Page:LA2-NSRW-1-0361.jpg



CALDERON

306

CALENDAR

India, lies on the left bank of the Hdgli Rivet, an arm of the Ganges, about 80 miles by the river from the Bay of Bengal. The East India Company founded Calcutta in 1686, and it had gained some importance as a town when, in 1736, Surajah Dowlah, the Nawab of Bengal, captured the city, and the horrible tragedy known as the Black Hole followed. One hundred and forty-six English prisoners were thrown into a cell, 18 feet square, on a hot night in June. There were only two small windows, and these were obstructed by a veranda. The crush of the unhappy sufferers was horrible; and after a night of terrible agony from pressure, heat, thirst and want of air there were in the morning only 23 survivors, the ghastliest forms ever seen on earth. Seven months later the English recaptured the city. It was the seat of the central government of India from 1772 to 1911, when it was transferred to Delhi. The population of the city in 1911, with fort and suburbs, was 1,216,514. Besides these, thousands of the inhabitants of the surrounding districts flock during the day into Calcutta on foot, by boat or by railway to their daily toil. The city extends for about five miles along the river, with an area of nearly ten square miles; while other villages across the Hugli contain many of the government buildings. The city presents a striking appearance as it is approached by the river. On the left are the botanical gardens and the Bishop's College, and in the rear the suburb of Howra. On the right are the government dockyards and the arsenal, and beyond is the Maidan esplanade, which has been called the Hyde Park of India. Here, near the river, lies Fort William, the largest fortress in India, occupying with its outworks an area of two square miles. Among other fine buildings there is the government house, a magnificent palace. Beyond this, along the river bank, is the Strand, two miles in length, adorned by buildings and lined with a splendid series of jetties for ocean steamers. Calcutta has many modern conveniences. There are four theaters, several large European hotels, half a dozen daily newspapers, street railroads, etc. Although the native quarter is far behind the European quarter, it is fast improving. There are several lines of railroad to various parts of India, and the city is the headquarters of the Indian telegraph department. Steamers and sailing vessels supply connection with foreign countries. Besides the University of Calcutta, there are a large number of colleges, schools and learned societies. Calcutta is the commercial center of Asia. Both its sea trade and its inland trade are enormous. Opium, raw cotton, jute, grain, hides, etc. are the principal articles of export.

Calderon (kal'der-on) de la Barca, Pedro, a celebrated Spanish dramatist and one of the greatest dramatists of all nations, was born at Madrid in 1600, and was educated at the University of Salamanca. At fourteen he had written his third drama. He entered the army and served several campaigns in Italy and in Flanders, gaining a knowledge of men and things which he afterward made use of in his plays. He became a priest and royal chaplain, and died in 1681, still working at his literary labors. He wrote about 500 dramas. Among his greatest works are The Constant Prince, Love is No Joke, Life is a Dream and The Physician of His Own Honor. In later life he * wrote many religious plays. His imagination was brilliant and his writings abound in beautiful passages. He is called the Spanish nightingale.

Caledonia. See SCOTLAND.

Calendar, Correction of. The calendar is based on three natural movements: the rotation of the earth on its axis, giving the day; the revolution of the moon around the earth in about 29 J days, giving the month and the movement of the earth around the sun, which, in connection with the inclination of the earth's axis to the plane of revolution, gives the succession of the seasons in a period of about 36 5 J days. The month was the earliest standard, and the year was said to consist of 12 lunar months or 354 days. Of course this arrangement aid not keep pace with the actual changes of the seasons. Consequently the Jews and the ancient Greeks, who adopted this form of calendar, used to put in a month every now and then the Jews seven times in every 19 years, the Greeks three times in every eight yearsc The old Roman method, however, is of more interest to us, because it is from them we get the names of our months. At first they had ten months, beginning with March and ending with December, which means the tenth month. Finding this did not work well, they put in two more months, January and February. This made their year 355 days long, or 10J days short. Of course this also did not keep pace with the seasons, so they let the priests put in a month whenever they thought it advisable; and the priests played all sorts of tricks with the year to suit themselves. Then the great Julius Csesar called in a clebrated astronomer, Sosigenes of Alexandria, and between them they made what is called the Julian calendar. To do this they lengthened the year 46 B. C. to 445 days, and arranged that thereafter the year should be 365 days long, except every fourth year (which we call leap year), which is to have 366 days. The priests did not follow Caesar's directions, and so Augustus, his successor, had to straighten things out again in 8