{ "system": "GoGuides Verified Text", "api_version": "verified-text-v1", "status": "ok", "response_type": "verified_text_record", "source_key": "britannica_1926", "source_title": "Encyclopaedia Britannica (1926)", "license_code": "public_domain", "attribution": null, "license_url": null, "chunk_id": "1926:nitrogen fixation of:5216792ff809", "title": "NITROGEN, FIXATION OF", "section": null, "hash_alg": "sha256", "hash_sha256": "a1a6f955ac7b22620291a3c8f715cf4328415bb212ba82c6e06fa75498bb8246", "normalizer": { "name": "ggnorm", "version": "1.0" }, "verified_text": "extensive develop- ments in the fixation of atmospheric nitrogen have taken place in the period under review, the war serving as a primary cause and fertiliser requirements continuing the need of production. the older process of heating air to temperatures over 2,000° in order to obtain oxides of nitrogen has been definitely overhauled by the synthetic production of ammonia by direct union of nitrogen and hydrogen in presence of a catalyst, many technical difficulties in dealing with gases at fairly high temperatures and decidedly high pressures having been overcome. the energy required in effecting combination of nitrogen and oxygen at the temperature of the electric arc is very high and as the yield is always below that theoretically obtainable, it is unlikely that the process can be exploited economically except where water- power can be obtained at a very low cost. direct synthesis of ammonia. (q.v.).—in these processes, a mixture of r volume of nitrogen and 3 volumes of hydrogen is compressed and the reaction, no+3h»*>2nhs, brought about by sending the gas over a heated catalyst. the reaction is driven from left to right by increase of pressure, whilst increase of temperature sends it from right to left. the ammonia produced (s to over 20%) is subsequently condensed as anhydrous liquid or absorbed in water. . haber-bosch process ——the haber-bosch process, worked by the badische anilin-und soda-fabrik, 1s carried out at about 200 atmospheres and a catalysis temperature of about 500°. according to waeser (luftstickstoffindustrie, 1922, p. 364), 4 three-stage compressor is used and the reaction is carried out in tubular vessels (the autoclave shape having been abandoned) 1under the anglo-abyssinian treaty of may 15 1902 the emperor menelik undertook not to construct or allow to be constructed any work across the blue nile, lake tsana or the sobat which would arrest the how of their waters into the nile except in agreement with the british and sudan governments. an agreement between great britain, france and italy, signed on dec. 13 1906, provided for the co-operation of the three powers in maintaining the polit- ical and territorial status quo in abyssinia as determined by the series of previous agreements, including the anglo-abyssinian treaty referred to above. the recently concluded exchange of notes between the british and italian governments provides for mutual support in connection with british rights and interests in the nile waters, and italian rights and interests in railway construction as defined in the tripartite agreement of 1906. : 1080 constructed of special steel. the heating of the incoming mix- ture is effected, once the operation is started, by the heat of the outgoing gases, the reaction proceeding exothermically. the gases leave the catalyst with an average ammonia content of 10%, and after thorough cooling are brought in contact with water under pressure. a 20-25% ammonia solution is thus pro- duced whilst the issuing mixture of nitrogen and hydrogen is mixed with the fresh supply and returned to the catalyst plant. the other processes for effecting the synthesis of ammonia also depend on heating a stoichiometric mixture of the reacting ele- ments with a catalyst under pressure. american process-——the american process of the general chemical co. works at approximately too atmospheres, the lower pressure being possible owing to the use of a very active catalyst. the removal of the ammonia is effected by liquefac- tion at —40°, this low temperature being necessitated by the small concentration of ammonia resulting at the low pressure of 100 atmospheres. claude process —on the other hand, claude uses pressures of 600 to 1,000 atmospheres. this displaces the equilibrium so far in the direction of ammonia formation that it is possible to use higher temperatures at which catalysts are more active and less sensitive to poisoning. thus, with a comparatively poor cata- lyst, concentrations of over 20% can be attained and on cooling the issuing gases, the ammonia is for the greater part liquefied and may be removed in the anhydrous condition. no special refrigeration is required as in the american process. with the large concentration of ammonia obtained, con- verters can be used in series, the ammonia being liquefied and removed after each passage and the residual gas rejected. a combination of series and circulating systems has been used, the gases from the high stage compressors being passed through two converters in series and ammonia removed after each exit. the residual gas from the second condensation is then returned to an intermediate compressing stage where it is mixed with fresh gas. casale process ——in the process of casale, pressures of 300 to 600 atmospheres are employed and a circulating system is adopted. again, the ammonia is removed by cooling and con- sequent liquefaction. the process adopted in england appears to be an adaptation of that of haber. the mixture of 1 volume of nitrogen and 3 volumes of hydrogen is obtained in one of two different ways. in the first of these, the initial materials are coke, water and air; in the second, nitrogen, isolated from the air, is mixed with electrolytic hydrogen. when the cost of electrical energy is sufficiently low, the latter process is preferable as the hydrogen is practically free from impurities. heater gas.