Cement Stone

( Mineral.) A somewhat argillaceous and ferruginous limestone, generally compact, which is used to some extent in making hydraulic mortar or cement. A group of strata in the carboniferous system of Scotland is known as the Cement -stone Series. Census, United States. The census, as now developed in this country, presents wide differences from those taken in Europe, and embraces a thoroughne of detail that omits scarcely any important interest of the country or e ential feature of its civilization. Its growth presents some interesting characteristics that may be rapidly reviewed. Various estimates of the population of this country were made previous to 1790, but they were all inadequate, and nothing approaching exactne is known of the population during the colonial or the Revolutionary period. The Constitution, adopted in 1787, made provision for a decennial C. of the people, and under this provision a law directing a C. to be taken was pa ed March 1, 1790, the enumeration to date from August 1 of that year. Nine months was allowed for the completion of the work, which was confined to a counting of the people, six questions being asked, and the result giving the numbers of white males under and over 16 years of age, of white females, of all other free persons, and of slaves. In 1800 the scope of inquiry was somewhat extended, though it was still confined to a count of the population. Much of the same was the case with the four succeeding censuses, though the population was more definitely cla ified, and some statistics of manufacturing industries were added, but without results of special importance, there being no penalty for refusing to answer questions of this kind. In the C. of 1850 an effort was made to obtain a considerably wider range of statistics. A C. office was added to the new Department of the Interior and a C. board created, consisting of the Secretary of State, the Attorney-General and the Post 48 relating to the nativity of parents, the relative fecundity of native and foreign-born mothers, and the expectation of life in children of native and foreign parentage. In addition there were gathered facts concerning naturalization and the ability of citizens and others to speak and write the English language. To facilitate the counting of the immense number of figures gathered, an electric tabulator was employed, which did its work with great accuracy and despatch. The C. bureau of 1890 was originally organized in 23 divisions, including Appointments; Disbursements and Accounts; Geography; Population; Vital Statistics; Church Statistics; Educational Statistics; Pauperism and Crime; National and State Finances; Farms, Homes, and Mortgages; Agriculture; Manufactures; Mines and Mining; Fish and Fisheries; Transportation; Insurance; Printing and Stationery; Statistics of Special Cla es; Supervisors' Correspondence; Alaska; Indians; Social Statistics of Cities; Revision and Results. On April 1, 1892, these divisions were reduced to 9, including Population; Manufactures; Agriculture; Farms, Homes, and Mortgages; Vital Statistics; Social Statistics; Wealth, Debt, and Taxation; Printing and Stationery; Revision and Results. Published Results . The publications giving the results of the various censuses preceding 1880 consisted of one or a few volumes, that of 1860 embracing 5 volumes, covering the various subjects of enumeration. The much greater scale of the census of 1880 called for a far more extended and elaborate series of volumes, and, in addition to the Census Bulletins, which were i ued from time to time as special lines of investigation were completed, there were published no le than 22 large volumes, containing an immense series of facts concerning almost every important interest of the United States. In addition two octavo volumes, of 1,771 pages, were i ued, entitled A Compendium of the Tenth Census, Fig. 2777.-MEMORIAL HALL, FAIR MOUNT PARK (SEE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION). to this increase in numbers. In addition to the varied facts concerning population and the industrial statistics of the 1870 C. , in 1880 special agents were appointed to obtain the statistics of manufacture in 279 cities and large towns to collect statistical information concerning the mining industries and the manufacture of iron and steel, woolen, silk and cotton goods, gla , coke, interchangeable machinery, etc. The statistics of the deaf and dumb, blind, insane and idiotic, criminals and paupers, never properly gathered in any previous C., were also obtained, and in addition the statistics of the factory system, of schools, colleges, museums and churches, social statistics of cities, statistics of public debts, valuation and taxation of property, . In this C. there were introduced several entirely new subjects of enumeration, including the statistics of railroads, telegraphs, fire, life and marine insurance, . In the agricultural schedule the facts gathered covered a much wider field than formerly. Census of 1890. The act providing for the taking of the eleventh C., approved March 1, 1889, was substantially the same as that of 1879. No change was made in the general plan of enumeration, but, in accordance with the increase in population, the number of supervisors was increased from 150 to 175, and of enumerators from 31,265 to 47,975. Five important changes were made in the scope of inquiry:-1. The surviving soldiers, sailors and marines of the Civil War, and the surviving widows of such persons, were enumerated. 2. The colored population was cla ified into negroes, mulattos, quadroons, and octoroons. 3. The recorded indebtedne of private corporations and individuals was ascertained. 4. A complete C., of the Indian population was made, with various data concerning them. (In 1880 only tax-paying Indians had been counted.) 5. The statistics of population, industries and revenues of Alaska were obtained. Special steps were also taken to obtain correct information concerning the busine of expre companies, data and containing a digested statement of the facts of most importance. The results of the 1890 C. have been published in 15 volumes, or sets of volumes, devoted to the following subjects: I. Population, showing characteristics, distribution, parentage, and occupation; II. Vital and Social Statistics, including those of special cla es, pauperism and crime; III. Educational and Church Statistics; IV. Valuation, Taxation, Public Expenditures, and Indebtedne ; V. Farms, Homes, and Mortgages; VI. Agriculture, embracing irrigation, farm products, live stock, truck farming, seed farming, floriculture, horticulture, nurseries, viticulture, and other agricultural facts; VII. Manufactures, in all their varied relations; VIII. Mines and Mining; IX. Fish and Fisheries, including the scientific and popular names of our fishes, their distribution, and other facts. X. Transportation, including