ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA
VOLUME XXX
THE FIRST OF THE NEW VOLUMES
ABBE, CLEVELAND (1838–1916), American meteorologist, was born in New York Dec. 3 1838. He studied astronomy under Brünnow and A. B. Gould, and spent a year at the Pulkovo Observatory, 1865-6, under Struve. He was assistant at the U.S. Naval Observatory, 1867–8, and Director of the Cincinnati Observatory, 1863–73. His success there in forecasting the weather from meteorological observations telegraphed from various points led to his being called to the U.S. Signal Service in 1871. Thereafter with Government aid he was enabled to extend the field of his forecasts and became the "Father of the Weather Bureau." The bureau was formally established in 1891 under the Department of Agriculture, and Abbe remained its head until his death Oct. 28 1916. To his initiative is largely due the introduction of the system of standardized time.
He was the author of Report on Standard Time (1879); Report on the Solar Eclipse of July 1879 (1881); An Account of Progress in Meteorology and Allied Subjects in the Years 1879-81 (1883); Treatise on Meteorological Apparatus and Methods (1888); Preliminary Studies in Storm and Weather Prediction (1889); Recent Progress in Dynamic Meteorology (1890); The Mechanics of the Earth's Atmosphere (3 vols. of translations, 1891–1910); The Physical Basis of Long-Range Forecasting (1902); The Progress of Science as Illustrated by the Development of Meteorology (1908); Notes on Balloons and on Waterspouts from the Voyage of La Pérouse (1914) and The Introduction of Meteorology into Courses of Instruction in Mathematics and Physics (1915).
ABBEY, EDWIN AUSTIN (1852–1911), American painter (see 1.11), died in London, Aug. 1 1911. The last years of his life were devoted to mural paintings for the Capitol at Harrisburg, Pa., his native state. He completed "The Apotheosis of Pennsylvania," which stands behind the Speaker's chair in the House of Representatives, also "The 24 Hours" for the ceiling of the dome; but for the Senate chamber he finished only one painting "Von Steuben Training the American Soldiers at Valley Forge." In 1910 there was completed under his supervision the decoration of the Peers' corridor of the Houses of Parliament. He left bequests of his works to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and to the National Gallery in London. In 1912, the Old Masters' Exhibition of the Royal Academy, held at Burlington House, London, included over 300 works of Abbey's loaned for this special occasion as a memorial to him.
ABBOTT, LYMAN (1835–), American divine and author (see 1.26), continued after 1910 as editor of The Outlook, and in a less degree as a public speaker, to take an active part in the discussion of important public questions. After the outbreak of the World War he supported the cause of the Allies, and on the sinking of the "Lusitania" in 1915 urged that America break off diplomatic relations with Germany. He was the author of The Spirit of Democracy (1910); America in the Making (1911, being the Yale lectures on the responsibilities of citizenship); The Four Anchors (1911); Letters to an Unknown Friend (1913); Reminiscences (1915, containing in the preface an admirable summary of his liberal views) and The Twentieth Century Crusade (1918).
‛ABDUL HAMID II. (1842–1918), ex-Sultan of Turkey (see 1.35), died Feb. 10 1918. On his deposition in April 1909 he was sent to Salonika as a state prisoner, but when that town capitulated to the Greeks during the Balkan War (1912) he was brought back to Constantinople. In 1915 it was judged prudent to exile him from Turkey in Europe and he was removed to Smyrna.
ABERCORN, JAMES HAMILTON. 2nd Duke of (1838–1913), British politician (see 1.43), who served as High constable of Ireland at the coronation of King George V. (1911), died in London Jun. 3 2913. He was succeeded as 3rd duke by his eldest son, James Albert Edward Hamilton, born Nov. 30 1869.
ABERCROMBIE, LANCELLES (1881–), English poet, was born at Ashlon-upon-Mersey, Ches., Jan. 9 1881. and educated at Malvern and Victoria University. Manchester, where he studied science. His first work, Interludes and Poems, appeared in 1908, and his other works include: Mary and the Bramble (1919); The Sale of St Thomas (1911); Emblems of Love (1912); Deborah (I912); Speculative Dialogues (1913) and The Epic (1914), besides a critical study of Thomas Hardy (1912). He was in 1919 appointed lecturer in Poetry at the university at Liverpool.
ABERDEEN AND TREMAIR, JOHN CAMPBELL GORDON, 1st Marquess of (1847–), British politician (see 1.47), retained his office as lord-Lieutenant of Ireland until 1915. On his retirement he was created Marquess of Aberdeen and Temnir, the latter tittle being a form of the place-name Tara, chosen for its connection with the history of Ireland. His wife, Ishbel Maria (b. 1857)—daughter of Dudley Marjoribanks, 1st Baron Tweedmouth—whom he married in 1871, took a prominent part in charitable work during her residence in Ireland, becoming president of the Irish Industries Association and other societies. She did excellent work in increasing the number of nurses and establishing committees for the improvement or sanitary conditions and combating the spread of tuberculosis in Ireland. She published in 1908 Ireland's Crusade against Tuberculosis.
ABINGDON, WILLIAM LEPER [Pilgrim] (1859–1918), English actor, was born May 2 1859 at Towcester, Northants. He began life as a bank clerk, but soon went on the stage, first appearing at Belfast in 1881. His chief successes were in melodrama, with Wilson Barrett's travelling companies and later at the Adelphi theatre, London, where he played in The Harbour Light (1899) and many similar pieces. Between 1903 and 1911
