Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIV.djvu/789

 SEMMES founded a hospital for travellers on the Styrian side of the pass. A post and carriage road over the mountain was completed by the em- peror Charles VI. in 1728 ; it rises, partly by zigzags, upward of 3,000 ft. above the sea. A new highway, longer, but more practicable, was completed in 1840. A railway over the Semmering, projected and undertaken by a private company, was executed for the Aus- trian government by the engineer Carlo Chega between 1848 and 1854. It extends 25 m. from Gloggnitz, at the N". extremity of the pass, to Murzzuschlag, at the S. extremity. It rises from Gloggnitz, crossing the Schwarzer on a curved viaduct of 13 arches, and sweep- ing along the shoulders of the hills through a series of magnificent engineering works, in- cluding 15 tunnels and 15 bridges, till it at- tains a height of 2,893 ft. above the sea, when any further ascent is avoided by a tun- nel nearly a mile long. SOLVES, Raphael, an officer in the confederate navy, born in Charles co., Md., Sept. 27, 1809. He entered the United States navy as a mid- shipman in 1826, became lieutenant in 1837, and commander in 1855. In 1834, while await- ing orders, he studied law and was admitted to the bar at Cumberland, Md. During the Mexican war he served both on board ship and as an aide to Gen. Worth. On the out- break of the civil war he resigned the secre- taryship of the lighthouse board at Washing- ton, took command of the confederate steamer Suinter at New Orleans, ran the blockade at the mouth of the Mississippi, and in July, 1861, captured several American merchant vessels in the gulf. He then went to Southampton, England, where he was for some time closely watched by the United States steamer Tuscaro- ra. When he put to sea, the Tuscarora was detained 24 hours by the British authorities ; but she followed him to the straits of Gibral- tar, and so closely blockaded him in the port of Tangier, that he sold his vessel and returned to England. In August, 1862, he took com- mand of the steamer Alabama, built for him at Birkenhead, England, and manned by an Eng- lish crew, and continued his career of cap- turing and destroying merchant vessels. On Jan. 11, 1863, off Galveston, Texas, he en- gaged the United States gunboat Hatteras, and after a short action sunk her. On June 19, 1864, in an engagement 9 m. off the harbor of Cherbourg, France, the United States steamer Kearsarge, Capt. Winslow, sunk the Alabama. Semmes was taken up by the English yacht Deerhound and carried to England. After the close of the war he entered upon the practice of law in Mobile, Ala. He was arrested and taken to Washington in December, 1865, but was only imprisoned four months. He has delivered public lectures on his exploits, and has published "Service Afloat and Ashore during the Mexican War" (1851); "Campaign of Gen. Scott in the Valley of Mexico " (1852) ; "The Cruise of the Alabama and the Sum- SENAO 763 ter" (London and New York, 1864); and "Memoirs of Service Afloat during the War between the States" (8vo, Baltimore, 1869). SEMPACH, a town of Switzerland, on the lake of the same name, in the canton and 10 m. N. W. of the city of Lucerne ; pop. in 1870, 1,109. It is celebrated for a battle fought July 9, 1386, in which 1,300 Swiss vanquished a large Austrian army, through the heroic self- sacrifice of Arnold of Winkelried. (See Wra- KELEIED.) The Austrian duke Leopold and 1,400 of his knights, with thousands of his foot followers, were slain. A chapel marks the site of the battle field. See Lie Quellen zur SempacJier Schlacht und die Winkelried- Sage, by Otto Kleissner (Gottingen, 1873). SEMPER. I. Gottfried, a German architect, born in Hamburg in 1804. He completed his studies in Italy and Greece, and was profes- sor at the academy of art in Dresden and at the school of architecture from 1834 to 1849, when, being implicated in revolutionary move- ments, he fled to London. Here he taught at the royal academy till 1856, when he became connected with the polytechnic institute at Zurich. His principal works are the obser- vatory at Zurich, the Festtheater at Munich, new theatres at Dresden and Darmstadt, and the new museum and the new imperial palace in Vienna. He has published Die vier Ele- mente der Baulcunst (1851), Wissenschaft, In- dustrie und Kunst (1852), and Der Styl in den technischen und telctonischen Kiimten (2 vols., 1860-'65). His son HANS, born in Dres- den in 1845, and since 1871 professor of Ger- man in Rome, has published Uebersicht der Oeschichte der toscanischen Sculptur bis gegen das Ende des 14. Jahrhunderts (1869), and Do- natello, seine Zeit und seine Schule (1870 et seq.). II. Karl, a German traveller, nephew of the preceding, born in Altona, July 6, 1832. He explored the Philippine islands, and in 1868 became professor of zoology at Wttrz- burg. He has published Reisen im Archipel. der PUlippinen (3 vols., 1867-'72) ; Die Phi- lippinen und Hire Bewohner (1869) ; and Die Palau-Inseln im Stillen Ocean (1873). SEJIPLE, Robert Baylor, an American clergy- man, born at Rose Mount, King and Queen co., Va., Jan. 20, 1769, died at Fredericksburg, Va., Dec. 25, 1831. He studied theology, be- came in 1790 pastor of the Bruington Baptist church, and took a leading part in the educa- tional and missionary operations of his de- nomination, and in the colonization society. In 1820 he was elected president of the Bap- tist triennial convention, and held the office till his death. In 1827 he became the finan- cial agent of Columbian college, D. C., retain- ing his pastorate. He published a catechism ; a " History of Virginia Baptists," with several biographical notices appended (1810) ; a " Me- moir of Elder Straughan ;" and " Letters to Alexander Campbell." SENAC. I. Jean Baptist*, a French physician, born near Lombez, Gascony, in 1693, died in