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WOLCOTT

2103

WOLSELEY

industry is tanning and dressing leather and manufacturing boots and shoes; there also are glue-factories and chemical works. The town has good schools, churches and a well-equipped public library. Population 15,308. Wolcott (wolfkot\ Roger, a governor of Connecticut, was born at Windsor, Conn., Jan. 4, 1679. He was in service in the attack on Canada in 1711 and at the siege of Louisburg in 1745. He was governor of Connecticut from 1751 to 1755, and had already been a member of the assembly and of the council, a judge and deputy-governor. He published poems and a history in which is an account of the Pequot war. He died on May 17, 1767.

Wolf, a carnivorous mammal  belonging to the dog family. The domesticated dogs

are very likely descended from wolves. The latter have a wide geographical range, being found over nearly the whole of Europe, Asia and North America. There are none in South America or Africa, the jackal and foxes apparently taking their place in those countries. Wherever found near inhabited regions, they prey upon sheep, which they run down in open chase. Assembled in packs, they also attack herds of cattle; and, when bisons were abundant on the western plains, they would overcome those large animals. They are characterized by cunning, cowardice and cruelty; they keep well out of the sight of man; will forsake their cubs in time of danger; make a practice of killing and devouring their wounded; and eat their own dead. Centuries ago wolves were abundant in the British islands, but they were hunted by the ancient Britons, and at different times a reward was offered for their heads and skins. As a result they were exterminated. They became very scarce in the i6th century, and by the middle of the i8th century were exterminated in England, Scotland and Ireland. In America the common wolf and its varieties extend from Greenland to Mexico. They are about 65 inches long, with a tail of 15 inches. They vary in color, but are chiefly gray, becoming whitish in the north and dark in the south. In Florida there are black wolves and in Texas red ones. The gray wolf, often called timber-wolf, is a formidable creature, large and robust. They have been persistently hunted, a high bounty placed on them, but are a pest still on the cattle-plains. Their cry is a prolonged howl, blood-

curdling and mysterious. The coyote is a smaller wolf, peculiar to the UL;ted States It is common on the western p ains, haying its den in holes in steep banks and in "washouts." It reaches a length of about 55 inches, and is yellowish gray, clouded with black. It steals poultry, pigs, lambs and sheep, but feeds chiefly on prairie-dogs, ground-squirrels, rabbits, hares and sage-grouse; will attack deer and the prong-horned antelope. Its cry is between ^a howl and a bark. Wolves do not sleep in winter as does the bear, but hunt throughout the cold days. See DOG and JACKAL.

Wolfe, Charles, a British poet, was born at Dublin, Dec. 14, 1791. He graduated at Trinity College, Dublin, and was a curate in Tyrone County. He is famous for his ode on the burial of Sir John Moore, beginning with the words: "Not a drum was heard, not a funeral note," which is known to every schoolboy. He died at Cork, Feb. 21, 1823.

Wolfe, James, an English general, was born at Westerham in Kent, Jan. 2, 1727. When only 13, he was prevented by sickness from going with his father, a British officer, on the expedition to Cartagena. In his first service in Flanders he took part in the famous battle of Dettingen, and in Scotland was at the battles of Falkirk and Culloden. His conduct while in charge of a regiment in Scotland and in the expedition against Rochefort in 1757 won him the rank of colonel and gave him the command of a brigade in the expedition against Cape Breton. His skill and bravery at the attack on Louisburg won him the title of Hero of Louisburg, In the effort to drive the French out of Canada Pitt (Earl of Chatham) gave the charge of the invading army to Wolfe, who had been made major-general. The story of his attack on Quebec, how he scaled the cliffs with his army by night, and died in the moment of victory, while his brave antagonist, Mont-calm, dying too, said: "It is a great consolation to have been vanquished by so brave an enemy," is well-known. He died on Sept. 13, 1759. Consult Life by Wright and Montcalm and Wolfe by Parkman. See CANADA, ENGLAND, FRANCE and QUEBEC.

Wolseley (wdftlz'tt), Viscount Garnet Joseph, G. C. M. G., P. C., etc., field-marshal and former commander-in-chief of the British army, was born near Dublin, June 4, 1833, and was educated under tutors. He entered the English army in 1852 and served successively in %he Burmese War and Crimean War, and was severely wounded at the siege of Sebastopol. He subsequently served in India and China and in 1867 in Canada, where he acted as deputy-quartermaster-general and commanded the expedition to Red River, Manitoba. In 1873 he commanded the troops on the Gold Coast of Africa during the Ashanti War, and entering Kumasi received the submission of

COMMON WOLF