literature. The poet Verhaeren and the painter Laermans were on friendly terms with the royal family, the latter receiving personal attention from the Queen when he was threatened with the loss of his sight.
On Aug. 2 1914, when the Germans sent their ultimatum to Belgium, King Albert at once prepared to defend his country. He himself took command of the army. He only left Ant- werp at the last possible moment, and then established him- self with the army on the Yser. During the whole of the war he remained with the troops, having his headquarters at La Panne, where he was exposed to the risk of enemy bombardments. He made continual visits to the front -line trenches, and even sur- veyed the enemy's lines from an aeroplane. The Queen remained with him, acting as a nurse in the Hopital de 1'Ocean at La Panne. She also interested herself deeply in the welfare of the soldiers in the trenches, and superintended the establishment of canteens and aid posts. Prince Leopold, King Albert's elder son, lived by his father's wish the life of a simple soldier in the i2th Regiment.
When the general offensive of Oct. 1918 was undertaken, King Albert was appointed commander of the northern army groups, consisting of both Belgians and French, which captured the forest of Houthulst, the Flandernstellung, Thourout, Ostend and Bruges, and forced the passage of the Lys. On Nov. 13 1918 the King and Queen made their entry into Ghent, and on Nov. 22 into Brussels, being received with enormous enthusi- asm. Even before the signing of the Armistice the King had summoned at Lophem a number of politicians, and arranged a new Government containing representatives of the three more important Belgian political parties.
After the Armistice the King occupied himself actively with the improvement of conditions in his country, visiting the devastated areas, and contributing considerable sums to " King Albert's Fund," which was devoted to providing temporary shelter for sufferers from the war. He also undertook journeys to Brazil, Spain, France, the United States and England, with the object of studying trade conditions and finding new outlets for Belgian commerce. The popularity of the King and Queen, great even before the war, steadily increased, even the Socialist party taking many opportunities of expressing feelings of respect towards the royal family! King Albert declined the augmen- tation of his civil list which was offered to him by the Chamber immediately after the war.
See P. Nothomb, Le Roi Albert; Laurent, Le Roi Albert; Baron Buyens, Les hommes de la Guerre le Roi Albert; G. Mathys, Le Prince Albert; Mousseau, Le Prince Albert au Congo; La Mart de Leopold II. et VAvknement du Roi Albert (Recueil de Documents, 1909); Roux, Le Roi Albert; Percy, The Life Story of Albert I., King of the Belgians (1914); MacDonnel (John de Courcy), The Life of H.M. King Albert (1915) and Belgium: her Kings, Kingdom and People (1914).
ALBERT, DUKE OF WURTTEMBERG (1865- ), German
general, the son of Duke Philip of Wurttemberg, was born in Vienna on Dec. 23 1865. As the King and Queen of Wurt-
temberg had no male heir, he was as nearest agnate the heir
presumptive to the Wurttemberg throne. He passed through the
different grades of a military career and was appointed general in
command of the XI. Army Corps at Cassel in 1906 and in 1908
was entrusted with the command of the Wurttemberg Army
Corps. In 1913 he was advanced to the rank of Generaloberst
(colonel-general, immediately below field-marshal) and was
appointed Inspector-General of the 6th Army Inspection. At
the outbreak of the World War he took over the leadership of the
4th Army on the western front, was advanced to the rank of
field-marshal-general in 1916 and appointed chief-in-command of
the group of armies on the front in Alsace-Lorraine, which
fought under his leadership till the end of the war. Since then he
has lived as a private citizen on his Wurttemberg estates. He
married in 1902 the late Archduchess Margarete Sophie of
Austria, the sister of the Archduke Francis Ferdinand who was
assassinated at Sarajevo.
ALBERTA (see 1.499). The PP- of the Canadian province
of Alberta in 1916 was 496,525. The increase since 1901 is shown
in the following table:
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Year.
Male.
Female.
Total.
