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BABRANQUILLA 427 SaxwREXi advance, a barrage is laid down by their artillery either behind the threatened position, to prevent the defenders from retreating or being re-enforced, or in front of the advancing troops, to clear their path. The barrage has to be most carefully calculated, so that the assail- ants themselves may not be caught in the fire destined for their foes. BARBANQUILLA (bar-an-ke'la), the principal port of the Republic of Co- lombia and capital of the department of Atlantico, lies near the left bank of the main channel of the Magdalena, 15 miles distant from the sea. A railway runs to the coast; and the bar at the mouth of the river has been improved so as to enable sea-going vessels to pass up to Barranquilla, which possesses excellent wharfage accommodation. The inland traffic by river steamers is important. Pop. about 65,000. BARRAS (bar-a') , PAUL FRANgOIS JEAN NICOLAS, COMTE DE, a French Jacobin, born in Provence, in 1755; served as second lieutenant in the regi- ment of Languedoc until 1775. He made a voyage to the Isle-de-France, and en- tered into the garrison of Pondicherry. On his return, he led a dissipated life and squandered his fortune. When the Revolution broke out he opposed the Court, had a seat in the tiers-etat, while his brother sat with the nobility. July 14, 1789, he took part in the attack upon the Bastille, and Aug. 10, 1792, upon the Tuileries. In 1792 he was elected a member of the National Con- vention, and voted for the unconditional death of Louis XVI. He was sent, in 1793, to the south of France, and com- manded the left wing of the besieging army under Dugommier, and it was here that he first met Napoleon Bonaparte, then captain of artillery. Robespierre was no friend of his, and often wished to arrest him. Barras, knowing this, be- came one of the principal actors of the 9th Thermidor, and put himself at the head of the troops which surrounded Robespierre at the Hotel de Ville. In 1794 he was named one of the Commit- tee of Public Safety. In February, 1795, he was elected President of the Conven- tion, and, in that capacity, declared Paris in a state of siege, when the As- sembly was attacked by the populace. Afterward, when the Convention was as- sailed, Bonaparte, by Barras' advice, was appointed to command the artillery; and that general, on the 13th Vendemiaire (Oct. 5, 1795), decisively repressed the royalist movement. For his services, Barras was now named one of the Di- rectory. Napoleon's cmip d'etat, on the 18th Brumaire (Nov. 9, 1799), overthrew the power of Barras and his colleagues. He died in Paris, Jan. 29, 1829. BARRE, ISAAC (ba-ra'), a British soldier, born at Dublin in 1726. Gaz- etted as an ensign in 1746, he became friendly with General Wolfe, under whom he rose to the rank of Lieuten- ant-Colonel. He was wounded at Quebec, was beside Wolfe when he fell, and fig- ures in West's picture of "The Death of Wolfe." He entered Parliament in 1761, and held office successively under Lord Bute, Pitt, Rockingham, and Lord Shel- burne. In Pitt's second administration he exposed the corruptions of the min- istry, was a strong opponent of Lord North's ministry, and opposed the tax- ation of America. He died in London, July 20, 1802. BARRE, a city in Washington co., Vt., on the Central Vermont and the Montpelier and Wells River railroads; 6 miles S. E. of Montpelier. Barre re- ceived a city charter in 1894; and has a wide reputation as one of the most im- portant seats of the granite industry in the United States. The city contains, besides granite quarries, several indus- trial plants connected therewith; several banks; a library; opera house; Goddard Seminary; Spaulding High School; and daily and weekly newspapers. Pop. (1910) 10,734; (1920) 10,008. BARREL, a word having many ap- plications, including: I. Of anj^hing shaped like a cask. (1) A cask; a vessel bulging in the middle, formed of staves surrounded by hoops, and with a bung- hole to afford egress to the generally liquid contents. (2) The capacity of such a cask, supposing it to be of the normal magnitude. In one for holding liquids the capacity is usually from 30 to 45 gallons. II. Of anything hollow and cylindrical. The metallic tube which receives the charge in a musket or rifle. With the stock and the lock, it comprises the whole instrument. III. Of ans^hing cylindrical, whether hollow or not. A cylinder, and especially one about which anything is wound. Technically. — I. Measures. As much as an ordinary barrel will hold. Specially: (1) Liquid measure. In this sense the several liquids have each a different ca- pacity of barrel. A barrel of wine is 31^/^ gallons; a barrel of oil averages from 50 to 53 gallons. (2) Dry measure. A bar- rel of flour contains 196 pounds. II. Mechanics: The cylindrical part of a pulley. III. Horology: (1) The barrel of a watch. The hollow cylinder or case in