Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 18.djvu/905

SZECHENYI. 791 SZEGEDIN. Seise des Grafcn liila Sz4chenyi in Ostasicn, in 1893. SZECHENYI, IsTVAN (Stephen), Count (171)2-181)0). An Hungarian statesman. l)orn in Vienna. As a yuutli lie served in the Austrian Army in the wars with Napoleon, and afterwards traveled through Europe. In 1825 he took his seat in the t'pjier House of the Hmigarian I'arlia- ment. As a leader of the National Party he endowed the Hungarian Academy of Science, a conservatory of music, and a theatre, and found- ed a society for efl'ecting improvements in horse- breeding. To his exertions were due the erection of the great suspension bridge between Pest and Buda, the removal of obstacles to navigation at the Iron Gate, the regulation of the Theiss. and the introduction of steamboats on the Danube. In 1847-48 lie at first opposed the extreme meas- ures of Kossuth, but later fell in with the popu- lar movement and became a member of the Ministry under Batthyilnyi and Kossuth in 1848. Beciiuiiiig insane soon after, lie was taken to the as}luiii at Dobling, near Vienna, where, though he partly regained his health, he spent his re- maining years. In March, 1800, his papers were searched by the police, and in a fit of excitement he shot himself. Consult Lonyav, Graf Stephan Sxchciii/i tind seine hiiiterlusscncn iSehriften (Pest, 1'87j). SZE-CHUEN, or SZE-CHUAN, se'chwan' (Chin., Four Rivers). The largest of the eighteen provinces of China. It is bounded on the north by Kan-su and Shen-si, on the east bv Hu-peh, on the .south by Kwei-cliow and Yunnan, and on the west by Tibet (Map: China, B 5). Area, 220,- 000 square miles. With the exception of the elevated plain of Ching-tu (q.v. ), 2400 square miles in area, and 1800 feet above the level of the sea, the province is entirely covered with mountains, many of them rising above the snow- line. The eastern portion, east of the Min Kiver, may be regarded as Sze-chuen proper, the western and more inaccessible part being inhabit- ed chiefly by non-Chinese tribes — Man-tse. Si-fan, and Lolos ("q.v. ) . The province is well watered by the Yang-tse and its numerous tributaries — the Y'alung. the Min, the T'o, and the Kia-ling from the north, and the Ta-kwan, the Nan-kwang, the Yung-ning. the Chih-shui, the K'i-kiang, and the Kungt'an from the south. Nearly all of these are obstructed in parts by rapids, but they nevertheless form most valuable avenues of com- munication in an otherwise difficult country. The climate is not extreme, but changes are sud- den. From October to February the country is generally enveloped in deep fogs and the sun is seldom seen. The rainy season begins in Jlay and is at its height in Jul.v. Sze-chuen is rich in minerals, especially in coal and iron, which occur together. Coal is found everywdiere, but the seams are thin and the quality does not compare with the coal of Kansu. Shan-si, Ho-nan. or even Hu-nan. It has not as yet been mined by modern methods. Cop- per, silver, gold, and lead occur in small quanti- ties. Notwithstanding the mountainous char- acter of the country, agriculture has been brought to a high state of perfection, and the province produces everything needed for home consumption except cotton and wool. The hill- sides in many places have been terraced with much industry and skill. Wheat is a winter crop, but it has been largely encroached on by jioppy culture, which is more remunerative. Kice, the staple article of diet, is very exten- sively grown. Other crops are barley, maize, millet, buckwheat, pulse, potatoes, tobacco of very fine quality, tea, sugar, indigo, and sesa- mum, rape and other oil-producing plants. Hemp is the only textile plant grown, except that used in the nuinufaeture of grass-cloth. Other important products are silk, white wax, vegetable tallow, tung-oil, rhubarb, medicines, musk, 'and hides. Wool is imjiorted from Shen-si, Tibet, Kokonor. and other regions. Cotton, both raw and manufactured, comes chiefly from Hu- peh. Cotton spinning and weaving are impnrlant home industries, and the cloth is cx])orted to Tibet and Yunnan, along with tea and silk. Iron manufacture from the ores of the province is one of the most extensive industries. Enormous quantities of .salt are obtained from brine-springs from 500 to 2000 or more feet in depth, the brine being evaporated by natural gas or coal. It is a Government monopoly, and brings in a large reve- nue to both the provincial and the Imperial gov- ernments. Large numbers of people are also employed in paper-making and the production of fans, umbrellas, crape, gauze, and beautiful silk embroideries, etc. Sze-chuen can be entered from the east by onl.y two routes: either overland through Shan-si and Shen-si, along difficult mountain paths infested by robbers, or up the Yang-tse by steam to I-chang (q.v.) and thence by native, specially constructed, junks which are hauled slowly and at great expense and risk up formidable rapids and through deep gorges. Within the province it- self there are nianv pack-roads paved with flags, and with steps cut in the rocks at very steep places. For travelers sedans and ponies are used, and for goods coolie carriers. Capital, Cliing-tu (q.v.). where resides the Governor-Gen- eral, who also has charge of East Tibet (q.v.). The only port opened to foreign trade is Ch'ung- k'ing (q.v.). Population, about 70,000,000. The province buys more foreign goods than any other. See Baber, Travels and Researches in Western China (London, 1882) ; Hosie, Three Years in Wesicrii China (London and New York, ISIIO) ; and Bishop, The Yang-tse Valley and Beyond (London and New York, 1901). SZEGEDIN, s6g'ed-en (Hung. Hzeged) . A royal free city of Hungary, next in size to Buda- pest, in the County of (Tsongrad, on the right bank of the Theiss a little below the confluence of the Maros, 96 miles southeast of Budapest (Map: Hungary, G 3). The town has been hirge- l.y and handsomely rebuilt since the terrible in- undation of 1879, when 2000 persons lost their lives. A high dike has been constructed to pro- tect the city from another such disaster. The modern streets are wide and there are several attractive .squares. Szegedin has a fine rococo town hall, a Gothic cathedral, a handsome thea- tre, and other stately edifices. The Franciscan monastery contains an excellent library (80,000 volumes) and a museum of antiquities. There are also a Minorite and a Piarist monastery. The principal manufactures arc paper, salt, cloth, and the famous Szegedin soap. As the commercial centre of the great Hungarian Alfold it has a brisk