term was eventually reduced to three months. In July 1812, as a lieutenant-colonel of artillery, he was sent to the Niagara frontier and fought at Queenston, where he was taken prisoner. He was exchanged in January 1813, became colonel in the following March, in March 1814 was promoted to the rank of brigadier-general, and in July received the brevet of major-general. In the battles of Chippewa (5th July 1814) and Lundy's Lane (25th July) he took a conspicuous part, being twice wounded in the latter engagement. For his services he was presented with a gold medal by Congress and with a sword by the state of Virginia. Among the difficult tasks that he was called upon to perform between 1815 and 1861, for the last twenty years of which period he was the commanding general of the U.S. army, were: an expedition to the Middle West in 1832, where, after the end of the Black Hawk War, he negotiated treaties of peace with the Sauk, Fox, Winnebago, Sioux, and Menominee Indians; a journey to Charleston in the same year to watch the progress of the nullification movement, and to strengthen the garrisons of the forts in the harbour; an expedition in 1836 against the Seminole Indians in Florida; the supervision of the removal in 1838 of the Cherokee Indians from Georgia, North Carolina, Alabama and Tennessee to the reservation set apart for them by treaty W. of the Mississippi river; a visit to the Niagara river in the autumn and winter of 1838 to put an end to the acts by Canadian insurgents in violation of American neutrality; a similar mission to Maine in 1839 to restore tranquillity between the citizens of Maine and New Brunswick, who were disputing the possession of a tract of land along the Aroostook river; and a journey to the north-west in 1859 to adjust a dispute between American and British officers concerning the joint occupation of San Juan Island in Puget Sound. His greatest achievement was the brilliant Mexican campaign of 1847. As the senior officer of the army, he was placed in command of the invading expedition, and after capturing Vera Cruz (March 29th, 1847), and winning victories at Cerro Gordo (April 18th), Contreras-Churubusco (August 19th-25th), Molino del Rey (September 8th), and Chapultepec (September 13th), he crowned his campaign by the capture, on the 14th of September, of the Mexican capital. In March 1848 he received a vote of thanks from Congress, which ordered a gold medal to be struck in commemoration of his services. Scott appeared to have an excellent opportunity for a political career; his nomination for the presidency by the Whigs had been suggested in 1839 and in 1848, and in 1852 he received it; but his candidacy was doomed to failure. The Whigs, divided on the slavery question, gave only half-hearted support to their compromise platform; and Scott made several extemporaneous addresses which did him harm. He received the electoral votes of only four states — Kentucky, Virginia, Massachusetts and Vermont. This defeat, however, detracted nothing from the esteem in which he was held, and in 1852 the brevet rank of lieutenant-general was created specially for him. Among the other honours conferred upon him were the degree of Master of Arts by Princeton in 1814, and the degree of Doctor of Laws by Columbia in 1850 and by Harvard in 1861. At the outbreak of the Civil War, though a Virginian, he remained at the head of the United States armies and directed operations from Washington until November 1861. He then visited Europe for a short time, and after returning wrote his Memoirs, published in 1864. He died at West Point, New York, on the 29th of May 1866.
See Memoirs of Lieutenant-General Scott, LL.D. (2 vols., New York, 1864); Raphael Semmes, The Campaign of General Scott in the Valley of Mexico (Cincinnati, 3rd ed., 1852); Edward D. Mansfield, Life and Military Services of General Scott (New York, 1862); and Marcus J. Wright, General Scott (New York, 1894), in the “Great Commanders” series.
SCOUNDREL, a rogue, a rascal. Etymologists have referred
the word to various sources; but Skeat (Etym. Diet.) refers
it to the provincial or Scottish scanner (O. Eng. Scanlan, to shun),
to shrink back in fear or loathing.
