DAMASK 



1694 



DAMROSCH 



Damascus is now a busy city, and houses 

 that once shook to the martial tread of Syrian 

 hosts now look down on modern street car 

 lines. Once a stronghold of Christianity, Dam- 

 ascus is now holy city of the Moslems, where 

 vast numbers annually meet for the pilgrimage 

 to Mecca. It is also an important center of 

 Oriental trade, noted for its production of 

 silks, damask and cotton fabrics. The sword 

 blades for which the city was famous for cen- 

 turies are no longer made there (see Damas- 

 cus Steel, below). Damascus has had probably 

 the most eventful history of any Eastern city. 

 In turn under the power of the Syrian, Israel- 

 ite, Persian, Greek, Roman and Crusader, it 

 fell at last into the hands of the Turks, who 

 captured it in 1516. Population, estimated, 

 250,000. 



Damascus Steel, a steel of high quality, orig- 

 inally produced in Damascus and other cities 

 of the East, of special value in making highly- 

 tempered sword blades. Its extraordinary 

 hardness and elasticity were produced by care- 

 ful and laborious forging, doubling and twisting 

 of the steel, which contained more carbon 

 than other steel. The sword blades of Damas- 

 cus were richly ornamented with designs that 

 penetrated completely through the metal with- 

 out in any way affecting its strength and tem- 

 per. F - ST - A - 



DAM 'ASK, originally a "flat-figured satin" 

 in which the weft was woven into the warp 

 in such a way as to make figures such as fruit, 

 flowers, leaves and other forms. The name 

 was given the fabric from Damascus, the city 

 where it was first manufactured. The varie- 

 ties now most widely known are the linen 

 damasks used for tablecloths and napkins, so 

 desirable for their beautiful, soft, satiny luster. 

 The best of these are made in Germany, 

 France, Scotland and Ireland. Handsome and 

 expensive furniture coverings are damasks 

 of silk and of wool. 



DAMOCLES, dam'okleez, a courtier and 

 flatterer of the tyrant Dionysius of Syracuse. 

 His extravagant description of the happiness 

 of kings caused his royal master to read him 

 a lesson. He was- invited to a sumptuous 

 banquet and was seated 'at the table in royal 

 luxury. On looking up, he was horrified 

 to find a sword suspended by a single hair 

 over his head. Dionysius thus desired to em- 

 phasize the uncertainty of his life, even when 

 in seeming security. The "sword of Damocles" 

 has come into vogue as an expression referring 

 to impending or dreaded tragedy that may 



happen at any moment. See DIONYSIUS THE 

 ELDER. 



DAMON, da'mun, AND PYTHIAS, pith' i as, 

 two noble youths of Syracuse, whose love for 

 each other, recorded in a popular legend, 

 is universally regarded as the highest ideal of 

 friendship. Pythias, or Phintias, had been 

 condemned to death by Dionysius, tyrant of 

 Syracuse. He secured permission to leave the 

 city to put his affairs in order, Damon offering 

 himself as a pledge for his friend's return, to 

 suffer death himself in place of Pythias should 

 the latter fail to keep his promise. Pythias, 

 unexpectedly delayed, arrived just in time to 

 save Damon from death. It is said that 

 Dionysius so admired the spirit of friendship 

 animating the two that he immediately par- 

 doned Pythias and besought the two youths 

 to become his friends. This incident is the 

 basis of the principles on which the fraternal 

 order The Knights of Pythias was established 

 (see PYTHIAS, KNIGHTS OF). 



DAMROSCH, dahm'rosh, the name of a fam- 

 ily, originally German, two members of which 

 have played an important part in the advance- 

 ment of music in the United States. 



Leopold Damrosch (1832-1885) was bora in 

 Posen, Prussia, and was educated for the med- 

 ical profession, in accordance with his parents' 

 wishes, at the University of Berlin. In 1854, 

 shortly after he had begun practice in Posen, 

 he took up the formal study of music, to 

 which he was devotedly attached, and in 1855 

 entered upon the career of a concert violinist. 

 After serving as director in Posen and in Bres- 

 lau, he emigrated to America in 1871, and 

 began a brilliant career in New York City. He 

 founded the Oratorio Society in 1873, the Sym- 

 phony Society in 1877, and organized several 

 large musical festivals. 



To Damrosch alone is due the honor of 

 permanently establishing choral societies in 

 New York; but he achieved the crowning 

 glory of his career when, in 1884, he success- 

 fully introduced German opera at the Metro- 

 politan Opera House. In this great theater 

 his funeral services were held a year later. 

 He also won distinction as a composer of 

 cantatas, pieces for the violin, songs, and a 

 festival overture. 



Walter Johannes Damrosch (1862- ), son 

 of Leopold, continued the work which his 

 father had begun. He was born in Breslau, 

 Prussia, studied piano and harmony, and in 

 1871 accompanied his father to America. In 

 1881 he was appointed organist of Plymouth 



