Sterling
Sterling names 5 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below.
Sterling YATES, an American naval officer
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
YATES, an American naval officer, born in Baltimore, Md., in 1843. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1863, became an ensign in the same year, and rose through the various grades to the rank of rear-admiral in 1902. During the Civil War he served with the North Atlantic blockading squadron, and participated in both attacks on Fort Fisher. Besides being at various times in command of various ships in the United States Navy, he saw service with the Hydrographic Off Office, at the Washington Navy Yard, with the Lighthouse Board, at the naval station at San Juan, P. R., at the navy yard, Puget Sound, and with the Asiatic Fleet, of which he was commander-in-chief from 1904 to 1905. In the latter year, upon reaching the legal age limit, he was retired.
Sterling THOMAS, a United States Senator from South Dakota
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
THOMAS, a United States Senator from South Dakota; born in Fairfield, Ohio, in 1851. He graduated from the Illinois Wesleyan University in 1875. In 1878 he was admitted to the bar and removed to South Dakota in 1882. From 1901 to 1911 he was dean of the College of Law at the University of South Dakota. He was district attorney of Spink co. from 1887 to 1889; a member of the South Dakota Constitution Convention, Convention, and a member of the first State Senate in 1890. He was twice elected to the United States Senate, the last time for the term ending 1925.
Sterling GEORGE, an American author
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
GEORGE, an American author, born in Sag Harbor, N. Y., in 1869. He was educated in the private and public schools and at St. Charles College, Ellicott City, Md. He wrote "The Testimony of the Suns and Other Poems" (1903); "A Wine of Wizardry and Other Poems" (1908); "The House of Orchids and Other Poems" (1911); "Beyond the Breakers and Other Poems" (1914); "Exposition Ode" (1915); "Yosemite" (1915); "The Caged Eagle and Other Poems" (1916); "The Binding of the Beast and Other Poems" (1917); "Lilith," dramatic poem a (1919).
Sterling a city in Illinois
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a city in Illinois, in Whiteside co. It is on the Rock river, the Hennepin canal, and the Chicago and Northwestern and the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy railroads. Its industries include the manufacture of hardware, agricultural implements, gasoline engines, canned goods, paper, machineshop products, etc. There is a public hospital and a library. Pop. (1910) 7,467; (1920) 8,182.
Sterling originally a substantive
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
originally a substantive, "a coin of true weight," as applied at first to the English penny, then to all current coin. The adjective is now used of all the money of the United Kingdom, and has long been a synonym for pure and genuine.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Of the people Collier's listed in 1921, all were near the end of their stories: George Sterling, then a celebrated San Francisco poet, died in 1926 at the Bohemian Club, and his once-praised "A Wine of Wizardry" is now read mainly by students of Ambrose Bierce and Jack London's circle rather than as living verse. Senator Thomas Sterling did serve out the term ending 1925 that Collier's anticipated, but was defeated for re-election and never returned to the Senate. The Illinois city of 8,182 people has grown to roughly 15,000, though the heavy metal-working trades that once defined it, above all the big Sterling steel and wire works, have largely gone. The word itself has outlasted the coin it described: Britain's decimalisation in 1971 swept away the old penny and shilling of "the money of the United Kingdom," yet the pound is still called sterling, and "sterling silver" still means the 92.5 per cent standard.
Written for this edition, 2026.