railroad, canal, lake, river, and ocean traffic, and the busine of expre companies and street railways; XI. Insurance, including fire, life, and marine insurance; XII. Indian Statistics; XIII. Alaska; XIV. Veterans of the Civil War; XV. An Atlas of Statistics. The United States C., as has been said, differs widely from European censuses, which are confined to a count of the inhabitants, and certain particulars concerning them. When statistical information of other kinds is needed in Europe it is obtained by other agencies. The U. S. C., on the contrary, is "a C. of population, wealth, industry," and yields not only a vastly greater sum of information than is obtained by any other nation through the same agency or through any agency. Congre has always been indisposed to trouble the people too much with questions, and therefore has preferred to collect all desired information at one time, and through a single agency. The method has its advantages, but has also its defects, and it is unquestionable that if each branch of inquiry were made by a set of agents specially chosen for that parpose, and relieved from other distracting duties, the IMG:content-0481.png:[graphic] the principal of which is known as the "Temple." This edifice, 624 by 809 feet in dimensions, is built of ma ive blocks of cut stone, its walls being 25 feet thick. Surrounding it lie a large number of obelisks, pillars and idols, and block of stone engraved with inscriptions in the hieroglyphic alphabet of the Mayas, the key to which no one has yet found. At Utatlan are several pyramids, are about 120 feet high, while the building called the "Palace" has foundation walls of about 1,100 by 2,200 feet. Of Ixinche little beyond its solidly paved and cemented streets remain, the cut stones of both these ancient cities having been carried off by the European settlers as building materials. At the northern stations named much better preserved edifices exist. These buildings were generally erected on great artificial mounds or pyramids, usually composed of earth with external walls of stone. The sides of these are usually steep, while the steps of ascent are narrow and often two feet in the rise. On them stand ma ive buildings, certainly not built as residences, and probably having a religious significance. The so called "Palace" at Palenque, has an area of 260 by 310 feet, and is 40 feet high, while the "Casa del Gobernador" (Governor's House) at Uxmal, is about 600 feet on each side. In the "House of the Nuns" at Uxmal there are 88 small rooms looking on an interior paved court. These rooms are dark, rarely communicate, and probably had some religious or ceremonial purpose. The building material used is the limestone found widely throughout the country. It seems to have been shaped by stone tools and laid in a mortar which has become exceedingly hard. Decorations. The edifices named are often elaborately decorated, both within and without, their decorations being usually symbolic. Carved designs extend acro the whole face of the walls, sometimes in fixed patterns, which often represeut conventionally the figures of animals. The serpent seems to have been the favorite, but the figures of other animals and of man frequently occur. The altar slabs from Palenque present several figures in ceremonial costumes, who are making offerings to a central object of the shape of a Latin cro . The stucco lining of the interior is in some cases moulded by hand into ornamental designs, and in others is painted, scenes from life being depicted in bold free hand drawing. This is particularly the case in Chichen Itza. The roofs were of stone, or of wooden beams plastered with cement. The primitive substitute for the arch was in use, consisting of overlapping stones that gradually approached until they met and were covered at the top with a broad flat stone. These remain evident at Palenque, but at Uxmal and elsewhere the edges of the stones have been cut away and the surface covered with stucco, so as to conceal the mode of building. At Palenque there are some nearer approaches to the true arch. The antiquities attributed to the Nahuas are found in Guatemala and Nicaragua, and indicate much skill in the art of stone cutting. The best known of these remains are at Cozumel-hualpa, in Guatemala, being extraordinary bas-relief carvings, funereal in character. Ometepec also presents striking sculptures of similar type. There seems good evidence that these are of Nahnatl origin. The antiquities of Costa Rica are found in large mounds, funereal in purpose, from which you sands of small images in gold, known as "Chiriqui ornaments," have been taken. They were probably still produced at the date of the Spanish con- quest. Central City, in Kentucky , a town of Muhlenburg co., 7 m. from Greenville. In a coal-mining and tobacco- raising section. Pop . (1897) about 1,200. Central Park. A park occupying a central position in New York City, in which it extends from 59th to 110th streets, and from 5th to 8th avenues, being over 21⁄2 miles long, and 1⁄2-mile wide. It has an area of 862 acres, of which 185 are in lakes and reservoirs, and 400 in woodland, over half a million trees, and shrubs having been planted. It has nine miles of roadway, 54 of bridle paths, and 28 of walks. C. P. was originally laid out by the landscape artists, Frederick Law Olm- stead and Calvert Vaux, who have very effectually de- veloped its natural features. While much smaller than many of the city parks of the present day, it is very beautiful, presenting much of the close attention to details of a large garden, rather than the broad hand- ling of a modern park. It is adorned with numerous statues, and po e es various attractive examples of stone architecture. The Metropolitan Museum of Art occupies its northern section on the 5th avenue side, and near it stands the ancient obelisk, brought from Alexandria, Egypt, and called "Cleopatra's Needle." Central Province, The. One of the nine large administration provinces into which British India is now divided, situated between Lat. 18° and 24° N., and Lon. 77° and 93° E. The territories of Magpore, Sangor, Nerbudda, and Sumbulpore, which are the immediate British po e ions in this province, contain an area of 84,963 sq. m.; pop . in 1891, 10,774,890. There are be- sides 15 native states included in this Province, whose united area amounts to 28,834 sq. m.; pop . 1,100,000. The principal cities are Nagpoore (seat of government), Jubbulpore, and Sangor. The line of railroad connect- ing Bombay with Calcutta pa es through the Central Province, and has completely altered the condition of a country which some years ago was terra incognita. The traffic which pa es through Juggulpore is larger than that of any city in India except Bombay; and cotton, which is the chief produce, now finds an easy outlet to the markets of Europe. IMG:content-0482.png:[graphic] The American Dictionary and Cyclopedia