—the first process (bosch) utilises a mixture of water- as and producer-gas. water-gas is made in the usual manner. air is blown through a generator containing a coke fire, the air 1s shut off and steam blown through, the reaction c-+h.0 =co+h; then taking place. the mixture obtained in practice contains about 50°% of hydrogen and 42 to 45% of carbon monoxide, the small balance being chiefly carbon dioxide and nitrogen. preducer-gas.—producer-gas, obtained from air and coke, contains hy, 5-15; no, 65-50; co, 20-30; coz, ch, etc., 5-10 percent. by mtx- ing these gases in suitable proportions one may obtain a gas with 22-23% nitrogen and a combined percentage of hydrogen and car- bon monoxide rather over three times this amount. by passing this mixture with an excess of steam through a heated converter con- taining a catalyst, most of the carbon monoxide is oxidised to dioxide and an equivalent of hydrogen liberated. co+h,0=co2+1:. the reaction is not complete; the resulting mixture contains about 17 % of nitrogen, 52 % of hydrogen, 27 to 29 % of carbon dioxide and 2 to 4% of carbon monoxide, together with small amounts of argon, methane, etc. the carbon dioxide may be reduced to 0.1 to 1% b water scrubbing under pressure, and the remainder by washing with cold alkali solution. removal of carbon monoxide and residual sul- phur compounds is essential since they are catalyst poisons; for the ues) a solution of cuprous ammonium carbonate (or formate) can e used. treatment of the gases with ammonia is also employed (e.g., synthetic ammonia and nitrates ltd., slade and parkes, brit. pat. 240350; casale, brit, pat. 231417) whilst de jahn states that scrub- bing with liquid ammonia usually renders further purification un- necessary (brit, pat. 251789). finally moisture must be removed, the greater amount by refrigeration, the remainder by a drying agent. in the alternative process of mixing nitrogen with electrolytic nitti hydrogen, the former can be obtained by liquefaction of air and fractional distillation. the claude plant at muscle shoals is stated to give nitrogen of 99.995% purity. electrolytic hydrogen is ob- tained by electrolytic processes described in the article electro- ciiemistry. catalysts, etc.—catalysts (q.v.) for the reaction between nitrogen and hydrogen are usually of iron with a basic oxide as promoter, the latter being introduced on fusion. a suitable electric furnace is described by larson (j. ind. and eng. chem., 17,1925, 971). apparently a ferrite is formed during fusion and synthetic ammonia and nitrates, ltd. (brit. pat. 237394) claim the preparation of calcium ferrite from iron oxide and lime in the electric furnace which gives a more active catalyst on sub- sequent reduction. a low temperature method of catalyst pro- duction is suggested by technical research works (ltd.) and lush, pure iron being anodically oxidised in an alkaline carbon- ate solution (brit. pat. 241278). ammonia from nitrides, cyanides and cyanamide in the serpek process, ammonia is obtained by the reaction between aluminium nitride, ain, and caustic soda. peacock proposes to heat aluminium hydride with nitrogen above 400°, so obtaining aluminium nitride and ammonia (u.s.p. 1,§21,- 708). the biicher process, employing synthetic sodium cyanide, has been operated by the du pont company. a description of their plant, which utilises soda-pulp mill ‘‘ black liquor ”’ as the source of the necessary soda and carbon, is given by chickering (chem. and met. eng., 1924). nitrates and nitrites—the production of oxides of nitrogen from air (n2+0.452no) at the temperature of the electric arc is only economical with cheap and plentiful electric energy. where water-power is not available, it is cheaper to prepare oxides of nitrogen by the combustion of ammonia, a process in which great improvements have been effected. the reaction, 4nh3-+50.554no+6h.0, can be brought about on platinum gauze; other catalysts, e.g., activated iron oxide, may also be used. the subsequent oxidation of the nitric oxide to nitric acid, nitrates and nitrites follows the lines adopted in the case of arc processes. (see 19.714.) the collection of nitrogen per- oxide as a liquid and absorption of oxides of nitrogen by silica gel are notable developments. (see perley, j. ind. and eng. chem., 17, 1925, 258.) brsltiography.— physical and chemical data of nitrogen fixa- tion (stationery office, london 1918); report of the nitrogen prod- ucts commitiee (stationery office, london 1919); h. c. greenwood, industrial gases (1920); e. b. maxted, ammonia and the nitrides (1921); j. p. partington and l. h. parker, the nitrogen industry (1922); report on the fixation and utilisation of nitrogen (wash- ington 1922); b. waeser, die luftstickstoffindustrie (leipzig 1922); badische anilin- und soda-fabrik, published by that vi ee a nitti, francesco saverio (1868- ), italian states- man, was born at melfi (potenza). he had already become known as a barrister and as professor of financial science at the university of naples when he entered parliament in 1904. he made his reputation as an authority on economic and financial questions, and was minister of agriculture, industry and trade in the giolitti cabinet of 1911-4. when the united states entered the world war in 1917, he was entrusted with an economic mission to that country, and certain of his utterances and acts in this connection were severely criticised. he became minister of the treasury in the orlando cabinet from oct. 1917 to jan. 1919. on the fall of the orlando ministry, which he helped to bring about, he succeeded as premier, but his administration was exaggeratedly timid, and he allowed the socialists and communists practically a free hand in their acts of