Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIII.djvu/798

 774 POTOSI POTSDAM ble for ships of the line to the city of Wash- ington. From its source to tide water the river has a great descent. There are a number of falls, including Houre's, the Shenandoah, Sene- ca, Great, and Little; and from Westport to Washington, about 220 m., the difference in its altitude is 1,160 ft. It abounds in beautiful scenery, and its passage through the Blue Ridge at the junction of the Shenandoah at Harper's Ferry was pronounced by Jefferson one of the most stupendous scenes in nature. The naviga- tion of this river was an early object of atten- tion, and by the operations of the Potomac com- pany, incorporated by Maryland and Virginia in 1784, many improvements were effected. POTOSI. I. A S. W. department of Bolivia, bounded N. by Oruro, N. E. by Chuquisaca, E. by Tarija, S. by the Argentine Republic, and W. by Atacama and Peru; area, 54,297 sq. m. ; pop. in 1865, 290,304, of whom about three fourths were Indians. The surface is an elevated table land, mostly rugged and mountainous, traversed by many abrupt ridges, which increase in height toward the Oerro de Potosi. This mountain is a nearly perfect cone, rising 16,000 ft. above the sea. The country is generally of volcanic formation, but this peak is an exception. It is crowned with a bed of porphyry, but its lower part is composed of a yellow argillaceous schist, filled with veins of ferruginous quartz, in which are rich deposits of silver. It seems to be the culminating point in a metallic chain which is unexcelled for richness. More than 5,000 mines have been opened in it. The top is completely honeycombed and exhausted, and the miners now work lower down, where the influx of water has compelled the abandon- ment of many of the richest veins. The Oerro de Porco, a little S. W. of it, is also celebrated for mineral wealth. The department is gen- erally barren and sterile, and the mountainous parts are very cold. It is drained by several affluents of the Pilcomayo. The chief produc- tion is silver. Between 1545 and 1789 the mines of Potosi yielded $1,000,000,000 in sil- ver, and they still give an annual yield of $2,250,000. The name signifies an eruption of silver. The mines are worked almost exclu- sively by Indians. Potosi produces also gold, copper, iron, lead, tin, quicksilver, zinc, anti- mony, manganese, cobalt, potassium, sulphur, white clay, precious stones, and other miner- als. II. A city, capital of the department, on the N. slope of the mountain of the same name, about 13,500 ft. above the sea, 65 m. W. S. W. of Sucre; pop. in 1865, 25,774. The surround- ing country is bleak and barren, and the at- mosphere, except where tempered by the sun's rays, cold and piercing. It is the fourth city of Bolivia in point of population, but in the 17th century it contained 150,000 inhabitants. The greater part of the town is in ruins, but the central square, which contains the govern- ment house, public offices, a church, and a convent, is still in tolerable repair. The mint is a very large edifice, and contains the ma- chinery which in former times did a vast amount of work, but only little over $2,000,- 000 is now coined annually. There are nu- merous churches, a college, several primary schools, and a few others for the children of the miners. The plaza of Ayacucho was con- structed in honor of the battle which in 1824 decided the independence of South America, and contains a lofty cylindrical shaft sur- mounted by a statue of Liberty. The town is supplied with water from 37 tanks, 8 or 10 m. distant, which were constructed at great ex- pense about 200 years ago. The country in the immediate neighborhood produces noth- ing. Considerable quantities of English and French manufactures are consumed there. POTSDAM, a town and village of St. Law- rence co., New York, on Raquette river, 25 m. E. by S. of Ogdensburg ; pop. of the town in 1870, 7,774; of the village, 2,891. The town is rich in agricultural resources, and con* tains extensive quarries of the famous Pots- dam sandstone. (See SANDSTONE.) There are five post offices, viz. : Potsdam (village), Pots- dam Junction (an incorporated village having 966 inhabitants in 1870, where the Rome, Watertown, and Ogdensburg, and the Ogdens- burg and Lake Champlain railroads intersect), West Potsdam, Crary's Mills, and South Pots- dam. Potsdam village is situated on the E. bank of Raquette river, which here furnishes abundant water power. In the spring great numbers of logs are floated down the stream, supplying the saw mills on its banks. The village has paved sidewalks, a fire department, and Holly water works. Here are the fair grounds of the Raquette valley and St. Regis valley agricultural societies. There are 42 stores, a bank, two large gang saw mills and planers, circular saw mills, two door, sash, and blind factories, an iron foundery, three ma- chine shops, two manufactories of walnut and other mouldings, cutlery and edge-tool works, a flouring mill, two furniture factories, two planing, tonguing, and grooving works, a man- ufactory of carriages and farm wagons, one of agricultural implements, one of the "silver reed " organ, one of saws, chair and bedstead factories, a weekly newspaper, and six church- es. The village is the seat of one of the state normal schools, which has 14 teachers and more than 500 pupils. The building is of Potsdam sandstone, three stories high with Mansard roof, and cost about $100,000. POTSDAM, a town of Prussia, in Branden- burg, on the Havel, which here forms a small lake, 17 m. S. W. of Berlin; pop. in 1871, 43,784. It is beautifully situated, with a gr< variety of fine scenery. In its royal palace, b< gun in 1660, the rooms occupied by Frederic the Great are preserved in the same state ii which he left them. His favorite residenc Sans-Souci, is near the town. It is a long loi building erected in 1745-'7, and contains apartments occupied by the king and Voltaii