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SYRACUSE
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SYRACUSE , a See also:city and the See also:county-seat of See also:Onondaga county, New See also:York, U.S.A., situated at the See also:southern end of Onondaga See also:Lake, about 75 M. E. of See also:Rochester and about 150 M. W. of See also:Albany. Pop. (188o), 51,792; (189o), 88,143; (1900), 108,374, of whom 23,757 were See also:foreign-See also:born (including 7865 See also:German, 5717 Irish, 2393 See also:English See also:Canadian and 2383 English) and 1034 were negroes; (1910, See also:census), 137,249. See also:Area (1906), 16.62 sq. m. Syracuse is served by the New York Central & See also:Hudson See also:River, the See also:West See also:Shore, and the See also:Delaware, Lackawanna & Western See also:railways, by the See also:Erie See also:Canal and the See also:Oswego Canal, which joins the Erie within the city limits, and by several electric inter-See also:urban lines. The city is built on high ground in an See also:amphitheatre of hills surrounding the lake, which is a beautiful See also:body of clear See also:water, 5 in. See also:long by 11 m. broad at its widest point. Of the residential streets, See also: A See also:boulevard runs along the shore of the lake. A See also:fine water-See also:supply controlled by the city is obtained from Skaneateles Lake, 18 m. distant, by a gravity system which cost $5,000,000; and the city has an intercepting See also:sewer system.
Among the most noteworthy churches of Syracuse are the See also:Roman See also:Catholic See also:cathedral of the Immaculate Conception—Syracuse became the see of a Roman Catholic See also:bishop in 1887 —and St See also:Paul's See also:Protestant Episcopal, the first Presbyterian, first Methodist Episcopal, Dutch Reformed and May Memorial (Unitarian) churches, the last erected in memory of See also:Samuel See also:Joseph May (1797-1871), a famous See also:anti-See also:slavery See also:leader, pastor of the See also: The university library (about 8o,000 See also:bound volumes and 40,000 See also:pamphlets) includes (since 1887) the collection of the German historian, See also:Leopold von See also:Ranke. There are seventeen buildings, among which the See also:Holden See also:observatory, the See also: The principal products in 1905 were: men's and women's clothing ($3,527,494, of which $3,082,052 represented men's clothing), foundry and See also:machine-See also:shop products, of which agricultural implements and machinery constituted the greater part ($2,415,466), See also:iron and See also:steel products ($2,117,585), chemicals, See also:malt liquors ($1,960,466), typewriters and typewriting supplies ($1,553,113), and boots and shoes ($1,253,982). Other important products were automobiles and sewing See also:machines, See also:hosiery and knit goods, candles, See also:furniture, See also:flour, crockery, and canned goods (especially mince-See also:meat). Syracuse was long the principal seat of the See also:salt See also:industry in See also:America. The Onondaga salt deposits were mentioned in the journal of the See also:French Jesuit See also:Lemoyne as See also:early as 1653, and before the See also:War of See also:Independence the See also:Indians marketed Onondaga salt at Albany and See also:Quebec. In 1788 the state undertook, by treaty with the Onondaga Indians, to care for the salt springs and See also:manage them for the benefit of both the whites and the Indians. In 1795, by another treaty, the state acquired for $See also:i000, to be supplemented by an annual See also:payment of $See also:loo and 150 bushels of salt, the salt springs and land about them covering about to sq. m. In 1797 the state leased the lands, the lessees paying a See also:royalty of 4 cents per See also:bushel and being forbidden to See also:charge more than 6o cents per bushel. The state sank See also:wells and built and maintained tanks from which brine was delivered to lessees. During 1812-1834 a royalty of 121 cents was charged to raise funds for building canals (a See also:rebate being granted in the last three years covering the entire amount of the royalty for these years). During 1834-1846 the royalty was 6 cents, and between 1846 and 1898 it remained stationary at one cent. In 1898 the state ordered the See also:sale of the salt lands, because the revenues were less than the expense of keeping up the See also:works; but state ownership was maintained until 1908, when the last of the lands were sold and the office of See also:superintendent of salt lands, created in 1797, was abolished. Until 1840 only boiled salt was manufactured; in that See also:year the See also:solar See also:process was introduced. The annual See also:production, which amounted to See also:ioo,000 bushels in 1804, reached its highest point in 1862 (9,053,874 bushels, of which 1,983,022 bushels were solar,and 7,070,852 boiled). The development of the See also:Michigan salt deposits and (after 188o) of the deposits in See also:Wyoming, Genesee and See also:Livingston counties in New York caused a rapid decline in the Onondaga product. In 1876 both processes yielded together only 5,392,677 bushels, and in 1896 only 2,806,600 bushels. The salt deposits at Syracuse had, however, laid the basis for another industry, the manufacture of soda-ash, which has grown to important proportions. At the See also:village of Solvay (pop. 1905, 5196), adjoining Syracuse on the lake shore, are the largest works for the production of soda-ash in the world, giving employment to more than 3000 hands.
