Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 18.djvu/900

* SYRACtrSE. 786 The leading manufactures are men's clothing, foundry and machine shop products, iron and steel, malt liquors, iron and steel pipe, typewrit- ers and supplies, boots and shoes, agricultural implements, llouring and grist mill products, and furniture. The city is noted for the manufac- ture of typewriters. The Onondaga Salt Springs, belonging to the State, are on the borders of Onondaga Lake. The manufacture of salt, from the brine pumped out of the springs^ was for- merly the main industry, and is still of impor- tance. The Solvay Process Works, manufacturing soda ash and other products, and employing some 3000 men, are just outside of the city limits on the west. With its many and varied manufac- tures, the city has a large wholesale and export trade. The government is vested in a mayor and com- mon council, elected every two years. The comptroller and treasurer are chosen at the same time. The mayor appoints the heads of departments, including the city engineer, corpora- tion counsel, and commissioners of public works, public safety, and charities. The schools are un- der the control of a board of education elected on a general ticket. In maintenance and operation the city annually expends about .$2,000,000, the principal items beinc: schools. $350,000; police department. $140,000: fire department, $180,- 000; and lighting, $122,000. There are 45 miles of paved streets, principally of asphalt ; 100 miles of sewers; and Ifil miles of water juains. The water system is under municipal ownership and control. The water is obtained from Skan- eateles Lake, IS miles distant, and is conveyed by gravity to the city through 36-inch pipes. The plant 'cost $5,000,000. The water department in 1002 netted the city a profit of $40,000. Population, in 18.50. 22.271; in 18G0, 28.119; in 1870, 43.0.51 ; iu 1880. 51.702: in 1890, 88.143; in 1900, 108,374. The territory in which Syracuse is situated originally belonged to the Onondaga Indians. It was visited by the Jesuit missionary Father Isaac Jogues as early as 1042. By treaties in 1778 and 1795 the State bought a large tract con- taining the salt springs and formed from it the 'Onondaga Salt Springs Reservation.' parts of which were subsequently sold to individuals. Syracuse proper was first settled about 1805 and was of little importance until after the com- pletion of the Erie Canal, its population in 1820 being only 250. Until named Syracuse in 1819 it was known successively as South Salina, Bo- gardxis's Corners, Cassitt's Corners, and Milan. It was incorporated as a village in 1825, and in 1847 absorbed Salina and was chartered as a city. It was prominent for its abolitionist senti- ment preceding the Civil War. and was one of the chief stations on the 'L'nderground Railroad' (q.v.). Here on October 1, 1849. occurred the famous 'Jerry Rescue.' which did much to crys- tallize abolitionist sentiment in the North and arouse the animosity of the Southern planters. In 1887 the villages of Geddes and Danforth be- came a part of Syracuse, and in 1892 some fur- ther additions were authorized by the Legisla- ture. Consult Bruce. Memorial History of Syra- cuse (Syracuse, 1891). SYRACTTSE UNIVERSITY. A coeduca- tional institution of higher learning at Syracuse, N. Y., founded in 1870. In its academic depart- SYR-DARYA. ment it is a continuation of Genesee College, which was conducted at Lima, X. Y., from 1849 to 1871, and in its medical department of the Geneva Jledical College (1835-72), which was in part successor of the Fairfield Medical College (1812-39). The university at present comprises five colleges: (l)the College of Liberal Arts with classical, philosophical, scientific, and library courses, leading to the degrees of B.A., Ph.B., and B.S.; (2) the College of Fine Arts, with courses in architecture, belles-lettres, music, painting, art, and decorative design, as well as normal courses, leading to the bachelor's degree in architecture, letters, music, and painting; (3) tlie College of jledicine, with a four years' course and leading to the degree of M.D. ; (4) the Col- lege of Law, with a three years' course leading to the degree of LL.B, : and (5) the College of Applied Science with courses in civil, electrical, and mining engineering, leading to the corre- sponding engineer's degrees. In the graduate department the master's and doctor's degrees are conferred. In addition to the regular de- partments, the university maintains a summer session of six weeks, and a table at the Marine Biological Laboratory at Wood^ Hole, Mass, In 1902 an observing station of the L^nited States Weather Bureau was established, in connection with which lectures are given on meteorology and climatologv'. The attendance in 1903, al- lowing for duplications, was 2009, distributed as follows: Liberal Arts, 905: Fine Arts, 706; Medi- cine. 140: Law, 123: Applied Science, 183; Summer School, 39. The endowment was $1,- 625,600, the income $765,936. and the estimated value of the college property $3,169,361, the grounds and buildings being valued at $1,169,- 500. The general library contained 50,842 vol- umes and 21.500 pamphlets. SYR-DARYA, ser-diir'ya, or SIR-DARIA (ancient Ja.rartes). A large river of Russian Turkestan, Central Asia (Map: Asia, F 4). It rises on the north slope of the Tian Shan on the boundary of Chinese Turkestan, and flows in a general northwest direction till it enters the northeastern part of the Aral Sea after a course of over 1700 miles. Its upper course, known as the Narin, descends through a series of romantic gorges as a tumultuous mountain torrent, the fall being more than 3000 feet in less than 50 miles. It receives here numerous tributaries, but after making a long detour to the southwest around the highlands north of Ferghana, it enters upon the great arid lowland steppes, in which it receives no more affluents, but decreases in volume by evapora- tion. Its course becomes here very sluggish. In the rain.v season it overflows the surrounding countr.v. and its low banks are in some places lined with extensive marshes. In these lowland regions, also, a considerable amount of water is drawn from the river through numerous irriga- tion canals, and the discharge into the Aral Sea is less than half of the volume of the river in its middle coirse. The delta is marshy and shifting, and the depth on the bar is generally not more than three feet. From its lower middle course the river sends an arm across the desert to the southeastern end of the Aral Sea. This channel is now nearly dry, but probably indicates the former bed of the main river. The river is prac- tically unnavigable in its lower course, though