Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/497

 NORFOLK were in the navy yard 12 vessels of war under- going repairs. Among these were the Penn- sylvania, of 120 guns, one of the largest war vessels then afloat, the sailing frigate Cumber- land, and the steam frigate Merrimack. The repairs of the last two were nearly completed, and Commodore McCauley, the commander of the navy yard, was directed, April 16, to get them ready for sea. In the mean while a body of Virginia troops under Gen. Taliaferro had entered the city, and an agreement was entered into between him and McCauley to the effect that none of the vessels should be removed from the navy yard, and no shot fired except in self-defence. But McCauley decided to de- stroy what he could not remove, and gave orders to burn or scuttle all the vessels except the Cumberland. He was soon superseded by Capt. Paulding, who undertook to complete what McCauley had begun. Fire was set to the navy yard ; the Pennsylvania was burned to the water's edge, the Merrimack was scut- tled, and the Cumberland sailed away. But the workshops and founderies were little in- jured ; the Merrimack was soon raised, and con- verted into an iron-clad, which was named the Virginia ; and Norfolk became the chief naval depot of the confederacy. The necessity of concentrating all the forces in Virginia for the defence of Richmond compelled the abandon- ment of Norfolk, May 3, 1862, and on the 10th formal possession was taken by the federals, who retained undisputed hold of it until the close of the war. NORFOLK, Duke of. See HOWAED, THOMAS. NORFOLK ISLAND, a dependency of New South Wales, in the S. Pacific ocean, about 1,000 m. N. E. of Sydney, in lat. 28 58' S., and Ion. 167 46' E. It is the largest and most de- lightful of a small cluster consisting of Nor- folk, Nepean, and Philip islands, together with several islets, or rocks, called the Bird islands. It is about 5 m. long, with an average breadth of nearly 3 m. ; area, about 14 sq. m. Its gen- eral elevation is 400 ft. above the sea, except on the N. W. corner, where Mt. Pitt rises to the height of 1,050 ft. The surface is very uneven, and the coast high and precipitous. The principal tree is the Norfolk island pine, which grows to a very great size, but the wood is of little use except for building. Maple, ironwood, a small species of palm, a gigantic fern having fronds 11 ft. in length, the lemon, guava, banana, yam, sweet potato, and arrow- root grow luxuriantly; and oranges, coffee, maize, and wheat may be raised. The climate is healthy and very agreeable. Horses, horned cattle, sheep, and other domestic animals have been introduced. Norfolk island was discov- ered by Capt. Cook in 1774, and in 1787 was settled by convicts and freedmen from New South Wales; but it was abandoned in 1810, and the buildings were destroyed. In 1825 it was made a penal establishment for incorrigi- ble offenders among the convicts of New South Wales, for which, as there are only two spots NORMAL SCHOOLS 483 where a landing can be effected, and there even with danger, it was thought peculiarly well adapted. At one time the number of prisoners exceeded 2,000; large prisons and other buildings were erected, various improve- ments made, and a strong force kept order and prevented escape ; notwithstanding which many convicts made their way to various South sea islands. The transportation of convicts to New South Wales having ceased, Norfolk island was abandoned in 1855. In 1857 the island was given by the British gov- ernment to the descendants of the mutineers of the Bounty, 194 in number; and though some have since returned to Pitcairn, a num- ber of them remain at Norfolk island. NORICliM, a province of the Roman empire, in S. E. Germany, bounded N. by the Danube, E. by Mt. Cetius (now Wiener Wald), which separated it from Pannonia, S. by the Savus (Save) and the Carnic Alps, and W. by the (Enus (Inn), which separated it from Vinde- licia and Rhastia. It thus comprised most of the modern provinces of Upper and Lower Austria and Styria, the whole of Carinthia, and parts of Carniola, Salzburg, and Bavaria. The most important range of mountains was the Noric Alps, in the neighborhood of Salzburg, where excellent iron was mined ; gold is also said to have been found. The chief towns were : Noreia or Noreja (Neumarkt in Styria), the capital of the Taurisci or Norici before the Roman conquest, and the place where Carbo was routed by the Cimbri in 113 B. C. ; Juva- vum or Juvavia (Salzburg), a colony of Ha- drian, on the Juvavus (Salzach) ; Lentia (Linz), on the Danube ; and Lauriacum (Lorch), at the mouth of the Anisus (Enns). Noricum was conquered by the Romans toward the close of the reign of Augustus, and at a later period was divided into two provinces : Noricum Ripense, adjoining the Danube, and Noricum Mediterraneum, S. of the former. NORMAL SCHOOLS (Lat. norma, a carpenter's square ; hence, a rule or pattern), establish- ments for the education of teachers. The first normal school was 'organized in Stettin, Prus- sia, in 1735. Frederick the Great established a second in Berlin in 1748. One was opened in Hanover in 1757, and others soon afterward in various parts of Germany. Since the be- ginning of the present century, training schools for teachers have been rapidly multiplying. The course of instruction is now generally ex- tended to three or four years. In some of the German states the great majority of the teach- ers are graduates of the normal schools. The first seminary for teachers in France was es- tablished in 1810, and the first in the Nether- lands in 1816 ; and since that time they have been introduced into the other principal coun- tries of Europe. In Great Britain they are com- monly called training colleges. The first sug- gestion for the establishment of normal schools in the United States was made by Prof. Deni- son Olmsted, in an oration delivered in New