Scotch; (1910), 51,622. Pawtucket is served by the New York, New Haven & Hartford railroad; and the river is navigable below the falls. The city lies on both sides of the river and its land area in 1906 was nearly 8.6 m. The east bank of the river rises quite abruptly 15–30 ft., but back of this the surface is level or only slightly undulating. On the west side the surface is more diversified. The Blackstone River here makes a picturesque plunge of nearly 50 ft. (Pawtucket Falls) over an irregular mass of rocks, providing a good water-power. The most attractive public building is the Sayles Memorial library, erected (1899–1902) by Frederick Clark Sayles (1835–1902) in memory of his wife. The city has a park of 181 acres in the east end, a park of 55 acres on the west side, three small parks near the business centre, a soldiers' monument, a home for the aged, an emergency hospital, and a state armoury. Manufacturing is the principal industry, and the value of the factory products increased from $19,271,582 in 1900 to $25,846,899 in 1905, or 34.1%. More than one-half the value for 1905 was represented by textiles. Other important manufactures in 1905 were foundry and machine-shop products, packed meats, and electrical machinery, apparatus and supplies. The commerce of the city has been much increased by the deepening and widening of the channel of the Pawtucket river by the United States government. In 1867 the river could not he navigated at low water by boats drawing more than 5 ft. of water, but by March 1905 the government had constructed a channel 100 ft. wide and 12 ft. deep at low water, and Congress had passed an act for increasing the depth to 16 ft.; in 1907 the Federal Congress and the general assembly of the state made appropriations to complete the work.
That portion of Pawtucket which lies east of the river was originally a part of the township of Rehoboth, Massachusetts, but in 1812 the township of Seekonk was set apart from Rehoboth, in 1828 the township of Pawtucket was set apart from Seekonk, and in 1862 almost all of the Massachusetts township of Pawtucket was transferred to Rhode Island. The portion west of the river was taken from the township of North Providence and annexed to the township of Pawtucket in 1874, and in 1885 Pawtucket was chartered as a city. The first settlement within the present city limits was made about 1670 on the west side by Joseph Jenks (c. 1632–1717), a manufacturer of domestic iron implements. His manufactory was destroyed during King Philip's War, but he rebuilt it, and until a century later the industries on the west side were managed largely by his family. In 1790 Samuel Slater reproduced here the Arkwright machinery for the manufacture of cotton goods; this was the first manufactory of the kind that had any considerable success in the United States, and his old mill is still standing in Mill Street.
See R. Grieve, An Illustrated History of Pawtucket, Central Falls, and Vicinity (Pawtucket, 1897).
PAX (Lat. for “ peace ”), the name given in ecclesiastical usage to a small panel or tablet decorated usually with a representation
of the Crucifixion, which in the Roman ritual was kissed
at the Eucharistic service by the celebrating priest, then by
the other priests and deacons, and then by the congregation.
The “ Pax ” is also known by the names osculatorium, tabula
pacis and pax-bred (i.e. “ pax-board ”). The use of the “ pax ”
dates from the 13th century, and it is said to have been first
introduced in England in 1250 by Archbishop Walter of York.
It took the place of the actual “ kiss of peace ” (osculum sanctum,
or osculum pacis) which was in the Roman Mass given by the
bishop to the priests, and took place after the consecration
and before communion. In the Greek Church the kiss (εἰρήνη,
ἀσπασμός) takes place at the beginning of the service, and now
consists in the celebrating priest kissing the oblation and the
deacon kissing his stole (see F. E. Brightman, Liturgies Eastern
and Western, 1896). Owing to disputes over questions of
precedence the kissing of the pax at the service of the Mass
was given up. It is still used at times of prayer by religious
communities or societies. In the 15th and 16th centuries
much artistic skill was lavished on the pax, and beautiful
examples of enamelled paxes with chased gold and silver frames
are in the British Museum. Though the Crucifixion is most
usually represented, other religious subjects, such as the Virgin
and Child, the Annunciation, the figures of patron saints and
the like, are found. In the “ Inventarie of the Plate, Jewells . . .
