Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 17.djvu/314

ROPE. 286 BORIC FIGURES. following fi^'ures from Weisliach : Girtli ro- (Hiiretl to n'lvv tensile .strength of 40 tons: Hemp, 12 inelies; iron, 4% inches; steel, 3% inches. I'or a description of the manufacture of wire rope, sec Wire and MANrF.CTi.'KES of. I'or de- tails of the strength and efficiency of rope and its application to transmission of power, see Kent, Mcchiinical E)i(iiiiccr's Pocket Book (Xew York, liMlO), and Flalhcr, Rope Driving (Xew York, KS'i')). ROPES, Artiur llEEi) (185n— ). An English author hcst known for his comic operas. He was born in l^ondon. studied at King's College, Cam- bridge, and was I^ightfoot and Whewell scholar in KSS.-i and fellow of King's from 1884 to 1830. He lectured on history at Cambridge and wrote a Hhort Uistori/ of' Europe (1889). He edited Lady Mari/ iVortlci/ Montagu's Letters (1893), besides several modern language texts for the Pitt Press Series. Ropes's first comic opera, Faddimir, was produced in 1889. His otlier ])ro- ductions, entire or in part, include libretti for Joan of Arc (1891), Go Bang (1894), A Greek Slave (1898), Sa7i Toy (1899), The Messenger Boy ( 1900), and The Toreador (1901). ROPES, John Codman (1830-99). An emi- nent American lawyer and military historian. He was born in Saint Petersburg. Russia, where his father, a |nouunent Boston merchant. lived for some time; graduated at Harvard in 18.57 and at the Harvard Law School in 1801 : and in the latter year was admitted to the bar. In 1865 he became associated in practice with .John C. Gray ; from 1860 to 1870 was one of the editors of the Ainerican Law Review: and from 1878 until his death was head of the law firm of Ropes, Gray & Loring. Though an able advocate, he devoted himself largely to the care and management of trust estates. He early became interested in military history; founded the Military Historical Society of Massachusetts in 1870: and gained a wide reputation as a military historian. Be- sides a number of magazine articles, he pub- lished; The Army Under Pope (1881). in the "Campaigns of the Civil War Series;" The First TiapuUiin (188.'j): The Campaign of Wate.rioo (1892-93), probably the ablest monograph yet published on that subject; and The Story of the Civil War (2 vols.. 1894-98). which was'left un- finished, but is generally regarded as the best account yet produced of the militai-j' operations of 1801 and 18()2 in the United States. ROPEWAY. A line of rope or steel cable in which a carriage with grooved wheels is sup|)ort- ed and carries a load. This carriage, with its burden, may be moved either by power or l)y gravity and the device is frequently employed in mining and other operations, especially for cross- ing valleys. Ropeways have been in use since the early part of the nineteenth century, but the idea is now more generally applied in the cableway (q.v. ), where a load is not only transported, but is hoisted from any point on the line and deliv- ered at any other desired point. Telpherage (q.v.) is also a further adaptation of the same principle. ROPS, rA, FfiLiciEN (1833-98). A Belgian etcher. ])ainter, and lithographer, born at Xamur. His first drawings appeared in 1855, in the Crocodile, a Brussels publication, and a year afterwards he founded JJylenspilgel, in which several of his best lithographs were published. After this he was employed mainly in illustrating novels, and the cynical spirit, rare imagination, and often erotic subjects of these drawings liave made his name widely and in many cases un- favorably known. His works rank with the high- est for breadth, concentration, and sheer technical skill. His series of etchings known as the .S'o- tani<iues are remarkable productions. His other works include several water colors. Consult: Ramiro, Catalogue descriptif et unalytique de rfruvre grave de Felicien Rops (Paris, 1887-91) ; and lluysmans, Certains (Paris. 1887). ROQUE. See Croquet. ROQUE. riik. Sai.xt. See Rocii, Saint. ROQUEFORT, rik'for'. A village in the De- lia rtment of Aveyron, France, famous for its enormous production of cheese made from the milk of goats and sheep, and matured in the rocky eaves of the Larzac clitl's (Map; France, J 8)". Population, in 1901. 937. ROQUETTE, r6'ket'. Otto (1824-90). A Ger- man poet, born in Krotoschin. Poseii. of Fi'ench (descent. He studied at Heidelberg and Halle, and taught in the Darmstadt Polytechnic Insti- tute from 1809 to his death. His first book was his greatest success, an allegoric tale in verse, Waldmeiiiters Brautfahrt (1851), which reached more than sixty editions before his death. Among his other poems, none of which approached the Brautfahrt in popularity, mention may be made of the Liederbuch (1852; 3d ed. 1880). which is in the Anacreontic manner; Hans Haidekuckuck (1885; 4th ed. 1894) : and Cesario. a volume of narrative verse (1888). Besides several novels and dramas, Roquette wrote a Gesehiehtc der deutschen Litteratur (1802-03; revised 1882). Consult the autobiography, Siebzig Jahre (Darm- stadt. 1893). RORAIMA, ro-rii'e-ma. Mount. A remark- able mesa or flat-topped mountain-block situated at the common boundary point of Vene- zuela, Brazil, and British Guiana (Map: Brazil, E 2 ) . From a sloping talus at the base tlie per- l)endicular rocky walls rise to a sheer height of nearly 3000 feet, though a sloping ledge on one side enables an ascent to be nuide to the summit, which has an altitude of 8740 feet above the sea. Several streams rise on the svimmit. and fall over the edges, forming the highest cascades in the world, the water being blown into a fine spray long before it reaches the ground. RO'RER, Sarah Tyson (1849—). An Ameri- can author, born at Richboro. Pa. She was edu- cated at the East Aurora. X^. '.. Academy, and became principal of the Philadelphia School of Domestic Science. She was editor and part owner of Table Talk from 1880 until 1892, and was an editor of Household A>ics from 1892 until 1897, when she joined the staff of the Ladies' Home Journal. Her published works include: Mrs. Rorer's Cook Book: Canning and Preserving; Bread Making : Hov: to Use a Chafing Dish; and Good Gooking. RORIC FIGURES (from Lat. ros, dew). Im- ages produced liy breathing on glass or other polished surfaces which have been covered by some object. Moser of Konigsberg. in 1842. dis- covered that when two bodies are in close prox- imity they receive impressions of each other's images, or. if a smooth surface has been touched by another body, it acquires a property of pre-