Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 12.djvu/790

* MAHOGANY. 702 MAHRATTAS. ploymcnt to a large number of men and oxen. The logs as e.xportcd are usually squared so as to get rid of as niueh of the less valuable sapwood as possible, and also to admit of better con- veyance. Formerly mabogany was largely used in' shipbuilding, especially in the Spanish navy, but it is now almost entirely a cabinet-maker's wood, entering into manifold uses either solid or as a veneer. Mahogany was introduced into England by Sir Walter Kaieigh in 15!)7, it having been used in the re|)air of one of his ships; but while the wood was greatly admired, it did not become an article of conunerce until about one hundred and fifty years later. Two nther little known species, Swietenia angolensis and Swie- tcnia humilis, occur in Central America. In India, Cedrela Toona, a valuable tree of the same natural order as Swietenia, is called ma- hogany. Its timber is quite like the true ma- hogany. In .uslralia the name mahogany is applied to the tindier of a number of species of Kicalyptus (q.v.). In the Western United States Cereocarpus ledifolius is called mountain mahogany and Cereocarpus parvifolius valley mahogany. There are also several varieties of the latter. These trees belong to the natural order Rosacea', and are found from Colorado to New Mexico and westward to Califiu'nia. The East Indian mahogany is the tindier of the rohuna tree (Soymida febrifuga), and the Afri- can mahogany that of Khva Senegalensis, both belonging to the same natural order as the true mahogany. MAHOMET'S COFFIN. According to an old legend, the l'rn|jlicl's i-ullin in the tomb at Medina was suspended in the air, upheld, according to the faithful, by four angels who are relieved hourly. , other version of the fable describes the eoflin as made of iron and held in the air by powerful magnets. MAHON, ma-hon'. The chief town of the island of .Minorca. Se(? Port Mah6n. MAHONE, ma-hon', William (I826-n5). An American soldier and legislator. He was born in Southampton County, Va., gradtiat<'d at the Virginia Military Institute in 1847, and became a civil engineer. On the outbreak of the Civil War he joined the Confederate .Vrniv, and assist- ed in the capture of the Norfolk Navy Yard: par- ticipated in most of the battles of the P<'ninsular and Rappah.annock campaigns; was distinguished for bravery at Petersburg, where he earned the title 'The Hero of the Crater;' became a major- general and commanded a division. .-Vftcr the war he became president of the Norfolk and Ten- nessee Railroad, took an active interest in poli- tics, was an unsuccessful candidate for the Demo- cratic nomination to the Governorship of Vir- ginia in 1978, became the recognized leader of the 'Readjusters.' a Democratic faction which favored a partial or conditional repudiation of the State debt (see RrAD.iT.STF.RS), and in 1880 was elected largely by this faction to the United States Senate. He here took the unexpected course of allying himself with the Republicans, and thus brought about a tie in place of the slight Democratic majority which had been an- ticipated. He further alienated his constituents by his use of the Federal patronage in Virginia which had been assigned to him by President Arthur, and at the expiration of his term in 1887 he failed to secure a reelection. MAHO'NIA. A genus of shrubs closely re- lated to the barberry (q.v. J. MAHO'NY, FuAiNcis Sylvester ( l,S04-tii; i , bi'st known l)y his pseudonym of Father I'uoi r. An Irish poet and lunnorist. He was born in Cork. His father wished him to prepare for the bar, but he cliose the Church, and, after studying in Paris and at Rome, was admitted to the (irder nf Jesuits. He was appointed prefect of studies and afterwards master of rhetoric in the .Jesuit Col- lege at Clongoweswood, Ireland; but, becoming inohed in a misadventure, was obliged to resiL;n his position, and, returning to Italy, was e eluded from the .Jesuit Society. He then en tered the priesthood, but clerical life was iml congenial, and he devoted himself to literal un and journalism. He began in 1834 to contribul.' to Fruscr's Magazine a series of papers wliicU were afterwards collected and published in book form as The Reliques of Futhrr Front. They comprised sketches in prose anil verse ("The Bells of Shaudon" being the best known), parodies, playful translations into Greek, Latin, and French, or from other languages. He contributed to licnllei/'s Miscelknu/, and furnished an inaugu- ral ode to the first number of the Cornliill Miitia- xiiic. He was the first Roman eorrespoildent of the Lonihin Dailii 'News, and was Paris corre- spondent of the London Globe for several years after 1858. The last two years of his life were passed in a monastei'v. The ReliiiueK of Father Frout was included in Riihn's Illustrated Library in 1800. Another volume. Final AV/iV/Hra, Mas edited by Douglas .Jerrold and published in 187. The ilor/is of Father Fruitf, edited by Charles Kent, were published in 1881. Facts and Fifiures from Itali/ (1847) was made from his Roman letters to the London Daily Xeirs. MAHRA, mU'ra, MAHRI, or Eiikili. A trilie of Iladramaut in Southern Arabia. They are of interest as representing, according to several authorities, the ancient Himyarites. This gives them an importance outside their numbers and their primitive (or perhaps degenerate) cul- ture. Their language seems related to that of the Himyarites. Consult: Van den Berg, Had- ramoiit (Paris, 1880; Eng. trans. London, 1887) ; Hirsch. Feisen in Siid-Arahien. MahraLand iiml Hadrnmut (Leipzig, ISfl7); Bent, Southern Arabia (London. 1000). MAHRATTAS, ma-r;it'taz. A people inhabit- ing ("'eiitral India, south of the Ganges from (Jwalior to Goa. They ;ire a mixed people, speak- ing a Hindu langmige. the Marathi (q.v.), and are Hindus in religion. The Mahrattas are a vigorous and active r:ice, possessed of great endur- ance, and distinguished for military courage, with which cruelty has been combined. They seem to have entered India prior to the Moham- medan conquests by Mahmud of Gliazni at the beginning of the eleventh century. The foimder of the Mahratta power was Sivaji, a freebooter or adventurer, whose father was an ofTicer in the service of the last King of Bijapur. By policy or by force he eventually succeeded in compelling the several independent chiefs to acknowledge him as their leader, and with the large army then at his command, he overran and subdued a large portion of the Emperor of Dellii's territory. In 1G74 Si- vaji was formally proclaimed Maharaja of the Konkan. He organized and levied a species of blackmail on his neighbors, called chatith (Skt.