steam-engineering works. Jacksonville has long been a popular winter resort. It has several public parks, and is well paved, many of its streets with macadam and vitrified brick. Among the more notable buildings are the United States Government Building, city building, county court-house, armory, Union Depot, Saint Luke's Hospital, United States Marine Hospital, Confederate Soldiers' Home, Daniel Memorial and Saint Mary's orphan homes, Windsor Hotel, and the Central Grammar School. Saint James Park contains a Confederate monument. The water-works and electric-light plant are owned by the municipality. Jacksonville, named in honor of Gen. Andrew Jackson, Florida's first Territorial Governor, was founded in 1822. On May 3, 1901, a fire swept over 148 blocks of the city (450 acres), destroying the buildings thereon and causing a loss of over $10,000,000. Population, in 1860, 2118; in 1880, 7650; in 1890, 17,201; in 1900, 28,429.
JACKSONVILLE. A city and the county-seat of Morgan County, Ill., 90 miles north of Saint Louis, Mo.; on the Chicago and Alton, the Chicago, Peoria and Saint Louis, the Wabash, and the Jacksonville and Saint Louis railroads (Map: Illinois, B 4). Primarily a residential place, Jacksonville has numerous colleges and public institutions. It is the seat of Illinois College, founded in 1829 (the first institution of higher learning in the State); the Illinois Woman's College (Methodist Episcopal), opened in 1847; Jacksonville Academy for Young Women, opened in 1830; State Conservatory of Music; the State Central Hospital for the Insane; and State institutions for the blind and the deaf and dumb. There are also the Passavant Memorial Hospital, Hospital of Our Saviour, and Carnegie Public Library. Duncan Park and the Morgan County fair grounds are here. The city hall, court-house, and high school are prominent buildings, and Morgan Lake is of interest. The principal industrial establishments include railroad car shops of the Chicago, Peoria and Saint Louis, woolen and planing mills, brick-yards, and bridge-works. Jacksonville, named in honor of Gen. Andrew Jackson, was founded as the county-seat in 1825, and was first incorporated in 1867, this charter being still in operation. The government is vested in a mayor, elected biennially, a council, and administrative officials, the majority of whom are appointed by the mayor, a number of appointments, however, requiring the confirmation of the council. There are municipal water-works and an electric-light plant. Population, in 1890, 12,935; in 1900, 15,078.
JACK SPRAT. A familiar English nursery rhyme, occurring in Halliwell's Nursery Rhymes, where Archdeacon Pratt occupies the place of the later hero, Jack Sprat.
JACK-STONES. A game played with five small pebbles, marbles, or pieces of specially shaped metal (iron). The popular forms of the game are as follows: (a) All five stones are tossed into the air, and caught, so far as is possible, on the back of the hand; or else one of the stones at a time is tossed up and caught in various methods agreed upon. (b) Ones.—In this exercise the stones are at first held in the hand: the Jack (any one of the five) is then tossed into the air; the remaining four are laid upon the floor, and the Jack is caught before it can land. In Twos, Threes, and Fours the stones are picked up, while the Jack is in the air, by twos, threes, or fours, as the case may be. Other games with Jack-stones are: Riding the Elephant; Set the Table; Peas in the Pod; and Horses in the Stable. According to Aristophanes, Jack-stones was a girls' game, and exceedingly popular, and, according to ancient writers, was originally played with the knuckle-bones of sheep.
JACK-STRAWS. A game played with from
20 to 100 little sticks of ivory or wood, of
uniform size and between 4 and 6 inches in length,
carved (with the exception of a few Jack-straws
which are left perfectly plain) to resemble weapons,
implements, tools, etc. The game consists
in letting the sticks fall together in a loose heap,
each player in turn extricating as many straws
as possible (one at a time) without moving
preerceptibly any other straw. The decision is in favor
of the player with the most straws. Originally
the name of the game was jerk-straws, and in
England it is also called spillikins. In Germany
it is known as Federspiel, and in France as
Jonchets or Honchets (from joncher, to strew).
JACK TAR. A common term for a sailor, derived from his tarpaulin garments, and frequently shortened to ‘tar.’
JACK THE GIANT-KILLER. A nursery tale, the subject of which appears in various legends. The English version is adapted from an old British story of Corineus the Trojan, translated by Geoffrey, of Monmouth. The theme of the tale is the superiority of skill to force.
JACK THE RIPPER. A name given to the unknown perpetrator of a series of ten brutal murders which occurred in the East End of London between April and September, 1888. The victims were invariably depraved women of the lowest class, and the murders were accompanied by mutilation. Through the excitement caused by these unpunished crimes, the name became a by-word, and is still familiarly applied to authors of similar attempts. From it have grown like phrases to indicate other forms of assault, as Jack the Hugger and Jack the Slasher.
JACK, JAK, or JACA, TREE (East Indian jaca). Artocarpus integrifolia. An East Indian tree of the same genus as the breadfruit (q.v.), but larger. The fruit, which is very large, and weighs from 5 to 50 pounds, sometimes 70 pounds, is produced in great abundance. It resembles the breadfruit, but has a pulp of somewhat unpleasant flavor. It forms a great part of the food of the natives in some parts of India, Ceylon, etc. The seeds, which lie immediately under the rind, are very palatable when roasted. The timber, which is yellowish, strong, and ornamental, is used for almost every purpose, and is exported for making musical instruments, cabinet-work, the backs of brushes, marqueterie floors, etc. To supply the demand of it, the tree is being planted in many tropical countries.
JACMEL, or JACQUEMEL. zhȧk′mĕl′. A seaport town on the south coast of Haiti, situated on a bay of the same name, 30 miles southwest of Port-au-Prince (Map: West Indies, L 5), The streets are generally very narrow, and the houses mostly of wood. The bay is open, and vessels anchor about one-half mile from shore, and discharge and load by means of lighters. It has a considerable trade with the United States,
