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SYRACUSE

columns, of which two are still standing, are about 21 ft. in height and 6 ft. in lower diameter: its length is estimated at 197 ft., its breadth at 66¾ ft. (Orsi, in Monumenti dei Lincei, 1903, xiii. 369). The hill was frequently occupied in attacks on Syracuse by the besieging force. It is not, however, defensible in the rear: hence Dionysius's success against the Carthaginians. The hill of Dascon is to be sought a trifle to the south-east, to the south of the mouth of the Anapus, on the edge of the Great Harbour, at the Punta Caderini. From this point southwards the shore of the Great Harbour, previously low and marshy, begins to rise, until the rocky promontory of Plemmyrium is reached, which closes it on the south. Here Sicel tombs have been found, in some of which it appears that the Athenian dead were hastily buried (Freeman iii. 365, n. 1), while a colossal tomb, attributable also to the time of the Athenian invasion, was found there in 1899.

See A. Holm and F. S. and C. Cavallari, Topografia archeologica di Siracusa (Palermo, 1883), or the more handy German translation by B. Lupus, Topographie von Syrakus (Strassburg, 1887); P. Orsi, in Atti del congresso di scienze storiche, v. 181 (Rome, 1904), and in Notizie degli scavi, passim; E. Mauceri, Siracusa (Palermo, 1904); J. Führer and V. Schultze, “Die altchristlichen Grabstätten Siziliens,” Jahrbuch des k. d. arch. Inst.; Ergänzungsheft, vii. 17 sqq. (Berlin, 1907). In the hills to the west of Syracuse many Sicel villages must have existed; cemeteries of the second and third period have been found at Pantalica 15 m. to the north-west, with the ruins of the habitation of the chief of the tribe, and of the second at Cassibile, 10 m. S.S.W. (see Orsi in Monumenti dei Lincei (1899) ix. 33, 146).  (E. A. F.; T. As.) 

SYRACUSE, a city and the county-seat of Onondaga county, New York, U.S.A., situated at the southern end of Onondaga Lake, about 75 m. E. of Rochester and about 150 m. W. of Albany. Pop. (1880), 51,792; (1890), 88,143 (1900), 108,374, of whom 23,757 were foreign-born (including 7865 German, 5717 Irish, 2393 English Canadian and 2383 English) and 1034 were negroes; (1910, census), 137,249. Area (1906), 16.62 sq. m. Syracuse is served by the New York Central & Hudson River, the West Shore, and the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western railways, by the Erie Canal and the Oswego Canal, which joins the Erie within the city limits, and by several electric inter-urban lines. The city is built on high ground in an amphitheatre of hills surrounding the lake, which is a beautiful body of clear water, 5 m. long by 1½ m. broad at its widest point. Of the residential streets, James Street, in the north-eastern part of the city, is the most attractive. Salina Street is the principal business thoroughfare. The park system comprises more than fifty parks and squares, with a total area of 278 acres. The largest and most noteworthy are Burnet park (about 100 acres), on high land in the western part of the city, Lincoln park, occupying a heavily wooded ridge in the east, and Schiller, Kirk and Frazer parks. A boulevard runs along the shore of the lake. A fine water-supply controlled by the city is obtained from Skaneateles Lake, 18 m. distant, by a gravity system which cost $5,000,000; and the city has an intercepting sewer system.

Among the most noteworthy churches of Syracuse are the Roman Catholic cathedral of the Immaculate Conception—Syracuse became the see of a Roman Catholic bishop in 1887—and St Paul's Protestant Episcopal, the first Presbyterian, first Methodist Episcopal, Dutch Reformed and May Memorial (Unitarian) churches, the last erected in memory of Samuel Joseph May (1797–1871), a famous anti-slavery leader, pastor of the church in 1845–1868, and author of Some Recollections of Our Anti-Slavery Conflict (1873). Among the public buildings are the Federal Building, the Onondaga county courthouse, costing $1,500,000 and containing a law library of 15,000 vols., the city-hall, the Central high school, a fine building erected at a cost of $400,000, the North high school ($300,000), and the public library (Carnegie) with 60,000 volumes in 1908 and housing the Museum of Fine Arts (1897), also.