criminal violence. in his reaction against what he regarded as the war spirit he was closely associated with the policy of svalutamento of italy’s victory and of renouncing the fruits of it. he was determined to secure the support of the socialists and the popolari at all costs, and dared not resist the wave of bolshevik madness with which a part of the population was affected, and which he believed stronger than it actually was. he enacted a series of demagogic financial measures and refused to suppress nivelle—norfolk the costly bread subsidy, thereby increasing the budget deficit by several milliards. nitti’s adoption of the system of proportional representation resulted in an important increase in the socialist and popolari deputies at the elections of nov. 1919, but he failed to conciliate either group. the indignation aroused by his weakness in deal- ing with the epidemic of revolutionary strikes and disorders, his contemptuous treatment of the army, his decree amnestying deserters and his failure to effect asettlement of the adriatic prob- lem, seriously weakened his position, and he felt forced to resign on march 12 1920. but no other statesman being willing to assume the succession, he reconstructed his cabinet; defeated in the chamber after the san remo meeting of the supreme council pre- sided over by him, to prepare the peace with turkey, he resigned a second time but reconstructed his cabinet. the arrest ordered by him of the dalmatians and fiumani in rome provoked further irritation, and while he at first reduced the bread subsidy for financial reasons, he revoked the decree immediately afterward from fear of the socialist menaces, and resigned for the last time on june 9g 1920, leaving the door open for giolitti’s return. on retiring from office he returned to journalism and business. in parliament he opposed giolitti, but was still more hostile to the fascists. he was re-clected in 1tg21, but did not stand in the 1924 elections held under mussolini’s auspices. he was par- ticularly hated by the fascists for his anti-patriotic and dema- gozic policy, and his house in rome was broken into by a band of fascist hotheads and some of the furniture wrecked. he sub- sequently went abroad to lecture and write in the foreign press on political affairs, attacking both the fascist govt. of italy and the peace treaties. nitti wrote severai books on economic questions, including one entitled nord e sud (1900), dealing with what he regards as the unfair treitment of south italy by the wealthier north, and litzlia all? alba del secolo xx. (1901). among his other works, the following have been translated into english: l’ europa senza pace (eng. tr. 1922); la decadenza dell’ europa (ing. tr., 1923); la tragedia del? europa (eng. tr., they make a desert, 1924). in 1925 kis son vincenzo nitti published a vindication of his father’s policy, l’opera di nutit. (l. v.*) _ nivelle, robert george (1856-1924), french soldier, was born oct. 15 1856 at tulle, correze. he entered the poly- technic in 1876 and left two years later to join the artillery. he became a licutenant on oct. 1 1880 and a captain on july 12 1887; with this rank he took part in the chinese expedition of 1900. the greater part of his later career was spent in algiers, where he was appointed commander of a battalion on july 12 1901 and lieutenant-colonel on sept. 24 1908. when the world war broke out he had been a colonel since 1911, was an officer of the legion of honour and commanded the 5th artillery at besancon. with the vii. corps he took part in the alsace engagements and the battle of the ourcq. appointed a general of brigade on oct. 24 1914, he fought successfully on the aisne, and in jan. 1915 took a prominent part in the attack on quesnevicres. on dec. 23 1915 he was placed at the head of the iil. corps, and in march 1916 was sent to verdun, where after some remarkable fighting he suc- ceeded in checking the crown prince’s first attack. on may 2 he succeeded gencral petain in the command of the ii. army, and definitely held the enemy before that glorious citadel. it was he who, in orders which have become famous, made the unforgettable declaration: “‘ ils ne passeront pas.” on march 12 1916 he succeeded general joffre as commander-in-chief of the armies of the north and north-east. in conjunction with the british armies he prepared the great offensive of april 16 between soissons and auberive, which, however, was not entirely success- ful. after this semi-defeat he was replaced by general petain in the command of the french armies. on may 15 1017 he was appointed commander of the armies “‘ charge de mission,” and on dec. 23 r917 took over the french troops in north africa. on oct. 14 1918 general nivelle was confirmed in his com- mand despite the rules of superannuation, and on jan. 30 1920 was nominated a member of the supreme war council. on io8i march 5 1920 he gave up the command of the xtx. corps, and in nov. 1920 he was ordered to represent france in the united states at the tercentenary of the arrival of the ‘‘ mayflower ”’ which had in 1620 carried the pilgrim fathers to new england. he afterwards visited the southern and western cities of the united states. ife was placed on the retired list on oct. 11 1921; he held the grand cross of the legion of honour and had received the medaille militaire and died suddenly of double pneumonia on march 23 1924. (m. gu.) noble, sir andrew, (1832-10915), british physicist (see 19.730), died at ardkinglas, argyllshire, oct. 22 1915. nogi, maresuke, count (1849-10912), japanese general (see 19.733). asa sign of their devotion he and countess nogi committed suicide on sept. 13 1912 when the state funeral of the emperor mutsuhito was taking place. their memory is deified in the nogi shrine in kyoto. noguchi, hideyo (1876- ), japanese