Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/498

* NEWFOUNDLAND DOG. 438 NEW GUINEA. hairs protruding llirough an undirco.it of short and llutly fur, or "wool.' From early in the six- teenth century French, Spanish, Portuguese, and English tishermen frequented the shores of New- foundhind in ever-increasing numbers. The pres- ence of so relatively great a foreign population, all arriving in short periods, overtaxed the capability of the native dogs to meet the demand, and, exactly as happened later in Alaska, the first settlors took into the island "outside dogs,' among which were undoubtedly some of the big dogs of Spain, where the mastilf. the bloodhound, and a ferocious variety of pointer were then com- mon. These crossed miscellaneously with the Indian dogs, but the pointer especially seems to have introduced into the double-coated native his color, size, intelligence, and keen scent, all qualities well marked in the Xewfoundland dog as he came into European knowledge at the end of the eighteenth century. So highly was he then esteemed for his wonderful retrieving powers, that he was almost entirely exported, and his breed in the land of his home almost eliminated. In- quiries made in 1890 showed that, except in one or two outlying islands, none remained in Xew- foundland. Fortunately, the breed has l>ecn main- tained in Great Britain and in America, from • the original stock. The Newfoundland is a massive dog. 27 inches high at the shoulder, and often weighing 100 pounds. In color he is almost always black and white, or all black, although when first imported many were hrovn and white: and he has a dense coat of coarse texture and oily nature, al)le to resist water, for which this breed has a passion. If the coat Ije brushed the wrong way it should fall back into its place naturally. His head is broad and massive; his fore legs perfectly straight, his hind legs very strong with great freedom of action; his feet large and well shaped; his ears small, set well back and lying close to the head. His eye is small and deeply set. but does not show any haw. Consult authorities cited under Don. NEWGATE. A famous London prison, es- tablished at the 'new gate" of the city, probably near the beginning of the twelfth century. The earliest authentic mention of it dates from r218, when it was repaired by order of the King. It was repaired and enlarged in l(i38. and wholly rebuilt after the great fire of KlOli. which had partially destroyed the old building. In 1770 work was begun on the reconstruction of the prison. The work was hardly finished when the prison was sack?d during the 'Lord Oeorge Gor- don riots.' In 18.57-59 the internal structure of Newgate was changed, so as to provide separate cells for prisoners, who had formerly been per- mitted to mingle with each other. In I90"2 the building was demolished. In the early centuries of its existence Newgate was used for almost every ela.ss of prisoners — prisoners of State. Jews charged with child mur- der, regrators and forestallers, debtors, as well as for ordinary criminals. The prisoners endured a most wretched existence. If they possessed property, (bey were 'iubjected to the limitless rapacity of their jailers; if without property, they had to rely upon alms for food. Frequently they were detained for years before securing a hearin? on the charges upon which they had been committed to prison. These conditions rem.Tined practically unchanged in the sixteenth and seven- teenth centuries, when the prison began to be crowded with a new class of inmates, those who adhered to proscribed religious creeds. Henry VIIL and ilary, and in later years of her reign, Elizabeth, made use of Xewgate as a place of detention for those who were to be tried for lieresy or popery, as the case might be. It was in Xewgate that such prisoners were tortured in the hope of their recantation, or to force them to implicate others. John Rogers and Hooper were among the more famous of the prisoners of this class. With the cessation of religious persecution, Xewgate was again occupied chiefly by felons awaiting execution, of persons awaiting trial on criminal charges, and of debtors. The condition of its inmates was evil both from a moral and a sanitary point of view. Those who were guilty of mere misdemeanors were permitted to asso- ciate with the most hardened ciiiiiinals. with the result that many not originally inclined toward professional crime became involved in the plots of the professional criminals. This evil was ag- gravated after 1780, when Xewgate became the regular place of detention of felons condenmed to transportation. After 1815 debtors were no longer confined in Xewgate. Sanitary conditions were even worse. From the Middle Ages Xew- gate had been noted for its epidemic diseases — the 'jail distemper,' probably a form of typhus fever, being a frequent malady. In 1414 sixty- four prisoners had died of this disease ; and its ravages were common down to the end of the eighteenth century. In 1752 an attempt was made to check the evil by the employment of mechanical ventilation, but with small success. In the early part of the nineteenth century phi- lanthropists began to interest themselves in the moral and sanitary conditions of Xewgate. Ef- fective reform did not take place, however, until after 1S40. After 1849 convicted prisoners were removed to a new prison in HoUoway, and Xew- gate remained, until its demolition, almost ex- clusively a place of detention for prisoners awaiting trial. Consult Griffiths, Chronicles of Xcngatc (London. 1SS4). NEW GLASGOW, glas'k*. A manufacturing tovn of Pictou County. Xova Scotia, Canada, on the East River and on the Xova Scotia Rail- way. 8 miles southeast of Pictou Landing on Xorthumberland Strait, with which it is con- nected by a branch line. It is the centre of an implie of Colombia (q.v.). NEW GUINEA, ginV-. or Papv.v. A large island noitli of Australia, from which it is separated by Torres Strait. It is surpassed in size only by Greenland. Borneo is a little small- er. andM.adagascar about three-fourths as large. Its area is estimated at 313.183 square miles, or almost exactly that of Texas and Louisiana to- gether. It lies on the extreme western side of the Pacific Ocean between latitude 0° 19' and 10° 43' S. and longitude 131° 12' and 1.50° 48^ E. Its length is nearly 1.500 miles, its greatest width over 400 miles, and its longer axis extends from northwest to southeast. The larger portion of the island west of longitude 141° has been claimed by the Dutch since 1828; the eastern