Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XV.djvu/571

 SYRACUSE 543 id judicious administration for 54 years. In 263 he made a treaty with Rome, whose stead- fast ally he thenceforward became. During his reign Syracuse attained to its highest splen- dor. With his death (216) a great change took place. His grandson and successor Hie- ronymus abandoned the alliance of Borne for that of Carthage, and after his death the Car- thaginians brought about an open rupture with Rome, which led to the siege of Syracuse by Marcellus (214-212), a siege rendered illustri- ous by the patriotic efforts of Archimedes, but which finally resulted in the capture and plun- der of the city. The magnificent works of art then carried as plunder to Rome gave the first impulse to the love of Greek art among the Romans. Syracuse fell into decay, and lost in wealth and population. Augustus in vain endeavored in 21 B. C. to restore it by send- ing a Roman colony. In the 4th century A. D., though much decayed, it was still one of the largest cities of Sicily. It fell into the hands of the Goths at the overthrow of the western empire, but was recaptured by Belisa- rius in 535, and remained a fief of the Byzan- tine emperors till 878, when, after a siege of nine months, it fell into the hands of the Sara- cens, who massacred its inhabitants, destroyed its fortifications, and burned the city. In 1088 Count Roger of Sicily made himself master of Syracuse. It was partially rebuilt and forti- fied 'by Charles V., but in 1542, 1693, and 1757 was nearly destroyed by earthquakes. On April 8, 1849, during the Sicilian insurrection, it surrendered to the Neapolitan fleet, and in 1860 it espoused the cause of Garibaldi. SYRACUSE, a city and the county seat of Onondaga co., New York, at the head of Onon- daga lake, on a creek of the same name, 147| . by the New York Central railroad W. by N. f Albany and 15(ty m. E. of Buffalo ; lat. 43 3' N., Ion. 76 9' W. ; pop. in 1850, 22,271 ; in 1860, 28,119; in 1870, 43,051, of whom 13,990 were foreigners, including 5,062 Germans and 5,172 Irish; in 1875, 49,808. The main por- tion lies in the valley of the creek, while the E. part is on two ridges, the summits being about 200 ft. above the lake. It is very regu- larly laid out ; but few of the streets are less than 66 ft. wide, and many of them 99 ft., well shaded, with occasional small ornamented squares. The business portion is substantially built of brick ; but the great majority of the dwellings are of wood, surrounded with lawns and gardens. The court house, of Onondaga dressed limestone, besides the usual court rooms, contains the library of the court of appeals (6,000 volumes) ; it cost $40,000. The city hall is of brick, on the N. side of a little park. The state armory, on Armory park (about two acres), is of brick, covers an area of 35,000 sq. ft., and cost $85,000. The Onon- daga County savings bank is a fine building of Onondaga limestone in the renaissance style, costing $300,000. The Syracuse savings bank, in course of construction, is of Ohio buff sand- 775 VOL. xv. 35 stone with trimmings of New Jersey red sand- stone. The first Presbyterian church, the cost- liest in the city, is of Fulton brown stone in the middle Gothic style, with a lofty spire. Syracuse university is on an elevation in the S. E. part of the city, with diversified grounds comprising 50 acres. The building is of rough dressed limestone ashlar, with fine cut trim- mings in the Italian style, is 80 ft. by 180, and three stories above the basement. On a beautiful elevation just "W. of the corpo- rate limits of the city stands the New York state asylum for idiots, an elegant structure in the Italian style erected in 1855. (See IDI- OOT, vol. ix., p. 174.) The principal cemetery is Oakwood, comprising about 150 acres, in a tine natural situation in the S. E. quarter of the city. It has been handsomely laid out, and contains many fine monuments. Syracuse is an important railroad centre ; 38 passenger and 60 freight trains arrive and depart daily. The diverging lines are as follows : the Oswego and Syracuse; Syracuse, Phoenix, and Oswe- go ; Syracuse and Northern ; New York Cen- tral ; Syracuse and Chenango ; Syracuse, Bing- hamton, and New York; and the Auburn branch of the New York Central. The Erie canal passes through the city, and the Oswego canal rims N. from near the centre. In 1874, 110,000 tons of freight, exclusive of wood and lumber, cleared at the collector's office. The controlling interest has always been the manu- facture of salt. The springs were first visited by Jesuit missionaries in 1654, who made some salt and carried it to Quebec. From this time to the settlement of the whites in 1787 it was manufactured by the Indians and was an article of traffic. The manufacture has steadily in- creased since the settlement. In 1797 the state took control of the springs and passed laws for the regulation of the business. From 1797 to 1806 inclusive, 78,000 bushels were made ; 1807 to 1816, 267,000 ; 1817 to 1826, 608,000 ; 1827 to 1836, 1,594,000 ; 1837 to 1846, 3,058,000 ; 1847 to 1856, 5,083,000. In 1874, 6,029,300 bushels were manufactured on the reservation, mostly in the city. There are 20 salt com- panies, which manufacture both by solar and artificial heat, employing a vast amount of capital and hundreds of men. There are about 90 other manufactories, producing articles in 1874 to the value of about $14,000,000. The most important are a blast furnace, Bessemer steel works, two rolling mills, three engine and boiler works, five f ounderies and machine shops, a bolt and nut factory, a manufactory of mower and reaper knives, a railroad journal-box fac- tory, seven planing mills and sash, door, and blind factories, two fruit-canning establish- ments, an extension table factory, five manufac- tories of musical instruments (organs, pianos, &c.), one of picture frames, one of glass, two of matches, one of agricultural implements, one of mowers and reapers, three of saddlery hardware, three of boots and shoes, seven of ready-made clothing, many of cigars, two of