Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 04.djvu/281

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.
LEFT
237
RIGHT

aAB0BIAT7 237 OADSDEN PURCHASE ous, but the former yield no wool. This part of Africa was discovered by the Spaniards in the 15th century. The French made their first settlement on the Gaboon estuary in 1842; 20 years later they extended their sway to the Ogowe. But they seem never to have attached any importance to the colony till after Savor- gnan de Brazza began to explore it in 1876-1886. See French Equatorial Africa. GABORIAU, EMILE (ga-bo-ryo') , a French writer of detective stories; born in Saujon, Charente-Inferieure, France, Nov. 9, 1835. His early years were a succession of vicissitudes; the army, the law, and even the Church, were in turn the objects of his inconstant attentions till at last he wrote the highly successful romance, "The Lerouge Affair" in 1866. His works include: "File No. 113" (1867) ; "The Crime of Orcival" (1867) ; "Monsieur Lecoq" (1869) ; "The Fall" (1871) ; "The Rope About the Neck" (1873) ; etc. He died in Paris, Sept. 28, 1873. GABRIEL CHANNEL, a strait of Tierra del Fuego, between Dawson Is- land and the mainland. This remarkable channel is about 2y-i. miles wide at either end, but the shores approach toward the middle, and rise to an almost perpen- dicular height of 1,500 feet. Lat. 54° 20' S.; Ion. 70° 40' W. GABRILOVITCH, OSSIP, a Russian pianist and composer. Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1878, he studied at the conservatory there under the famous Rubinstein. Later he studied in Vienna, and in 1896 made his d^but in Berlin. After this he toured the Conti- nent, and four years later came to the United States. His reception was most cordial both on this and on his numerous subsequent tours. In 1909 he married Mark Twain's daughter, Clara Clemens. GAD, the seventh son of Jacob by Zilpah, the handmaid of Leah, and founder of an Israelitish tribe number- ing at the exodus from Eg^'pt over 40,- 000 fighting men. Nomadic by nature, end possessing large herds of cattle, they preferred to remain on the E. side of Jordan. Their territory lay to the N, of that of Reuben, and comprised the mountainous district known as Gilead, through which flowed the brook Jabbock, touching the Sea of Galilee at its N. extremity, and reaching as far E. as Rabbath-Ammon. GADAMES, or GHADAMES (ga-da' mes) (the Cydamus of the Romans), the name of an oasis and town of Africa, situated on the N. border of the Sahara, in lat. 30° 9' N. and Ion. 9° 17' E. The Vol. IV — Cyc— P entire oasis is surrounded by a wall, which protects it from the sands of the desert. The gardens of Gadames, which grow dates, figs, and apricots, owe their fertility to a hot spring (89° F.), from which the town had its origin. The town is a center for ivory, beeswax, hides, ostrich feathers, gold, etc., from the in- terior to Tripoli. Pop. about 7,500. GADARA (gad'a-ra), formerly a flourishing town of Syria, in the Dec- apolis, a few miles S. E. of the Sea of Galilee, but now a group of ruins. It was the capital of Peraea. It endured sieges by Alexander Jannseus and Ves- pasian, but fell into decay after the Mohammedan conquest, GADID.ffl (gad'i-de), in ichthyology, cods; a family of fishes, sub-order Aiia- canthina (spineless fishes), tribe or group Snbbrachiata, with ventral fins attached to the breast or throat. The body is rather long, a little compressed, and covered with small, soft scales; the teeth are in several rows. They are voracious fishes. They are found chiefly in the seas of temperate climates, and are largely used for the food of man. Species described by Yarrel, 21. See CoD. GADOR (ga-dor'), SIERRA DE. a mountain chain of Spain, in Andalusia, ranging nearly parallel with the Sierra Nevada. Its' highest point is nearly 7,000 feet above sea-level. GADSDEN, a city of Alabama, the county-seat of Etowah co. It is on the Coosa river, and on the Chattanooga Southern, the Louisville and Nashville, the Southern, and the Nashville, Chatta- nooga and St. Louis railroads. It is the center of an important timber and min- eral region, and its industries include steel mills, lumber mills, blast furnaces, foundries and machine shops, car works, and manufactures of doors, blinds, flour, wagons, etc. Among the public buildings are a handsome post office and excellent school buildings. Pop. (1910) 10,557; (1920) 14.737. GADSDEN. JAMES, an American diplomatist; born in Charleston, S. C, May 15, 1788; was graduated at Yale College in 1806; served with distinction in the War of 1812; and afterward took part in the campaign against the Sem- inole Indians. He was appointed minis- ter to Mexico in 1853, and on Dec. 30 of that year negotiated the Gadsden Purchase (q. v.), which fixed a new boundary between Mexico and the United States. He died in Charleston, S. C, Dec. 25, 1858. GADSDEN PURCHASE, a treaty negotiated Dec. 30, 1853, by James Gads*