Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 01.djvu/489

LEFT BALLISTA 397 BALLOV dent Taft's Cabinet from 1909 to 1911. He resigned in the latter year as a re- sult of a controversy over the coal lands in Alaska. His stand was upheld by President Taft and by an investigation, but to avoid embarrassment to the Presi- dent he withdrew from office. See Alaska. BALLISTA, a machine used in military operations by the ancients for hurling heavy missiles, thus serving in some de- gree the purpose of the modern cannon. The motive power appears to have been obtained by the torsion of ropes, fibers, catgut, or hair. They are said to have sometimes had an effective range of a quarter of a mile, and to have thrown stones weighing as much as 300 lbs. A ballistic pendulum is an apparatus for ascertaining the velocity of military pro- jectiles, and consequently the force of fired gunpowder. BALLISTICS, the science which treats of the projection of heavy bodies into space. The usual meaning of the term, however, is restricted to the motion of projectiles fired from cannon or small arms. It forms an intricate and difficult study, including an accurate knowledge of mathematics. See Artillery. BALLISTBAHIA, one of the names given to those projections with narrow apertures, frequent in the walls of old castles, and through which the crossbow- men discharged their arrows. BALLON D' ALSACE (bal-6n' d'al- sas'), or ELSASSER BELCHEN, one of the highest peaks of the Vosges Moun- tains; height, 4,101 feet. BALLON DE GTJEBWILLEIl, or GEBWEILER BELCHEN, the highest of the Vosges Mountains, in Alsace, France; height, 4,690 feet. BALLOON. See Aeronautics. BALLOT, a means of expressing an individual choice for a public or other officer or a measure of public impor- tance; the medium through which a voter indicates his preference at an election. The term ballot, at a club or private election, is applied to a ball used for the purpose of voting. In casting a ball for or against an individual, the arrangement sometimes is that if the vote be designed in his favor, then a white ball is used, but if it be intended to be against him, then one of a black color is used — -whence the phrase "to blackball one." In ancient Athens and the other Greek states the ballot was in use when votes had to be taken on political ques- tions. In England it constituted one of the five points in the Chartist pro- gramme, both of the great political parties being at first opposed to it, as deeming it a revolutionary project. Gradually, however, the mass of the Liberal party ceased to fear the ballot, and opposition to it on the part of the Conservatives became less pronounced, till, at last, while Mr. Gladstone was in the plenitude of his power, a bill, legalizing it as an experiment for eight years, was passed during the session of 1872. In the United States the ballot was in use in the early colonial times. Ballot reform is a term applied to such improvements in methods of voting as tend to eliminate unfairness at elec- tions. In 1895 every State in the United. States, excepting Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina and South Carolina, had adopted some reformed plan of balloting, based on the Australian system, and modified to suit local conditions. The first States that adopted a reformed plan were Massachusetts, for the whole State, and Kentucky, for the city of Louisville, both in 1888. Subsequently, experience and legislation have led to a variety in the forms of the ballot, more than 40 States now employing the single "blanket-ballot." Two forms of the single ballot are in use: (a) One, fol- lowing the Australian plan, in which the titles of the officers are arranged alphabetically, the names of the can- didates and of the party following; (b) one which groups all names and offices by parties. A newer feature of ballot reform is the substitution for the ballot paper, which is folded and deposited by hand, of a voting machine. BALLOTT, HOSEA (ba-lo'), an Ameri- can Universalist clergyman, journalist, and historian, born at Halifax, Vt., Oct. 18, 1796; was the first President of Tufts College (1854-1861), and was very successful as editor of the "Universalist Magazine." He wrote "Ancient History of Universalism" (1829) and a hymn book (1837). He died at Somerville, Mass., May 27, 1861. BALLOU, MATURIN MURRAY, an American journalist, bom in Boston, April 14, 1820. Besides editing "Bal- lou's Pictorial," "Ballou's Monthly," etc., he wrote "History of Cuba" (1854) ; "Biography of Hosea Ballou," "Due West," "Due South" (1885) ; "Under the Southern Cross," "Footprints of Travel," etc. In 1872 he became one of the founders and the editor-in-chief of the Boston "Globe." He died in Cairo, Egypt, March 27, 1895.