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ROOT 113 RORQUAL ROOT, GEORGE FREDERICK, an American musician and song-writer ; born in Sheffield, Mass., Aug. 30, 1820. His first song, "Hazel Dell" (1853), was very popular. It appeared as the work of "Wurzel," the German name for "Root," a pseudonym he often used later. Among the most popular of his songs are: "Ro- salie, the Prairie Flower" (1855) ; "Shout- ing the Battle Cry of Freedom" (1861) ; "Just Before the Battle, Mother" (1863) ; "Tramp, Tramp, Tramp, the Boys are Marching" (1864) ; and the well-known quartet, "There's Music in the Air." His cantatas include "The Flower Queen" (1852) and "The Haymakers" (1857). He did much to elevate the standard of music in the United States, and also pub- lished methods for the piano and organ, handbooks on harmony and teaching, etc. He died Aug. 6, 1895. ROPE, a large, stout, twisted cord of hemp, of not less, generally, than an inch in circumference. A certain proportion of hemp twisted together forms a yarn, and a number of yarns form a strand. Three strands twisted together form a rope. Rope is either white or tarred, the latter being the best if liable to ex- posure to wet, the former if not exposed. The strength of tarred rope is, however, only about three-fourths that of white rope, and its loss of strength increases with time. Rope is designated by its circumference, expressed in inches, and is issued in coils of 113 fathoms each; marline and hambroline in skeins, spun- yarn in pounds; the latter is made from old rope (junk). Government rope is distinguished by a colored thread, red, blue, or yellow, which runs through it. Rope used in the artillery service is coiled with the sun, i. e., from left to right, in which direction the yarns are twisted so as to avoid kinking. Coir rope, which comes from Ceylon and the Maldive Islands, is made from the fibrous husk of the cocoanut. Manila rope from the fibers of a species of wild banana. Wire rope, both iron and steel, is also employed ; on shipboard, particularly, to a consider- able extent. ROPER, DANIEL CALHOUN, an American public official, born in Marlboro co., S. C, in 1867. He was educated at Trinity College, N. C, and at the Na- tional University, Washington, D. C. From 1892 to 1894 he was a member of the S. C. House of Representatives, from 1894 to 1897 clerk of the United States Senate Committee on Interstate Com- merce; from 1900 to 1910 expert special agent, United States Census Bureau; from 1910 to 1913 clerk of the Ways and Means Committee, United States House of Representatives; and from 1913 to 1916 first assistant postmaster general. He took active part in President Wilson'3 election campaign in 1916, was vice-chair- man of the United States Tariff Com- mission from March to September, 1917, when he became commissioner of internal revenue. He greatly improved the col- lection of cotton statistics, originated the publication of the series of reports on cotton supply, and made a systematic study on behalf of the government of do- mestic and foreign textile industries. He wrote the "United States Post Office" (1917). ROPES, JOHN CODMAN, an Ameri- can historian; born in St. Petersburg, Russia, April 28, 1836; was graduated at Harvard in 1857; studied at the Har- vard law school, and was admitted to the bar in 1861. _ Largely through his influ- ence the United States Government be- gan the collection and preservation of information relating to the Civil War, and he organized the Military Historical Society of Massachusetts. Besides con- tributions to this society and to periodi- cals, he wrote: "The Army under Pope" (1881); "The First Napoleon" (1885); "The Campaign of Waterloo"; "Atlas of Waterloo"; and "The Story of the Civil War." He died in Boston, Mass., Oct. 28, 1899. RORAIMA, a celebrated mountain in South America, where the boundaries of British Guiana, Venezuela, and Brazil meet, 8,580 feet high, flat-topped, with steep, rocky sides, rendering the summit almost inaccessible. RORER, SARAH TYSON, an Ameri- can domestic economist and writer, born at Richboro, Pa. She was educated at the East Aurora Academy, and in 1871 mar- ried W. Albert Rorer. She was for 33 years lecturer on food, health, and dis- ease, and a writer on domestic science. From 1886 to 1892 she was editor and part owner of "Table Talk," and from 1893 to 1897 was the editor of "House- hold News." From 1897 to 1911 she was on the staff of the "Ladies' Home Jour- nal," and from the latter date devoted all her time to lecturing on domestic science. She was the author of many books on cookery which obtained a wide sale and popularity. RORQUAL, the name given to certain whales, closery allied to the common or whalebone whales, but distinguished by having a dorsal fin, with the throat and under parts wrinkled with deep longi- tudinal folds, which are supposed to be susceptible of great dilatations, but the use of which is as yet unknown. Two or three species are known, but they are rather avoided on account of their ferocity, the