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SAFFRON

1653

SAGINAW BAY

as will permit the escape of steam before the pressure reaches a point of danger. The airtight valve is usually kept in its place by weights above on a lever or by a spring. United States regulation requires that lever safety-valves shall have an area of not less than one square inch to every two square feet of grate-surface in the boiler. This insures not overweighting the valve. The simplest form is a weight on a steamtight plate fitted over an aperture in the boiler.

Saffron is got from the dried flowers of the saffron crocus. It is used as a coloring matter for some articles of food and medicines. It was formerly used for dyeing cloth yellow. Saffron was of much greater importance centuries ago than it is now. The early Greeks used it as a dye, and both they and the Romans as a perfume. As late as the i5th century persons were burned alive in Nuremberg for adulterating saffron. The plant is raised in Persia, Afghanistan, Kashmir, southern Europe and England.

Sage, a general name for a species of Salvia, a genus of the mint family, containing about 500 species and distributed throughout the temperate and tropical regions. Over 30 species are found in North America. The common garden-sage is S. officinalis from southern Europe. The showy, red-flowered species, which are common in gardens and parks, are derived from several species, prominent among which are S. splendens of Brazil and S. fulgens of Mexico.

Sage=Cock, Sage-Grouse or Cock of the Plains, the largest grouse found in North

Am erica. After the turkey it is the largest game-bird in the United States. It lives on the western plains in the Rocky-Mountain region and feeds on wild sage, from which circumstance its name is derived. It feeds also on grasshoppers, crickets, berries, grain and grass-seeds. A full-grown male reaches a weight of six pounds. The upper parts are brown, varied with gray, black and buff, and the under parts mostly black. The bird has a long pointed tail composed of 20 stiff feathers. It also has large air-sacs of yellow skin on each side of the neck. These are inflated in the spring and enable it to produce a deep, nollow tone, a booming sound resembling that made by blowing into a large, hollow

SAGE-COCK

reed. The nest is made on the ground, concealed under low bush or herbage, is built of small twigs and dried grasses. The eggs generally number from 13 to 17, are brown in color and blotched at one end. In winter the birds dwell together in large flocks; in summer and autumn they are found in smaller companies. The flesh is eaten, but often has a bitter taste.

Sage, Russell, American capitalist and financier, was born in Oneida County, N. Y., Aug. 4, 1816; was brought up on a farm; and received his education at the public schools. In early life he engaged in mercantile pursuits at Troy, N. Y., and was elected to Congress as a Whig in 1853, serving for four years. In 1863 he removed to New York City, where he became interested in railways, especially in the New York elevated-railroad system, as also in various telegraph and cable companies. Becoming a large operator in railway and other stocks, and from buying and selling "privileges" in Wall Street, he amassed great wealth and became director in numberless New York corporations. He died on July 22, 1906, leaving his estate to his wife, who has administered it with wise beneficence in the interests of philanthropy.

Saghalien' or Sakhalin '(sakd-lyenf) is a long but somewhat narrow island off the Siberian coast, to the north of Japan. The island has an area of some 29,000 square miles. The interior is mountainous, unfitted for cultivation and covered with pines and firs. The mountains rise in three parallel ranges, and reach a height of about 5,000 feet. The principal industries are fishing, hunting, lumbering and coalmining. At one time Saghalien belonged to the Chinese Empire; but its southern portion was occupied by the Japanese early in the nineteenth century and ba-rtered to Russia in 1875 m exchange for some small islands of the Kurile group south of Japan. The longest river, the Tym, has a course of about 150 miles, Alexandrovsk is the chief town of Saghalien. The total population is about 40,000. By treaty at the close of the Russo-Japanese War in 1905 the southern half of the island was ceded to Japan.

Saginaw (s&g'i-na), Mich., its third city, stands on both sides of Sagiriaw River, 108 miles northwest of Detroit. The city is the headquarters of the Saginaw Bay lumber and salt trade, and its flour-mills, furniture and other factories stretch three miles along the river. In recent years the mining of soft coal and manufacture of beet-sugar have become leading industries. It is a busy, growing place, and until recently was separated into the cities of Saginaw and East Saginaw. Saginaw was founded in 1822. Population 50,510.

Saginaw Bay, an arm of Lake Huron a*nd the largest inlet of the southern penin-