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PORT DARWIN

1530

PORTER

boundary line of Texas and Louisiana; and narrows into a long channel, 7^ miles from Port Arthur, which is called Sabine Pass. This is 26 to 40 feet in depth and seven miles in length, terminating in the Gulf of Mexico and giving a shore-line of 14 miles for docks on the two sides. The width of the pass varies from one half-mile to a mile. At the outer end is a bar which has been pierced by a channel formed by extending, a mile or more from shore, two jetties of piled stone, which are built by the Federal government and are expected to cost $1,050,-ooo. These jetties narrow the entrance from the Gulf; and the wash of waters, together with the incoming and outgoing tides, has scoured a channel over the bar from 16 to 25 feet deep. The bar has been the refuge of many vessels assailed by storms. The opening of the canal heralded the creation of a new seaport on the Gulf for the largest ocean-vessels, the connection of a land-locked, fresh-water harbor with the terminus of an 8oo-mile railway* system and the reduction of 500 miles of the distance over which the exports of the southwestern states have been hauled east and west. The work was commenced in 1883, ano^tne canal was formally opened on March 25th, 1899.

Port Dar'win, one of the finest harbors in Australia, is situated on the coast of the northern territory of South Australia, which is nearly 16 times the size of England. Its entrance is two miles wide, and vessels of any tonnage can sail in it with safety. Palmerston, the chief town on its shores, is the land-terminus of the overland telegraph and is the starting-point of a railway to the gold-fields of the interior, 150 miles distant. A telegraph runs from the north to the south of Central Australia, that is, from Port Darwin to Adelaide, the capital, a distance of over 2,000 miles. See AUSTRALIA.

Port Eliz'abeth, a seaport of the Cape of Good Hope, is on the western shore of Algoa Bay, 85 miles by rail from Graham's Town and 350 from Kimberley. Its public buildings are the town-house, the provincial hospital, churches, a college, a library, and a museum. The town was laid out in 1820, and in 1904 the population had grown to

32>959-

Port Hu'ron, Mich., a city, is on St. Clair River, where it issues from Lake Huron. The city has a fine custom-house, beautiful public library,'shipyards, dry-docks, grain-elevators and large manufacturing interests, especially in engines and threshers, portable sawmills and corn-huskers. Both the car and locomotive works of the Grand Trunk Railway are in Port Huron and employ a large number of men. A submarine tunnel, the longest in the world, passes under St. Clair River, connecting Fort Huron and Sarnia. Population 18,863.

Port Jer'vis, N. Y., village in Orange County, about 85 miles northwest of New

York City. It is on Delaware and Never-sink Rivers, and is served by three railroads. There are many waterfalls near, which furnish water-power and aid in the manufacturing industries. Chief among these are glove factories, a silk mill, necktie, overall, shirt and saw factories, a plating works, shoe-factory, flour and planing mills, a sash-factory and printing works. The principal buildings are the Y. M. C. A., the two hospitals, Saint Mary's Orphan Asylum, the Port Jervis Board of Trade and the free library. The village has good public and parochial schools, two private schools and a conservatory of music. Attractive scenery and beautiful waterfalls make Port Jervis a popular summer resort. Population 9,564.

Port Lou'is, the capital and principal port of the British colony of Mauritius (q. v.) in the Indian Ocean, is situated on the northwestern coast and is inclosed by a circle of lofty hills. It is a coaling-station of the British navy, and has barracks, harbor defenses and military storehouses. Population with suburbs 52,740.

Port Said (sa-edr), an Egyptian seaport town on the western side of Suez Canal, on a strip of land between Lake Menzaleh and the Mediterranean. The place was named after Said Pasha, the promoter of the canal, and depends wholly on trade, being mainly a coaling-station for steamers. Population 50,179.

Port Simp'son, the most northern port of British Columbia, has a fine harbor, and is one of the Hudson Bay Company's posts.

PortcuI'lis, a strong timber or iron grating sliding up and down in the jambs of an entrance to a castle for the purpose of defending it from assailants. The lower ends of the vertical bars had spikes to stick in the ground or to injure those on whom it might fall. A powerful mechanism of windlasses was required to work the portcullis.

Por'ter, David, an American naval officer, was born at Boston, Mass., Feb. i, 1780. He was appointed a midshipman in the navy in 1798 and lieutenant in the year after. At the beginning of the War of 1812 he was made captain, and captured the first British ship taken in the war. In 1813 with his Essex he nearly destroyed the English whale-fishery in the Pacific and took possession of the Marquesas Islands; but in March, 1814, his frigate was destroyed by the British in Valparaiso harbor, and he returned home on parole. He afterward commanded an expedition against the pirates in the West Indian waters, and was court-martialed and suspended from duty for six months for compelling the authorities of Porto Rico to apologize for imprisoning some of his officers. In 1826 Porter resigned from the navy and was placed for a time at the head of the Mexican navy. In 1829 he was appointed consul-general to the Berber states and, afterward, minister to Turkey. While acting