HELICON 



2762 



HELIOGRAPH 



from the mouth of the River Elbe and from 

 the entrance to the Kiel Canal. Until recently 

 a summer resort and the home of peaceful 

 fishermen, the island in 1914, and afterwards, 

 possibly played a more important part in the 

 War of the Nations than the most fiercely con- 

 tested trenches in France and Belgium. The 

 inhabitants were removed to the mainland at 

 the beginning of the war, and the island became 

 a naval base. It then bristled with powerful 

 guns under the protection of which the German 

 fleet might lie in safety. The peace treaty in 

 1919 ordered the fortifications demolished, so it 

 would thereafter have no military value. 



The interior of the island is a plateau called 

 the Oberland, 200 feet above the sea. At its 

 southeastern end is a sandy stretch of shore 

 called the Unterland, with an excellent harbor. 

 An elevator and a stairway with 192 steps lead 

 from the shore to the Oberland. On the pla- 

 teau is a powerful wireless station, and a cable 

 connects the fortress with the mainland. The 

 island was ceded to Germany in 1890 by Great 

 Britain in exchange for Zanzibar, on the east 

 coast of Africa, a trade which Britain later had 

 cause to regret. 



HELICON, hel'ikon, a mountain range in 

 Boeotia, in Greece, celebrated in ancient days 

 as the seat of the Muses. The highest summit, 

 Mount Helicon, is 5,000 feet high. Two 

 fabled fountains were here; Hippocrene, one 

 of them, is said to have gushed forth when 

 Pegasus, the winged horse, rushed by. A grove 

 and temple adorned with statues stood on the 



eastern slope, and were sacred to the Muses, 

 or the nine daughters of Zeus. Hesiod, the 

 poet and wandering singer, lived in the village 

 of Ascra, now called Pyrgaki, at the foot of 

 Mount Helicon. See MUSES. 



HELIOGRAPH, he'liograf, a word derived 

 from the Greek helios, meaning the sun, and 

 graphein, meaning to write. It therefore de- 

 scribes an instrument which "writes by the 



HELIOGRAPH 



sun," or signals to distant places by means of 

 sun flashes reflected by a mirror. The distance 

 to which messages may be sent depends on the 



HOW A BOY MAY USE THE HELIOGRAPH 



