Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 06.djvu/514

LEFT NEWGATE 428 NEW GUINEA crown colony. It is administered by a governor, assisted by an executive coun- cil, and a House of Assembly of 36 members. Soon after the discovery of New- foundland, French fishermen frequented the "banks" in larger numbers than the English, and Great Britain did not take formal possession till 1583. The first permanent settlement was made in 1623. Before the treaty of tltrecht (1713), which ceded the island to Great Britain, the French and English had frequent conflicts over the right of pos- session. Fishing rights were conceded to the French, and this led to long and bitter disputes which have interfered with the development of the island. The French claim the exclusive right to fish from Cape John on the E. coast, around the N. coast, to Cape Ray on the W. Great Britain has never admitted this claim. The position maintained by the French has prevented the development of the mineral resources on the N. coast. In March, 1890, a modus Vivendi was concluded between the French and Brit- ish governments, remaining in force till Dec. 31, 1900. It caused great dissatis- faction among the people of the island. A Royal Commission, appointed in Au- fust, 1898,^ decided that part of the 'rench claims should be removed by purchase or concession; that the lobster fisheries should be arranged on the same basis; that the French should be fur- nished free bait, on abandonment of their bounties (to expire in 1901) ; that they should be prohibited from interfering with the "Treaty Shore," and that smuggling should be suppressed. On the outbreak of the war in South Africa, the colony on its own initiative renewed the modus Vivendi, in order to relieve the home government and to prove its loy- alty. The executive power of the col- ony is administered by a governor, ex- ecutive council, legislative council and elected House of Assembly. Newfound- land sent a comparatively large num- ber of men to Europe during the World War, and the service rendered by the colony was proportionately equal in ex- tent to that of any other part of the British Empire, NEWGATE, a celebrated London prison, formerly standing at the W. ex- tremity of Newgate street, opposite the Old Bailey. It was long the chief crim- inal prison of city and county until it was demolished in 1902. The earliest prison here was in the portal of the "new gate" of the city as early as 1218 ; hence the name. About two centuries afterward it was rebuilt by the execu- tors of Sir Richard Whittington, whose statue with a cat stood in a niche, till its destruction by the great fire of London, in 1666. It was again reconstructed in 1780, but the new buildings were greatly damaged by fire in the Gordon Riots of that year. After the passing of the Prisons Bill in 1877, Newgate fell grad- ually into disuse. NEW GLASGOW, a town in Pictou CO., Nova Scotia; on the East river, and on the Intercolonial railroad; 9 miles S. E. of Pictou. It is in the heart of an immense coal and iron region; contains a high school, exhibition building, Y. M. C. A. building, many churches, and sev- eral chartered banks, and has important industries, including steel and iron works, foundries, mineral water and wood working factories, etc. New Glas- gow has a high altitude, a pure and brac- ing air, and is a popular summer re- sort. Pop. about 7,000. NEW GUINEA, or PAPUA, a large island in Australasia, next to Australia and Greenland the largest on the globe; area, about 312,000 square miles; length about 1,500 miles, breadth from 200 to 400. It is separated from Aus- tralia on the S. by Torres Strait, and from the Moluccas on the W. by Gilolo Passage. The coasts are for the most part lofty, with mountains coming close to the sea, but in the neighborhood of Torres Strait the shore presents the appearance of a marshy flat covered with dense forests. In the ^ interior there are still loftier mountains, covered with perpetual snow and volcanoes. In the S. E. end Mount Owen Stanley rises to the height of 13,- 205 feet; farther W. and near the N. coast Mount Schopenhauer reaches 20,- 000 feet. The island is rich in tropical products, possesses a copious and pecu- liar flora and fauna (birds of paradise being especially numerous and gor- geous), and is suitable for tropical agri- culture. The coast is miasmatic in many places; the mountainous interior is re- ported healthier. On the W. coast there are numerous Malay settlements, but the bulk of the inhabitants are Papuans, a race resembling the negroes of Guinea. Some are disposed to be friendly, others are fierce and intractable. The discovery of New Guinea was made by the Portuguese early in the 16th century, but little was known of it till recently. The naturalists were the first to make incursions into its inte- rior, and among these A. R. Wallace, who visited it in 1858, was the pioneer. The missionaries came next, and mission stations have been formed by Germans