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ELL1CE ISLAND

609

ELMIRA

Sept. 26, 1841, and was educated in Missouri, where he began the practice of law. In 1863 he settled for a time in New Mexico and became member of the territorial legislature, attorney-general, United States district-attorney and delegate in Congress from New Mexico. He subsequently removed to West Virginia and became interested in railroads and in coal-mining. He was appointed secretary of war in the Republican administration of President Harrison, and later became United States senator from his state of West Virginia.

Ellice (el'Us) or Lagoon Islands, The, were discovered by Capt. Peyster, an American, in 1819. They lie north of Fiji. The principal islets include Sophia (Rocky) Island and the Nukulaelae (Mitchell) group. The entire group has a population of 2.400 on 14 square miles of land. It is under the jurisdiction of the high-commissioner for the western Pacific, whose headquarters are in Fiji.

Elm (genus Ulmus), an important tree of temperate climes. The English elm is one

WHITE  ELM

of the chief timber-trees of the British Isles and is highly valued for its beauty. Comparing it with the American elm, it is a stockier tree and of less grace. The American or white elm is a tree dear to "J.l familiar with New England, and is famous in our history. Every schoolboy has read of the Washington elm at Cambridge, Massachusetts, under which Washington stood when he took command of the American army, and of the elm under which William Penn made treaty with the Indians. It is a magnificent tree, sometimes towering 125 feet, its height and its great, arching limbs presenting a most stately and graceful appearance. In New England the long arms reach quite across the wide roadway. The New England elms veritably are a race of giants. The bark is gray and rough; the leaves, from two to six inches long, are alternate, obovate, and make pleasant but not too heavy foliage; the flowers, inconspicuous and greenish red, appear in March; the fruit is small, winged, green seeds. The tree is of rapid growth, its distribution being from New-

foundland to Florida and west to the Rocky Mountains. A great pity is the troop of insect-destroyers that are doing their best to lower the pride of the stately tree; the tussock-moth, elm-beetle and brown-tail greatly marring its beauty.

The slippery elm is a tree beloved of the "chewer," who, by the way, works it much harm in his effort to get at the fragrant inner bark, the cambium that in the spring is so inviting and refreshing. Druggist as well as small boy appreciates its virtues, keeping on his shelf various preparations made therefrom. The slippery elm, moose or red elm, is a quick-growing tree, rises 60 to 70 feet, and has a broad, flat head and spreading branches; the bark is rough and reddish-brown; the leaves are alternate, broadly oval, and from four to seven inches long. The tree grows fast and vigorously when not too ruthlessly attacked, but is becoming scarce.

The rock, cork or hickory elm has the typical elm-leaf but not the characteristic grace of the family. It has a corky bark, bears flowers and fruit in racemes; grows from 60 to 90 feet high, and has a round-topped head and stiff branches. The wood is hard and highly valued by the wheelwright. This elm thrives in lower Ontario and Michigan, and is found in scattered localities from Vermont to Tennessee and west to Nebraska. See Rogers: The Tree Book; Lounsberry: A Guide to the Trees.

Ellora, a village of Hindustan, celebrated for its wonderful rock-hewn temples. Of these there are 34 of a large size. Some are cave-temples proper, that is, chambers cut out inside of the rock; but others are buildings hewn out of the solid granite of the hills, having an outside as well as an inside architecture. In cutting the latter, a deep trench or pit is dug around a square, leaving a central mass standing, which is then hewn and excavated into a temple. The Hindu temple called the Kailas, is the most beautiful of all. It forms a pyramid, and is overlaid with sculpture. It is believed that the caves date from the seventh century.

Elmi'ra, New York, the county-seat of Chemung County, is on Chemung River, 149 miles from Buffalo. It has manufactories of iron-rails, railroad-cars, carriages, flour, leather, woolens, boots and shoes, steel-plate works, glass-works, rolling-mills, steel-bridge works, hard-wood finishing-works, etc. The city is in a fertile region, and there are stone-quarries in its vicinity. Here are located Elmira College, a state-armory, Arnot-Ogden Memorial Hospital, Steele Memorial Free Library, a government-building and various charitable institutions. Elmira has a fine park-system and all the adjuncts of the modern city. Population, 37,176.