bacteriologist, was born in inawashiro, yama, fukushima, japan, nov. 24 1876. he received the degree of m.d. in 1897 from the tokyo medical college and subsequently did post-graduate work in the united states and europe, becoming connected with the rockefeller institute for medical research in new yorkin 1904. he wasthe first to obtain pure cultures of the spirochete of syphilis and to establish the syphilitic nature of general paralysis and fabes dorsalis by demonstrating the organism in the cells of the central nervous system of persons dying of these diseases. he has done considerable work on the analysis of the wassermann reaction for the diagnosis of syphilis and has devised askin test for syphi- lis and a method for the detection of syphilitic and other patho- logical conditions in the spinal fluid. one of the first to recognize the germicidal properties of certain compounds of unsaturated fatty acids for acid-fast micro-organisms, e.g., the tubercle bacil- lus, he discovered the parasite of ycllow fever in 1918 and pre- pared a prophylactic vaccine and a curative serum for com- bating this disease. he has isolated the parasite of oroya fever and verruga peruviana. his published works include suake venoms (1909) serum diagnosis of syphilis and luetin reaction (1910) and laboratory diagnosis of syphilis (1923). nordau, max simon (1849-1923), german author and philosopher (sce 19.739), published biologie der ethik in 1921. he diced in paris jan. 22 1923. nordica, lilian (1859-1914), american operatic singer (sce 19.741), died in batavia, java, may 10 1914. norfclk, henry fitzalan howard, 15th duke of (1847-10917), british statesman (see 19.744), died in london feb. 11 1917. he was succeeded by the son of his second mar- riage, bernard marmaduke fitzalan hloward (b. 1908). norfolk, virginia (see 19.747), had a period of intoxi- cating prosperity during the world war, due at first to heavy shipments of orders for the allics, and after 1917 to the estab- lishment by the federal govt. of the army supply base (at a cost of $25,000,000) and the hampton roads naval operating base. after the war, with the closing down of the army base, the transfer of the flect to the pacific coast, and the reduction of the naval training station to a skeleton organisation, the defla- tion was severe, but the following years saw foundations laid for a healthy commercial and industrial development. on jan. 1 1g19, the charter of 1918, which established the commission manager form of government, came into effect. within the next five years the city invested $6,000,000 in a water supply system which is expected to meet all needs for 50 years; leased the army base piers from the federal govt. and created a port commission; built a municipal grain elevator and a city market; protected the milk supply; reorganised the police force and the fire department; established a juvenile and domes- lic relutions court and a detention home; enlarged the system of parks and playgrounds; improved the public school system in many respects, connected the city thoroughfares with county highways; established the budget system in the city’s business; annexed territory with a population of 30,000 and taxable values of $30,000,000; established a city-planning commission (1919). and set out to develop a city plan. 1082 the population grew 71-6% between 1910 and 1920, to 115,777 (107-6 males to roo females), of whom 43,392 were negroes and 6,998 foreign-born; and was estimated at 166,000 in 1925. the area increased from 5:5 sq. m. (1910) to 7-5 in 1920 and 27 in 1923. manufactures within the changing city limits were valued at $10,341,000 in 1909; $29,231,739 in 1923. an assem- bly plant of the ford motor co. and a large plant of the virginia portland cement co. were opened in 1925. ex- ports moving through the port of hampton roads (norfolk and newport news) increased from $15,162,855 in 1914 to $168,664,547 in 1925, reaching the peak ($325,023,000) in 1921; imports, from $7,105,822 to $16,551,835, with the peak ($22,402,477) in ro18. exports of tobacco increased from 10,444,485 lb. in 1918 (only 1-6% of the total for the united states) to 293,743,817 lb. in 1924, which was 51° of the total. hampton roads is the tidewater terminus of three of the prin- cipal coal-carrying railways. an average of over 1,000,000 tons is dumped each month, and the total handled in the record year 1920 was 21,644,328 tons. it is also an important oil-bunk- ering port, having a storage capacity of 2,432,500 barrels. truck farming around the roads brought returns estimated at $10,000,000 in 1924, chiefly from shipments to new york. norman, montagu collet (1871- ), british financier, was educated at eton and king’s college, cambridge. he served in the south african war 1900-1 and was awarded the d.s.o. he afterwards became connected with the financial side of business, and his active association with the bank of england bezan during the world war. in 1918 he was appointed dep- uty-governor and in 1920 governor of the bank of england. he was re-elected for the seventh time in 1926, having held the post for longer than any previous governor. in 1922 he accompanied mr. baldwin, then chancellor of the exchequer, to the united states to arrange for the funding of the british war debt. the outstanding event of mr. norman’s governorship was the restoration of the gold standard. in 1923 he was made a privy councillor. norris, william edward (1847-1925), british novelist (sce 19.757), died at torquay nov. 19 1925. his later works were not guilty (1910); the rt. hon. gentleman (1913); barbara and company (1914); proud peter (1916); the fond fugitives (1917); the obsiinate lady (1919); the triumphs of sarah (1920); tony the exceptional (1921); sabine and sabina (1922); next of kin (1923); the conscience of gavin blane (1924); and