tion. It ranges from the region of the great lakes north to the Arctic circle. It feeds on small crustacea, insects and minute organisms in the water. It is one of the finest food-fishes of America. The whiting is a slimmer and smaller variety of whitefish. The smallest and handsomest of the American whitefishes is the lake herring or cisco, a slender fish from ten to 15 inches long. In Europe the name of whitefish is given to any fish with silvery scales and without spots.
White House, the residence of the president of the United States, at Washington, D. C. It is a mile and a half from the capitol, on Pennsylvania Avenue. The corner-stone was laid in 1792, and President John Adams was the first to occupy it in 1800. In 1814 it was burned by the British and rebuilt and occupied again in 1818. The grounds cover about 75 acres, 20 being inclosed as private grounds. It is built of freestone, painted white, 170 feet long by 86 deep, with a circular porch in the rear and a colonnade in front. The architect was an Irishman, and the house is modeled after the duke of Leinster's palace at Dublin.
WHITE HOUSE OR EXECUTIVE MANSION
White Lady, a being who, according to German legend, appears in snow-white garments with a bunch of keys at her girdle, and sometimes watches over sleeping children. Bertha of Rosenberg, in Bohemia, is one of the most famous of these appearances, and Sir Walter Scott's White Lady of Avenel is also celebrated. Consult Baring-Gould's Curious Myths of the Middle Ages.
White Lead is one of the compounds of lead, called by chemists basic carbonate of lead, and is used extensively in the manufacture of paint. The Dutch process of manufacture is the oldest. Thin sheets of lead are rolled up and put into earthen vessels, which have some weak vinegar at the bottom. These vessels are surrounded with spent tan-bark or some other material which ferments readily, and thus produces heat and gives off carbon dioxide. The pots are thus left for about six weeks, when the lead is found either thickly coated or entirely changed into the white, basic carbonate of lead. This process is thought to give the best material for fine work, and is used in some of the American white-lead factories, but the patent process manufactures it more cheaply. There are 36 white-lead factories in the United States, the largest being at Brooklyn, and the product is 130,000 short tons a year. The lead used is brought from the Rocky Mountain region.
White Mountains, a chain of mountains in New England, commencing with Mt. Katahdin in Maine and crossing New Hampshire. It has 20 high peaks in New Hampshire, Mt. Washington, the highest, rising 6,293 feet. Mounts Pleasant, Franklin, Monroe, Jefferson, Adams, Madison and Lafayette are other summits. Mt. Washington is the highest point in New England and is a favorite summer-resort, with a hotel on its summit. The first mountain railroad in the world was built up this peak in 1868. White Mountain Notch, Franconia Notch and others are natural openings through which the rivers and railroads pass. At Franconia Notch are the famous profile of stone, 40 feet high, called the Old Man of the Mountains, and Profile Lake, known as the Old Man's Washbowl.
White Plains, N. Y., county-seat of Westchester County, 25 miles northeast of New York City. During the Revolutionary War, in October, 1776, it was held by Washington, while General Howe tried to get around the American army on Manhattan Island. There were several skirmishes, but Washington held the high ground above White Plains until November 5, when Howe moved to Dobbs Ferry and Washington began sending his troops into New Jersey. Population 16,500.
White River, a river of the United States, which rises in the Ozark Mountains, flowing through Missouri and Arkansas into the Mississippi, which it enters near the mouth of the Arkansas. It is 800 miles long, and is navigable for 350 miles.
White Sea, a great bay of the Arctic Ocean on the northern coast of Russia. It pierces the land for 350 miles, beginning with a width of 100 miles and narrowing to 35. It then sweeps south for 200 miles, and, widening, forms the Gulfs of Kandalak, Onega and Archangel. Its coast is about 1,000 miles long, and it covers about 47,000 square miles. Ice forms after August, 30 miles out, and does not melt till next July.
Whit′man, Walt, was born at West Hills, Long Island, N. Y., in 1819. As a young man he was school-teacher, printer, editor and builder. His early verses attracted little or no attention, but Leaves of Grass (1855) at once made him one of the most widely read of American poets. In the
