In 1897 he was elected Democratic member for Missouri in the United States senate, where he was prominent in many important debates. He was re-elected and served on committees on finance, commerce and the transportation of meat products. He died on Aug. 9, 1904.
Ves'ta, in Roman mythology, was the goddess of fire and the domestic hearth. The guardianship of the sacred fire in her temples was given to priestesses, called Vestal Virgins, at first four, but afterwards six. They were from six to ten years old when chosen, and spent 30 years in the service, the first ten in learning their duties; the second ten in acting as priestesses and guarding the sacred fire which must not be allowed to go out; and the last ten in teaching the new priestesses. If a vestal virgin violated her vow, she was stoned to death or buried alive. They lived m great splendor at the public expense, had the best seats in the theaters, and rode in state, preceded by a lictor. In Greece the priestesses of Vesta or Hestia were widows. On the first day of March, the Latin New Year's Day, the sacred fire of Vesta was renewed. The Vestalia, the chief festival in honor of Vesta, were celebrated on June 9, after which the temple was closed for five days for cleansing. In private houses the feast was kept by eating fish, bread and herbs before the hearth and the images of the penates or household gods. The worship of Vesta died out in the 4th century, after Christianity became the Roman religion.
Vesu'vius, Mt., the most celebrated volcano in the world, is on the Bay of Naples in Italy. It is about 4,000 feet high, and has two distinct peaks, called Somma and Vesuvius, though it had but one in ancient times. It is about 30 miles around the base of the mountain, and the ascent on the west side for three miles is a gradual slope to the cone, which rises nearly 2,000 feet higher. The top of the cone is cut off or truncated, and is 2,000 feet across, and the crater is 500 feet deep. About 40 kinds of minerals are found around the cone in the ancient lavas. Two electric railways carry visitors within a short distance of the mouth of the crater, and an observatory has been built about half way up the volcano, to study the eruptions and watch for indications of an approaching earthquake. The region around Vesuvius has been densely populated for more than 20 centuries, in spite of its numerous eruptions. The great eruption of Aug. 24 in A D. 79, which destroyed Herculaneum and Pompeii, is the first one of importance. It was not lava but showers of ashes, condensed into mud by the rain produced by the steam of the volcano, that seems to have overwhelmed the cities below it. In an eruption in 472 the ashes were carried to Constantinople, and in 1066 the lava flowed to the sea. The next great eruption was in 1631, when 18,000 lives were lost. A stream of lava 1,204 feet wide and 15 feet high destroyed the town of Torre del Greco in 1794- The eruptions increased in frequency in the last century, and the volcano is never entirely quiet. Consult Volcanoes by Scrope and The Geology of Monte Somma and Vesuvius by Johnstone-Levis. See Herculaneum , Pliny and Pompeii.
Ve'to, a word introduced from the Latin, meaning I forbid. It is used to indicate the power possessed by the people or their rulers to object to an act of the legislature and in some degree to prevent its being carried out. The Roman tribunes had the power of stopping the decrees of the senate by using the word interdico (I interdict); and so it is customary to say that the use of the veto began with them. In Poland it was settled by law in 1652 that in the imperial diet any deputy could hinder the passage of a measure by saying Nie doz-walam (I do not allow). In the national assembly of France, at the revolution, the king had a conditional veto, but Napoleon restored an absolute veto to the ruling power. The sovereign of England has the power to veto a bill of Parliament, but the right has not been used since 1707. The veto in the United States is the power of the president to refuse his signature to a bill passed by both houses of Congress; but Congress can pass a bill over the president's veto by a majority vote of two thirds in each house. President Jackson's veto of the bill to re-charter the Bank of the United States is one of the earliest instances of the use of this power by the president. See Congress, President and United States.
Vevey', a town of Switzerland, ten miles southeast of Lausanne, on Lake Geneva. Its situation on the lake with a range of mountains opposite, and the fine scenery near it make it very attractive to tourists. It is built in a triangle, with a fine marketplace and two or three churches. Population 11,9 16.
Vi'a=Ma'la, a gorge in the canton of Gri-sons, in Switzerland, 1,600 feet deep, through which rushes the Hither Rhine, looking like a thread. It is about two miles long, and the great walls of rocks are so hard that apparently they have not been changed by the effects of the weather since they were thrust apart, and they are so near together in some places that a trunk of a tree or a stone may be wedged in between them. It was once considered inaccessible and called the Lost Gulf, but a road has been built by blasting from 400 to 600 feet above the river, crossing from side to side by bridges, and protected by overhanging rocks or a wooden roof from falling trees and stones.