trevalion (1925). northampton, ragland (see 19.767), had a population of 90,895 in 1921 and an area of 3,469 ac. in the borough, which has included since 1914 the parishes of abington, dallington, duston and kingsthorpe. northampton has returned only one member to parliament since 1918, instead of two. a town plan, which includes large schemes for by-pass roads and road widening, was brought forward in 1925. a new public library building was opened in abington street in 1910, anda post office in st. giles street in 1917. a large girls’ secondary school was opened in september 1915. it stands on st. george’s avenuc, and has playing fields attached. in 1924 weston favell [louse was given to the northampton crippled children’s fund for use as an ortho- paedic hospital. north carolina (see 10.771), a state of the united states of america. the estimated population in 1925 was 2,759,014 as compared with 2,559,123 in 1920, a gain of 199,891, or 7-2%,. about one-third were negroes; the foreign-born whites had not increased notably from the 7,099 present in 1920, north carolina still having less foreign admixture than any other state. in 1920, 490,379 persons were living in cities of 25,000 or more, 240,753 in villages and 1,828,000 in the open country. the state was thus predominantly rural, 71% of the population living out- side of incorporated towns as against 76% in ro1e. the chief towns in 1925 and their populations were winston-salem, 6s5,- 806; charlotte, 52,049; wilmington, 36,390; asheville, 30,934; greensboro, 45,000; and durham, 40,000. the death rate steadily decreased after 1914, and in 1924 was only 11-9 per 1,000; the birth rate in the same year was 31-6 per 1,000. norman—north carolina a griculture—the period from 1920 to 1925 saw considerable shrinkage in agricultural values, and, in some crops, in the yield. the tendency noted in 1910 and 1920 toward smaller holdings continued; in 1920 the number of farms was 269,763 as against 253,725 in r910. the following table presents the more striking fizures for 1924 as estimated by the united states department of agriculture:— crop acres yield (bu.) value corn . 2,473,000 44,514,000 $55,197,000 wheat 462,000 5,544,000 8,870,000 oats 258,000 4,644,000 3,901,000 rye 71,000 852,000 1,269,000 paritece (sweet) 101,000 2,292,000 9,664,000 potatoes 59,000 6,195,000 6,938,000 tobacco 497,000 278,320,000! 71,807,000 hay 738,000 728,000? 15,288,000 cotton i,qoi,000 765,0003 86,000,445 peanuts 131,000 7 400,000 10,706,000 1pounds. \"tons. ? bales. the value of all crops in 1924 was estimated to be $320,485,000, as against $412,374,000 in 1920. trucking and fruit growing continued to show marked increase, especially peaches and straw- berries. the following table shows the numbers and values of livestock in 1920 and 1924:— : farm animals numbers! value jnumbers value mules . 260,000|$30,680,000! 236,000] $44,840,000 liorses 158,000) 15,484,000! 183,000] 27,999,000 mulch cows . 383,000] 15,320,000) 328,000! 25,584,000 other cattle 253,000] 4,123,900) 394,000] 13,908,000 swine 1,000,000| 12,000,000)1,575,000] 31,500,000 sheep 82,000 508,400] 144,000 1,368,000 manufactures —in 1914 the industrial capital of the state was $25 3,842,000 and the value of manufactured products was $280,- 412,000; in 1920 the industrial capital was $669,144,000 and in 1923 the value of manufactured products rose to $951,911,000. textiles led with a value of $363,000,000, followed by tobacco with $295,000,000, and furniture with $40,000,000. in 1920 there were about 550 cotton mills in operation with 5,321,450 producing spindjes, which increased to 5,773,244 in 1924. the volume of the tobacco industry can best be estimated from the fact that for the year 1923-4 the federal stamp tax yielded $136,- 892,475. the syndicating of cotton mills was a pronounced movement during the years 1916-24 following upon the the syn- dicating of tobacco factories, fertiliser plants and cotton-oil mills. steam power was generally emploved in the decade ig1o-20, but there was an ever-increasing use of hydroelectric power. in 1924, 431,500 h.p. had been developed, with 816,000 hi.p. estimated as available for development. forest and mines.—the total value of lumber and timber prod- ucts in 1914 was $39,631,573. it increased largely in the years which followed, and, in spite of the ruthless lumbering opera- lions of past years, it was estimated in 1920 that there was tim- ber standing ready for the saw to the value of $167,450,000, with young growth valued at $192,500,000. mining products, valued in 1917 at $5,246,391, had increased by 1923 to $10,020,550, the more important being stone, clay products, sand and gravel and feldspar. trans portation.—rauway development in the state was checked in 1914 and stopped completely in 1917 by the world war. only 357 m. of new line and 217 m. of sidings were built, making a total mileage in 1920 of 4,997, which had increased by 1924 to 5,222 miles. in 1917 there were 172 m. of electric road in operation, which decreased to 155 m. in 1924. the legislature of 1921 undertook the creation of a great state system of high- ways and authorised for the purpose bonds amounting to $50,- 000,000, and the legislatures of 1923 and 1925 increased it by $15,000,000 and $20,000,000 respectively. by 1925, 2,776 m. of improved highways had been built and nearly a thousand miles more was under construction. northcliffe finance.