PALMA 



4463 



PALMER 



leaf, turning up its edges and hanging it among 

 the branches, that baby may enjoy the lulla- 

 bies of the wind and the birds. Matting, 

 shields, hats, clothing, fans, baskets, and rope 

 and twine are all made from the fibrous leaf- 

 stalks. The fiber of the piassaba palm is found 

 in many of the brooms and brushes in common 

 use, from the finest to the coarsest. 



Among the edible fruits, the date and the 

 cocoanut are most widely used, the latter giv- 

 ing also its sweet milk, which in some places is 

 prepared as a delicious wine. From the fruit 

 or seed of the cocoanut, the bacaba, the oil 

 palm and scores of other varieties is secured an 

 oil that is put to many uses as a butter, a lu- 

 bricator, an illuminator and a source of soap 

 and candle grease. In Africa the seed of the 

 date palm is roasted and used as coffee. The 

 nut of the ivory palm yields a vegetable ivory 

 which is employed as a substitute for elephant 

 ivory. The seed of the betel-nut palm, mixed 

 with lime, is spread on a leaf of the betel vine 

 to make the narcotic that is so much chewed in 

 India, destroying teeth and initiative at the 

 same time. 



Familiar examples of the use of the palm as 

 an ornament are the imposing avenues of trop- 

 ical cities, lined with majestic royal palms or 

 with the Mexican palmetto that flourishes as 

 far north as many Texas cities. The smaller 

 palm of the conservatory, which is so popular 

 for decorating spacious interiors, is cultivated 

 for the market principally in the states of the 

 South and the Middle West. L.M.B. 



Related Subject*. The reader is referred to 

 the following articles In these volumes: 

 Betel Ivory Palm 



Cocoanut Palmetto 



PALMA, pahl'mah, the chief town of the 

 Spanish province of Baleares and the capital of 

 the island of Majorca, is situated on the Gulf 

 of Palma, 130 miles east of Barcelona, Spain. 

 The city is the port of the whole island and 

 carries on an extensive trade; it is built in 

 amphitheater form and is walled in and forti- 

 fied; its port is protected by a breakwater. 

 The principal manufactures include flour, soap, 

 leather, glass, paper, woolen goods and food- 

 stuffs. Its shipbuilding yards are of consider- 

 able importance. The principal buildings are 

 cathedral, the exchange, the governor's pal- 

 ace and the town hall. Palma has a number of 

 fine schools, two public libraries and a museum 

 of painting. Population, 1910, 68,000. 



PALMA, TOM AS ESTRADA (about 1836-1908), 

 first president of the republic of Cuba. He was 



born at Bayamo, Cuba, educated in Spain, and 

 in 1868, when the first war for independence 

 broke out, joined the revolutionary army, in 

 which he rose to the rank of general. On the 

 establishment of a provisional republic he was 

 made president, but was captured by the Span- 

 iards and kept a prisoner until 1878, when 

 Spanish rule in the island was once more firmly 

 established. 



He was not allowed to return to Cuba, and 

 for years taught a school at Central Valley, 

 N. Y., but never relinquished his dream of Cu- 

 ban independence. When the insurrection of 

 1895 broke out he became one of its leaders. 

 After independence was achieved, with the as- 

 sistance of the United States, he was elected 

 president in 1902 and four years later was re- 

 elected, but the Liberal opposition stirred up a 

 revolutionary movement which forced him to 

 resign. Palma was a genuine patriot who 

 placed the interests of his country far above 

 his own, but he was somewhat deficient in 

 energy and decision. 



See CUBA, subhead History, relating: to the 

 time ; also, SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. 



PALM BEACH, FLA., a well-known winter 

 resort, situated in Palm Beach County, on the 

 southeast coast of Florida, and on the west 

 coast of an arm of land separated from the 

 mainland by Lake Worth. Transportation is 

 provided by the Florida East Coast Railroad. 

 The Royal Poinciana, one of the largest resort 

 hotels in the United States, the Breakers and 

 other hotels, parks and beaches are the features 

 of the place. A local estimate gives 1,000 as 

 the resident, and 5,000 as the winter, popula- 

 tion. 



West Palm Beach, the county seat of Palm 

 Beach County, is on the west shore of Lake 

 Worth, opposite Palm Beach. It was incor- 

 porated as a city in 1886, and a local estimate 

 of 1916 places the permanent population at 

 approximately 6,000. It also is a popular resort, 

 and offers excellent boating and fishing during 

 the season. The city has a county courthouse 

 which cost $165,000, and a county high school, 

 constructed at a cost of $65,000. It is served by 

 the Florida East Coast Railroad and by a line 

 (under construction in 1916) to Lake Okecho- 

 bee through the Upper Everglades, a fertile 

 agricultural section. L.O.B. 



PALMER, pahm'cr, ALICE FREEMAN (1855- 

 1902), an American educator, college president 

 and the first dean of women in the University 

 of Chicago. She was born at Colesville, N . \ . 

 was graduated in 1876 at the University of 



