Page 2039 : WALSALL — WALTHER
digging and in climbing. Old animals are almost naked, the young ones quite thickly covered with fur of a pale brown color.
Walruses have a thick, clumsy body, deepest at the shoulders, and their feet, which are adapted for swimming, are also
WALRUS
furrowed so as to hold on to smooth surfaces. They reach a length of 12 feet or more and a weight of 2,200 pounds. There are two living species, one found in the Atlantic and one in the Pacific. The Atlantic form is still found on the coast of Labrador and Hudson Bay, but formerly extended further south. The Pacific form is more northern, being rarely found on the mainland. They feed largely on clams and other mollusks, which they dig from the sea-bottom with their tusks. They visit islands and ice-floes, and congregate in considerable numbers during the breeding period. They are hunted for their hides, oil and ivory, and their flesh is relished by natives along the Arctic coast. Their decrease is a very serious loss to native Alaskan. The polar bear is the most dreaded natural enemy.
Walsall (wŏl′sal), a town in Staffordshire, England, eight miles northwest of Birmingham. Its churches and most of its public buildings are all modern. Harper's almshouses founded by James I, memorial cottages for 12 poor couples or widows and a cottage hospital are among its charities. It has a public library, town-hall, guildhall, theater and schools, including a grammar-school founded in 1554. Its situation in a region of extensive coal-mines and limestone quarries, with iron, stone and brick-clay near, makes it a manufacturing town, with iron and brass foundries. Locks, keys, bolts, pulleys and all kinds of ironware used in making carriages or harness are special manufactures. Walsall was fortified by Ethelfleda, daughter of Alfred the Great, held by William the Conqueror as a royal house, belonged to Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick (the king-maker), and was given by Henry VIII to the duke of Northumberland. Population 96,171.
Walsh, the Most Reverend John, born in Kilkenny, Ireland, 1830, died at Toronto, 1898; studied at St. John's College, Waterford, Ireland. Coming to Canada in 1852, he became a student at the Grand Seminary, Montreal. Ordained a priest in St. Michael's Cathedral, Toronto, in 1854 by Bishop Charbonnel. His first charge was that of Brock Mission, Lake Simcoe, in 1855. In 1857, in charge of the parish of St. Mary's, Toronto. Appointed to the rectorship of St. Michael's cathedral in 1859. In 1862 promoted and became vicar-general of the diocese. Visited Rome in 1864 Appointed Bishop of London (Western Canada), the see being transferred from Sandwich to that city in 1869. His work there was exceptionally successful. The debt of the diocese was paid off, and new churches, convents and an episcopal residence were erected. Visited Rome on two occasions later. On the second occasion, 1887, he assisted at the jubilee of Pope Leo XIII at St. Peter's. In 1889 he was appointed to the archbishopric of Toronto.
Walsingham (wŏl′sĭng-ăm), Sir Francis, an English statesman, was born at Chiselhurst, Kent, in 1536. He studied at Cambridge. He was distinguished among Queen Elizabeth's ministers for acuteness and for knowledge of public affairs. He was sent on an embassy to France in 1570, to the Netherlands in 1578, to France again in 1581 and to Scotland in 1583. He was secretary of state to Elizabeth, and managed foreign affairs by a system of spies, having it is said, had nearly 60 agents in his service. In this way he got possession of the correspondence of Mary, Queen of Scots, which was used to prove her guilty of conspiring against the life of Queen Elizabeth and he was one of the commissioners at her trial. He died on April 6, 1590.
Waltham (wŏl′thăm), Mass., Middlesex County, on Charles River, ten miles northwest of Boston, is a suburb of that city. It has a Swedenborgian academy, a free public library, and numerous schools and churches. It is known all over the world for its machine-made watches, of which about 3,500 a day are turned out, making watch-tools, watch-dials and watch-screws. Clothing is an important industry, and automobiles are made to a considerable extent. There are also cotton cloth, hosiery, machinery, paper produced, and there are bleaching and dye works. It was settled in 1630. Population 27,834.
Walther von der Vogelweide (väl′tẽr fṓn dẽr fō′gel-vī′dā), (Walter of the Bird-Meadow), a German minstrel or minnesinger, was born in Tyrol, between 1160 and 1170. He was attached to the court of Duke Frederick of Austria, at Vienna, for many years, and at his death went from court to court after the fashion of the minnesinger. His early poems were love-songs, but the crusades and civil troubles of Germany furnished the subjects of his later verses. He stands in the front rank of the lyrical poets of his country. He died in 1228 or 1230 at Würzburg, where Frederick II had given him a valuable
