Rock Island
a city in Rock Island co., Ill.; on the Mississippi river, and on the Burlington Route, the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul, Chicago, Burlington and Quincy, the Davenport, Rock Island and Northwestern, the Rock Island Southern, and the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific railroads; 80 miles N. W. of Peoria. Here the Mississippi is spanned by a railroad bridge which cost $1,300,000. The city derives its name from a beautiful island in the river, which belongs to the United States, and is used by the Federal government for a great central arsenal, a large armory and foundry. A dam across the river furnishes abundant water power. Before and during the Black Hawk War there were block-house forts on this island, and during the Civil War the prison here was the place of detention of many Confederate prisoners. The city contains waterworks, street railroad and electric light plants, Augustana College and Theological Seminary (Luth.), National and State banks, and daily and weekly newspapers. It has lumber mills, foundries, machine shops, manufactories of farming implements, soap, glass, stoves, etc. Pop. (1910) 24,335; (1920) 35,177.
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Rock of Chickamauga
a name applied to Gen. George H. Thomas, U. S. A., on account of his heroic stubbornness in holding his position at Chickamauga during the Civil War, in September, 1863. See THOMAS, GEORGE H.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Rock Pigeon
a pigeon that builds its nest in hollows or crevices of rocks and cliffs, especially the Columba livia.
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Rock River
a river of the United States, which rises in Wisconsin, 50 miles W. of Lake Michigan, and falls into the Mississippi 2 miles below Rock Island city; length, 330 miles, about 225 of which have been ascended by small steamboats.
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Rock Snake
a name sometimes given to any individual of the genus Python. Rock snakes are among the largest of living reptiles; specimens of 18 and 20 feet long have been brought to the United States. They kill their prey by constriction, and swallow it whole, commencing with the head.
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Rock Springs
a city of Wyoming, in Sweetwater co. It is on the Union Pacific railroad. In the neighborhood are important coal mines and it is also the center of an important farming and cattle raising region. The notable buildings include a State hospital, government building, public library, city hall, Elks' build ing and a Masonic Temple. Pop. (1910) 5,778; (1920) 6,456.
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Rock-crusher
A mill for breaking and crushing rocks; it may also be used for pulverizing quartz, gold or silver ores, plumbago, Portland cement, rosin, foundry facings, etc. Some of the machines used for this purpose will work either wet or dry, and deliver a finished product. Their capacity is 3 to 4 tons per hour on phosphate rock, 1 1/2 to 2 tons per hour on Portland cement, quartz, or ores, depending on hardness of material to be pulverized and fineness of product, and will grind from 30 to 250 mesh with equal facility. See SAND-PULVERIZER.
Only in The Encyclopedia of Founding
Rock-crystal
A common name for the finest and purest quartz or transparent, crystallized silica. The pebble lenses for spectacles, etc., are made from rock-crystal. See QUARTZ; SILICA.
Only in The Encyclopedia of Founding
Rock-sand
The name given to all moulding-sands obtained by pulverizing the rock; their value is regulated according to the durability they possess. The new red-sandstone is preferable for this purpose, as its nature is refractory, and it may by artificial means be made to answer nearly every description of mould. See FACING-SAND; CORE-SAND; etc.
Only in The Encyclopedia of Founding
Rockford
a city and county-seat of Winnebago co., Ill.; on the Rock river, and on the Illinois Central, the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul, the Burlington Route, the Chicago, Milwaukee and Gary, and the Chicago and Northwestern railroads; 85 miles W. of Chicago. Here are a United States Government building, es Rockford College, high school, business college, waterworks, electric lights, hospitals, sanitariums, public library, several veral National banks, and a number of daily and weekly periodicals. The city has extensive manufacturing interests, including large reaper factories, paper mills, flour mills, cotton and furniture factories, woolen mills, a large watch factory, and over 200 smaller factories. Pop. (1910) 45,401; (1920) 65,651.
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Rockford College
an institution for the higher education of women, founded at Rockford, Ill., in 1849. In 1919 there were 194 students and 30 instructors. President, W. A. Maddox, Ph.D.
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Rockhampton
a city of Queensland, Australia, situated on the Fitzroy river, 397 miles N. W. of Brisbane. It is centrally situated and is the commercial center of the province, forming the port to the Mount Morgan gold workings. It has several notable buildings and open places, with botanical gardens and a bridge 1,160 feet long spanning the river. The industries are varied, the chief having relation to the frozen meat trade. Pop. (1919) 20,915.
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Rockhill
WILLIAM WOOD- VILLE, an American diplomatist; born in Philadelphia, Pa., in 1854; entered the diplomatic service in 1884 as second secretary of legation at Peking, China; was chargé d'affaires at Seoul, Korea, in 1886- 1887; was appointed chief clerk of the State Department in 1893; was made third assistant secretary of State a year later; and first assistant in 1896. He was appointed director of the Bureau of American Republics in May, 1899. After the rescue of the foreign diplomats in Peking in 1900, and United States Minister Conger was granted leave of absence, Mr. Rockhill was appointed a special ambassador to conclude peace negotiations. He was minister to China until 1905. Minister to Russia 1909, and to Turkey 1911-1913. He wrote "A'Journey to the Eastern Parts of the World" (1903); "Treaties and Conquest; China and Korea" (1904); "Chau Ju-Kua" (1911). He died in 1914.
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Rocking Bar
The steel bar which carries the intermediate wheels in stem wind movements. Sometimes called the yoke.
Only in American Watchmaker and Jeweler
Rocking Stones
or LOGANS, large masses of rock so finely poised as to move backward and forward with the slightest impulse. They occur in nearly every country. Some of them appear to be natural, others artificial; the latter seem to have been formed by cutting away a mass of rock round the centerpoint of its base.
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Rocking-Stone
a rock resting on a rounded base so nicely that it may be rocked to and fro. Such stones are most apt to be found in a granite country. They are formed usually by the weathering away of the lower edges of a block in such a manner that the base becomes small and rounded. Sometimes they are stranded boulders brought down by a glacier and left on a table of rock when the ice receded. Rocking stones occur in all countries. The best known are in Great Britain and Ireland. One near Land's End , Cornwall, is computed to weigh seventy tons; yet it is easily set rocking by a single person. One on the island of Magee, Ireland, was believed by the peasantry to begin rocking gently on the approach of a person guilty of grievous crime. One in Argentina weighs, it is said, over 700 tons; yet it is poised so lightly that it rocks in a heavy wind. Yankee boys crack nuts under the edges of rocking stones.
Only in Aiton's Encyclopedia