COOPER'S CREEK 



1570 



COPENHAGEN 



advantage unless he joins with his neighbors. 

 These are the two maxims upon which the 

 extensive credit cooperation of Germany is 

 based, the system which has been copied by 

 all the countries of Europe and recently by 

 the United States (see RURAL CREDITS). They 

 are the basis, too, of the building and loan 

 societies which in. Canada and the United 

 States make it possible for thousands of fam- 

 ilies to own their homes. 



American Backwardness. Though there are 

 no reliable figures of cooperation in the United 

 States and Canada, this table of the numbers 

 in each country who are members of coopera- 

 tive societies gives the situation in a general 

 way: 



Denmark 1 In 4 



Switzerland 1 in 10 



Austria, Germany, Rumania 1 in 13 



Belgium, Finland 1 in 15 

 Netherlands, Russia, Great Britain 1 in 16 



Japan 1 in 100 



Canada 1 in 300 



United States 1 in 1,000 



Several European countries have been omit- 

 ted in which the proportion of cooperative 

 members is less than one in sixteen ; all but Al- 

 bania, Greece, Portugal and Turkey excel the 

 United States. C.H.H. 



COOP'ER'S CREEK, an Australian river 

 formed by the junction of the Thompson and 

 Barcos rivers, rising in Queensland and flowing 

 southwest through South Australia into Lake 

 Eyre. In the rainy season it is a rushing tor- 

 rent two miles wide, but in times of drought 

 many portions are completely dry. In 1861 the 

 explorers Burke and Wills died from starvation 

 on the banks of this stream. 



COOSA, koo'sa, RIVER, a river of Georgia 

 which unites with the Tallapoosk, to form the 

 Alabama. The Coosa itself is formed by the 

 junction of the Etowah and the Oostanaula, in 

 Floyd County. The united streams flow for a 

 distance of about 350 miles. Part of the Coosa 

 is navigable for small steamers which carry 

 local commerce, and it drains an area of about 

 10,000 square miles. 



COOT, koot, or MUD HEN, a water bird of 

 the rail family, different species of which are 

 common throughout America and in most 

 parts of Europe, Asia and North Africa. To 

 "come from haunts of coot and hern," like 

 Tennyson's Brook, would mean from marshy 

 lakes or quiet, weedy rivers, for it is among 

 the reeds that the coot nests and dives for its 

 food of snails, 'seeds, fish eggs and vegetable 

 matter. Though worthless for food, the coot 



is often shot by hunters. It is about fifteen 

 inches long, usually dark slate-colored, some- 

 times mottled with white. Unlike the true 

 rails, the toes, instead of being webbed, are 

 edged with a peculiar greenish, scalloped mem- 



*R *+, -"* 

 THE COOT 



brane. The bill is strong and straight, extend- 

 ing up the forehead and ending in a naked 

 patch. Differing from the coot of Europe, the 

 bill of the American coot is white. This un- 

 attractive bird is shy and hides in weeds and 

 grasses when alarmed, and though awkward on 

 land, it is a graceful diver. 



COPENHAGEN, ko pen ha' gen, the capital 

 and largest city of Denmark. It is situated 

 on the lower end of the island of Zealand, 

 which lies on the eastern coast, at the west end 

 of the Baltic Sea. A southern portion of the 

 town lies on the adjacent coast of the island 

 of Amager. These islands are separated by a 

 strait which serves as a harbor, and which is 

 crossed by two bridges. Copenhagen is the 

 commercial center of Denmark, being the out- 

 let for over half its exports; steamship lines 

 connect with England, Russia, Germany arid 

 Sweden. It lies in the same latitude as Mos- 

 cow, in Russia, and as cold Hopedale in Labra- 

 dor, but the climate is greatly tempered by the 

 Gulf Stream, which enters the North Sea. 



Copenhagen, one of Europe's most beautiful 

 cities, contains many interesting and notable 

 places, some of them centuries old. Among its 

 quaintest features are the old gabled houses 

 which line the quay of Nyhavn; another is 

 the spire of the Exchange (Borsen), which was 

 built early in the seventeenth century (1619- 

 1640) ; this is formed of four great dragons 

 whose heads point in the directions of the 

 compass, while their bodies intertwine until 

 their tails form the top of the spire. Two of 





