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* STRAFFORD. 611 STRAMONIUM. dou, 1739). Consult also Gardiner, Hislory of England lOOJ-.'/ii ( 10 vols., London and New ork, 1SS3-S4). STRAIGHT UNIVERSITY. A coeduca- tional institution for negroes exclusively, at New Orleans, La., founded by Seymour Straight and incorporated in 1S09. The institution has an endowment of .$17,000, and is sustained by volun- tary contributions, through the American Mis- sionary Association. Its buildings and grounds are valued at about .$100,000. Its library con- tains about 2500 volumes. In 1003 the faculty numbered 28, and the students about 750 in all departments. STRAIN, Isaac G. (1821-57). An American naval olhcer and explorer, born in Roxbury, Pa. He entered the navy as a midshipman in 1837, in 1845 was in command of an exploring expe- dition that penetrated into the interior of Brazil, and in 1848 explored Lower California. In 1849 he made the overland journey from Valparaiso to Buenos Ayres, publishing an account of the trip entitled The Cordillera and I'ampa: Sketches of a Journey in Chile and the Argentine Provinces in lS.'i9 (1853). He became a lieutenant in 1850, served with the commission to locate the bound- ary line between Jle.xico and the United States, and in 1854 was placed in charge of a party sent to survey and explore the Isthmus of Panama and report upon the best route for the construction of an interoceanic canal. In 1856 in the Arctic lie made soundings in the North At- lantic Ocean to ascertain the feasibility of a submarine cable. Returning to Panama, he died there from exposure in the following year. Con- sult Headley, The Darien Exploring Expedi- tion Under command of Lieutenant Strain (New York, 1885), in the "Franklin Square Library." STRAITS SETTLEMENTS. A crown colony of Great Britain, comprising some of the British possessions on the Malay Peninsula and a few of the adjacent islands, viz. Singapore (q.v.), Ma- lacca (q.v. ), Dindings (q.v.), Penang (q.v.), or Prince of Wales Island, the Province of Welles- ley, the Keeling Islands ( q.v. ), and Christ- mas Island (q.v.). The total area, excluding Christmas Island and the Keeling group, is 1542 square miles. The colony has little natural wealth. It is important for its extensive transit trade, which passes almost entirely through Singapore and Penang. The total trade amount- ed in 1901 to nearly '$288,000,000. nf which the imports represented over $127,000,000. The trade of Singapore alone amounted to about $233,000,000. The principal imports are rice, cotton goods, and opium ; the exports consist chiefly of tin (which is brought from the Feder- ated Malay States), gums, and spices. All the ports are free. The total shipping during 1901 was 16,000.000 tons. The Governor is assisted by an executive council, and a legislative council composed of nine official and seven un- oflicial members, five of the latter being nomi- nated by the Crown and two by the chambers of commerce at Singapore and Penang, and con- firmed by the Crown. The Governor is also High Commissioner for the Federated Malay States and Borneo. The population (exclusive of Christ- mas Island and the Keeling group) was 512,342 in 1891, and 572,249 in 1901. Tn the latter year the population was composed of 281,933 Chinese, 215,058 Malays, and 5058 Europeans and Ameri- cans. There is an extensive immigration from China and India, chiclly coolies, the immi- grants from the two countries in 1901 num- bering 178,778 and 25.357 respectively. The crown colony was organized April 1, 1867. The capital is Singapore. BiELiooK.vpuY. Swettenham, Malay Sketches (London, 1895) ; id.. The Heal Malay (ib., 1899) ; Eathbone, Camping and Tramping in Malaya (ib., 1898); Beieeld, Handbook of the Federated Malay States (ib., 1902) ; Skeat, Tribes of the Malay Arehipelago (ib., 1902). STRAKOSCH, stril'kosh, JIoritz (1825-87). An Austrian composer and pianist, born in Lem- berg, Galicia. He was the brother-in-law and teacher of Adelina Patti, and was educated in music at Vienna, coming to America in 1845, where he won considerable success as a teacher and concert pianist. In 1S5G he became an impresario and introduced many great musicians to the American public. He was the composer of several salon pieces for the pianoforte and one opera, Giovanna di Xapoli, which had its first presentation in New York. He died in Paris. — Max Stbakosch, brother of the preceding, suc- ceeded him in the management of the various concerts and opera undertakings. He died in New York in 1892. STRALSUND, striil'zunt. A seaport in the Province of Pomcrania, Prussia, situated on the Strelasund, which separates the mainland from the island of Eiigen, 149 miles by rail north- northeast of Berlin (Map: Prussia, El). It is entirely surrounded by water. The natural strength of the place was greatly increased by formidable fortifications, which, however, were converted into promenades in 1873. Stralsund has narrow but regular streets, and many of the houses are finely gabled, giving the town a quaint and ancient appearance. There are three splendid Gothic churches erected in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The hand- some town hall contains a picture gallerv, a collection of antiquities, and a public library of 60,000 volumes. There is a .school of navigation. Stralsimd is noted for its manufactures of play- ing cards. Oil, machinery, arc lights, furniture, and bricks are also produced. There is con- siderable shipping and a large export trade, chiefly in grain, sugar, fish, and malt. Stral- sund, founded in 1209, was in the fourteenth century an important member of the Han.seatie League. The most notable event in its history was its eleven weeks' siege bv Wallenstein during the Thirty Years' War (May-August, 1628). It was a possession of Sweden from the Peace of Westphalia (1048) to 1815, when it passed to Prussia. Population, in 1890, 27,814: in 1900, 31,083. STRAMONIUM (Neo-Lat., of uncertain ety- mology), Stixkweed, Jamestownweed, .Jimson- WEEI1, Thorn-Apple (Datura Stramonium). A common weed of the natural order Solanaces. De Candolle refers it to countries bordering on the Caspian Sea : others regard it as coming from Northern India. It is a coarse, strong, vigorous, branching weed, from two to six feet high, with ovate toothed or angled leaves, large funnel-shaped flowers followed by prickly globu- lar two-celled pods containing numerous angular black seeds which are reputed narcotic but are