SHIITES 



5352 



SHINGLES 



to carry dead knights from the battle field on 

 their shields. The shield of the ancient Greek 

 infantry covered almost the entire body; the 

 shield of the Romans was much lighter and 

 smaller. It became customary in the Middle 

 Ages to decorate the shield with many kinds 

 of devices, the cross in various forms being 

 much used. The device on the shield served 



- "'' - - 





SHIELDS OF PRESENT-DAY SAVAGES 

 (a-b) African war shields; (c) a war shield 

 from the Philippine Islands. 



to identify friend and foe, which was difficult 

 when men fought completely incased in armor. 



The shields of savage races are usually made 

 of oxhide and are hardened to such an extent 

 that they easily resist the penetration of spears 

 and darts. The shield has vanished from the 

 battle field except where it is used as a protec- 

 tion to machine guns, and its use even for that 

 purpose has been to a great extent discontin- 

 ued. 



SHIITES,. she'ites, the lesser of the two 

 great divisions of the Mohammedans, who 

 reckon Mohammed's cousin Ali as the first 

 true caliph and believe that special revelations 

 were made to Fatima, Ali's wife. They are 

 most numerous in Persia and India. Their 

 worship is a corrupt form of Islam, their zeal 

 being rather displayed in hatred of their rival 

 sect, the Sunnites, than in obedience to the 

 Koran. 



SHILLABER, shil'aber, BENJAMIN PENHAL- 

 LOW (1814-1890), an American humorist whose 

 articles, written under the pen name of MRS. 

 PARTINGTON, gained wide popularity. He was 

 born at Portsmouth, N. H., received a common 

 school education and at an early age entered 

 the printers' trade. Later, in Boston, he held 

 several editorial positions with the Post, Sat- 

 urday Evening Gazette and the Carpet Bag. 

 Sayings oj Mrs. Partington, homely bits of 

 wisdom published in 1847, was successful, and 



was soon followed by other works, including 

 Rhymes With Reason and Without, Mrs. Par- 

 tington's Knitting Work and Cruises with Cap- 

 tain Bob. 



SHILLING, shil' ing, a silver coin in the Eng- 

 lish monetary system, equal to twelve pence. 

 There are twenty shillings in a pound, and 

 since the pound is approximately equal to $4.86 

 in Canadian and United States money, one 

 English shilling is equivalent to 24.3 cents, or 

 practically to the 25-cent piece. The shilling 

 is also equivalent .to 1.11 German marks and 

 to 1.25 French francs. Shillings were used in 

 the colonial days of America, but their value 

 varied greatly. See Table of Equivalent Val- 

 ues, page 1763, under DENOMINATE NUMBERS. 



SHILOH, shi'lo, BATTLE OF, sometimes called 

 the Battle of PITTSBURG LANDING, a desperate 

 engagement of the War of Secession, the out- 

 come of which caused the Confederates to lose 

 their hold on Western Tennessee. The battle 

 occurred at Pittsburg Landing, in Tennessee, 

 near a log chapel called Shiloh Church, and 

 was fought between Union forces under Gen- 

 eral Ulysses S. Grant and Confederate troops 

 commanded by General Albert S. Johnston. 

 Grant's purpose was to capture Corinth, Miss., 

 a strong Confederate railway center twenty 

 miles to the south. 



Advancing along the Tennessee River, he 

 stopped his forces, numbering about 33,000, to 

 await reinforcements from General Buell, who 

 was at Nashville, Tenn. Expecting no attack, 

 he chose his position only with regard to its 

 convenience as a camping ground, not as a bat- 

 tle field. Before Buell could join him, how- 

 ever, about 40,000 Confederates under General 

 Johnston marched against the Union forces and 

 drove them back. Johnston was killed in the 

 fight and Beauregard was placed in command. 

 On the morning of April 7 reinforcements from 

 Buell's army arrived, together with a force un- 

 der Lew Wallace, and the Confederates, over- 

 powered in numbers, were forced to retreat. 

 The estimated loss on the Confederate side was 

 10,669; that of the Union, 13,047. A month 

 later Corinth was captured by the Federal army. 



SHINGLES, shing'g'lz, thin pieces of wood 

 of uniform length of eighteen inches, with 

 average widths of six to eight inches, used to 

 cover roofs of buildings. Shingles are nearly 

 three-eighths of an inch thick at one end, from 

 which they taper uniformly to a thickness of 

 less than an eighth of an inch at the opposite 

 end. When laid on a roof they must be made 

 to overlap, one upon another, in such a man- 



