Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIII.djvu/570

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554 PITTACUS PITTSBURGH magnitude. He was deprived by various causes of his ablest coadjutors. Harrowby fell sick, and Melville was disgraced and ejected from office for questionable pecuniary transactions. Napoleon was everywhere victorious in spite of the mighty coalitions which the skill of Pitt and the money of England formed against him. Pitt grew ill with anxiety and grief. The sur- render of the Austrian army at Ulm gave him a shock from which he never fully recovered, though four days later the news of the victory of Trafalgar for a moment revived his spirits. He finally gave way on hearing of the battle of Austerlitz, and died in a few weeks. He was honored by parliament with a public fu- neral, and his remains were deposited near those of his father in Westminster abbey. See " Life of William Pitt," by Earl Stanhope (4 vols., London, 1861-'2; 3d ed., 1867). PITTACUS, one of the seven wise men of Greece, born in Mytilene in Lesbos about 652 B. 0., died there in 569. He was the son of a Thracian, Hyrradius, and a Lesbian woman, and is first mentioned as engaged in a con- spiracy with the brothers of the poet Alcseus, by which Melanchrus, tyrant of Mytilene, was slain about 612. About this time also he com- manded the Mytileneans in a war with the Athenians for the possession of Sigeum in the Troad. Though the Mytileneans were defeated, Pittacus slew Phrynon, the leader of the ene- my, an Olympic victor, whom he overcame by entangling him in a net. For his conduct he was offered great rewards, but would take only so much land as he could throw his spear over ; this he set apart for religious use, and it was known to a late age as u the Pittacian land." Mytilene was soon after agitated by the conflict between several successive tyrants and the aristocratic party, the latter of which was led by Alcseus and his brother. These were at length worsted and banished, but kept Mytilene in a state of alarm by their efforts to return, so that the inhabitants finally chose Pittacus, who belonged to the democratic party, as a ruler with absolute power, under the title of cesymnetes, an office which differed from that of tyrant in being elective. This office Pittacus administered, apparently very wisely, from 589 to 579 ; but his enemies ac- cused him of tyranny, and the lost poems of Alcasus abounded with bitter invectives against him. He enacted, among other laws, that offences committed in a state of intoxication should be visited with double penalties. The maxim, Katp6v yvudt (" Know your opportuni- ty "), is attributed to him. He was celebrated as an elegiac poet ; but only a few lines of his are extant, preserved by Diogenes Laertius. PITTSBURGH, the second city of Pennsylva- nia in population and importance, county seat of Allegheny co., at the confluence of the Al- leghany and Monongahela rivers, which here form the Ohio, 466 m. above Cincinnati, and 250 m. W. by N. of Philadelphia; lat. 40 26' 34" N., Ion. 80 2' 38" W. ; pop. in 1800, 1,565 ; in 1810, 4,768 ; in 1820, 7,248 ; in 1830, 12,542 ; in 1840, 21,115; in 1850, 46,601 ; in 1860, 49,- 221 ; in 1870, 86,076, of whom 2,015 were col- ored and 27,822 foreigners, including 13,119 natives of Ireland, 8,703 of Germany, 2,838 of England, 1,036 of Wales, and 584 of Scot- land. There were 16,182 families and 14,224 dwellings. Of the 29,854 persons 10 years old and upward returned as engaged in occupa- tions, 444 were employed in agriculture, 11,- 077 in professional and personal services, 5,963 in trade and transportation, and 12,370 in man- ufactures, including 2,542 iron and steel work- ers. The old city occupied the delta between the Alleghany and Monongahela, to which were annexed in 1872 the boroughs of Allen- town, Birmingham, East Birmingham, Monon- gahela, Mount Washington, Ormsby, Saint Glair, South Pittsburgh, Temperanceville, Union, and West Pittsburgh, on the S. side of the Monon- gahela, and in 1874 the township of Wil- kins, adjoining it on the east. These addi- tions in 1870 had an aggregate population of 35,723, raising the population of the consoli- dated city in that year to 121,799. The popu- lation in 1875 is estimated by local authori- ties at 140,000, and including Allegheny City on the opposite bank of the Alleghany river and other suburbs within 5 m. of the court house, at 210,000. The land between the riv- ers rises toward the east to a height of from 400 to 500 ft. above the Ohio. The city is substantially and compactly built, and con- tains many fine residences, particularly in the E. part. A large number of the principal avenues are graded and paved. Among the public buildings are the court house, a solid stone edifice surmounted by a dome ; the cus- tom house, a commodious stone structure, which also accommodates the post office and the United States courts ; the municipal hall, costing $750,000, with a massive central tow- er and granite front; the mercantile library, costing $250,000, containing a reading room and having 15,000 volumes; the Roman Cath- olic cathedral of St. Paul, an imposing edifice of brick, with two spires and a dome over the choir ; St. Peter's and Trinity (Episcopal) churches ; the first Baptist church ; the first and third Presbyterian churches ; the United States arsenal ; and several large and substan- tial public school buildings. Allegheny ceme- tery is handsomely laid out. The surrounding country abounds in coal and iron. The extent of its iron manufactures has given Pittsburgh the appellation of "iron city," while the heavy clouds of smoke that constantly hang over it, produced by burning bituminous coal in all the dwellings and manufacturing establishments, have caused it to be styled the u smoky city." Seven bridges span the Alleghany river, and five the Monongahela. Horse cars run through the principal streets and to the suburbs. The Pennsylvania, the Allegheny Valley, and the Pittsburgh, Washington, and Baltimore rail- roads afford direct connection with the east-