and other Ornaments appertaining to the Cathedrall
Churche of Sayncte Paule in London,” 1552, we find two paxes
mentioned; one “ with the ymage of the Crucifix and of Marie
and John all gylte with the Sonn alsoe and the Moone, the
backsyde whereof is crymosin velvet,” and another “ with
the ymage of our Ladie sett aboughte with x greate stones the
backsyde whereof is grene velvet ” (Hierurgia anglicans, pt. i., 1902).
PAXO [Paxos], one of the Ionian Islands (q.v.), about 8 m.
S. of the southern extremity of Corfu, is a hilly mass of limestone
5 m. long by 2 broad, and not more than 600 ft. high. Pop.
about 5000. Though it has only a single stream and a few springs,
and the inhabitants were often obliged, before the Russians
and English provided them with cisterns, to bring water from
the mainland, Paxo is well clothed with olives, which produce oil
of the very highest quality. Gaion (or, less correctly, Gaia), the
principal village, lies on the east coast, and has a small harbour.
Towards the centre, on an eminence, stands Papandi, the residence
of the bishop of Paxo, and throughout the island are scattered
a large number of churches, whose belfries add greatly to the
picturesqueness of the views. On the west and south-west
coasts are some remarkable caverns, of which an account will be
found in Davy’s Ionian Islands, i. 66–71. Ancient writers—Polybius,
Pliny, &c.—do not mention Paxos by itself, but apply
the plural form Paxi (Παξοί) to Paxos and the smaller island
which is now known as Antipaxo (the Propaxos of the Antonine
Itinerary). Paxos is the scene of the curious legend, recorded
in Plutarch’s De defectu oraculorum, of the cry “ Pan is dead ”
(see Pan).
PAXTON, SIR JOSEPH (1801–1865), English architect and
ornamental gardener, was born of humble parents at Milton
Bryant, near Woburn, Bedfordshire, on the 3rd of August 1801,
and was educated at the grammar school of that town. Having
served his apprenticeship as gardener from the age of fifteen,
and himself constructed a large lake when gardener to Battlesden
in 1821, he was in 1823 employed in the arboretum at Chiswick,
the seat of the duke of Devonshire, and eventually became
superintendent of the duke's gardens and grounds at Chatsworth,
and manager of his Derbyshire estates. In 1836 he began to
erect a grand conservatory 300 ft. in length, which was finished
in 1840, and formed the model for the Great Exhibition building
of 1851. In this year Paxton received the honour of knighthood.
Perhaps his most interesting design was that for the mansion
of Baron James de Rothschild at Ferrieres in France, but he
designed many other important buildings. His versatility
was shown in his organization of the Army Works Corps
which served in the Crimea, his excellent capacity as a man of
business in railway management, and his enterprising experiments
in floriculture. In 1854 he was chosen M.P. for Coventry,
which he continued to represent in the Liberal interest till his
death at Sydenham on the 8th of June 1865. Paxton was
elected in 1826 a fellow of the Horticultural Society. In the
following year he married Sarah Bown. In 1833 he became a
fellow of the Linnean Society, and in 1844 he was made a knight
of the order of St Vladimir by the emperor of Russia.
He was the author of several contributions to the literature of horticulture, including a Practical Treatise on the Culture of the Dahlia (1838), and a Pocket Botanical Dictionary (1st ed., 1840). He also edited the Cottage Calendar, the Horticultural Register and the Botanical Magazine.
PAYMASTER-GENERAL, in England, a public officer and
a member of the ministry for the time being. The office was, by statutes passed in 1835 and 1848, consolidated with other offices through which moneys voted by parliament were previously paid. The paymaster-general is appointed by sign manual warrant, he is unpaid, and does not require to offer himself for re-election on acceptance of office. The money appropriated by parliament for the various services of the country is placed