—the revenue for the year ending june 30 1925, ex- clusive of the proceeds from bonds, was $6,215,656, while county, city and school taxes in 1922 ylelded $44,147,000, and have since increased. the bonded indebtedness of the state in 1924 was $108,847,600, of the counties $87,062,352, and of the cities $97,563,114, making a total of $293,473,066. inaddition to bonds totalling $85,000,000 authorised for highways, mentioned above, the legislatures of 1021, 1923 and 1925 authorised $5,000,000 for a state-aid loan fund for consolidated schools, and $20,242,- ooo for permanent improvements in the state’s hospitals and in- stitutions of higher learning. | the legislature of 1919, in order to reform the ineffective and inequitable system of taxation, passed a law providing for assess- ment of all real and personal property at its actual value. a con- stitutional amendment authorised a general income tax, limited the rate of combined state and county taxes on property to $0.15 per $100 of valuation, permitted a segregation of taxes for state purposes, and abolished the existing equality between the tax rate on property and the poll tax. the requirement of payment of poll tax as a prerequisite for voting was abolished. revalua- tion was accomplished in 1920 and the property of the state was assessed at $3,539,000,000. more than a million acres of land not hitherto on the tax books were included. the per capita wealth was increased 183%. marked reaction came in 1921, and many of the good results of revaluation were lost. the assessed valua- tion of all property in 1924 was $2,604,508,000 education.—the state made educational progress bet ween 1910 and 1925. the public schools funds increased from approximately $3,000,000 in 1910 to $15,066,487 in 1920 and to $35,000,000 in 1925. teachers’ salaries continued to rise, and teachers were better traincd. the most notable educational achievement was the rapid growth of a state high-school system. the state insti- tutions of higher learning reccived more substantial support and their growth was steady. wake forest college came into pos- session of a large bequest. trinity college, receiving from james b. duke the sum of $6,000,000 for building and an annual income of more than half a million dollars from a trust fund, estab- lished by him, became in 1925 duke university. history—the state government throughout the period 1910-25 was under the undisputed control of the democratic party. in 1913 locke craig succeeded william walton kitchin as governor. thomas walter bickett became governor in 1917, and cameron morrison in 1921. the latter was succeeded in 1925 by angus wilton mclean. the legislature at every session had large democratic majorities. one republican member of congress was elected in 1914. so confirmed was the democratic faith of the people of the state that alone of all the states it in- creased the party majority in the election of 1920. the party majority was again increased in 1924. (j. g. pr r. h.) northcliffe, alfred charles william harms- worth, viscount (1865-1922), british newspaper proprictor was born july 15 1865 at chapelizod, dublin, the eldest of a family of fourteen. his father, alfred harmsworth (1837-1880), descended from an old hampshire family, was a barrister-at-law of the middle temple. his mother, geraldine mary, who died aug. 29 1925, a woman of remarkable intellect and strong character, was a daughter of wiliam maffett. of the seven sons, the two eldest, alfred and harold, became members of the house of lords as lord northcliffe and lord rothermere respectively; the third, cecil bisshopp (b. 1869), became in rors under-secretary for home affairs and in 1919 under-secretary for foreign affairs, having entered the house of commons as liberal m.p. for droitwich (1906-10) and sub- sequently sitting for s. beds; while the fourth, robert leicester (b. 1870), who was created a baronet in 1918, entered the house of commons in 1900 as liberal m.p. for caithness, a seat which he retained till 1922. the other three sons were hildebrand aubrey (b. 1872), from 1o01 to 1904 editor of the new liberal review; st. john (b. 1876), the creator of the perrier mineral water business; and vyvyan george (b. 1881). early journalism—it was in 1867 that the harmsworths moved to london, and the family means were. then small. 1083 alfred was exceptionally energetic and thoughtful. at 11 he went to stamford grammar school and at 13 to henley house school, west hampstead, where in 1878 he started the first of his journalistic adventures, a school magazine. this was origin- ally issued in ms. but was afterwards printed and sometimes set up by himself in his spare time. at 15 he did some work for mr. jealous, then editor of the hampstead and highgate express. in 1881 he began to work under a tutor for cambridge, while contributing to the bicycling news, globe and the publi- cations issued by james henderson for boys and girls. as secre- tary and companion to one of the third lord lilford’s sons, he travelled extensively in europe. on his return to london sir william ingram (of the jiustrated london news) made him assistant editor of his paper youth and he continued “ free- lance’ work for the press, contributing leading articles to various newspapers, among which was the morning post, and articles to the st. james’s gazette, where his work attracted the attention and praise of frederick greenwood. but his health temporarily broke down in 1884. ordered to live out of london, he went to coventry in 1885 and worked for the firm of iliffe and sons, owners of many publications. with them he remained till 1886, and he then went back to london and joined a general publishing business. among other ventures he started on june 16 1888 answers to correspondents, a weekly periodical intended to be a more popular form of notes and queries. as answers it laid the foundation of what eventually became the largest periodical publishing business in the world, the amalgamated press. alfred harmsworth had already been | joined by his second brother, harold (see rothermere, vis- count), to whom he ascribed a great share of the success of the undertaking, particularly on the business side. he himself wrote much, outlined serials, trained young