Weeks
JOHN WINGATE, an American public official, born in Lancaster, N. H., in 1860. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1881 until 1883 served as midshipman. and unti en- Resigning from the naval service, he ervice, he gaged in banking in Boston. He became active in politics and served as mayor of Newton, Mass., and as chairman of National Convention in the Republican Na 1904. He was elected to the 59th Congress and was re-elected up to and including the 62d Congress. In 1912 he was elected United States Senator, but was defeated for renomination in 1918. He was a member of many patriotic societies. He was appointed Secretary of War by President Harding in March, 1921.
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Wei-Hai-Wei
a port of north China, on the Shantung promontory; about 40 miles E. of Chefoo and 115 miles S. E. of Port Arthur. The harbor, about 18 miles in circumference, is deep, and is sheltered on the N. by the small island of Liu-Kung. The port, formerly a Chinese naval station, was captured by Japan in her war with China in 1895, the land forts being taken Jan. 30 and the island Feb. 7. Admiral Ting, who had supported the forts with the Chinese fleet, offered terms of surrender that were accepted, but he committed suicide, his example being followed by Commodore Liu and the commander of the military garrison, and the Japanese took possession of the fortifications. After destroying the land defenses they withdrew leaving a garrison on the island. Their occupation was only temporary. By a convention signed at Peking, July 1, 1898, Wei-hai-wei was leased to Great Britain as an offset to the concessions granted to Russia in the Liaotung peninsula, the period of occupation to be determined by that of Russia at Port Arthur. In 1905 when Japan took over the lease the British lease was made to run as long as the Japanese occupied Port Arthur.
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Weide
the most eminent of the old German lyric poets of the class of Minnesingers; born about 1170. His earliest patrons were Duke Leopold VI. of Austria and his son, Frederick. Subsequently he visited, for shorter and longer periods, the courts of most German princes, who were in favor of an imperial as against a papal policy. The Emperor Frederick II. provided him with a small estate near Würzburg, where he seems to have always retin retired when disgusted with traveling, the courts, and intrigues. He was a politician and reformer as well as a poet, and his verses breathe a liberalism far in advance of his times; while the subjects of his favorite love songs are noble women. He died in Würzburg, about 1230.
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Weights of Castings
To ascertain the weight of a casting in any of the various metals, obtain, first, the number of cubic inches contained in the casting, and then multiply that number by the weight of a cubic inch of the metal employed. For the weights of various metals, cubic inch and cubic foot, see WEIGHTS OF METALS.
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Weihaiwei
a district on the northeast coast of China directly south of Port Arthur . It has an area of about 285,000 square miles and 150,000 inhabitants. In 1898 China leased this district to Great Britain for so long a period as Russia shall remain in possession of Port Arthur. The territory includes an excellent harbor and the walled town Weihaiwei. Great Britain has the right to erect fortifications and to defend the territory. Otherwise Chinese administration is not to be interfered with. This station was acquired for the purpose of watching the Russians in Port Arthur. At the close of the Russo-Japanese war the Russians were forced to retire from Port Arthur, but nothing has been heard of returning Weihaiwei to China. It is about 1,200 miles distant from Hong Kong , the British center of Chinese trade. A considerable trade is carried on. See Hong Kong
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Weingartner
FELIX, an Austrian composer; born in Zara, Dalmatia, June 2, 1863. At Graz he studied under Dr. W. Mayer, and at Leipsic, in 1881, obtained a scholarship from the Austrian Government. At Franz Liszt's inbrought out at Weimar on March 23, stigation his opera, "Sakuntala," was 1884. From 1884 to 1889 he was conductor at Königsberg, Danzig, and Hamburg, and in 1891 was appointed court conductor at Berlin. In 1906 he made his ing the season 1912-1914 he conducted first visit to the United States, and durthe Wagnerian performances for the and many songs. Boston Opera Company. He composed several symphonic poems and operas, a town of France; in the province of Al- WEISSENBURG sace; at the foot of the Vosges Moun- (vi'sen-börg), Vol. X tains; on the Lauter; 34 miles N. N. E. of Strassburg. In the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871 a battle took place here on Aug. 4, 1870, the first important engagement between the two armies, in which the French were defeated. Pop. about 7,000.
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Welbeck Abbey
the seat of the Duke of Portland, in Nottinghamshire, England; 3 miles S. of Worksop. Occupying the site of an old Premonstratensian abbey, it came from "Bess of Hardwick" to her son Sir Charles Cavendish, the father of the 1st Duke of Newcastle, whose far-away heiress married in 1734 the 2d Duke of Portland. It stands in a park 10 miles in circumference, and is a stately Palladian edifice of mainly the 17th and 18th centuries, but was greatly enlarged about 1864 by the 5th duke, to whom it owes its semi-underground picture gallery, ballroom, and riding school, the last 385 feet long, 104 feet wide, and 51 feet high.
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Welles
GIDEON, an statesman; born in Glastonbury, Conn., July 1, 1802; studied law; and in 1826 became proprietor of the Hartford "Times." In 1861 he was appointed by President Lincoln Secretary of the Navy, and filled that office with marked success and credit during the whole of the Civil War. After his retirement he published his "Memoirs of the War" He died in Hartford, Conn., Feb. 11, 1878.
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Wellesley College
an American educational institution established in 1875 in the village of Wellesley, Mass., 15 miles S. W. of Boston. The institution is devoted entirely to the higher education of women. The institution is non-sectarian, and was founded by Henry F. Durant, of Boston. The reports for 1919 show: Professors and instructors, 192; students, 1,592; president Ellen F. Pendleton, LL. D.
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