Ganges has a total length of 1,157 miles; its drainage-basin embraces over 390,000 square miles, lying between the Himalaya and Vindhya ranges and extending east to the mountains which separate Burma from Bengal. It in some sense is navigable from the point where it enters the lowlands to its mouth; its stream never fails in the hottest summer, and its floods distribute over the fields a rich top-dressing of soil. The Ganges is the most sacred river of India; from its source down to the sea every foot of Mother Ganges' course is holy. To bathe in her waters, according to the Brahman creed, will wash away sin; to die and be buried on her banks secures free entry to eternal bliss. Gangotri, Hardwar, Allahabad, Benares and Sugar Island, the most sacred spots, are visited by thousands of pilgrims every year. So potent is the religious influence of this stream that those who exclaim “Ganga, Ganga,” even at a distance of a hundred leagues, atone for the sins committed during three previous lives.
Ganymede (gan′i-mēd), the cupbearer of Zeus, was, according to Homer, the son of King Tros. The most beautiful of mortals, he attracted the notice of the king of the gods, who determined to make him his cup bearer, to succeed Hebe, and so sent his eagle to carry him off to heaven. Zeus gave Tros a pair of divine horses to make up for his loss, and comforted him by telling him that Ganymede was now immortal. Ganymede was later believed to be the same god that presided over the Nile. The Greeks placed him among the stars, under the name of Aquarius or the water-bearer. Ganymede was a favorite subject of ancient art, and to some extent is a favorite also of modern art.
Gapon, George, a Russian socialist and priest, was born in Biliki, Poltava, in southern Russia. As a boy he lived with his peasant, parents, tending the sheep and cattle. At the age of twelve, he entered the lower Ecclesiastical School in Poltava. There he commenced to be influenced by the writings of Tolstoi. At sixteen he passed into the Ecclesiastical Seminary. For a few years following he taught in Poltava and there became ordained to the priesthood. Two years later he entered the Ecclesiastical Academy in St. Petersburg. About 1904 he formed a society called The Gathering of Russian Factory Hands of St. Petersburg. This was gradually enlarged, until it became a powerful band of socialists. Father Gapon led the Russians in their appeal to the czar in 1905, when he was shot. He was found hanged in April, 1906, in a country-home of Mme. Zverzhinskaia, in Oxorkow, Russia.
Garcia (gär-thē′ä or gär-sē′ȧ), Calixto, a Cuban insurgent-general, was born at Holguin, Cuba, Oct. 14, 1836, and died at Washington, D. C., Dec. 11, 1898. When the Ten Years' War broke out in 1868 under Céspedes, he joined the insurgents and rose to the rank of major-general. In 1873 he and his command were surprised by the Spanish forces and captured. Rather than surrender, Garcia placed the muzzle of his revolver beneath his chin and fired his last shot. The bullet came out between his eyes, but, though it marked him for life, did not kill him. After a long imprisonment in Spain he was pardoned and released, returning secretly to Cuba in September, 1895, when the new revolt occurred. In Cuba he coöperated with Gomez in the department of the East, and during the siege of Santiago by the United States forces he coöperated with General Shafter. In December, 1898, he was appointed head of a commission elected by the Cuban Assembly to visit Washington and confer with the United States authorities as to the future of Cuba. While at Washington, he died of an attack of pneumonia.
Gard′iner, Samuel Rawson, a modern English historian, was born in Hampshire, England, March 4, 1829. He was educated at Winchester and at Christ Church, Oxford, and for some years was professor of modern history at King's College, London. In 1885 he resigned his post to devote himself to writing. He has made a thorough study of the period of the first two Stuart kings in English history, and is the authority for that period. Besides his history of that period, he has also written a number of shorter works, among them The Thirty Years' War and Introduction to the Study of English History. His more ambitious works are The Personal Government of Charles I; The Fall of the Monarchy of Charles I; History of the Great Civil War; and Constitutional Documents of the Puritan Revolution.
Gard′ner, a town in Worcester County, Mass., 25 miles north of Worcester. It is the center of a large agricultural region, but is most important for its immense chair-factory. This establishment employs about 3,000 people, and manufactures almost every kind of chair. The town has two parks, a public library, an almshouse and a home for the aged. It is served by the Fitchburg division of the Boston and Maine Railroad, two branches of which go through the town. Population 14,699.
Gar′field, James Abram, the twentieth president of the United States, was born at Orange, Cuyahoga County, O., Nov. 19, 1831. His father died soon after his birth, and his early life was spent in poverty. He worked on a farm, and for three months was a canal boatman. He attended and taught in the public schools, studied at Hiram College, and finally graduated at Williams College in 1856 with high honors. The next
