warded for your BLACK-EYED SUSAN 



care, as the roots are perennial and they will 

 come up year after year. See PERENNIAL. 



BLACKFOOT, a tribe of Indians who are 

 supposed to have received their name from 

 white men, who noticed that the tops of their 

 moccasins were blackened by the burnt grass 

 and brush through which they passed. The 

 Blackfoot are a branch of the great Algon- 

 quian family, and formerly occupied all the 

 region from the North Saskatchewan River in 

 Canada to the head waters of the Missouri 

 in Montana. They were restless, aggressive, 

 and frequently at war with other tribes, but 

 never with the United States or Canada. 

 They became noted for their large herds of 

 horses. They now live on reservations in 



Alberta and Montana, where they are acquir- 

 ing the customs of civilization. In all they 

 number about 4,700. Tourists in Glacier Na- 

 tional Park and in Rocky Mountains National 

 Park, north of the former, in Alberta, may see 

 many camps of these Indians. 



Illustrations will be found with the articles 

 INDIANS and GALCIER NATIONAL PARK. 



BLACK FOREST, a mountainous district in 

 the southwestern part of Germany, covering 

 an area of 1,844 square miles. It runs almost 

 parallel with the River Rhine for eighty-five 

 miles and forms an elevated chain of plateaus 

 rather than a series of isolated peaks. The 

 highest summit* is Feldberg, 4,900 feet above 

 sea level. The slopes contain many lakes and 

 streams, in which the Danube, Neckar, Kinzig 

 and many smaller rivers have their sources. 

 The principal mineral found is iron. The re- 

 gion is noted for its mineral springs, which 

 have led to the establishment of numerous 

 watering-places and health resorts, of which 

 Baden-Baden (which see) is the most famous. 

 The forests yield much timber, especially the 

 pine of the black fir, from which the forest 

 takes its name. The region is being contin- 

 ually reforested by the best-known, thorough 

 German methods. 



The manufacture of wooden toys, clocks, 

 and musical instruments is the most impor- 

 tant industry of the section, employing about 

 40,000 persons. The inhabitants of the forest 

 preserve a quaint simplicity in habits, and the 

 district is rich in old legendary associations. 

 The trade is centered in the towns of Frei- 

 burg, Rastatt, Lahr and Offenburg. 



BLACK FRIDAY, in the United States the 

 name given to two days that ushered in many 

 panics. The first Friday was on September 

 24, 1869, when Jay Gould and James Fisk, Jr. 

 attempted to create a "corner" by buying all 

 the gold contained in the New York City 

 banks. The value of gold had been steadily 

 rising for several days, and speculators were 

 aiming to carry it still higher. On Friday the 

 whole city was in a state of tremendous ex- 

 citement, when gold rose to 162% and was 

 still rising; a possibility seemed imminent 

 that business houses would be closed, as no 

 one knew what prices goods should bring. 

 At this exciting time $4,000,000 was taken 

 from the United States Treasury and placed 

 on the market by Secretary Boutwell to break 

 the "corner," and the value of gold imme- 

 diately fell, not, however, without leaving the 

 speculators richer by almost $11,000,000. 