Among the hospitals and charitable institutions are the Syracuse hospital (1872) for infectious diseases, the Hospital of the Good Shepherd (1373), the Syracuse homoeopathic hospital (1895), the Syracuse hospital for women and children (1887), St Mary's infant and maternity hospital (1900) under the Sisters of Charity, St Joseph's hospital (1869) under Sisters of the Third Order of St Francis, the Syracuse home for aged women (1852), Onondaga county orphan asylum (private; 1841), and two other orphan asylums controlled by the Sisters of Charity, and the state institution for feeble-minded children (1896). The University block (an office building owned by Syracuse University), the Union Building, the Onondaga county savings bank and the Syracuse savings bank are among the most notable business structures; and the Onondaga, the Vanderbilt House and the Yates and St Cloud hotels are the principal hotels. In Jamesville, about 6 m. south, is the Onondaga penitentiary. Adjacent to the city is Oakwood cemetery, overlooking the lake; and north-west of the city are the state fair grounds, with extensive exhibition halls and barns, where the annual fairs of the New York State Agricultural Society are held. Six miles south of the city is the Onondaga Indian reservation, the present capital of the “Six Nations.” The city has an annual carnival and a musical festival.

Syracuse University, whose campus (of 100 acres) in the south-east part of the city commands a fine view of the lake, is a co-educational institution largely under Methodist Episcopal control, but not sectarian, which in 1908–1909 had 239 instructors and 3205 students (1336 in the college of liberal arts; 189 in the summer school; 62 in the library school; 933 in the college of fine arts; 147 in the college of medicine; 179 in the college of law; 401 in the college of applied science; and 78 in the teachers' college). The university was opened in 1871, when the faculty and students of Genesee College (1850) removed from Lima (New York) to Syracuse—a court-ruling made it impossible for the corporation to remove; in 1872 the Geneva medical college (1835) removed to Syracuse and became a college of the university. The courses in library economy (college of liberal arts) are particularly well known. The university library (about 80,000 bound volumes and 40,000 pamphlets) includes (since 1887) the collection of the German historian, Leopold von Ranke. There are seventeen buildings, among which the Holden observatory, the John Crouse memorial college (of fine arts), the hall of languages, the Lyman Smith college of applied science, the Lyman hall of natural history, the Bowne hall of chemistry, and the Carnegie library, are the most notable. There are a large gymnasium and a stadium of re-enforced concrete for athletic contests, capable of seating 20,000 people and one of the largest athletic fields in the world. The plant of the university in 1909 was valued at $3,193,128, and in 1908–1909 its productive funds amounted to about $2,000,000 and its income from all sources was about $784,000.

Other educational institutions are the Syracuse Teachers' training school, Christian Brothers' academy (Roman Catholic), St John's Catholic academy, Travis preparatory school (non-sectarian), and at Manlius (pop. 1910, 1314), a suburb, St John's military academy (Protestant Episcopal, 1869). The Onondaga Historical Association was organized in 1862, and after 21 years of inactivity was reorganized in 1892; it occupies its own building; its committee on natural science developed (1896) into the Onondaga academy of science. Several educational journals are published at Syracuse. There are three daily newspapers, the Post—Standard (Standard, 1829; Post, 1894; consolidated, 1899, Republican), Journal (1839; daily since 1844, Republican, and Evening Herald (1877), Independent).

The government is that of all cities of the second class in New York state, with an elective mayor and other important officers and a single-chambered city council.

Power from Niagara Falls is used by factories in the city, and the manufactures are extensive and greatly diversified. In 1905 the aggregate capital of the city's manufacturing industries was $38,740,651, and the value of its factory products was $34,823,751, 31.2% more than in 1900. The principal products in 1905 were: men's and women's clothing ($3,527,494, of which $3,082,052 represented men's clothing), foundry and machine-shop products, of which agricultural implements and machinery constituted the greater part ($2,415,466), iron and steel products ($2,117,585), chemicals, malt liquors ($1,960,466), typewriters and typewriting supplies ($1,553,113), and boots and shoes ($1,253,982). Other important products were automobiles and sewing machines, hosiery and knit goods, candles, furniture, flour, crockery, and canned goods (especially mince-meat).

Syracuse was long the principal seat of the salt industry in America.