SPOFFORD 



5504 



SPOKANE 



tinuing to displace one strand by laying the 

 other in its place. Near the end of the strand 

 the two are tapered, tied and the loose ends 

 interwoven in the body of the rope. 



If the rope is bent back and the end spliced 

 into its own body, 

 there is formed 

 an eye or ring 

 (Fig. 3). The 

 method of lacing 

 is the same as 

 that used in mak- 

 ing a short splice. 

 To avoid friction 

 that would soon 

 wear out a rope 

 that must bear a 

 heavy weight, an 

 iron thimble is 

 often inserted in 

 the eye splice. 



SPLICING 



(1) A rope end bent to 

 form a ring, and a second 

 rope tied or laced in ; ( 2 ) 

 short splice; (3) eye splice; 

 (4) wall knot. 



The three loose strands may themselves be 

 intertwined in such a manner that a symmet- 

 rical knot is made at the end of the rope; this 

 is called a single wall knot. There are few 

 other methods of stopping a rope that are as 

 practical (see Fig. 4). 



A rope end may be bent back to form a ring 

 or hook called a bight, and a second rope tied 

 or laced in, as in Fig. 1. This is called a becket 

 hitch. 



SPOFFORD, spof'erd, AINSWORTH RAND 

 (1825-1908), an American librarian, for many 

 years librarian of Congress. He was born at 

 Gilmanton, N. H., was educated by tutors, and 

 became a bookseller and publisher in Cincin- 

 nati. From 1859 to 1861 he was associate editor 

 of the Daily Commercial and in 1861 was ap- 

 pointed assistant librarian of Congress. Three 

 years later he was made chief librarian, and 

 he held this position until 1899, when he 

 became chief assistant to Herbert Putnam, his 

 successor. He wrote many articles on mis- 

 cellaneous subjects for periodicals and edited 

 Library oj Choice Literature; Library of Wit 

 and Humor, and an annual American Almanack 

 and Treasury of Facts, Statistical, Financial 

 and Political. 



SPOILS SYSTEM, in politics, a system by 

 which officeholders of all degrees of impor- 

 tance are dismissed after their party has been 

 defeated in an election to make places for 

 new appointees of the successful party. Great 

 party leaders, with endless patronage at their 

 command, have always rewarded their follow- 

 ers by giving them offices; this was true in an- 



cient times as in modern. The only way to 

 find enough places to supply the office-hungry 

 partisans of a new administration is to turn 

 out the holders, even though they are experi- 

 enced and efficient. The spoils system brought 

 inefficiency and corruption into every govern- 

 ment in which it was ever tried. 



In the United States the system found its 

 greatest exponent in Andrew Jackson, whose 

 friend, William L. Marcy, gave the system its 

 name when he declared that "to the victor 

 belong the spoils of the enemy," in politics as 

 in war. Since the days of Jackson and Marcy, 

 however, a feeling has arisen, not only in the 

 United States, but in Canada, England and 

 other countries, that governments are oper- 

 ated not for the financial profit of a few politi- 

 cal leaders and their office-holding friends but 

 for the benefit of the people. This spirit has 

 slowly developed a new method of appoint- 

 ment to most of the offices in the governments 

 of to-day, and this is described in the article 

 CIVIL SERVICE IN THE UNITED STATES. See, also, 

 JACKSON, ANDREW. 



SPOKANE, spokan', WASH., the county 

 seat of Spokane County and the second largest 

 city of the state, ranking next to Seattle. It 

 is situated in the eastern part of the state, 

 about midway between the northern and south- 

 ern borders, sixteen miles west of the Idaho 

 state line, and on the Spokane River. Seattle 

 is 337 miles west, and Butte, Mont., is 359 miles 

 southeast. Spokane is the greatest railway cen- 

 ter of the Pacific Northwest, having the service 

 of five transcontinental railroads and several 

 other railway and electric lines; these are the 

 Northern Pacific, the Chicago, Milwaukee & 

 Saint Paul, the Oregon- Washington Railway & 

 Navigation Company, the Great Northern, the 

 Spokane & Inland Empire (electric), the Chi- 

 cago, Burlington & Quincy, the Chicago & 

 North Western, the Spokane, Portland & Seat- 

 tle, the Spokane Falls & Northern, the Idaho & 

 Washington Northern and the Washington 

 Central. The city had a population of 104,402 

 in 1910; this had increased to 150,323 in 1916 

 (Federal estimate). The area is thirty-nine 

 square miles. 



Spokane is situated 1,900 feet above the sea; 

 there is a magnificent view of picturesque lakes, 

 broad, fertile valleys, and lofty mountain peaks 

 covered with pine and evergreen forests. 

 Through the city from east to west the Spo- 

 kane River flows in a series of cascades having 

 a total descent of 142 feet ; the stream not only 

 adds to the scenic beauty of the city, but even 



