GIDEON 



2492 



GILBERT 



CHARLES DANA GIBSON 



drawing of a characteristic society woman 

 which has become known as the "Gibson Girl." 

 He was born in Roxbury, Mass., studied at 

 the Art Student's 

 League, New 

 York, under Saint 

 Gaudens and Ju- 

 lian in Paris, and 

 later went to 

 London and Mu- 

 nich for further 

 work. He first 

 achieved promi- 

 nence by his illus- 

 trations in Life, 

 the Century, 

 Scribner's and 

 Harper's maga- 

 zines. He is ac- 

 knowledged as one of the greatest living mas- 

 ters of black and white, and is perhaps best 

 known through his humorous, inoffensive ridi- 

 cule of the shams of society. At one stage in 

 his career Collier's Weekly secured exclusive 

 control of his services for a year at a salary 

 of 100,000. Some of his published works are 

 The Education of Mr. Pipp, A Widow and 

 Her Friends, and People of Dickens. In 1905 

 he discontinued illustrating for a time and at- 

 tempted by study in Europe to master color 

 work, but he has since returned to his former 

 field of endeavor. 



GIDEON, gid'eun, the fifth judge of Israel, 

 who was called by an angel of God to deliver 

 his people from the Midianites, who were 

 oppressing them. Going to battle with only 

 300 followers, each armed with a sword, trum- 

 pet and earthen pitcher containing a lamp, he 

 gained a splendid victory, with God's help, by 

 attacking the enemy's camp at night (Judges 

 VII, 19). Gideon long remained one of the 

 favorite heroes of the Jews. 



Gideon's Band, a society of Christian com- 

 mercial traveling men, formed at Boscobel, 

 Wis., in 1899 to promote the work of God by 

 holding meetings in hotel lobbies and various 

 churches. They publish a monthly magazine, 

 The Gideon, in Chicago, and in 1908 began 

 putting Bibles in the guest rooms of hotels. 

 This work has grown until, at the present time, 

 nearly 300,000 Bibles have been placed, mainly 

 in the United States, although they are ex- 

 tendisg their 'work to Canada and England. 

 It is planned ultimately to place a Bible in 

 every hotel room in every English-speaking 

 town or city. 



GILA, he'lah, a river of the United States 

 which has its source in the Sierra Madre 

 Mountains in New Mexico and flows in a west- 

 ward direction through mountains and valleys, 

 across Arizona. The ruins of stone edifices, 

 pieces of broken pottery and indications of 

 irrigation canals along the banks of the Gila 

 show that the region was formerly inhabited 

 by a partly-civilized race, the historically in- 

 teresting and mysterious Cliff Dwellers (which 

 see). 



GILA MONSTER, a poisonous lizard, one of 

 the largest of the lizard family in North Amer- 

 ica, is found in the deserts of Arizona, New 

 Mexico and Texas. It derives its name from 

 its discovery near the Gila River in Arizona. 



GILA MONSTER 



It is covered with orange and black scales, and 

 has grooved teeth with poison-secreting glands 

 near their base. The bite of this lizard was 

 formerly supposed to be injurious to man, 

 though rarely fatal, but deadly to small ani- 

 mals and birds. Scientific investigation has 

 failed to verify this opinion, so the question 

 of the venomous nature of the reptile is still 

 unsettled. 



GILBERT, SIR HUMPHREY (1539-1583), one 

 of the earliest of North American colonizers, 

 first won fame as an English navigator and 

 explorer. During early manhood he attained 

 distinction in the English army. In 1578 he 

 received a commission from Queen Elizabeth 

 to conduct an expedition in search of a new 

 route to India, in which little known land he 

 had become interested. The history of this 

 voyage is obscure, but it availed nothing, as 

 he returned to England the next year, having 

 lost one of his chief ships and one of his brav- 

 est captains. Undaunted, however, he started 

 out in ,1583 in command of a second expedi- 

 tion, with his half brother, Sir Walter Raleigh. 

 But Raleigh and his ships deserted him soon 

 after their departure from Plymouth. Gilbert 

 this time succeeded in planting a colony near 

 Saint John, Newfoundland. After taking for- 

 mal possession in the queen's name, he pro- 

 ceeded southward, encountered a storm and 

 was never heard from again. 