SCOURGE (Ital. scoriada, from Lat. excoriate, to liay, corium,
skin), a whip or lash, especially one used for the infliction of
punishment. The typical scourge (Lat. flagellum) has several
thongs or lashes attached to a single handle, as in the
modern “ cat-o'-nine-tails.” The scourge or flail, and the crook,
are the two symbols of power and domination depicted in the
hands of Osiris in ancient Egyptian monuments; these show the
unchanging form of the instrument throughout the ages.
SCOUT (from O. Fr. escouter, mod. écouter, Lat. auscultate,
to listen), a soldier sent out to watch the enemy and bring
information of his numbers, movements, whereabouts, &c.
The name has also been applied to a particular class of light
speedy cruisers in the British navy. After the South African
War of 1899-1902, the importance of military scouting received
much attention in England in consequence of the prominence
given to it by Major-General Baden-Powell, of Mafeking fame.
Under the latter's auspices an unoiicial attempt to foster the
qualities required was made by the institution of the Boy Scouts,
a voluntary organization which, starting in 1908, had by 1910
enrolled many hundreds of thousands of boys throughout the
United Kingdom, with branches overseas.
Various birds of the auk family, such as the guillemot and the puffin, are known as “ scouts.” The name is also given colloquially to college servants at Oxford and Harvard Universities. It then answers to the “ gyp ” of Cambridge, Trinity College, Dublin, and Durham, which has been variously explained as short for “ gipsy, ” as taken from 'yur//, vulture, from a supposed reference to a grasping character, or as representing an old word “ gippo ” (Fr. jupeau, tunic), used of a scullion or kitchen servant.
In the above senses, “ scout” must be distinguished from the word meaning to flout, or reject with ridicule and scorn, which is derived from the Icel. skata, taunt, jeer. In the military sense, see Sir R. S. Baden-Powell, Scouting, and Scouting for Boys. The Boy Scouts' movement in England has official papers in the weekly Scout and monthly Headquarters Gazette.
SCRANTON, a city and the county-seat of Lackawanna county,
Pennsylvania, U.S.A., at the confluence of the Lackawanna
river and Roaring Brook, about 162 m. by rail N. by W. of
Philadelphia and about 146' m. W.N.W. of New York. Pop.
(1890) 75,2r5; (1900) 102,026, of whom 28,973 were foreign-born
(including 7193 Irish, 4704 Germans, 4621 Welsh and 3692
English) and 521 were negroes; (1910, census) 129,867.
Scranton is served by the Erie, the Delaware, Lackawanna &
Western, the Central of New ]ersey, . the New York, Ontario
& Western, the Delaware & Hudson, and the Lackawanna &
Wyoming Valley railways. It occupies an area of about 20 sq. m.
Among the principal public buildings are the United States
Government building, the County Court House, the City Hall,
the Albright Memorial building, housing the public library
(55,800 vols. in 1908), the armoury of the 13th Regiment, State
National Guard, the Board of Trade building, some fine
churches and school-houses, a Young Men's Christian Association
building and a Young Women's Christian Association building.
Scranton is the see of a Roman Catholic bishop, has a good public
school system, and is the seat of the International Correspondence
Schools (1891), which give instruction by mail in the trades
and professions to large numbers of students; Mt. St Mary's
Seminary (1902) for girls, and the W. T. Smith (Memorial)
Manual Training School (1905), a part of the public school
system. The city has an Institute of History and Science,
and the Everhart Museum of natural history, science and art
(dedicated 1908), founded and endowed by Dr I. F. Everhart
(b. 1840) of Scranton, a Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument, and
monuments to the memory of Columbus and Washington.
Scranton is the largest city in the great anthracite-coal region
of the United States; and 17,525,995 long tons of coal were
produced within the county in 1905. The chief manufactures
are silk goods (2I'6% of all in value) and other textiles,
but large quantities of foundry and machine-shop products, malt liquors, flour, and planing mill products are also manufactured. The total value of the city's factory products in 1905
was $20,453,28 5. The Delaware, Lackawanna & Western railway has since built large machine and car shops.
A permanent settlement was established within the present