editors, discovered new writers and artists and revolutionised the current methods of periodical journalism. the profits of the accumulated pub- lications soon soared to £50,000 a year. in the next few years alfred harmsworth travelled much in europe, india, africa, canada and the united states; he was a good athlete, excelling in lawn tennis, and in the days before the motor car, which as far back as 1894 became one of his chief interests, was a great lover of horses, fond of cycling and devoted to fishing. on april 11 1888 he had marricd mary elizabeth, daughter of robert milner, a west indian merchant, and to her sure judg- ment and quick brain he attributed much of his success. on aug. 31 1894 he and his brother harold acquired the london evening news, in which the conservative party had sunk some £300,000. it was then losing money heavily, but it was at once reorganised with such effect that the first working week yielded a profit of £7, and the first year one of £14,000. in the same year he fitted out an arctic expedition under mr. f. g. jackson, which explored franz josef land. in the general election of 1895 he stood unsuccessfully as a conservative can- didate for parliament at portsmouth. the daily mail—on may 4 1896 a new halfpenny morning paper, zhe daily afuil, was launched, ‘‘ the busy man’s news- paper,” as he called it. it embodied many innovations, a very full service of cables, the employment of numerous famous writers, condensation of unimportant topics, and costly and daring enterprises of various kinds. a comparison of past files of the london press shows how it revolutionised daily jour- nalism. the most rapid machinery was used; a system of ar- rangement was introduced which enabled the reader to know where to find the news he wanted. it was characteristic of his foresight that one of the three leading articles in the first num- ber dealt with the then almost unknown motor-car, in the future of which alfred harmsworth had a firm belief, being himself already a qualified driver. the daily mail attained a sale of 600,000 copies a day in the boer war, and this gave him great influence on policy at home and abroad. in 1903 he founded the daily mirror; it was at first a com- plete failure, losing £1,500 a week but after being transformed from a penny paper for women into a halfpenny illustrated morning journal, became as signal a success. in 1905 a 1084 continental edition of the daily afail was established, with headquarters in france. in 1904 alfred harmsworth was created a baronet, andin 1905 he was raised to the peerage as baron northcliffe. in 1906 he and his brothers acquired for their com- panies about 3,000 sq. m. of forest land in newfoundland, with lakes, rivers and water transport, for the manufacture of paper and wood pulp, the result being the formation of the anglo- newfoundland development co., a gigantic enterprise with its works at grand falls, and two lines of railway, a port and atlantic and other steamers. in 1908 lord northcliffe obtained control of the times, to own which had always been one of the aims of his life. new ma- chinery was installed, and the size of the paper greatly increased; in march 1914 he reduced the price to one penny, with the result of a ee increase in circulation, though the enormous rise of 600% /o in the cost of paper during the w ‘orld war forced a subsequent increase in price. meanwhile lord northcel’ffe had acquired the weckly dispatch; disposed of the sunday observer, which he for some time owned; and sold the daily afirror to his brother, lord rothermere. among the reforms which lord northcliffe introduced into newspaper management were the five- day week for editors, subeditors and reporters, a more gencrous payment of journalists and a system of profit- ‘sharing by the chief members of his staffs. ¥rom 1900 onwards, through his newspapers, - had exercised an ever-increasing influence on politics. ie had at one time been anxious, like edward vii. and cecil rhodes, to obtain a friendly understanding between england and germany, but the boer war caused him to abandon that idea as impracticable. his newspapers consistently pleaded the cause of a strong navy, and as consistently warned the nation for 20 years of the peril from germany. from 1902 he souzht to effect an entente wiih france, and also to promote agreements with russia and the united states, whose sentiments and prejudices he had learnt in many visits. ife opposed in torr the declaration of landon—a code of sea law which most naval officers condemned as “ made in germany ’—and finally assisted tn securing its rejection. through the daily mail he gave large prizes for airmanship, in which, from 1906 onwards, he took the warmest interest; the offer of a prize of £10,000 in 1906 for the first aeroplane flight from london to manchester was received in some quarters with a good deal of derision, which vanished, however, when in ig1o the prize was won. itis maiden speech in the [louse of lords was devoted to the pressing claims of aircraft. he was a strong believer in the future of flying and a daily advocate of the value of aircraft in war. he was also interested from the first in submarines, in one of which craft he made an early and hazari- ous descent. the world war.