The Syracuse region became known to Europeans through its salt deposits. Until several years after the See also:close of the War of Independence, however, there was no See also:settlement. See also:Ephraim See also:Webster, who built a trading-post near the mouth of Onondaga See also:Creek in 1786, was the first See also: In 1800 " the landing " received the name " Bogardus's Corners," from the proprietor of a See also:local See also:inn. Between 'Soo and 18os a dozen families settled here, and in the latter year a grist See also: In 1847 Salina was See also:united to Syracuse, and the city was chartered. Geddes was annexed in 1886. Syracuse has been the See also:meeting-place of some historically important See also:political conventions; that of 1847, in which occurred the split between the " Barnburner " and " Hunker " factions of the Democratic party, began the See also:Free See also:Soil See also:movement in the state. The strong anti-slavery sentiment here manifested itself in 1851 in the famous " See also:Jerry See also:rescue," one of the most significant episodes following the enactment of the Fugitive Slave Law of 185o; Samuel J. May, pastor of the Unitarianchurch, and seventeen others, arrested for assisting in the rescue, were never brought to trial, although May and two others publicly admitted that they had taken part in the rescue, and announced that they would contest the constitutionality of the Fugitive Slave Law, if they were tried. See See also:Carroll E. Smith, See also:Pioneer Times in Onondaga County (Syracuse, 1904). SYR-DARYA (Gr. and See also:Lat. Jaxartes; Arab. Shash or Si/See also:tun), a river of See also:Asia, flowing into the See also:Sea of See also:Aral, and having a length of 1500 M. and a drainage area of about 320,000 sq. m. Its headstream is the Naryn, which rises in the See also:heart of the Tianshan complex south of Lake Issyk-kul, on the southern slope (12,000 ft.) of the Terskei See also:Ala-tau. After its union with another See also:mountain stream, the Barskaun, it flows W.S.W. at 11,000 to 1o,000 ft. above the sea, in a barren See also:longitudinal valley between the Terskei Ala-tau and the foothills of the Kokshal-tau. On entering a See also:wild narrow See also:gorge in the south-west continuation of the Terskei Ala-tau it receives the name of Naryn. Within this gorge it descends some 4000 ft.; Fort Narynsk, 20 M. below the confluence of the See also:Great and the Little Naryn, is only 6800 ft. above the sea. Here the river enters a broad valley—formerly the bottom of an alpine lake—and flows past the ruins of Fort Kurtka, for 90 m. westward, as a stream some 50 yds. wide and from 3 to 11 ft. deep. Its See also:waters are utilized by the See also:Kirghiz for irrigating their cornfields, which contrast strangely with the barren aspect of the lofty treeless mountains. The At-bash, a large mountain stream, joins the Naryn at the See also:head of this valley and the Alabuga or Arpa at its See also:lower end, both from the See also:left. Before reaching the See also:low-lands the Naryn cuts its way through three ridges which See also:separate the valley of Kurtka from that of See also:Ferghana, and does so by a See also:series of wild See also:gorges and open valleys (170 m.), representing the bottoms of old lakes; the valleys of the Toguztorau, 2000 ft. lower than Kurtka, and the Ketmen-See also:tube are both cultivated by the Kirghiz. Taking a wide sweep towards the north, the river enters Ferghana—also the bottom of an immense lake—where, after receiving the Kara-darya (See also:Black River) near Namangan, it assumes the name of Syr-darya.' The Kara-darya is a large stream rising on the See also:northern spurs of the Alai Mountains. As it deflects the Naryn towards the west, the natives