Maestricht
the capi tal of the Dutch province of Limburg, 19 miles N. N. E. of Liége, situated on the left bank of the Meuse, a stone bridge (1683) connecting it with the suburb of Wijk; formerly an important fortress, it is still a garrison town, but the tions were dismantled in 1871-1878; the fortificatown hall, with spire and carillon (1662), contains many paintings and a library; and in the three-towered church of St., Servatius (12th-14th century), the cathedral once, is a "Descent from the Cross," by Van Dyck. But Maestricht's great sight is the subterranean quarries of the Pietersberg, formerly called Mons Hunnorum (Mount of the Huns, 330 feet). Their labyrinthine passages, 12 feet wide, and 20 to 50 feet high, number 16,000, and extend over an area of 13 by 6 miles. They are supposed to have been worked first by the Romans, and, among other fossils, have yielded two heads of the huge MOSASAURUS (q. v.). The manufactures include glass, earthenware, and carpets; and the trade is considerable. Maestricht, called by the Romans Trajectum ad Mosam to distinguish it from Trajectum ad Rhenum (Utrecht), was six times besieged between 1579 and 1814, and in 1830 was the only town that withstood the insurgent Belgians. Pop. about 40,000.
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Maeterlinck
MAURICE, a Belgian poet and essayist; born in Ghent, in 1862. After spending some years in a Jesuit school, where he studied philosophy and law, he became a barrister in 1887, but did not actually practice the profession, and in 1896 settled in Paris and gave himself up to writing. He produced many plays of great significance. These are chiefly symbolic and are possessed of great poetic and dramatic value. Among them are "La Princesse Maleine" (1889); "Pelléas and Mélisande" (1892); "Sister Beatrice" (1899); "Monna Vanna" (1902); "The Blue Bird" (1909); and "Marie Magdeleine" (1910). "The Blue Bird" became immensely popular in English translation and was played successfully throughout the United States. Maeterlinck also wrote a series of essays bearing on his philosophy of life. These include "Treasure of the Humble" (1896); "Wisdom and Destiny" (1898). "Life of the Bee," in 1902, was one of his most widely known productions. In 1913 he published "La Mort," an interpretation of his philosophy of death. In 1911 Maeterlinck was awarded the Nobel Prize for literatung Dunin tive part in relief measures in Belgium and wrote much and vividly against German cruelties and misrule. In 1920 he AM 798 MAURICE MAETERLINCK visited the United States and gave a series of lectures.
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Magalhaes
FERDINAND (mä-gäl- 189 FERDINAND MAGELLAN yä'ens), a celebrated Portuguese navigator; born in Saboroso, Portugal, about 1480. In 1520 he discovered and passed the straits which have since been called by his name and was the first to circumnavigate the world. His services not being valued by his own country, he offered them to Charles V. of Spain, who intrusted him with a fleet destined to attempt a W. passage to the Moluccas; hence his discovery. He was slain in a skirmish with the natives on Mactan, one of the Philippine Islands, April 27, 1521.
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Magallanes
the southernmost province of Chile, including all the islands located along the western and southern coasts. Most of the settlers live in Punta Arenas on the Strait of Magellan. Area 75,000 square miles; pop. 23,000.
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Magazine
. See Periodical
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Magdala
a hill-fortress and small town of ABYSSINIA (q. v.), 300 miles S. of Annesley Bay, on the Red Sea, perched on a plateau 9,110 feet above sea-level. It was the place of captivity of the British prisoners for whose rescue an expedition was sent cut under Sir Robert Napier (Lord Napier of Magdala); and on April 13, 1868, the town was burned and its defenses destroyed.
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Magdalen College
a famous Oxford College founded in 1848 as St. Magdalen Hall and College of St. Mary Magdalen in 1458 by William of Wayneflete. Magdalen College, a school in connection with the college preparing for the college and university, was founded in 1480. Wayneflete established four professorships: moral and metaphysical philosophy, chemistry, physics, and pure mathematics. The college buildings, among the most beautiful in England, dating from 1475, stand among extensive grounds containing a deer park. Magdalen is is rich in historic associations. The attempt of James II. to fcrce a Roman Catholic president on the college was one of the causes for his downfall.
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Magdalen Islands
a small group near the center of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, 54 miles N. W. of Cape Breton Island. The largest is Coffin's Island. The people are supported by by the lobster, cod, herring herring , and seal fisheries.
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Magdalena
South America, northernmost province of Colombia, bounded by the Caribbean Sea, Venezuela, and the provinces of Santander and Bolivar. Area is 20,463 square miles, and many tropical products are grown, including coffee, sugar, cacao, hardwoods, etc. Pop. about 150,000, of which 40,000 are barbarian Indians.
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Magdalena
the principal river of Colombia, rising in the Central Cordillera, lat. about 2° N., and only 8 miles from the source of the Cauca. These streams flow N. on either side of the Cordillera, uniting about 130 miles from the sea. The Magdalena, which ends in a large delta, is closed to sea-going vessels by a bar with dangerous shifting sands; merchandise is conveyed by a railway (18 miles) from Barranquilla to Puerto Colombia, the shipping port, where a pier has been built. The river is navigable to Honda, 500 miles, where the rapids begin; above these it has been navigated by a German steamer to Neiva since 1875, and a railway (20 miles) alongside the rapids connects the upper and lower sections. The Magdalena's drainage area is calculated at 92,900 square miles.
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Magdalena Bay
a seaport of Mexico, located in Lower California on the Pacific coast. It possesses one of the best natural harbors on the whole Pacific coast. A rumor that a Japanese warship had entered the harbor in 1913 with a view to securing the port for Japanese interests caused the United States Senate in 1913 to declare such an action would be a violation of the Monroe Doctrine.
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