1901 1906 1911 1916
41,019 108,283 223,989 277,256
32,003
77,129 150,674 219,269
73,022 185,412 374,663 496.525
The urban pop. amounted in 1916 to 188,749 and the rural to 307,776, There were 119,510 families inhabiting 113,347 dwell- ings, the average number in the family being 4-15. The origins of the people were as follows: Canadian-born 241,357; English 70,068; Irish 36,420; Scotch 47,494; Welsh, etc., 1,500; French 17,679; German 12,486; Austro-Hungarian 11,868; Scandinavian 9,825; Dutch 2,465; Indian 14,118; Polish 1,791; Russian 6,422; Ukrainian 4,024; others 5,197. Of U.S. immigrants of all na- tionalities born in the United States there were 91,674, almost precisely 50% of them being of British descent.
Edmonton is the capital, with a pop. estimated in 1920 at 60,000 (24,900 in 1911). It is beautifully situated on the N. bank of the North Saskatchewan on a table-land overlooking and 200 ft. above the river. It is the depdt of the fur traders of the northern forest and the western headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company. Edmon- ton is the terminus of the Calgary and Edmonton railway, and a divisional point of the Canadian National railways. It owns and operates its own electric light and power plant, waterworks, sewerage, telephones and street railway system. It has flour mills, saw mills and meat-packing plants.
Strathcona, on the S. bank of the North Saskatchewan river, is the seat of the university of Alberta, and a popular residential district. Fort Saskatchewan, Vegreville, and Vermilion are thriving trading towns on the Canadian National railway.
Calgary, the chief city of the southern district, and the principal business section of the province, is situated in the valley of the Bow river. It had in 1920 a pop. estimated at 75,000 while in 1911 the pop. was 43,704. It is on the main line of the C.P.R. and the lines of the Canadian National railway. The manufacturing establish- ments include meat-packing plants, flour mills, lumber mills, brick and cement works. It is the door to the magnificent scenery of the Rockies, and the great number of summer tourists has necessitated the building of large modern hotels.
Medicine Hat had in 1920 an estimated pop. of 10,000, and is the centre of a wide area of ranching and farming country. It is one of the large flour-milling centres and is known as the natural-gas city, haying been supplied with natural gas from the time of its inception. Bricks and drain pipes are extensively manufactured.
The pop. of Lethbridge was estimated at 10,000. It is a thriving coal- mining, agricultural and railway centre, and is an important neigh- bourhood for irrigation farming, the Dominion experimental farm being situated there.
Other local centres are Red Deer, Wetaskiwin, Bairmore, Cam- rose, Cardston, Coleman, Lacombe, Macleod, Pincher Creek, Ray- mond, Redcliff, Stettler, High River, Taber and Vegreville.
The Legislative Assembly of Alberta consists of 58 members, with an Executive Council composed of eight members chosen from the Legislature. The province is represented in the Do- minion Parliament by 12 members in the House of Commons and six Senators.
High schools have been opened at all the leading centres, and normal schools for the training of teachers are in operation at Calgary and Camrose. The province owns 250 ac. of land at Edmonton, where a well-equipped university has been established. Alberta College, a Methodist theological training school, a Presbyterian theological training college, and other denominational institutions are affiliated with the university. Technical schools are established at Edmonton, Calgary, and Medicine Hat. Schools of agriculture are established at different points and there are nine demonstration farms; the university has a faculty of agriculture.
Agriculture. Until the end of the igth century southern Alberta was regarded as only fit for ranching, but in 1902 the first irrigation company was formed and received its charter. Since then numerous irrigation projects have been undertaken, and a large area of land is now faoned with the help of the water thus made available. The area of the land owned by the irrigation companies of southern Al- berta made up in 1920 a total of nearly 3,000,000 ac. of which 30% is actually irrigable land. The benefits of irrigation have been well demonstrated in southern Alberta. Besides making it possible to grow heavier and better crops it is possible to grow a greater variety. On dry land grain is the characteristic crop. Under irrigation heavy crops of alfalfa and roots are grown, which make profitable stock- raising and stock-feeding possible without the uncertainties and loss which accompany seasons of drought. More stock is raised in south- ern Alberta now than was raised under ranch conditions. The chief
