Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 18.djvu/664

STEWAKT. 570 STIELEB. House, ho carried the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act in 1817. The 'Six Acts' of 1S19 made liim extremely unpopular. The retirement of Canning from the Jilinistry (1820) threw the wliole weight of business on Castlereagh. By the death of his father in 1821 he became Marquis of Londonilcrry. The great toil and responsi- bility of his office deranged his mind, and he died by his own hand at his seat at North Cray Place, Kent, August 12, 1822. Consult liis Memoirs and Correspondence (12 vols., London, 1848-53). STEWART ISLAND. See New Zealand. STEYN, stin, Martinus Theunis 1 1857 — ). A South African statesman, the last President of the Orange Free State. He was born at Win- bury, Orange Free State, and was educated at Grey College, Bloemfontein, and in Holland, af- ter which he studied law at the Inner Temple, London, and was called to the bar in 1882. Re- turning to South Africa, he resided at Bloem- fontein, where he at once gained distinction as a lawyer and in 1889 became State Attorney. In the same year he was elevated to the bench as second puisne judge, and in 1893 was appointed first puisne judge. In 1896 lie was chosen by universal suffrage President of the Republic. His policy was at once manifested in an attempt to draw the two Boer States closer together, and the defensive alliance agreed upon by the Orange Free State and the Transvaal in 1897 had his hearty support. In the summer of 1899 he rep- resented his State in the conference at Bloem- fontein with Sir Alfred Milner (q.v. ) and Presi- dent Kruger (q.v.) in an attempt to adjust the difficulties existing between the British and the Boers. Upon the failure of negotiations and the breaking out of hostilities he at once called out the Free State troops to act in cooperation with those of the Transvaal. During the course of the war he continued actively assisting and ad- vising the generals in the field, moving his capi- tal from place to place. In May, 1900, after the British had annexed the Orange Free State by proclamation, he issued a counter-proclamation reasserting the State's independence, and calling on the burghers to continue their defense. Af- ter Kruger's departure for Europe he became the virtual head of the Boer forces in the field. He toolc part in the peace conference that led to a cessation of hostilities in 1902 and subsequently toolc up his residence in London. STEYNE, Lord. A clever and wicked old nolilcman in Thackeray's Vaniiy Fair, who is involved in a scandal with Becky Sharp. STEYR, stir, or STEIER. A to^™ of Upper Austria, at the confluence of the Stcyr and the Enns, 90 miles west by south of Vienna (Map: Austria, D 2). Its principal structures are the Gothic church (1443) and the palace of Count Lamberg (tenth century). It is an important centre of the Austrian iron and steel industry. There is here a large Government rifle factory; the manufactures are cutlery, leather, paper, woolens, hosiery, etc. Population, in 1890, 21,- 499; in 1000, i7,592. STIBNITE (from Neo-L.at. stibium, from Gk. ffrf/Si, stibi. a-Ti/jifu, siimmi, sulphuret of anti- mony, probably from Egypt, stm, stibium). A mineral tri-sulphide of antimony erj'stallized in the orthorhombie system. It has a metallic lustre, and is red to steel-gray in color. It oc- curs with quartz, in beds or veins, in granite or gneiss, often with other antimony minerals .and metallic sulphides. It is found in the Harz, Freiberg, Cornwall (England), Algeria, Borneo, .lapan, and in the L'nited States in Maine, New Hampshire, Marjdand, Arkansas, and at various localities in California and Utah. It was used by the ancients for coloring the hair, eyebrows, etc. Stibnitc is an important ore of antimony. STICKLEBACK (so called from the sharp spines on its back). A general name for the small active fresh-water hemibranch siiiny-rayed fishes of the family Gastrosteida^, interesting because of their nest-building. They are natives of Northern America, Europe, and Asia. There are a dozen or so species, none exceeding six inches long. The body is slender and more or less compressed, without scales, but usually mailed with plates. The anterior dorsal fin is replaced by several strong, widely separated spines. The ventral fin consists of a strong spine and one or two rudimentary rays. The typical form is the common European stickle- back or 'burnstickle' (Gasterosteus aciileatus) , represented in Eastern North America by the very similar or identical Gasterosteus bispino- sus. It is four inches long, is olivaceous and dotted on the back, and has three dorsal spines. In the spring the male of this species builds upon the bottom of the stream a ne.st composed of bits of straw, sticlvS, leaves of plants, and sand, glued together by a secretion produced by a special gland. This secretion is drawn out into a silkdike thread by which the materials are entangled or woven together as the fish in moving about trails it after him. The completed shape is like that of a hand-muff, smooth inside, and with its openings in the direction of the current. When the house is completed the male induces a female to enter and deposit her eggs, a jirocess. lasting only a few minutes. The female then leaves by one of the openings and the male enters by the other to deposit milt over the eggs. In turn other females are invited in, until the nest contains layer after layer of' eggs and milt. These the male guards with care against many enemies, until the young are hatched and able to shift for themselves. Stick- lebacks are remarkably voracious and extremely destructive to the young fry of fishes. Con- sult authorities cited under Aquarium ; and Fish. See the accompanying Plate of Stickle- backs. STIELER, ste'ler, Adolf (1775-1836). A German cartographer, born at Gotha, and edu- cated at Jena and Gijttingcn. He was employed in the Government service at Gotha. His ]irin- cipal cartographic work, establishing a remark- able standai-d of accuracy and completeness, is Der Uandritlas (1817). and his other ]iublica- tions include: i^chulntlas (1821); Kleiner Atlas dcr deutschen StaatcH (1876): Taschenntlns (re- vised by Habenicht, 1885) ; and Dcutschland, Nicderlande. Belgien, $lcliiceiz und angrenzende Lander (1829). STIELER, Joseph (1781-1858). A prominent German portrait painter, born at Mainz. Self- taught, he practiced miniature painting early in life, then studied ivt Wiirzburg under Christoph Fesel (1737-1805) and at the Vienna Academy under Fiiger. After painting portraits in Hun- gary and Poland, he spent two years (1807-9) in