—in the world war he took the lead in advocating almost every measure of reform that was carried through in great britain, usually weeks or months before it was introduced. he was indeed described by mr. l. j. maxse as ‘the great driving force in our country during the war ”’ (vational review, july 1917). we aimed at the most vigorous possible conduct of the struggle, and was from the first of opin- ion that the war would be long and desperately contested. the chief newspaper campaigns which he carried out, always with the aims of victory and close union between the allies, were: (1) for the organisation of the munition supply and provision of hizh-explosive shells in april and may 1915, when he did not hesitate to lav the responsibility for the shortage of ammunition o1 lord kitchener in leading articles written by himself in the daily mail of may 19 and 21, the second of which was publicly burned on the london and other stock exchanges; (2) this campaign was one of the causes of the formation of the coalition ministry by mr. asquith; (3) throughout 1915 and early 1916, in the teeth of storms of abuse, he urged the neces- sity of introducing compulsory service; (4) he protested con- tinuously against the excessive optimism of mr. asquith’s govt. and of its press supporters, and against the whole sys- tem of official secretiveness by which grave failure was con- cealed; (5) he called for the strict enforcement of the blockade northcliffe and the stoppage of the supplies which were reaching germany through neutral countries; (6) so far as the censorship would allow, he resisted the ‘‘ side-shows,”’ such as the dardanelles and salonika campaigns, which absorbed so large a part of the national forces; (7) he continued his pre-war demand for the construction of aircraft—and “ the right kind of aircraft ’’—on the largest possible scale, and he called for effective measures against zeppelins and for warnings in the case of imminent air- attacks; (8) he urged the necessity of creating a strong naval war staff and taking offensive measures against the enemy sub- marines; (q) he insisted on the need for a system of compulsory food rationing. while always active with his pen and through his press, he went repeatedly to the various battle-fronts, british, french, belzian, italian and amcrican, and kept in close touch with the various staffs. thus in 1916, at the crisis of the battle of verdun, he visited verdun (march 4), conferred with gen. petain, watched the struggle, and the same night motored back to paris and wrote a long dispatch which was reproduced in whole or part by 3,000 allied or neutral newspapers. he paid other visits—to spain, whence he sent warning of the activity of the german propaganda, and to switzerland, where he investigated the condition of the british interned prisoners. with his daily assistance, sir r. hudson raised through the times fund a sum of approximately £21,000,c00 for the british red cross, while lady northcliffe (who in 1918 was created g.b.e.) maintained a private hospital and took a prominent part in the control of red cross finance and operations. so wide was lord north- cli fe’s iniluence and so greatly feared by the germans that they published a special periodical, the anti-northcliffe fai, ce- voted entirely to attacks upon him as the chief allied stimulus in the war. in dec. 1916 he gave his support to mr. lloyd george in the political crisis which led to the fall of mr. asquith’s government, and dealt the final thrust which brought that government down, though after the armistice, by reason of his objection to the long-drawn-out after-war negotiations with the germans, he became mr. lloyd georze’s most persistent critic. ile was offered office but declined, believing that it was his duty to keep his hands free and hold the government up to the mark. work in new york.—before the united states entered the war he was offered and declined the post of british ambassador at washington. ife received, however, an urgent call to go the united states on may 30 1917. the war cabinet had greatly desired him, after conference with leading americans, to go to the united states as chairman of the much-needed british war mission. he accepted this appointment, though with some reluctance. after an audience with the king, he left england on june 2, arriving in new york on june 11, with the under- standing that he should not remain more than three months. during the next few months he co-ordinated the work of the numerous british departmental missions; controljed an expen- diture of £10,000,000 to £15,000,0c0 a week, and maintained the closest and most friendly relations with president wilson and the american govt. he returned to london on nov. 12 1917, when he was created a viscount, as viscount northcliffe of st. peter-in-thanet, for his services. in a letter dated nov. 15 1917 he declined mr. lloyd george’s offer of the post of air minister, but on feb. 13 1918, on the distinct understanding that he was 1o remain free to criticise and suggest, he accepted the office of director of propaganda in enemy countries. to pave the way for operations among the nationalities subject to the habsburgs, he securcd an agree- ment between the yugoslavs and the italian govt., which played an important part in the defeat of the austrian army and was subsequently embodied, in substance, in the peace terms. the evidence of numerous german generals, statesmen and writers is that the skilful direction of his propaganda against germany helped greatly to destroy confilence in the german people and weaken the german army on the eve of its last offensive (july 15 1918), when it seemed on the verge of decisive success. gen. ludendorff himself says: ‘‘ lloyd george knew what he was doing when, after the close of the war, he gave north dakota lord northcliffe the thanks of england for the propaganda which he had carried out. lord northclifie was a master of mass-suggestion.’”’ the deadliness of his propaganda lay in its veracity. an account of his work was given in sir campbell stuart’s secrets of crewe house (1920), crewe house being the london headquarters of the organization. last days.—at the armistice lord northcliffe was ill, suffer- ing from an adenoma of the thyroid gland, for which, in june 1919, he underwent a serious operation, and it was only after some months that he recovered. during the peace conferen