look upon it as the See also:chief See also:branch of the Syrdarya, but its See also:volume is much smaller. At the confluence the Syr is 1440 ft. above sea-level. The waters of the Syr-darya and its tributaries are in this part of its course largely drained away for See also:irrigation. It is to the Syr that Ferghana is indebted for its high, if somewhat exaggerated, repute in Central Asia as a See also:rich See also:garden and granary; cities like See also:Khokand, Marghilan and Namangan, and more than 800,000 inhabitants of the former khanate of Khokand, subsist by its waters. Notwithstanding,this drain upon it, the Syr could be easily navigated, were it not for the Bigovat rapids at Irjar, at the lower end of the valley, where the river pierces the Mogol-tau. On issuing from this gorge the Syr enters the Aral depression, and flows for 85o m. in a north-See also:westerly and northerly direction before reaching the Sea of Aral. On this See also:section it is navigated by steamers. Between the Irjar rapids and Baildyr-See also:turgai (where it bends north) the river flows along the See also:base of the subsidiary ranges which flank the Chotkal Mountains on the north-west, and receives from the longitudinal valleys of these alpine tracts a series of tributaries (the Angren, the Chirchik, the Keles), which in their lower courses fertilize the wide plains of See also:loess on the right bank of the Syr. Some 50 M. below Chinaz (770 ft. above sea-level) the Syr bends northwards, but resumes its north-westerly course 150 M. farther down, following with remarkable persistency the edge of the loess. Its low See also:banks, overgrown with reeds and rendered uninhabitable in summer by clouds of mosquitoes, are inundated for 20 M. on both sides when the snows begin to melt. These inundations prevent the moving sands of the Kyzyl-See also:kum See also:desert from approaching the Syr; below Perovsk, however, the See also:steppe does gain the upper See also:hand. Down to Perovsk the river rolls its muddy yellow waters, at the See also:rate of 3 to 5 M. an See also:hour, in a channel 300 to 600 yds. wide and 3 to 5 fathoms deep; at Perovsk its See also:vertical section is 8220 sq. ft., and 312,500 cub. ft. of water are discharged per second. The Arys and the Bugun are the only tributaries worthy of See also:notice along this part of its course; the other streams which descend from the Kara-tau fail to reach the river. The Kirghiz See also:rear numerous herds of See also:cattle and 1 Syr and darya both signify " river," in two different dialects. See also:sheep in the valley of the Arys, while lower down, as far as Julek, the Iginchis carry on See also:agriculture. All this applies of course only to the right bank; on the left the moisture is absorbed by the hot winds which See also:cross the Kyzyl-kum sands towards the river. The dryness of the See also:atmosphere has a marked effect upon the Syr when it gets below Julek, the Kara-kum sands being then on its right. Ten miles below Perovsk the river traverses a marshy depression (the bottom of a lake not yet fully dried up), where it divides into two branches—the Jaman-darya and the Kara-uzyak. The latter spreads out into marshes and ponds, from which it again issues to join the former at Karamakchi, after a course of 8o m. The See also:main See also:arm, owing to its shallowness and sinuosity, is very difficult to navigate, and the difficulty is increased by the rapidity of the current and the want of See also:fuel. Between Kazalinsk and the Sea of Aral (158 ft.) See also:navigation becomes somewhat easier, except for the last to m., where the river divides into three shallow branches before entering the " See also:Blue Sea." All three have at their mouths sandy bars with only 3 ft. of water.
