Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VI.djvu/501

 ELBE are still visible in several places. During the middle ages it was ruled by various Italian princes and chiefs. In 1548 Charles V. ceded the territory of Porto Ferrajo to Tuscany. Afterward the island was successively governed by Spain, Naples, and the lords of Piombino. ELBERFELD 493 Porto Ferrajo, Elba. From July, 1796, to April, 1797, it was occu- pied by the British. It was then ceded to France, and in 1801 united with the new king- dom of Etruria. The treaty of Paris in 1814 erected Elba into a sovereignty for Napoleon I., who resided there from May 4, 1814, to Feb. 26, 1815. During his brief sovereignty Napo- leon caused a road to be built uniting Porto Ferrajo with Porto Longone. The villa of San Martino near Porto Ferrajo, which was occupied by Napoleon, has been converted into a Napoleonic museum, and contains various objects of interest relating to the first empire. (See Napoleon d VUe cPElbe, by Am6d6e Pichot, Paris, 1873.) In 1815 Elba reverted to the grand duke of Tuscany, and with the rest of his territory was annexed to the king- dom of Italy in 1860. ELBE (Bohem. Lobe; anc. Albis), a river of Germany, rising in Bohemia, near the fron- tier of Prussian Silesia, and flowing into the North sea below Gluckstadt in Holstein. It is about 700 m. long. It originates in a number of springs on the western slope of the Schnee-Koppe (snow summit), one of the peaks of the Riesengebirge, at an elevation of about 4,500 ft. ; runs mainly in a N. W. course ; is navigable from its confluence with the Moldau, and has but a very slight inclina- tion, its bed 40 m. from its sources being but 658 ft. above the sea. Its chief affluents are : on the right, the Iser, Black Elster, and Havel ; on the'left, the Moldau, Eger, Mulde, Saale, Jetze, Ilmenau, and Oste. The chief places on its banks are Josephstadt, Koniggratz, Theresienstadt, and Leitmeritz, in Bohemia; Pirna, Dresden, and Meissen, in Saxony ; Tor- gau, Wittenberg, Magdeburg, Lauenburg, Al- tona, and Gluckstadt, in Prussia; and Ham- burg. Its channel between Hamburg and the sea admits of the passage of vessels drawing 14 ft. of water at all times, but is much encum- bered with sand bars and shoals. By means of its own waters and those of the numerous canals branching from it, the Elbe places all N. W. and central Ger- many in connection with the seaboard. Wood, stones, fruits, and earth- enware are exchanged through it for corn, salt, and colonial produce. But until recently its navigation has been much complicated by the regulations of the states through which it runs. These regulations were the subject of much controversy and negotiation. By the Elbschiffahrtsacte of June 23, 1821, the entire navigation of the Elbe was thrown open to the commerce of the world, and the charges to which it was subject were fixed and rendered uniform. The regulations were still further modified by conferences which were held from time to time for their revision, and particularly by the additional act of April 13, 1844. The toll collected at Stade was abolished July 22, 1861, and finally all the remaining tolls were removed by act of the North German confederation, which went into operation July 1, 1870. The numerous river transportation companies are thus enabled to compete at better advantage with the railways, and the amount of business has been much increased. ELBERFELD, a city of Rhenish Prussia, on the Wupper, a branch of the Rhine, in the district and 16 m. E. N. E. of the city of Dilssel- dorf, with which it is connected by the Ber- gisch-Markische railway ; pop. in 1871, 73,394. The town of Barmen adjoins it on the east, and the two towns taken together form one of the most important manufacturing centres of Germany. The number of looms in Elberfeld employed in the cotton manufacture in 1871 was estimated at 6,000, and the value of the products at $13,000,000. There are besides large manufactories of silks, ribbons, carpets, carriage and furniture stuffs, buttons, machi- nery, &c. The establishments for dyeing are particularly celebrated. The railway has its principal office here, and every year extends its connections. -A large amount of business is transacted at the two fairs which are held here annually. The finest public buildings are the council house, the court house, the new post