Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume V.djvu/686

 682 DANVILLE DAPHNE wissa and the Lackawanna and Bloomsburg railroads also pass through Danville. It is chiefly noted for its iron manufactures, con- taining eight blast furnaces, with an aggregate capacity of 50,000 tons of pig iron per year, and five rolling mills, employed in the manu- facture of railroad iron, which produce about 70,000 tons of finished rails annually. A muck bar mill, worked on the cooperative plan, is in successful operation. There are also two large steam planing mills, several flour mills, &c. The town has 15 graded public schools, a semi- weekly and two weekly newspapers, and 23 churches of different denominations. II. A town of Pittsylvania co., Virginia, on the Dan river, about 120 m. W. S. W. of Richmond ; pop. in 1870, 3,463, of whom 2,065 were color- ed. It is pleasantly situated on high ground, near the head of navigation, and has an active trade. The surrounding country is fertile, and abounds in coal, iron, and limestone. The canal built around the falls at this place fur- nishes good water power. There are several churches, academies, and banks, iron founderies and mills, and two weekly newspapers. The Richmond, Danville, and Piedmont railroad passes through the town. After the abandon- ment of Richmond, April 2, 1865, Danville became for a few days the confederate capital, and here on April 5 Jefferson Davis issued his last proclamation. III. A town and the capital of Boyle co., Kentucky, on a small branch of Dick's river, 42 m. S. of Frankfort; pop. in 1870, 2,542, of whom 1,210 were colored. It is noted as the seat of Centre college (Presby- terian), founded in 1819, which in 1872 had 12 professors and instructors, 150 students, and a library of 5,000 volumes; and of the state deaf and dumb asylum, containing 97 inmates. The Danville theological seminary (Presby- terian), founded in 1853, has two endowed professorships, 200 alumni, a library of 7,000 volumes, and an endowment of $177,391. A branch of the Louisville and Nashville railroad passes through the town. IV. A city and the capital of Vermilion co., Illinois, on the Ver- milion river, 16 m. N. W. of its confluence with the Wabash, 125 m. S. of Chicago, and 4 m. W. of the Indiana state line ; pop. in 1870, 4,751 ; in 1873, about 7,000. It was settled in 1828, and its rapid growth and importance are due to its situation on the N. E. outcrop of the central (bituminous) coal field (see COAL, vol. iv., p. 739), the mining of which is its chief source of wealth. It is also an important rail- road centre, connecting with Chicago by the Chicago, Danville, and Vincennes railroad; with Toledo, St. Louis, Quincy, and Hannibal, Mo., by the Toledo, Wabash, and Western; with Terre Haute and Evansville, Ind., by the Evansville, Terre Haute, and Chicago; with Indianapolis, Peoria, Rock Island, and St. Paul, by the Indianapolis, Bloomington, and West- ern ; and with Vincennes and Cairo, by the Paris, Danville, and Vincennes. There are 12 churches, a high school, 6 ward schools, 4 flouring mills, 2 founderies, 5 carriage and wagon manufactories, 2 planing mills, car and locomotive works, and other industries. Dan- ville is surrounded by a rich and densely set- tled agricultural region, with an abundance of timber, building stone, and water. DAPHNE, a wood nymph or water nymph of Grecian mythology. It seems doubtful whether there were not three distinct characters of the name in Greek legend. The best known and received version of her story relates that Apol- lo became enamored of her, and pursued her when she fled from him. As she was about to be overtaken, she besought her mother Ge (Terra) to help her. The earth opened and received her, and as a compensation to Apollo for her loss created the laurel, which was al- ways afterward sacred to him. According to Ovid, Daphne herself was transformed into a laurel tree. Another legend is that Leucippus, a prince of Pisa in Elis, introduced himself dis- guised as a young girl into the nymph's society ; but Apollo caused his discovery, and Daphne and her companions put him to death. DAPHNE, the ancient name of a place near Antioch in Syria, containing a large and beau- tiful grove of laurels and cypresses, and a magnificent temple of Apollo, which was built by Antiochus Epiphanes. The most licentious scenes were enacted here, and the Roman gen- eral Cassius would not allow his soldiers to visit the place. When the emperor Julian came to Antioch the temple was almost deserted, and before he left the city it was consumed by fire, set probably by some Christian incendiary. It was never rebuilt. DAPHNE, a genus of ornamental plants, na- tives of the more temperate parts of Europe and Asia. Some are cultivated for beauty and fragrance, as the D. odora ; others for their vivid green foliage, as the D. laureola of Brit- Daphne mezereunu ain ; and others are useful in the arts. J). zereum, a deciduous plant with white or purple