Althaea
Daughter of Thestius and Eurythemis, of married Oeneus , king of Calydon , by whom she had many children, among them being Meleager . When he was born the Parcae put a log of wood on the fire, saying as long as it was preserved the life of the child would be prolonged. The mother took the wood from the flames and preserved it, but when Meleager killed his two uncles because they had insulted Atalanta , Althaea, to revenge them, threw the log in the fire, and when it was burnt Meleager expired. Althaea then killed herself. woded
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Althea
. See Meleager
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Alto
in music, the highest singing voice of a male adult, the lowest of boy or a woman, being in the latter almost the same as contralto. The alto, or counter-tenor, is not a natural voice, but a development of the falsetto.
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Alto-Rilievo
or ALTO-RELIEVO, sculptured work of which the figures project more than half their true proportions. When they project just one-half, the term used is mezzo-relievo; and when less than half, basso-relievo, or in English, bas-relief. ALTRANSTÄDT (älträn-stedt), an important village in the Prussian province of Saxony, near Lützen. It is famous for its castle, where, on Sept. 24, 1706, Charles XII. of Sweden signed the peace with August II., King of Poland. By this treaty, August II. agreed to vacate the Polish throne, not to enter any alliances against Sweden, especially any with the Czar, and to give up the Livlander Patkul, to grant the Swedish winter quarters in Saxony, and pledge himself not to persecute the Evangelical Church. This treaty did not go into effect until Nov. 26, because August felt that, by reason of a previous peace, he was obliged to support the Russians in their attack upon the Swedish General Mardefeld. After the defeat of Charles XII. at Poltava, August II., on Aug. 8, 1709, declared the Peace of Altranstädt to be void under the pretext that his representatives had exceeded their authority. Through the Treaty of Altranstädt of Aug. 30, 1707, Charles XII. obtained from the Emperor Joseph I. religious liberty and toleration of the Protestants of Silesia.
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Alton
a city in Madison co., III., on the Mississippi river, 5 miles above the mouth of the Missouri, and on several trunk line railroads; 21 miles N. of St. Louis, Mo. It is built on a high limestone bluff, and has very picturesque surroundings. The Mississippi is ALTRANSTÄDT here spanned by a costly railroad bridge, and the city is connected with Upper Alton, 2 miles distant, by a trolley line. Alton has important manufactures, and a large river trade. Here are the Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul, St. Joseph's Hospital, Ursuline Convent (all Roman Catholic), Hayner Memorial Public Library, Monticello Seminary, Old Women's Home, several National banks, and daily and weekly newspapers. Upper Alton is the seat of Shurtleff College (Baptist), and hurt stitute. Elijah P. Lovejoy, the abolitionist, was murdered at Alton by a mob in 1837. A monument to his memory Pop. (1910) erected in 1897. was 17,528; (1920) 24,682.
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Alton Locke
Tailor and Poet, a novel by Charles Kingsley, published in 1850. The doctrine of the story is altruism. Alton Locke proved effective in awakening the wealthy people of England to a realization of their responsibility toward the masses who are born into poverty. See Kingsley
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Altona
a city of Schleswig-Holstein, on the right bank of the Elbe river. Its boundary joins Hamburg on the east and it practically forms one city with Hamarg. It is an important trade center burg. and has many important industrial works, including cotton and woolen mills, iron foundries, glass works, breweries, etc. Pop. about 200,000.
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Altoona
a city in Blair co., Pa.; on the Pennsylvania and the Altoona, Clearfield and Northern railroads; 117 miles E. of Pittsburgh. It is at the E. base of the Allegheny Mountains, at an elevation of 1,180 feet above sealevel, where the railroad begins to ascend the mountains at a grade of 90 feet to the mile. The city contains extensive machine shops of the Pennsylvania railroad, large individual car works, rolling and planing mills, a hospital, two convents, a public library, general offices of the Pennsylvania railroad, and several National banks. Altoona is a mining, manufacturing, lumbering, and farming trade center for central Pennsylvania, and has had a rapid development. Pop. (1910) 52,127; (1920) 60,331.
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Altorf
or ALTDORF, a town of Switzerland, in the canton of Uri, near Lake Lucerne. A tower marks the spot where William Tell is said to have shot the apple from his son's head. The adjacent village of Burglen is Tell's traditional birthplace. Pop. about 4,000.
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Altsheler
JOSEPH ALEXAN- DER, an American writer, born in Three Springs, Ky., in 1862. He studied at Liberty College, Ky., and Vanderbilt University. After newspaper work on the staff of the Louisville "Courier-Journal," he joined the staff of the New York "World" in 1892, where he remained until his death. He was the author of many novels and stories. Among these are "A Soldier of Manhattan" (1897); "The Horsemen of the Plains" (1901); "The Border Watch" (1912); "The Forest of Swords" (1915); "The Hunters of the Hills" (1916); "The Rulers of the Lakes" (1917). He died in 1919.
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Alu-Demon
This Semitic demon owes his parentage to a human being; he hides himself in caverns and corners, and slinks through the streets at night. He also lies in wait for the unwary, and at night enters bed-chambers and terrorises folks, threatening to pounce upon them if they shut their eyes.
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Aluminium Alloys
Aluminium is alloyed with many metals, but the most important are those with copper. Lange & Sons have obtained a patent in the United States for an alloy consisting of ninety-five parts of aluminium and five of copper, which is malleable and is used for clock springs. An alloy of ten parts of aluminium and ninety of copper is hard but nevertheless ductile. It takes a high polish and somewhat resembles gold.
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Aluminium Bronze
This alloy contains from 6 to 10 per cent. of aluminium, and is prepared by fusing chemically-pure copper with aluminium. The standard bronze in use consists of ninety parts of copper to ten of aluminium. It gives sharp castings, is easier to work than steel, can be engraved, rolled into sheets or drawn into wire and when exposed to the air suffers less change than cast iron, steel, silver or brass. It can be soldered only with an aluminium alloy.
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