| 618 | HELENA | HELIGOLAND |
Missouri river, and 110 m. N. of Virginia City; lat. 46° 35′ 36″ N., lon. 111° 52′ 45″ W.; pop. in 1870, 3,106, of whom 641 were Chinese. It is the largest town of the territory, and is connected by stage with Virginia City and Corinne, Utah, on the Central Pacific railroad, 445 m. S. It is chiefly supported by the rich quartz and placer gold mines in the vicinity. The neighboring mountains are covered with forests of pine and fir, which supply several saw mills. The streams and mountain springs furnish abundant water. About 4 m. N. W. of the town are medicinal hot springs. A large portion of the buildings are constructed of brick, granite, and blue limestone, obtained in the vicinity. The town contains a court house, jail, almshouse, masonic hall, and the offices of the United States surveyor general, register and receiver of lands, collector of customs, and marshal. There are 3 cabinet factories, 2 carriage factories, 1 foundery, 3 assay offices, 4 breweries, 1 distillery, 5 bakeries, 4 hotels, 2 national banks with a capital of $200,000, about 60 stores, 4 schools, 2 daily and weekly newspapers, 6 religious societies, and 3 churches. Helena was settled in 1864. It has been visited by several conflagrations, the last and most destructive of which occurred Jan. 9, 1874.
HELENA, Saint, an island. See Saint Helena.
HELENA, Saint, wife of the emperor Constantius Chlorus and mother of Constantine the Great, born in Drepanum (Helenopolis), Bithynia, in 247, died in Nicomedia about 327. She was probably of obscure parentage, though some historians pretend that she was a British princess. When her husband was made Cæsar in 292, he put her away and espoused Theodora, stepdaughter of the emperor Maximian; but in his will he acknowledged Constantine, his son by Helena, as his sole heir. Constantine on assuming the purple (306) brought his mother to reside in the imperial palace at Treves, loaded her with honors, gave her the title of Augusta, and conferred her name upon several cities of the empire. She erected and endowed a number of churches, and at the age of 79 made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, where, according to the earliest Byzantine historians, she discovered the true cross. (See Cross.) She died in the arms of her son, and her body was carried to Rome, where a mausoleum was raised to her.
HELIANTHUS. See Sunflower.
HELICON, a mountain range of Greece, in Bœotia, between Lake Copais and the Corinthian gulf. Its loftiest summit, now called Paleo-Vuno, is 5,738 ft. high. In antiquity the slopes and valleys of Helicon were renowned for their fertility, and it was considered the favorite abode of the muses. Above Ascra was a grove sacred to them, and near it the famous fountain of Aganippe, which was believed to inspire those who drank of it. About two miles higher up was the fountain of Hippocrene, produced, according to the legends, by Pegasus's striking the ground with his hoofs.
HELIGOLAND, or Helgoland (holy land), an island in the North sea, belonging to Great Britain, 40 m. N. W. of the mouth of the Elbe; lat. of its lighthouse, 54° 11′ 36″ N., lon. 7° 53′ 12″ E.; pop. in 1871, 1,912.
Heligoland.
Heligoland is triangular, about a mile long from N. to S. and ⅓ m. broad from E. to W. It was formerly much broader, but the action of the sea is continually wearing it away. There is a good port on the N. side, and another on the S. About the middle of the last century a portion was separated from the main island, and is now known as Sandy island; this is much resorted to for its fine sea bathing. The highest part of the island, its W. side, is 200 ft. above the sea. Heligoland is supposed to have been the island mentioned by Tacitus, where the German goddess Hertha was worshipped. St. Wilbrord preached Christianity there early in the 8th century, and gave it its present name. In 1714 it was taken from the duke of Holstein-Gottorp by the Danes, from whom it was captured by the English in 1807, for whose fleets it served as a station during the war with France, and as a depot for their manufactures, whence they were smuggled into Germany. It was formally ceded to Great Britain in 1814. The inhabitants are descendants of Frisians, and speak the Frisian language as well as the Low German. The men are mostly fisher-
