Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 04.djvu/19

ELLIPSIS ELMIRA the stage with E. S. Willard in 1890, and afterward played as leading woman in Shakespearean and other plays. In 1898 she married Nathaniel C. Goodwin, but later secured a divorce from him. From 1908 she was owner and manager of the Maxine Elliott Theater in New York City. She appeared as star in many successful plays, including "When We Were Twenty-One," "Her Own Way," "Under the Greenwood Tree," "The Chaperon," and "Deborah of Tods." ELLIPSIS, a term used in grammar and rhetoric, to signify the omission of a word necessary to complete the ex- pression or sentence in its usual form. The object of ellipsis is shortness and impressiveness; accordingly, it prevails in proverbs. Ellipses are used in all languages, but the same form of ellipses are not common to all. ELLSWORTH, EPHRAIM ELMER, an American military officer; born in Mechanicsville, N. Y., April 23, 1837. He removed to Chicago before he was of age, and studied law. He organized about 1859 a zouave corps which became noted for the excellence of its discipline. In March, 1861, he accompanied President Lincoln to Washington, and in April he went to New York City, where he organ- ized a zouave regiment of firemen, of which he became colonel. Ordered to Alexandria, he lowered a Confederate flag floating over a hotel, for which act the hotelkeeper shot him dead, May 24, 1861. ELM, a genus of trees, consisting of 13 species, all natives of the N. temper- ate zone. Two species are common in Great Britain (U. campestris and U. montand), with many varieties. The U. campestris, or common elm, is a fine tree, of rapid and erect growth, and yielding a tall stem, remarkable for the uniformity of its diameter throughout. The average height of a mature tree is 70 or 80 feet, but some reach 150 feet. The wood is brown, hard, of fine grain, and not apt to crack. The tree generally attains maturity in 70 or 80 years. U. montdna (the mountain or wych elm), a native of Scotland, grows to a less height than the English elm, is of slower grovvth, and yields a much shorter bole, but it is far bolder in its ramification and more hardy. It usually attains to the height of about 50 feet. The timber is strong and elastic, and the tree often yields large protuberances of gnarled wood, finely knotted and veined, and much esteemed for veneering, U. glabra, the smooth-leaved elm, is a species com- mon in some parts of Great Britain. The most ornamental tree of the genus is U. pendula, the weeping elm. The Auier- ican or white elm {U. ameHcaiia) is abundant in the Western States, attain- ing its loftiest stature between lat. 42" and 46°; here it reaches the height of 100 feet, with a trunk 4 or 5 feet in diameter, rising sometimes 60 or 70 feet before it separates into a few primary limbs. The red or slippery elm {U. fulva) is found over a great extent of country in Canada, Missouri, and as far S. as lat. 31"; it attains the height of 50 or 60 feet, with a trunk 15 or 20 inches in diameter; the wood is of better quality than that of the white elm. The leaves and bark yield an abundant mucilage. The wahoo {U. alata), inhabiting from lat. 37° to Flor- ida, Louisiana, and Arkansas, is a small tree, 30 feet high. ELMAN, MISCHA, a violinist, bom at Stalnoje, Russia, in 1891. He played violin in public at the age of five. He studied with Fidelmann, at Odessa, five years and accepted the invitation of Pro- fessor Auer, of St. Petersburg, to study with him in 1902. In 1904, when he was 13, he was looked upon as an artist of great promise in St. Petersburg. He then began to make a tour of the capitals of Europe, and finally crossed to the United States. He made his debut in New York with the Russian Symphony Orchestra, in 1908, and from that year has toured America a great many times, always receiving much applause. He has also shown talent as a composer and has a number of songs and violin pieces to his credit. ELMINA (el-me'na) , a British settle* ment and fortified seaport on the Gold Coast, a few miles W. of Cape Coast Castle. It was first settled by merchants of Dieppe, came into the hands of the Portuguese in 1471, of the Dutch in 1637, and in 1872 was ceded to the British, who destroyed the native town during the Ashanti war. Pop. about 4,000. ELMIRA, a city and county-seat of Chemung co., N. Y., on both sides of the Chemung river, and on the Lackawanna, the Lehigh Valley, the Northern Central, and the Erie railroads, and the Chemung canal; 46 miles S. W. of Ithaca. It is the largest city in that part of the State ; is beautifully laid out; has a fine water supply; is lighted by gas and electricity; and besides its river and railroad facili- ties has a valuable commercial outlet in the Chemung canal, which connects it with Seneca lake. The chief industries are the large shops of the Erie and the Northern Central railroads, rolling-mills and blast furnace, boot and shoe fac- tories, iron foundries, the manufacturing and repairing shops of the Pullman Car Company, woolen mills, a steam fire en-