MINSK 



3837 



MINT 



years ago, in life size and in 

 conquered color. The eye has a yellow 

 pupil and a red iris. 



historical foundation for the story of the Mino- 

 taur. On the walls of the palace at Cnossus 

 have been found pictures, painted 3,500 years 

 ago, which represent girls and boys vaulting 

 upon the back 

 of a bull as it, 

 charges to gore 

 them. Presum- 

 ably these torea- 

 dors were trained 

 from among cap- 

 tives, and from HEAD OF THE MINOTAUR 

 vouns people A remarkable plaster relief 

 discovered in 1900 on a wall 

 sent in tribute by O f the palace of King Minos. 

 Athens ' +* Tt was executed " earl y 3,_500 

 cities 



by the Cretan 

 fleets. The worship of a bull-headed god 

 formed part of the early religion both in Crete 

 and on the Grecian mainland. 



MINSK, the capital of a government in Rus- 

 sia of the same name, is situated on the Svis- 

 lotch River, 468 miles southwest of Moscow. 

 It has many good educational institutions, is 

 the seat of the Orthodox and Roman Catholic 

 bishops, and has cathedrals, theaters and a mu- 

 seum. The inhabitants are engaged in the 

 manufacture of leather, hats, soap, woolen 

 cloth, flour, tobacco, pottery and glass. Since 

 the government proscription of the liquor trade, 

 the result of the War of the Nations, the brew- 

 eries and distilleries of Minsk have ceased to 

 operate. In the city a fair is held in March of 

 each year. Population, 1910, 105,400. 



MIN'STREL, a word derived from the Latin 

 minister, meaning a servant, is now generally 

 applied to a class of poet musicians who flour- 

 ished especially in the tenth and twelfth cen- 

 turies. There was a division of classes among 

 the minstrels, the appointed minstrel to the 

 king or nobleman being considered above the 

 wandering singers. The scop, as he was origi- 

 nally called, the minstrel who sang in the halls 

 of great castles, generally made his own poetry 

 and set it to the music of a harp. Minstrels 

 were accorded the liberty of speech enjoyed 

 by jesters, and were often treated as equals by 

 their patrons, whose deeds and qualities they 

 extolled in song. The rewards of minstrels 

 were often large, pleased listeners bestowing on 

 them jewels of great value. 



The whereabouts of Richard Coeur de Lion 

 are said to have been discovered by Blondel, 

 his favorite minstrel, who wandered over Eu- 

 rope in search of him, and one day chanced to 

 sing outside the castle in which Richard had 



been imprisoned by the Austrian emperor with 

 whom he quarreled during the Crusades (see 

 RICHARD I). 



Modern Minstrelsy. Minstrels of the past 

 fifty years blacken their faces and appear on 

 the stage in group formation as colored people. 

 They combine music, comedy, juggling and 

 pantomime with other simple forms of entertain- 

 ment. The first American traveling companies 

 of this kind were the Christy Minstrels, who 

 so quickly popularized Foster's Suwanee River, 

 and the Virginia Minstrels, who at once made 

 Dixie famous. The latter company, organized 

 in 1843, is said to have been the first traveling 

 minstrel entertainment in the world. 



The greatest American minstrels doubtless 

 were Primrose and West, who amused the world 

 for twenty years. The leading twentieth cen- 

 tury representative of this class of . entertainers 

 is Lew Dockstader. F.ST.A. 



MINT, an institution where money is coined 

 by the authority of the government. Origi- 

 nally individuals claimed the right to coin 

 money, but the growth of commerce necessi- 

 tated a uniform standard of values, and ex- 



THE MINT AT PHILADELPHIA 

 (For illustration of the Royal Mint at Ottawa, 

 Canada, see page 1128.) 



perience has shown the wisdom of delegating to 

 the governments the exclusive right of making 

 money. The United States mints are typical 

 of all other mints. 



United States Mints. The first mint in the 

 United States was established in Philadelphia 

 by a national coinage act passed in 1792. Cop- 

 per money was coined as early as 1792, silver in 

 1794 and gold in 1795. Because of the growth 

 of population in the country, other mints be- 

 came necessary, and there are now three; the 

 others are located at Denver and San Francisco. 

 The mints and all the assay offices are under 