Two former right-hand tributaries of the Syr—the Chu and the Sary-su—now disappear in the sands some 6o m. before reaching it. The Chu, which is 600 m. in length, rises in the Tian-shan south-west of Lake Issyk-kul, and as the Kashkar flows towards Lake Issyk-kul, but a few miles before reaching that lake turns suddenly to the north-west, enters under the name of Chu the narrow gorge of Buam, and, piercing the See also:snow clad Kunghei Ala-tau, emerges on its northern slope, having descended from 5500 ft. to less than 2000 in a distance of not more than 50 M. In this part of its course it receives from the right the Kebin, whose high valley equals in See also:size that of the upper See also:Rhone. It then flows north-westwards through the valley of Pishpek, and, avoiding the Muyun-kum sands, describes a wide See also:curve to the north before finally taking a western direction. Numberless streams flow towards it from the snow-clad See also: The See also:delta of the Syr begins at Perovsk, whence it sends a branch to the south-west, the Jany-darya (New River), which formerly reached the south-eastern corner of the Sea of Aral, very near to the mouth of the Amu-darya. The Kirghiz affirm that a canal dug for irrigation by the Kara-kalpaks gave origin to this river. It had, however, but a temporary existence. A See also:dam erected by the people of Khokand at Ak-mechet (Perovsk) caused its disappearance, and the Russians found nothing but a dry See also:bed in 1820. When the dam was removed the Jany-darya again reappeared, but it failed to reach the Sea of Aral ; in 1853 it terminated in Lake Kuchka-denghiz, after a course of 250 m.; all traces of its bed were then lost in the See also:sand. Five centuries ago, in the time of Timur, the Mongol See also:prince of See also:Samarkand, the Jany-darya brought the waters of the Syr to the Daukara lakes, close by the present mouth of the Amu. The series of old river-beds in the Kyzyl-kum, which are still seen above Perovsk, indicates that the Syr had a See also:constant tendency to seek a channel to the south-west, and that its present delta is but a vestige of what it was once. At a still more remote See also:period this delta probably comprised all the space between the Kara-tau and the Nura-tau in Samarkand ; and the series of elongated lakes at the base of the Nuratau—the Tuz-kaneh and Bogdan-ata lakes—represent an old branch of the delta of the Syr which probably joined the Zarafshan before reaching the Amu. The cause of this immense See also:change is simply the rapid See also:desiccation of all the northern and central parts of Asia, due to the fact that we are now living in the later phase of the Lacustrine period, which has followed the Glacial period. The See also:extension of the See also:Caspian Sea as far as the Sary-kamysh lakes during the post-See also:Pliocene period and the extension of the Sea of Aral at least too m. to the east of its present position are both proved by the existence of post-Pliocene marine deposits. (P. A. K.; J. T. BE.) SYR-DARYA, or SYR-DARIINSK, a See also:province of See also:Russian See also:Turkestan, lying on both sides of the Syr-darya river, from its embouchure in the Sea of Aral up to See also:Khojent, where it issues from the mountain region of the Tian-shan. The province is bounded N. by the provinces of Turgai, See also:Akmolinsk and See also:Semipalatinsk; E. by See also:Semiryechensk; S. by Ferghana, Zarafshan, See also:Bokhara and See also:Khiva; and W. by Khiva and the Sea of Aral. Its area (r66,000 sq. m.), its See also:population (over a million and a See also:half) and the city of See also:Tashkent make it the most important province of Russian Turkestan. The south-eastern boundary runs along the Chotkal Mountains (14,000 ft.), which separate the river Chotkal from the river Naryn, and join the Alexander Mountains on the east. A series of short chains, such as the Talas-tau and Ala-tau, fringe the aboveon the north-west, and occupy the south-east of the province. The snow-clad summits of the Talas-tau reach 14,000 to 15,000 ft. in See also:altitude, and immense glaciers occur about Manas Mountain. This range seems to run from west-south-west to east-north-east; the other flanking chains have a decidedly south-westerly direction, and are much lower, the outlying ranges having rather the See also:character of broad plateaus above 2000 ft. in altitude, where the Kirghiz find excellent pasture-grounds. Some of them, such as the Kazyk-urt, rise isolated from the steppe. The Kara-tau is quite separate from the preceding and runs at right angles to them—that is, from north-west to south-east. It belongs therefore to another series of upheavals prevalent in western Asia, to which See also:Richthofen has given the name of the " Kara-tau series." Its length is about 270 m., and its See also:average altitude about 5000 ft., rising at some points to 6000 and 7000 ft. It separates the river Syr-darya from the river Chu, and