Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume V.djvu/683

 DANTZIC DANUBE 679 a number of other churches, several syna- gogues, foundling and orphan asylums and hospitals for the sick, a lunatic asylum, a theatre, and many institutions of learning and art. The port of Dantzic is Neufahrwasser, at the mouth of the Vistula, which has been built since 1841, when the river changed its course and formed a new outlet, reducing the depth of the main channel. Of late years, however, a canal with 15 ft. of water has been exca- vated, and large vessels now come up to the town as in former times. In 1869, 1,388 ves- sels entered with cargoes, and 415 in ballast ; total tonnage, 428,888. In the same year 1,753 vessels sailed from the port with cargoes, and 98 in ballast; total tonnage, 446,679. Three steamers and 125 sailing vessels were owned here. The exports by sea in 1869 in- cluded 4,057,768 bushels of wheat, 1,323,344 of rye, 697,752 of barley, and 520,000 tons of timber. In 1870 nearly 8,000,000 bushels of grain were exported. The other chief articles of export are liqueurs, beer, wool, flax, hemp, pitch, tallow, leather, potash, salt, saltpetre, starch, and chiccory. The great staple is grain, particularly wheat, which is chiefly Polish, and is noted for the fine quality of the flour made from it. The imports are princi- pally iron, iron nails, coal, coffee, rice, her- rings, cotton, guano, lead, and dye woods. The exports in 1869 amounted to 25,693,310 thalers, the imports to 29,257,910 thalers. The manufactures are chiefly brandy, beer, tobac- co, starch, oil, refined sugar, potash, woollen and linen cloths, ship biscuit, and various ar- ticles of metal. Amber is also wrought to a considerable extent, supporting a large num- ber of workmen. It is collected on the beach of the Baltic, where it is thrown up by the sea, and large quantities are annually exported to France in the crude state. Dantzic contains 40 beer breweries, 25 distilleries, and 80 estab- lishments where the liqueur known in com- merce as Danziges Goldwasser is made. It is connected by railway with Berlin, Stettin, and Konigsberg. There was a considerable town on the site of Dantzic before the end of the 10th century, but its early history is involved in obscurity. It was captured by the Poles in 1294, and in 1310 it fell into the hands of the Teutonic knights, and became a German city among a Polish population. In 1454 it placed itself under the supremacy of the king of Po- land, who made it a free city with important privileges. In 1793, on the second partition of Poland, it fell under the dominion of Prus- sia. It was besieged, bombarded, and taken by the French under Marshal Lefebvre in 1807, and was retaken by the Prussians in 1814, after the famous defence of 12 months made by Gen. Rapp, when the town was half destroyed and the inhabitants were re- duced by famine and pestilence to the deepest distress. Dantzic has now partially regained its ancient importance. It is one of the four naval ports of the German empire. DANUBE (anc. Danubiu*, or, in its lower course, later; Ger. Donau), the largest river of Germany, and, next to the Volga,' of Eu- rope. It is formed by the confluence of two streams, the Brege and Brigach, rising in the grand duchy of Baden, on the S. E. slope of the Black Forest, the former, which is considered the principal source of the river, in lat. 48 6' N., Ion. 8 9' E., about 24 m. from the Rhine, at an elevation of about 2,850 ft. above the level of the Black sea. In an air line the dis- tance from the sources to the mouth of the Danube is nearly 1,020 m., while the length of its course is 1,820 m. The river system of the Danube and all its tributaries drains an area of 300,000 sq. m. In its course it traverses nearly 22 of longitude and 5 of latitude. The elevation of its surface above the level of the sea at Ulm, the head of steam navi- gation, is about 1,500 ft., at Ratisbon 1,100, at Vienna 500, at Presburg 425, at Buda 350, and at Moldova 200. Three principal divisions of the river basin are indicated by the charac- ter of the adjacent country, and the river it- self: the upper course, terminating at Passau ; the middle, at Kladova ; and the lower, at the mouth. In its upper course the Danube, flow- ing in an easterly direction, skirts the southern base of the sterile table land of the Rough Alps' (Rauhe Alp), the rapidity of its current being 5 ft. a second, or about 3 m. an hour. Its breadth having increased to 250 ft., and its current slackened, it becomes navigable at Ulm. There, sweeping to the N. E. through the fer- tile Bavarian plain, it forms a curve, of which the northern apex is Ratisbon, and the eastern base Passau. On the N". side the Ludwigs- canal connects it with the Main and Rhine rivers. Near Passau the Bavarian forest on one side, and the northern ranges of the Noric Alps on the other, approach the Danube, nar- rowing its bed in some places to less than 1,000 ft., while in others it expands to a breadth of 5,000 ft. From Passau to Linz the fall is 2 ft. in a mile ; from there to Vienna only If ft. In this portion of its course the scenery of the Danube fairly rivals that of the Rhine, and even excels it in sombre grandeur. Nearer Vienna the mountains recede, and the river enters a large plain, which, being but scantily protected by dikes, is subject to terrible inundations. The measures heretofore adopted for prevent- ing these inundations having been found wholly inadequate, the Austrian government in 1864 appointed a committee, consisting of represen- tatives of the monarchy and of the crown- land of Lower Austria and the city of Vienna, to regulate the course of the Danube at and near Vienna. The plan of the committee, which involves the leading of the river into a new channel, was approved in 1868. The cost of the work is estimated at 24,600,000 florins, of which one third is to be paid by the mon- archy, one third by Lower Austria, and one third by Vienna. The principal portions of the work are to be completed during 1874.