Pontius

3786

Poodle

312 B.C. In 1899 the Italian government set
aside $1,362,000 for drainage purposes, which
is rapidly being accomplished.
Pontius Pilatus, or Pontius Pilate, the

Roman governor who authorized the cruci-
fixion of Jesus Christ, was procurator of
Judasa probably from 26 to 36 A.D. He was
deposed from his office by Vitellius, the gov-
ernor of Syria, because of his severity. He
returned to Rome to stand his trial just
after the death of Tiberius (March, 37 A.D.).
According to Eusebius, he committed suicide
soon afterward.

Pontoons, boats used in the construction
of military bridges and which serve as float-
ing piers or supports for the roadway. In
the American Army the wooden pontoon,
weighing 1600 pounds complete, is used in
the heavy bridge trains.

chief importance under Mithridatcs vr., the
Great, who carried on several wars with
Rome. The unly important town was Tra-
pens, afterwards Trebizond.

Pontus Euxinus, ancient name of the
Black Sea.

Pony. See Horse.

Pony Express, a name given to a mail ser-
vice between St. Joseph, Mo., and San Fran-
cisco, Calif,, about 1,960 m. distant, estab-
lished in thi.' early part of iM6o to shorten
the time required for letter transmission to
and from the Pacific roast. Prior to that
time most of this mail had been carried by
way of Panama in about twenty-two days.
The pony express reduced the time of trans-
mission to about eight days. The route be-
tween St. Joseph and Sacramento was cov-
ered on horseback and from (Ivro to San

Pontoon Bridge: U. 6'. troops crossing Rhine into (rcrmauy.

Pontoppidan, Henrik (1857- ), Dan-
ish novelist, was born in Frederick, and edu-
cated at the University of Copenhagen, He
first excited attention by his Stackkede Yin-
ger (1881). His later works arc master-
pieces of exact observation, written in a
style not unlike that of George Eliot. The
religious life of the country folk in Denmark
is admirably described in his pages, not with-
out a touch of humorous satire. Tn 1917 he
received the Nobel prize in literature. His
principal works are Dei jorjcuttc.de Land
(1892; Eng. trans, The Promised Land,
1896); Dommeusdag (1895); Fort&llinger
(1899); ®en gawfo Adam (1894); IIdiscing
(1896); Lykke Per (1898-1900); Del Ideate
Hjem (1900); Lille Rodhcette (1901); De
Dodes Rige (1912-16); Favsingholm (1916) ;
Kojsang (1921).

Pontus, anciently a district of Asia Minor
on the s.e. coast of the Euxine or Black Sea.
In Pontus a native monarchy reached its

Franckco by fast steamer. The scheduled
daily distance to bo covered by each rider
was 75 m. The stations, at first about 25
m. apart, were finally increased to JQO in
number. In the beginning the postal rate was
$5.00 per half ounce, but Mibsequently it was
reduced to $1.00. The first trip was begun
on April 3, iH6o» ami the service, which fre-
quently suffered from the hostilities of the
Indians, was discontinued in October of the
following year, when transcontinental tele-
graphic communication was opened,

Pood, a Russian commercial weight, the
sixty-third part of a ton. It contains 40
Russian lb»., and is ordinarily reckoned equal
to 36 Ibs, avoirdupois, but is actually 36
Ibs, T oz. 13 drs.

Poodle, a dog popularly supposed to come
from France, and sometimes therefore called
the French poodle. Tt has a great capacity
for learning and performing tricks. Like
the bulldog, it varies greatly in si#e, ranging