Rainsford
WILLIAM STEPHEN, an American clergyman; born in Dublin, Ireland, Oct. 30, 1850; was graduated at St. John's College, Cambridge, England, in 1872; was curate of St. Giles' Church, Norwich, England, in 1873- 1876; made missionary tours in the United States and Canada; was assistant rector of St. James Cathedral, in Toronto, in 1878-1882; and became rector of St. George's Church, New York City, in 1888. His publications include "Sermons Preached in St. George's" and "The Church's Opportunity in the City of Today"; "Preacher's Story of his Work" (1901); "The Reasonableness of the Religion of Jesus" (1908). He did much to supply wholesome recreation for the young of both sexes in the vicinity of his church, who were without the means to secure it for themselves.
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Rainy Lake
a sheet of water forming a portion of the boundary line between Ontario and the United States, W., and 100 miles distant from the nearest point of Lake Superior, and about 50 miles long. It discharges by Rainy river into Lake of the Woods.
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Raisin
a dried grape. Two methods of drying are followed. Sun-raisins are cured by cutting the stalk of the ripened cluster partly through, and allowing the grapes to hang and dry in the sun before they are picked and packed in boxes for shipment. This is the old-world method. Spain, Asia Minor , and the islands of the Grecian Archipelago produce the finest raisins. Greece devotes 168,000 acres to raising a small seedless grape for raisins. Over 100,000 tons of these raisins are shipped annually. As these grapes were shipped mostly from Corinth they received the name "corinths," which became "currant," just as "Worcester" became "Wooster." California cures enormous quantities of raisins by drying the clusters on especially prepared floors. It is worth while to notice the markings on raisin boxes in groceries to learn where they have been produced. The importance of California raisins may be understood from the fact that while, in 1885, California produced a little over 9,000,000 pounds, and we imported over 53,000,000 pounds, in 1902 California produced 100,000,000, and we imported less than 7,000,000 pounds. See Grapes; Greece ; California
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Raisin River
a stream rising in Hillsdale co., Mich., and falling into Lake Erie, 2½ miles below Monroe, after a circuitous course of about 130 miles.
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Raisins
grapes dried in the sun. In the case of the best grapes the process is effected by cutting half through the fruit stalk without detaching it from the tree, or by gathering the grapes when fully ripe and dipping them in a lye made of the ashes of the burned tendrils, after which they are exposed to the sun, or they may be simply laid out to be desiccated. Inferior qualities are dried in an oven. Raisins are extensively produced in California. They are slightly refrigerant. In Europe and the United States they are used solely to sweeten preparations, in India they are given as medicine. They are an ingredient of compound tincture of cardamoms and tincture of senna.
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Rajah
or more correctly RÁJÁ, originally, a title which belonged to princes of Hindu race who, either as independent sovereigns or as feudatories, governed a territory. Now, however, the title is used of independent sovereigns, of subiect or "protected" princes, of petty chiefs, of great landowners, and of some persons of eminence who are neither rulers nor landowners. RAJAMAHENDRI (formerly often spelt Rajahmundry), a town of India, in the presidency of Madras; on the left bank of the Godavari, 30 miles from its mouth. It has a museum, a provincial school, two jails, and some Christian churches. From 1753 to 1758 it was held by the French.
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Rajmahal
a decayed town of India; on a steep eminence on the right bank of the Ganges; 170 miles N. N. W. of Calcutta. It was long the chief town of the Bengal and Bahar provinces, but is now deserted and ruinous, being only noteworthy for the remains of its palaces, formerly belonging to Shah Shuja and Kasim Ali, and as a station in an important transit trade. The population consists largely of hillmen or "Paharias." Pop. Pop. (1920) about 75,000.
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Rajputana
an administrative territory of India. It lies between Sind on the W., the Punjab on the N., the Northwestern provinces on the E., and several native states of central India on the S. Its total area is 132,461 square miles, and its total pop. about 11 11,000,000. The most important of the native states is Jaipur, pop. 137,000. It gets its name from the ruling race of predominant Aryan tribes, called Rajputs. They are a proud aristocracy, own the soil, and have furnished ruling dynasties to very many of the native states in India. At the time of the Mohammedan invasions 11th century the Rajputs ruled in the dozen strong statesover half a Kanauj, Ajmere, Anhilwara, Udaipur, and Jaipur. From the end of the 16th to the middle of the 18th century these states acknowledged the supremacy of the Mogul Emperor of Delhi. Then they were made to recognize the Mahrattas as their masters; since the Mahrattas were crushed by the British the Rajput states are independent allies.
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Rakoczy March
a simple but grand military air by an unknown composer, dating from the end of the 17th century. The Hungarians adopted it as their national march. The air most generally known out of Hungary as the Rakoczy march is one by Berlioz in his "Damnation of Faust"; Liszt also wrote an orchestral version of the original.
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Rakshasas
in Hindu mythology, a class of evil spirits or genii, cruel monsters, frequenting cemeteries, devouring human beings, and assuming any shape at pleasure. They are generally hideous, but some, especially the females, allure by their beauty.
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Rale
in pathology, a noise or crepitation caused by the air passing through mucus in the bronchial tubes or lungs.
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Rallentando
in music, a direction that the time of the passage over which it is written is to be gradually decreased.
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Ralph
JULIAN, an American journalist; born in New York, May 27, 1853. He was connected with the New York "Sun" (1875-1895); the New York "Journal" (1896); the London "Daily Mail" (1899). His publications include: "On Canada's Frontier"; "Our Great West"; "People We Pass"; "Alone in China, and Other Stories"; "An Angel in a Web"; "War's Brighter Side"; etc. He died Jan. 20, 1903.
JAMES, an English poet; born in Philadelphia, Pa., about 1695. He went to England in 1725 with Benjamin Franklin, and was unsuccessful in his first efforts to win public favor. His poem on "Night" (1728) was ridiculed by Pope in his "Dunciad"; but his continuation of Guthrie's "History of England" (1744-1746) won public praise. He died in Chiswick, England, Jan. 25, 1762.
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