Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 18.djvu/675

STOCK. 579 STOCK EXCHANGE. with smooth leaves, called ten-week stock, Ger- man stock, etc., are referred to iliilthiohi fcn- estralis, whioli, perhaps, is a mere variety of the one species .l/(if//(/o/(/ iiicaim. The sandy shores of Wales and of Cornwall produce a species {ilat- thiola sinuata) the large purple flowers of which are fragrant only at night, a character- istic also of several otiier species. Stocks are generally raised by gardeners from seed. The hoary-leaved stocks are usually treated as bien- nials, although they may almost be reckoned perennial. The smooth-leaved stocks are treated as annuals. STOCKADE. A means of defence consisting of stakes, logs, timbers, tree trunks, etc., firmly set in the ground and adjoining each other, and proviiled with loopholes tlirough which the fire of the defenders nuiy be delivered. Stockades are one of the oldest forms of fortifications, hav- ing done duty since the time of arrows and javelins, and are still useful as a protection against musketry fire under certain circum- stances, though of course valueless when subject to attack by artillery. As the logs, etc., are usually considerably higher than a man's head and are sharpened on the top, stockades are also valuable as obstacles and can be defended readily. It is es.sential that the logs or timber should be firmly planted and bound together and reinforced by horizontal timbers or logs, earth, rails, or other material at the engineer's command, while the loopholes must be advantageously placed. Stockades may be useful where timber is plenti- ful, but their construction involves considerable labor and skillful working of timber. For de- tails of construction of stockades and other field defences, consult Beach, Manual of Militanj Field Engineering (3d ed., Kansas City, 1897). See Fortification*. STOCK'BRIDGE. A North American Indian tribe, bjee iI.iiic.N. STOCKBKIDGE. A town, including two villages, in Berkshire County. Mass., 17 miles south of Pittsfield, on the Berkshire Division of the Xew York. New Haven and Hartford Rail- road ( Map : Massachusetts. A3). It is pictur- esquely situated in the Berkshire Hills. Note- worthy features are the Bell Tower, commemo- rating the early Indian Jlission; a fine park, the gift of Cyrus W. Field ; the Edwards Jlonument, the Indian Burial Ground, Williams Academy, and the Jackson Library and Reading Room. In the vicinity are Ice Glen, a narrow gorge, with caves whose sides are coated with ice all the year; Prospect Hill, commanding an extended view; and Lake Maldceenac, near which are the remains of the house where Hawthorne wrote the House of the Seven Gables and other works. Pop- ulation, in 1890, 2132; in 1900, 2081. An Indian mission was established here in 1736, and three years later the place was incor- porated as a town under its present name (from Stockbridge, England). Jonathan Edwards was a missionary here from 1750 to 1758, and here he wrote his most famous works. In 1785 the Indians moved to New Stockbridge, N. Y. Consult: .Jones. Stoekbridge Past and Present (Springfield, 1854), and History of Berkshire County (New York, 1885). STOCKBRIDGE, Henry (1822-05). An American political leader, born at North Had- ley, Mass. He graduated at Andierst College in 1845 and was admitted to the bar in Maryland in 1848. He remained loyal to the Union during the Civil War, and in 18ti4 became a member of the State Legislature. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention which met to decide the question of the abolition of slavery in the State, was active in securing the adoption of the Constitution framed by its members, and defended it before the courts. It was largely by his exertions that the indentures of apprentice- ship, which threatened to take the place of slav- ery, were omitted from the statutes, and enfran- chisement secured, without possibility of evasion, to the negroes of JIaryland. STOCKDOVE (so called either because for- n-.erly regarded as the parent stock of the domes- tic pigeons, or becau.se it breeds in the trunks of trees). A wild pigeon {Columba wnas) of Europe, gray, with a burnished metallic purple breast, scarlet eyes, orange-colored bill, and red legs. It is about fourteen inches in length. STOCKER, ste'ker, Adolf ( 1835— ) . A Ger- man theologian and politician, born in Halber- stadt. He studied theolog;!' and philosophy in Halle and Berlin, entered the ministry, and in 1874 became cathedral preacher and Court pastor in Berlin. In 1879 he was ejected to the Prussian Cliamlier of Deputies, and from 1881 till 1893 he was a member of the Reich.st.ag. During this period he was a leader of the agita- tion against the Jews. In 1890. because of his activity as a Socialist agitator, he was removed by the Emperor from his position as pastor of the Court. Six years afterwards, with a consid- erable number of followers, he seceded from the Conservative Party, to which he had hitherto belonged, and organized the Christian Socialists. In 1892 Dr. Stocker became the editor of the Deutsche evangelische Eirchen.!:eitung. Among his published works are: Christlich-Social (1884 and 1890) ; Wach' auf evangelisehes Volk! (1893); and Drei::ehn Jahre Hofprediger und PoUtikcr (1895). STOCK EXCHANGE. An institution where sales and purchases may be made of securities of corporations and municipalities, and in some eases of certificates representing commodities of trade, such as silver bullion, petroleum, etc. In their origin stock exchanges appear to have been free to the use of any one who wished to buy or sell, and it was probably with this function in view that some of the older exchanges, notably the Paris Bourse, were located in buildings erected at the public expense. It was very quickly dis- covered, however, that in order to enforce bar- gains some formal organization was necessary. Membership in stock exchanges therefore came to be limited on the general basis used by clubs or other associations. As the profits of the use of the exchange became large possession of a membership became a valuable privilege. The London Stock Exchange has for many generations occupied the most conspicuous place in the history of finance, for the reason that transactions on its floor were conducted by the great aggregation of capital, home and interna- tional, which made its abiding place in that city. Originally confining its dealings to British Gov- ernment stock, the London Exchange became active, at the opening of the nineteenth century, in securities of other nations which applied to