Oatmeal
panic-grass; a plant of the genus Panicum. Also the meal of the oat deprived of its husk. It is one of the most important and valuable articles of food, containing a greater proportion of proteine compounds than the finest wheaten flour. An analysis of a sample of oatmeal gave 13 per cent. of nitrogenous material, 60-70 per cent. of heat givers, and 3 per cent. of mineral matter. OAXACA. See OAJACA. OB, or OBI, the great river of western Siberia, rising in two branches, the Biya and the Katun (both of which have their origin in the Altai Mountains, within the frontier of the Chinese dominions) and flowing N. W. and N. for 2,300 miles to the great Gulf of Ob in the Arctic Ocean. Its chief tributaries are the Irtish, Tcharysh, Tom, and Tchulym, all navigable. On the banks of the Ob are Barnaul, Tomsk, and Narym. At present only a few steamers ply on the great water-system of the Ob, which nevertheless seems destined to become a great commercial thoroughfare.
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Obadiah
the name of various persons mentioned in the Old Testament. Also the fourth of the minor prophetic books.
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Obaldia
JOSÉ DOMINGO, sometime President of Panama; born at David, province of Chiriqui, 1845, son of a former president of Colombia. Educated at College of Bogota. Elected to Colombian Congr Congress, 1900. A Senator in 1902, he was the only member of the House to favor ratification of the Hay- Herran Treaty, resigned, and was soon appointed Governor of province of Panama. Joined the revolution of 1903, and became second Vice-President of the new Panama Republic. Minister to United States, and member of governing board Pan-American Union, 1906. President of Panama, 1908. Served capably until his death in 1910.
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Oban
a fashionable watering-place of Argyllshire, Scotland, 84 miles W. N. W. of Stirling, and 136 of Edinburgh. It is the great tourist headquarters of the West Highlands. Objects of interest are the picturesque ruins of Dunolly and Dunstaffnage Castles, and a prehistoric cave-dwelling, discovered in 1890. Pop. (1916) 5,600.
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Obeah
(See West Indian Islands .)
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Obeid
EL, capital of Kordofan, in the Sudan, 220 miles S. W. of Khartum. It consists of a number of villages, originally separate and inhabited by distinct races, but now joined together into one town. Gum-arabic, ivory, gold, and ostrich feathers are the chief articles of trade. Near this place, in 1883, a force of Egyptians under Hicks Pasha, with an English staff, was exterminated by a large army of the Mahdi.
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Ober
FREDERICK ALBION, an American ornithologist, traveler, and author; born in Beverly, Mass., Feb. 13, 1849. He traveled extensively in Florida, the West Indies, Mexico, Spain, North Africa, and South America, and wrote: "Camps in the Caribbees" (1880); "The Silver City" (1883); "Young Folks' History of Mexico" (1883); "Montezuma's Gold Mines" (1887); "In the Wake of Columbus" (1893); "Knockabout Club Series," "Under the Cuban Flag" (1896); "My Spanish Sweetheart" (1897); "The Cacique's Treasure Cave" (1901); "Heroes of American History," 12 vols. (1907). He died in 1916. OBER-AMMERGAU. See AMMERGAU, OBER and UNTER.
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Oberammergau
a village in the district of Ammergau on the river Ammer in upper Bavaria. Its inhabitants are an industrious people, occupied largely with the making of crucifixes, figures of saints, and toys. The village is noted for its presentation once in ten years of the Passion Play .
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Oberhausen
a city of Prussia in the Rhine province, on the right bank of the Rhine. Prior to the World War it had important industries, including iron foundries, rolling mills, chemical works, etc. In the neighborhood are important mines of coal, iron, and zinc. Pop. about 90,000.
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Oberlin
a town in Lorain co., O.; on the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern railroad; 34 miles W. S. W. of Cleveland. Here are the well-known Oberlin College, a school of telegraphy, business college, conservatory of music, National and State banks, electric lights, public and college libraries, and weekly and monthly periodicals.
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Oberon
o'be-ron, in medieval mythology, the king of the fairies. He appears in the legends of King Arthur, where he is represented as the son of Morgan le Fay. Shakespeare introduces Oberon into his comedy, A Midsummer Night's Dream .
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Obi
o'be, a great river of western Siberia. Its sources lie in the Altai Mountains. The general course is northerly. It empties into the Gulf of Obi. Its lower course is frozen solid during the winter season. The Obi drains a basin of 920,000 square miles. In this respect it is the fifth river in the world. With its branches it has 9,000 miles of navigable waters. Though there are but few steamers at present, geographers expect that the river will one day be of commercial importance, and that the valley will become one of the great food-producing regions of the world.
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Oboe
a wind instrument of the reed kind, which at a very early date took its place as one of the essential instruments of the orchestra. It consists of a tube, made of box, ebony, or cocoawood, about 21 inches long, narrow at the top, but gradually widening toward the lower end or bell, and divided into three pieces or joints. In the upper and middle ends are holes, by stopping or opening which with the fingers, the natural scale is formed, the intermediate semitones being produced by means of the keys, of which some hautboys have but two, while others have 15, and more. Its range of available notes extends from B to Gin alto. The tone of the hautboy is rich and sweet. This term is also given by organ builders to a reed stop similar in shape and sound to the real hautboy.
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Obongo
or ABONGO, a tribe of pigmies who live in different parts of French Kongo in west Africa. They are between four and five feet in height, are of a brown color, and have bushy hair which grows over their bodies as well as their heads. They are nomadic, follow fishing and hunting, and build conical grass huts. Mexican
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Obregon
ALVARO, a general, born in 1880 in the state of Sonora. After he had obtained a scientific education he began his career as a successful farmer in 1902. In 1912 he recruited a force of Yaqui Indians and assisted Madero in gaining control of Mexico. His sympathy with the peons led him to espouse the cause of Carranza against Huerta in 1913, and again with Carranza against Villa in 1915. During these wars Obregon forged to the front as the ablest leader of the Constitutionalist armies, and due to his generalship Villa was defeated and forced into flight as an outlaw. After 1915 he co-operated with Carranza in his effort to pacify Mexico, and finally became a candidate for the Presidency of Mexico to succeed Carranza. Charging that the President was using unfair methods to defeat him in favor of his own candidate, Obregon revolted, and in May, 1920, drove Carranza from the capital. He was elected President of Mexico in October and inaugurated in December, 1920.
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