El Paso, Texas, the county-seat of El Paso County and the northwestern gateway into Mexico, is situated on the Rio Grande River, on the southern boundary of New Mexico. Five of the great lines of railway-travel center here, but connect with the Pacific coast and the Mexican capital. The city has a high elevation and a mean annual temperature of 63° F. Near by are extensive salt-deposits as well as minerals. The United States government maintains a military post here. The population, which is a mixed one, including a number of Mexicans, Indian half-breeds, etc., numbers 39,279.
Elves. See Fairies.
Elwood, Ind., a rapidly growing town in Madison County, central Indiana, 40 miles northeast of Indianapolis, is on the Lake Erie and Western and other railroads. It is a shipping point for grain and live-stock, and has a rapidly developing trade. Its manufacturing industries include saw and stave-mills, flax-factories and establishments for the manufacture of window, plate-glass and lamp-chimneys, flour and tin-plate mills, etc. It is surrounded by an agricultural region, and is in a natural-gas belt. The population within the past 20 years has risen from 2,284 to 11,028.
Ely, a town in Cambridgeshire, England. Here, in 673, Saint Etheldreda founded a mixed monastery, which, burned in 870 by the Danes, was refounded in 970 as a Benedictine abbey. In 1083 the first Norman abbot laid the foundation of the present church, which was made a cathedral in 1109, and, as we see it to-day, is one of the finest shrines in Christendom. Built in the form of a cross, it offers examples of all styles of Gothic architecture and is a growth of more than four centuries. Population of Ely, 9,000.
Ely, Richard Theodore, an American professor of political economy, was born in April, 1854, and studied at Columbia University and at Heidelberg. He was professor at Johns Hopkins from 1881, and at Wisconsin from 1892. Professor Ely believes in public ownership of such utilities as the telegraph and railway systems. While not a socialist, he is friendly to labor, and was even accused in 1894 of aiding a strike, but was acquitted. He is the author of several books, the latest and largest being his Distribution of Wealth. Others are French and German Socialism in Modern Times, Socialism and Social Reform and Social Aspects of Christianity.
Elyria, Ohio, a county-seat of Lorain County, 25 miles from Cleveland. The surrounding country is agricultural, but in the vicinity there are sandstone-quarries, which provide employment for many people. Among the industries are the manufacture of iron and steel-products, automobile-supplies, saddles, bicycles, etc. Population, 14,825.
Eman′cipa′tion Proclamation. After the Civil War had been in progress for more than a year, the antislavery leaders in the north urged President Lincoln to take action toward the abolition of slavery. While personally opposed to slavery, the president was slow to take so important a step until it should appear to be necessary in order to save the Union. Replying to the suggestions, he said, on Aug. 22, 1862: “My paramount object is to save the Union, and not either to save or destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it; if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would do that.” At length it became evident that slavery was a source of military strength to the Confederate cause, since slave-labor provided the means of supporting the Confederate forces in the field, and that it must be destroyed if the Union was to live. Accordingly, on Sept. 22, 1862, the president issued a preliminary proclamation, giving notice that on the 1st of January, 1863, “all persons held as slaves in any state, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward and forever free.” No attention was paid to this notification, and on the first day of January, 1863, President Lincoln issued the final proclamation of emancipation, declaring free all persons held as slaves in the states then in rebellion. This proclamation was given effect as fast as territory came under Federal control.
Eman′uel I, king of Portugal, called the Great or the Fortunate, was born on May 3, 1469, and became king in 1495. His reign is known as the golden age of Portugal. He prepared the code of laws which bears his name, and made his court a center of chivalry, art and science. Vasco da Gama's voyage round the Cape of Good Hope, Cabral's discovery of Brazil and the expeditions of Albuquerque and others, that so widened Portuguese possessions, were all sent out and encouraged by Emanuel. It was he that made Portugal the first naval power of the world as well as its great commercial center. He died at Lisbon on Dec. 13, 1521.
Embalming. See Mummy.
Embar′go-Acts are orders to restrain the ships either of a foreign nation with whom war has been declared or of the home nation from leaving port. An embargo-act was passed in the United States in 1794. This act was the answer to the British orders-in-council of 1793. France and England had each tried to cripple the other by declaring in turn that neutral vessels carrying to either were the lawful