its See also:gentle south-western slope contains the sources of a multitude of streams which water the See also:oasis around the See also:town of Turkestan. The mountainous tracts occupy, however, only a small part of Syr-darya, the See also:rest is steppe. Three different areas must be distinguished—the Kyzyl-kum, the Muyun-kum or Ak-kum, and the Kara-kum. The Kyzyl-kum (red sands) sands stretch between the Amu and the Syr, and have a See also:gradual ascent from 16o ft. at the Sea of Aral to 1500 and 2000 ft. in the south-east. They are partly shifting, partly stationary (see KARA-KUM). In the west the See also:surface is overlaid with remains of Aral-Caspian deposits. As the Tian-shan is approached the steppe assumes another character : a thick See also:sheet of loess girdles the foothills and forms the fertile soil to which Turkestan is indebted for its productive fields and gardens. The Kara-kum sands, situated north-east of the Sea of Aral, are manifestly a former bottom of the lake. In the east the steppe yields some vegetation and is visited by the Kirghiz. The barkhans do not shift, being covered with Calligonum, Tamarix, Holoxylon anemodendron. The Muyun-kum or Ak-kum steppe, between the Kara-tau Mountains and the Chu River, is quite uninhabited, except in the loess region at the northern base of the mountains. (For the See also:geological history of the western Tian-shan ranges see TIAN-SHAN.) Throughout the Cretaceous and earlier See also:Tertiary periods the lowlands of Syr-darya were under the sea. The character of the region during the post-Pliocene period remains unsettled. A See also:girdle of loess, varying in width from 30 to 50 m., encircles all the mountain tracts, increasing in extent in Bokhara and at the lower end of the valley of Ferghana. It seems certain that during the Lacustrine period the Caspian was connected by a narrow gulf with the Aral See also:basin, which was then much larger, while another inland sea of great dimensions covered the present See also:Balkash basin, and at an earlier period may have been connected with the Aral basin. See also:Recent traces of these basins are found in the See also:steppes. The chief river of the province is the Syr-darya (q.v.). The frontier touches the eastern shore of the Sea of Aral, and numerous small lakes, mostly salt, are scattered over the sandy plains. A few lakes of alpine character occur in the valleys of the hilly tracts. The See also:climate of the province varies greatly in its different parts. It is most severe in the mountain region; and in the lowlands it is very hot and dry. As a whole, the western parts of the Tian-shan receive but little precipitation, and are therefore very poor in forests. In the lowlands the See also:heat of the dry summer is almost insupportable, the thermometer rising to III° F. in the shade; the See also:winter is severe in the lower parts of the province, where the Syr remains frozen for three months. The average yearly temperature at Tashkent and Kazalinsk respectively is 58.3° and 46.4° (See also:January, 29° and 12°; See also:July, 77.5° and 78°). The terraces of loess mentioned above are alone available for cultivation, and accordingly less than I% (o•8) of the total area of the province is under crops, the See also:remainder being either quite barren (57%) or pasture land (42 %). In the few cases where cultivation is possible, it is carried to great perfection owing to a highly developed system of irrigation—two crops being gathered every year. See also:Wheat and See also:barley come first, then peas, See also:millet and lentils, which are grown in the autumn. See also:Rye and oats are grown only about Kazalinsk. See also:Cotton is cultivated. Gardening is greatly developed. Sericulture is an important source of income. Livestock breeding is largely pursued, not only by the nomads but by the settled population. Fishing is prosecuted to some extent on the lower Syr. See also:Timber and firewood are exceedingly dear. The population of the province was estimated in 1906 as 1,779,000. It is comparatively dense in certain parts. The Russians number barely 850o, if the military be left out of See also:account. Kirghiz (50 %) and Sarts (9.8%) are the main elements of the population, with Uzbegs (4.3 %), and a few See also:Jews, Tajiks, See also:Tatars, Persians and See also:Hindus. The predominant occupations of the Sarts, Uzbegs, Tajiks and settled Kirghiz are agriculture and gardening, but the Kirghiz See also:lead chiefly a nomadic See also:pastoral See also:life. Manufactures are represented by cotton See also:mills, tanneries and distilleries;, but a great variety of See also:petty industries are practised in the towns and villages. Syr-darya is divided into six districts, the chief towns of which are Tashkent, Aulie-ata, Kazalinsk, Perovsk, See also:Chimkent and Amu-darya. (P. A. K.; J. T. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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