Weir (wēr), Robert Walter, an American
painter, was born at New Rochelle,
N. Y., June 18, 1803. After studying in
Italy for several years he was made professor
of drawing at West Point, N. Y., where he
remained for 42 years. His best-known
works are The Landing of Henry Hudson;
Columbus before the Council of Salamanca;
Indian Captives in the Boston Athenæum;
Embarkation of the Pilgrims in the rotunda
at Washington; and Christ in the Garden.
Some of his works in private collections
at New York are very fine, as a View of
the Hudson from West Point; Rebecca from
Ivanhoe; and A Pier at Venice. He died
at New York on May 1, 1889.
Weismann (vīs′män), August, a distinguished German zoölogist, was born at Frankfort-on-the-Main on Jan. 17, 1834, and studied medicine at Göttingen, Paris and Vienna. He early showed a decided fondness for natural science, being specially interested in biology. In 1873 he was appointed professor at Freiburg, and has since devoted himself enthusiastically to research. His writings embrace Studies in the Theory of Descent, Germ Plasm, Essays on Heredity and other works bearing on evolution.
Welding, the process by which metals, as iron and platinum, and glass are, when in a fused, plastic, white-hot state, united by hammering and heavy pressing. Car-rails, when laid together, are spliced and clamped by cars going over them fitted with electric current and welding apparatus, after which they are submitted repeatedly to heavy pressure.
Wel′land Canal, one of the most important public works in North America, connects Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. It is 27 miles long. It crosses Welland (or Chippewa) River, a considerable stream, at Welland by an aqueduct built at great expense, the water of the river flowing through arches under the aqueduct. This empties into the Niagara at Chippewa, almost immediately above Niagara Falls.
Welland Canal was the project of William Hamilton Merritt, an enterprising man of affairs residing in St. Catharines, where he had mills. In 1818 he decided to take definite action towards carrying out the project he had conceived years before. Needing water for his mills, he aimed at getting communication with Welland River, and obtained a grant of £2,000 from the government for the cost of surveys. The first survey was inconclusive and unsatisfactory. In 1823 he formed a company with small capital, having decided to push on the work as a private enterprise, and sufficient capital to warrant the commencement of the work was obtained, mainly in New York, and in 1824 the first sod was turned. In 1829 the first two vessels, decorated with flags and cheered by a large gathering of people lining the banks, passed St. Catharines through the canal on their way to Lake Erie. In 1837 an Act of Parliament was passed for the purchase of canal-shares from the shareholders. The government assumed entire control of the canal in 1842 and inaugurated the great work of enlargement and improvement. The first enlargement was completed in 1845. In l870 the government took steps to make practically a new canal, which would connect with the old one and, when enlarged, would admit the largest vessels navigating the great lakes. This has been finished, and now further deepening and enlargement are contemplated. At present vessels drawing 14 feet of water can pass through. Large ocean-vessels regularly pass through it to ports west. At Port Colborne on Lake Erie, where is the entrance to the canal, a large sum has been expended during the last two years in harbor-improvements and in the erection of an immense grain-elevator. There is a large lock at Port Colborne and no other until you reach Thorold, a distance of about 20 miles. Besides furnishing a great waterway for vessels from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, the canal provides an inexhaustible supply of water for mills and manufacturing plants. Canada has spent nearly one hundred millions of dollars on her canals, and the end is not yet.
The total number of Canadian vessels which passed through Welland Canal in 1906 was 866 (617 steam, 249 sail); the total number of American vessels was 670 (602 steam, 68 sail). Through St. Lawrence canals in the same year passed 8,213 (4,051 steam) Canadian vessels and 1,258 (869 steam) American vessels. Through Ste. Marie Canal during 1906 the total number of Canadian vessels was 3,922 (3,469 steam) and 1,758 American vessels (1,599 steam).
Welland Canal (enlarged or new line) is 26¾ miles long; has two entrances from Lake Ontario at Port Dalhousie, one for the old, the other for the new canal. From Port Dalhousie to Allanburg, 11¾ miles, there are two distinct lines of canal in operation, the old line and the enlarged or new line. From Allanburg to Port Colborne, 15 miles there is only one channel, the old canal having been enlarged. The canal has two pairs of guard-gates and 26 locks. The locks are 270 feet by 45 feet, the depth of water on the sills being 14 feet. The total rise or lockage is 326¾ feet. The length of the vessels to be accommodated is 255 feet. From the head of Welland Canal there is deep-water navigation through Lake Erie, Detroit River, Lake St. Clair, St. Clair River, Lake Huron and Ste. Mary River to the Sault Canal, — about 580 miles. From the Sault the distance through Lake Superior to Port Arthur is 266 miles and to Duluth 400
