AND REGISTER OF IMPORTANT EVENTS OF THE YEAR 1888. EMBRACING POLITICAL, MILITARY, AND ECCLESIASTICAL AFFAIRS; PUBLIC TURE, SCIENCE, AGRICULTURE, AND MECHANICAL INDUSTRY. PREFACE. THE year 1888 was notable in the United States for elections that changed the political complexion of two branches of the National Government, and in Europe for the death of two emperors of Germany. Under the title "United States, Presidential Elections in," the reader will find in this volume a condensed compilation, by counties, of the figures of the last five presidential elections, more conveniently arranged for comparison than such figures ever have been before. In the articles" Harrison," " Morton," and " United States," the other facts of the canvass are set forth. The changes in Germany may be found under that title and in the articles on the three emperors-" Wilhelm I," " Friedrich III,” and "Wilhelm II." Other movements, political and military, are recorded in the articles" Abyssinia," "Afghanistan," "Great Britain," "France," "Samoa," and “Zanzibar,” the article on Samoa being accompanied by a new map, which shows the harbor secured for the United States. Besides the public works described in the article "Engineering," a most important one is set forth under "Nicaragua," where the reader will find the latest facts about what now appears to be the most feasible plan for a ship-canal between the two oceans, illustrated by a colored bird's-eye view. The "Financial Review" furnishes the usual fine summary of the year's transactions, and the increase of our material prosperity may be further noted in the articles on the separate States and Territories, and in that entitled "Cities, American, Recent Growth of," continued from the two preceding volumes. The most noted deaths of the year, in the United States, were those of Gen. Sheridan and Chief-Justice Waite, on whom the reader will find articles, as well as on their successors, Gen. Schofield and Chief-Justice Fuller, the lastnamed illustrated by a portrait on steel. Among the other losses of eminent citizens may be noted the Hon. Roscoe Conkling, who was a victim of the March blizzard; the venerable A. Bronson Alcott and his daughter Louisa; Asa Gray, the botanist; Mrs. Lozier, the physician; Seth Green, the pioneer pisciculturist; and Richard A. Proctor, the scientist. The Obituaries, both American and Foreign, will be found to cover a wide range. Among the special and timely articles are those on "Absentee," "Agnostic," "Atlantic Ocean Hydrography," "Burial Laws," "Balance of Power," "Beds, Folding," "Boats, Collapsable," "Charity Organization," "Camps for Boys," "Co-operation," "Cremation, Progress of," "Congress, Contested Elections in," 79588 Diplomats, Dismission of," "Epidemics,' "Government Departments," "House-Boats," "Immigration," "King's Daughters," "Lands, Public," "Mining Laws," "Mars, Recent Studies of," "Petroleum," "Sunday Legislation," "Teachers' Associations," and the "United States Navy." Most of these articles are furnished by experts, among whom are Prof. Herbert B. Adams, Willard Parker Butler, Prof. Stephen F. Peckham, Prof. John K. Rees, and Lieut. Raymond P. Rodgers, U. S. N. Instead of one colored illustration, this year the volume has four-the bird'seye view of the proposed Nicaragua Canal, and maps of the Territories (soon to be States) of Montana, Washington, and the Dakotas, though the congressional action in regard to these Territories took place in 1889. The three steel portraits include the new President and Chief-Justice of the United States and the young Emperor of Germany. Among the other illustrations of special interest are the new bridge over Harlem river, the moving of Brighton Beach Hotel, the appearance of New York streets after the great blizzard, the Eiffel Tower, the Lick Observatory, the maps of Southern Africa and the Samoan Islands, the new United States cruisers, the series showing evolution of the railway-car, the map of Mars as seen through the great telescope, and the numerous fine portraits in the text, including those of Vice-President Morton and Gen. Schofield. NEW YORK, April 6, 1889. |