Page:LA2-NSRW-1-0407.jpg

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


CASCADE TUNNEL

345

CASIMIR-PERIER

clad peaks on parts of the range. There are many traces of volcanoes, and volcanic action is not quite extinct in the region of Washington. The main peaks are Mounts Tacoma (14,444 feet), St. Helen's (12,000 feet), Baker (10,700 feet), Hood (11,225 feet), Jefferson (10,200 feet) and Pitt (9,818 feet). The Cascade Mountains, geologists state, are of much more recent formation than the Rocky Mountains proper.

Cascade Tunnel, a great engineering feat on the line of the Great Northern Railway which was undertaken and accomplished between 1897 and 1900 after studendous labor and monetary outlay. It pierces at a high elevation the Cascade Range of the Rocky Mountains, and is in length about 2$ miles or, with its extended shed at either end, nearly 14,500 feet. The difficulties of the * task were vast, chiefly by reason of the large boulders and mass of water-impregnated gravel met with in its construction, necessitating the employment of extra concentric sets of timbers in its building and for permanent support and safety. The tunnel, moreover, had to be heavily lined with solid concrete, the pressure upon it being so great.

Casault, Sir Louis E. N., was born and educated in the province of Quebec. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Canada 1854-8, and of the House of Commons 1867-70. Appointed a judge of the Superior Court of Quebec, 1870, and was one of the arbitrators who determined the disputed accounts between Canada and the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. He was chief justice from 1894 until his death, which occurred in 1908.

Cashmere ^k&sh'mer'), Vale of, or, as it is now usually spelled, Kashmir, the valley of the Upper Jhelum, celebrated in history and literature for the beauty of its scenery and the charms of its climate, lies in the feudatory state of Kashmir north of the Punjab. It extends for about 120 miles from northwest to southeast, with a mean breadth of 75 miles. The flat portion of the valley is not more than 80 miles long by 20 wide, with an elevation above sea-level of from 5,000 to 7,000 feet. In it are two lakes. It is entered by many passes, for ranges of the Himalaya Mountains traverse the country. Snow-capped mountains almost surround it, with their lower spurs descending in rice-producing, terraced slopes to the level part of the valley. On the margin of the lakes and throughout the whole valley are splendid groves of china or plane trees, here and there laid out with taste to form gardens and country seats, which two centuries ago used to be the favorite resorts of the Mogul emperors. Avenues of poplars line the river. On the surface of the lakes are floating gardens, made up of masses of

growing plants from two to three feet thick. Occupying both banks of the river is the quaint old town of Srinagar, the capital. Seven log-built bridges cross the stream. The fertility of the soil' is remarkable. Shawl-weaving and lacquer-work are the chief occupations of the people. Kashmir and Jammu form one of the feudatory or native states of India, with an area of 80,000 square miles and a population of about 3,000,000.

Cash-Register. The typical cash-register is that manufactured by the National Cash Register Company, of Dayton, Ohio, and found in so many retail stores. They serve two purposes: to check possible dishonesty of the assistants and to take the place of the cash-sale book. There are rows of keys, like those on a typewriter, but with numbers upon them; a cash drawer which can only be opened by pressing on a key; a bell that is rung whenever a key is pressed; and a sign which tells anyone looking at the face of the register what key has been struck. When anyone strikes a key, therefore, and thus opens the drawer, the bell gives notice 01 the fact. At the same time the customer sees whether the right amount was recorded. Finally, the machine 1 makes a record, every time a key is struck, of the amount or number on the key; and it automatically adds them, so that at a glance the employer can see when he opens the record-box how many 5c, loc, etc. have been received. He adds these totals into a grand total, and then checks by its aid the amount of money in the drawer. This record no one can get at without a key. In many such machines the operator can keep a separate record of the following accounts: amounts charged; cash received; and cash paid out. Thus the cash-register is a book-keeper as well as a detective. The first cash-register was that invented m 1879 by James Ritty, of Dayton, O. There are more complicated machines of the same general type for use in banks, etc. One important fact is that the machine makes no mistakes in adding.

Casimir-Perier (ka'ze'mer'pd'ryd'}, Jean Paul Pierre, who became the fifth president of the French Republic (1894-5), was born in Paris in 1847. He received the cross of the legion of honor for his services in the Franco-Prussian War. His grandfather had been premier under Louis Philippe, his father also had been a cabinet-minister, and it is natural that he should have chosen a political career. In 1893 be became president of the Chamber of Deputies. On the assassination of President Carnot in 1894 he was elected president. After a short and stormy administration of six months he suddenly resigned and retired from public affairs. President Casimir-Perier is said to have been ham-