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Black Friars – Blackwell

Black Friars

friars of the Dominican Order: so called from their costume.

Black Hole of Calcutta

á small chamber, 20 feet square, in the old fort of Calcutta, in which, after their capture by Surajah Dowlah, the whole garrison of 146 men were confined during the night of June 21, 1756. Only 23 survived. The spot is now marked by a monument.

Black Hawk

a famous chief of the Sac and Fox Indians, born in 1767. He joined the British in 1812, and opposing the removal_W. of his tribe, fought against the United States in 1831-1832.

Blackleg

a swindler, especially in cards and races. So called from gamecocks, whose legs are always black.

Black Letter

the Gothic or German type. So called because of its black appearance.

Black Letter Day

an unlucky day; one to be recalled with regret. The Romans marked their unlucky days with a piece of black charcoal, and their lucky ones with white chalk.

Blackmail

a certain rate of money, corn, cattle or the like, anciently paid, in the N. of England and in Scotland, to certain men who were allied to robbers, to be protected by them from pillage.

In the United States, the word is applied to money extorted from persons under threat of exposure in print for an alleged offense; hush-money.

Black Prince

the son of Edward III. See EDWARD.

Black Quarter

a kind of apoplectic disease which attacks cattle, indicated by lameness of the fore foot, one of the limbs swelling, and after death being suffused with black blood, which also is found throughout the body.

Black Tin

tin ore when dressed, stamped, and washed ready for smelting, forming a black powder.

Black Warrior

a river of Alabama, formed by the confluence of the BLACKWELL Locust and Mulberry forks; flows into the Tombigbee near Demopolis; navigable in its lower course to Tuscaloosa; 300 miles long.

Blackwell

a city of Oklahoma, in Kay co. It is on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe, and the Frisco Line railroads, and the Shicaska river. There are parks, and several handsome public buildings. The town is the seat of the Oklahoma State College. The industries include clay, brick, glass works, and flour mills. Pop. (1910) 3,266; (1920) 7,174.