endowment of $750,000. with an income of $50,000; and property valued at $400,000, including buildings and grounds worth $250,000. The library numbered 40,000 volumes.
WASHINGTON BARRACKS (D. C.). A United States military post, established in 1797 as Washington Arsenal. The reservation, which includes 69 acres, is situated on Greenleaf's Point in the city of Washington, which is the post-office and telegraph station. It was changed from an arsenal to an artillery-post in 1881, and quarters for 25 officers and 400 men and stables for 150 horses were provided. It has been the headquarters of the War College, of the School of Submarine Mining, and of Engineers since 1900.
WASHINGTON COURT HOUSE. The county-seat of Fayette County, Ohio, 40 miles southwest of Columbus, on Paint Creek, and on the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton, the Baltimore and Ohio, the Ohio Southern, and the Cincinnati and Muskingum Valley railroads (Map: Ohio, C 6). It is in a productive farming country, and manufactures boots and shoes, flour, soap, woolen goods, lumber, etc. Poultry-packing is also an important industry. Population, in 1890, 5742; in 1900, 5751.
WASHINGTON ELM. A venerable elm near the northwest angle of the common in Cambridge, Mass., under which Washington is said to have assumed command of the American Army on July 3, 1775. The tree, though carefully protected, is in an advanced state of decay and retains only a part of its former proportions.
WASHINGTON MONUMENT. A huge obelisk erected in the city of Washington, having a total height of 555 feet 5⅛ inches. It is the highest masonry structure in the world. The cornerstone was laid in 1848 and work on the monument continued slowly until 1877, when it ceased, but was resumed in 1878, and finished in 1884. The Washington National Monument Society originated the plan and controlled the work of construction until 1877, when its property was conveyed to the United States. Maryland marble is the material out of which the monument was constructed. The foundation covers an area of 16,000 feet, and weighs 36,912 gross tons. The shaft is 55 feet 1.5 inches square at the bottom, 34 feet 5.5 inches square at the top, weighs 43,633 gross tons, and is 500 feet 5⅛ inches high; the apex, weighing 300 tons, is 55 feet high, its summit being nearly 600 feet above the tidewater of the Potomac. The apex is capped by an aluminum point. It has 262 marble pieces, of seven-inch thickness. Toward the cost of erection the Monument Society had expended $300,000; the total cost has been $1,187,710.31. Lieutenant-Colonel T. L. Casey, of the United States Engineers, had charge of the work of construction after its passing under the control of the United States. The original designs were by Robert Mills. An elevator and an iron stairway of 900 steps within the monument afford access to the base of the apex.
WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY. An unsectarian institution at Saint Louis, Mo., chartered in 1853 as Eliot Seminary, in honor of Rev. William G. Eliot, of Saint Louis, in deference to whose wishes, however, the name was changed to Washington Institute. Its first educational work under the charter was the opening of an evening school for boys, the O'Fallon Polytechnic Institute. In 1857 the title of Washington University was assumed, and the first college degrees were granted in 1862. A Law School was organized in 1867, the School of Engineering and Architecture in 1870, the School of Fine Arts in 1879, and the School of Botany in 1885. The Saint Louis Medical College, founded in 1842, became a department of the university in 1891, the Missouri Dental College in 1892, and the Missouri Medical College in 1899. The university now consists of these departments, with the addition of Smith Academy, a preparatory school for boys; Mary Institute, a school for girls, organized in 1859; and the Manual Training School, organized in 1879. Students are admitted to the undergraduate department on examination or certificate from an accredited school. The college confers the degree of bachelor of arts and the School of Engineering that of bachelor of science. The professional degrees of civil, mechanical, electrical, and chemical engineer, and architect are given only after three or more years of successful practice. The master's degree in art and science and the degree of doctor of philosophy are also conferred. In 1894 a tract of land just outside the city limits was purchased as a new site for the university, and gifts made by citizens of Saint Louis made it possible to begin building at once. Ten buildings had been erected by 1902 and it was expected that the new site would be occupied in September of that year, but the leasing of the grounds and buildings to the Louisiana Purchase Exposition postponed the removal of the university until after the close of the Exposition. In 1903 the faculty numbered 196 and the student enrollment 2219; of these 241 were in the undergraduate department, 521 in the professional schools, 338 in the school of fine arts, and 1120 in the preparatory schools. The library contained 23,000 volumes. The value of the grounds and buildings was estimated in 1903 at $2,250,000, and the total value of the college property at $7,401,451. The endowment was $4,730,485, and the income $223,365.
WASHITA, wŏsh′ĭ-tȧ, or OUACHITA. A river which rises in the highlands of western Arkansas and flows southeast and southward through that State and Louisiana, emptying into the Red River near the latter's confluence with the Mississippi (Map: Arkansas, C 4) . Its length is about 550 miles. In its lower course, where it is generally called the Black River, it is connected with the Mississippi by a large network of bayous, the most important of which is the Tensas. The river flows through a rich corn and cotton region, is navigable for large river steamers 300 miles to Camden, Ark., and for smaller steamers to Arkadelphia, 70 miles farther.
WASH′O. A small tribe constituting a distinct linguistic stock, occupying the eastern slopes and valleys of the Sierra Nevada, west of Reno and Carson City, Nev. They appear to be entirely distinct from any other tribe, and are probably the remnant of a more numerous people destroyed by disease or exterminating wars. The Piute (q.v.) hold them as vassals, and as a mark of their subjection forbid them the use of horses. Nothing is known of their tribal traditions or
