DECATUR 



1726 



DECCAN 



different churches. For example, the Roman 

 Catholic arrangement combines the first and 

 second commandments and divides the tenth 

 into two. The Hebrews called these precepts 

 the "ten words." The Greeks adopted the 

 name, for the Greek deca means ten, and logos, 

 a word. 



DECATUR, dcka'tur, ILL., named for Com- 

 modore Decatur, is the county seat of Macon 

 County, situated in the central part of the 

 state, thirty-eight miles east of Springfield 

 and 173 miles southwest of Chicago. It is on 

 the Sangamon River and on the Wabash, the 

 Illinois Central, the Cincinnati, Hamilton & 

 Dayton and the Vandalia railroads. The Illi- 

 nois Traction System operates electric service 

 to Springfield, Peoria, Bloomington, Champaign 

 and other cities. In 1910 the population was 

 31,140; in 1916 it was estimated at 39,631. The 

 area is over six square miles. 



The city has Fairview, Lincoln, Nelson and 

 Torrence parks, a Carnegie Library, a hos- 

 pital and a home for the aged and orphans. 

 Decatur is the seat of James Millikin Uni- 

 versity (Presbyterian), a coeducational school, 

 founded in 1901. Excellent railroad accommo- 

 dations have given Decatur a large trade in 

 the produce of the surrounding agricultural 

 country and coal from mines in the vicinity. 

 The important industrial plants are manufac- 

 tories of iron products, plumbing supplies, 

 water-works equipment, electric-light fixtures, 

 soda fountains, corn shellers, hominy, corn 

 meal, corn flour and starch. 



Decatur was settled in 1830 and was incor- 

 porated in 1836. The commission form of gov- 

 ernment was adopted in 1911. The water works 

 and electric light plant are owned and operated 

 by the city. The organization of the Grand 

 Army of the Republic originated at Decatur 

 with the creation of Post 1 on April 6, 1866. 



DECATUR, STEPHEN (1779-1820), one of the 

 most daring officers in the American navy dur- 

 ing the early period of United States history. 

 In 1798 he enlisted as midshipman, was pro- 

 moted to the rank of lieutenant the following 

 year, and in 1803, during the war with Tripoli, 

 took command of the Enterprise, which was 

 then a part of the Mediterranean squadron. 

 On the night of February 16, 1804, Decatur 

 took a small vessel, the Intrepid, with a picked 

 band of Americans, into the harbor of Tripoli, 

 set fire to the frigate Philadelphia, which had 

 been captured by Tripolitan pirates, and under 

 a fierce fire from the enemy's batteries made 

 his way back to the fleet, stationed at Syra- 



cuse ; not a man was killed and only one was 

 wounded. This act, pronounced by the Eng- 

 lish Admiral Nelson to be the "most daring of 

 the age," won him 

 a sword of honor 

 and appointment 

 as captain. 



Early in the 

 War of 1812, 

 while command- 

 ing the United 

 States, he cap- 

 tured the British 

 frigate Macedon- 

 ian, after a des- 

 perate struggle. 

 In 1813 he was 

 given the hon- 

 orary title of 



commodore and STEPHEN DECATUR 

 placed in command of a squadron in New 

 York harbor. In January, 1815, while attempt- 

 ing to run the British blockade, his flagship, 

 the President, struck on the bar at Sandy 

 Hook and became disabled. Decatur, forced 

 into a fight against heavy odds, was finally 

 compelled to strike his colors and was taken 

 a captive to Bermuda. 



He was soon paroled, and in the same year 

 took command of the operations against 

 Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli, forcing those coun- 

 tries to respect the rights of other nations on 

 the Mediterranean (see BARBARY STATES). On 

 his return to the United States he was made 

 navy commissioner, and held this office until 

 his death, which occurred in a duel with Com- 

 modore James Barron. Particularly famous is 

 Decatur's "toast": 



"Our country ! In her intercourse with foreign 

 nations may she always be in the right but, our 

 country, right or wrong." 



DECCAN, dek'an, a name which is some- 

 what variously applied to the great peninsula 

 of India. In a general sense it includes the 

 whole of Hindustan south of the Nerbudda 

 River; in another sense it is restricted to the 

 region lying between the Nerbudda and Kistna 

 rivers. The British government considers it 

 as within the larger limits and makes it in- 

 clude the great Madras and Bombay presi- 

 dencies and several native states. The region 

 is a vast plain, 700 miles long and 800 miles 

 at its greatest width. Two ranges of mountains 

 run along the coasts, known as the Eastern and 

 Western Ghats. The Deccan contains the 

 densest population in the world. See INDIA. 



