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HOSMER

HOT SPRINGS

Jeroboam II, ab©ut the middle of tlae 8th century B. C. He is mentioned nowhere in the Old Testament except in the book which bears his name, the chief interest centering about him being in the first three chapters regarding his marriage and proph-cies. He is mentioned several times in the New Testament under the name of Osee.

Hosmer (koz'mer), Harriet, an American sculptor, was born at Watertown, Mass., Oct. 6, 1830. A delicate child, she was compelled to live mostly in the outer air. She began modeling at home after a few lessons at Boston and St. Louis. Her first work was a reduced copy of Canova's Napoleon, followed by Hesper in 1852. In that year she went to Rome and there entered the studio of John Gibson. Here she copied from the antique. Her first full-size figure, CEnone, was completed in 1855. The work which brought her into renown was an original statue of Puck and a companion figure called Will-6*-the Wisp. Among her other statues are Zenobia, The Sleeping Faun and a companion piece, The Waking Faun. She made the statue of Thomas H. Benton for the Missouri legislature. She resides at Rome.

fios'pitals, places for the care of the sick or wounded, were first known as hos-pitta, and were used to relieve lepers, when leprosy was a scourge in Europe. The modern hospital is usually divided into wards or wings, extending from the main body, each ward being in charge of a separate force of attendants and often devoted to the treatment of a particular disease. Hospitals, as a rule, are maintained by the state, county or city, but there are many now endowed and maintained by private individuals. Some of the oldest and most famous hospitals are St. Thomas (London, 1553), St. Bartholomew (London, 1546) and Bethlehem (London, 1547). The Hotel de Dieu, Paris, founded in the 17th century, is probably the oldest and most famous in France. See Notes on Hospitals by Florence Nightingale.

Hot'bed and Cold=Frame are terms often used interchangeably; but the former refers rather to a seedbed made by surfacing a deep layer of fermenting compost or horse-manure with a few inches of finely-worked loam; while cold-frame refers to the rectangular, wooden frame having a cloth or glass cover, which protects from frosts the young plants growing in the hotbed beneath. So we may speak of starting plants in a hotbed or under glass. The whole is a substitute for a hothouse in early spring. The fermentation which heats the soil (whence the name) should be spent before planting. The cold-frame prevents too rapid radiation of the internal heat. The glass-sash slopes to the south and is loose or hinged, to allow ventilation when weather permits. The use of tMs arrangement

makes sprouting and forcing possible when the soil outside is too cold for planting. Hotbeds are not started before the latter part of February, except in the southern states. The hotbed often serves as an intermediate stage for tender plants between the indoor windowbox and outdoor conditions. Cold-frames are often used apart from hotbeds to force hardy perennials, as violets, to early blooming. They use no heat except such sun-light as they store up; hence their name.

Hotel' ( French hdtel), an enlargement of what formerly was called an inn. Since the era of railroads, hotels have been built to marvelous sizes. The main difference between European and American hotels is that in the former there is a price upon every dish ordered in the dining-room, while the latter makes a fixed rate for meals and room.

Hot Springs, a city and the county-seat of Garland County, Ark., is 55 miles southwest of Little Rock; on the Rock Island and Little Rock and Hot Springs Western railroads; 600 feet above tidewater; near the eastern side of the Ozark Mountains. It is widely noted for the hot waters that flow from 44 springs included in a space of 10 acres on the western side of Hot Springs Mountain. The waters of these springs, ranging in temperature from 76° to 157° Fahr., the daily flow of which is 1,000,000 gallons, are owned and controlled by the United States government under the direct care of the Secretary of the Interior, and are beneficial in a multitude of diseases. Notable cold springs, famous for their curative properties, are Pot ash-Sulphur and Mountain Valley.

In 1832 four sections of land, the thermal springs being in the center of the district, were set off by Congress as a government reservation. Since then the government has established the Army and Navy Hospital on the Hot Springs Mountain, and expended large sums of money in improving and developing -the reservation. The government bathhouses, extending along Central Avenue, are tasteful in design and have attractive surroundings. There are many hotels, the Eastman, Arlington, Park and Majestic ranking among the largest in the country; and as a health and pleasure resort Hot Springs is deservedly popular, having annually more than 100,000 visitors.

The famous novaculite whetstone quarries are in the northern part of the city.

Hot Springs was settled about 1804, incorporated as a town in 1876, and chartered as a city of the first class in 1879. Public buildings, recently completed, are a fine courthouse that cost $150,000, city hall and operahouse, costing $100,000. A similar amount is being expended on school-houses and churches. Population i4»564*