Poseidon

3803

Postal

ugal, and in northeastern Spain around Cata- '
Ionia. Port is a rich, heavy wine, of from 18
to 25 per cent, alcoholic content, which owes
its strong characteristics partly to soil, but
largely to climate.

Poseidon, in ancient Grecian mythology,
the god of the sea, was a son of Cronus and
Rhea, and brother of Zeus and Pluto. He is
closely connected with the horse, which he is
said to have created. Earthquakes were at-
tributed to his agency, and he caused, con-
trolled, and calmed the storms of the sea.

Posen or Poznan, city, Poland, chief tn.
of the co. of Posen, on the river Warthe; 175
miles w. of Warsaw. It is a strongly fortified
town and is industrially important. Since the
Great War the town has been completely
transformed from a German to a Polish city.
Agricultural implements, machinery, liqueurs,
beer, and cigars are the principal products.
In 1793 it was annexed to Prussia and at the
close of the Great War it was restored to
Poland; p. 269,000.

Positivism, the school of philosophical
thought founded by Comte. It was the ulti-
mate aim of Comte's philosophy to lay the
foundations of a comprehensive social re-
construction. For Comte himself this work of
social reorganization was to be completed by
the institution of a new religious system. But
into this religious development of Comte's
philosophy a number of his disciples, headed
by Littre, refused to follow him. On this is-
sue the school divided; so that positivism has
a double meaning, according as we include
or exclude the religious part of the founder's
work.

Possession, Legal, the relation in which
a person stands to a thing when the
law attributes to him the advantages or legal
incidents of possession, whether he is ap-
parently in physical possession or not. Legal
possession generally includes physical posses-
sion, but not always; and physical may exist
without legal possession. For example, a man
may leave his house unoccupied to go to
business, and when he returns find an in-
truder in it, but the owner has not thereby
lost legal possession, and has the right to
forcibly eject the trespasser. However, if one
loses his umbrella, he has lost legal possession
and he must bring an action to recover it
from the finder. Possession gives a good title
to property against all but the true owner—
a rule which has important consequences in
connection with lost property, unclaimed
bank balances, and the like. Under the sta-
tutes of limitation, in most states adverse

possession of real property for a long period,
usually twenty years, gives a person absolute
title.

Post, George Browne (1837-1913), Am-
erican architect, was born in New York City.
He engaged in architecture in New York, be-
coming one of the leading architects of his
day, and the designer of many of the im-
portant building? of his native city, including
the original Equitable Building, the Stock
Exchange, Produce Exchange, Cotton Ex-
change, Pulitzer Building, Western Union
Building, Mills Building, City College group,
New York Hospital, and the residence of
Cornelius Vanderbilt formerly at 57th Street
and Fifth Avenue.

Post, Melville Davisson (1871-1930),
American author and lawyer, was born in
Harrison County, W. Ya. Among his pub-
lished works are The Corrector of Destinies
(1909); The Gilded Chair (1910;; The
Sleuth of St. James Square (1920); Walker
of the Secret Service (1925); The Man Hun-
ters (1926); The Revolt of the Birds (1927);
besides numerous short stories and magazine
articles.

Post, Wiley (1899-1935). round-the-world
flyer who was killed when his airplane crashed
near Point Barrow, Alaska, on August 15,
i93S> while on a vacation trip with Will Rog-
ers, the humorist, who also lost his life. On
June 23, 1931, he and Harold Gatty took off
from Roosevelt Field, Long Island, on the
globe-girdling flight which brought them
fame. They completed the trip in eight days,
fifteen hours and 51 minutes. Post equipped
his plane, the Winnie Mae, with a robot pilot
and made the same trip alone in 1933, lower-
ing the time of the previous flight and estab-
lishing a record for the New York-Berlin leg
—twenty-five hours and forty-five minutes.

Postage Stamps, printed labels fixed to
letters, parcels, or other mailable matter to
indicate the prepayment of postage. In the
United States the first stamps were issued by
individual postmasters at their own expense
in 1845, but these were superseded in 1847
by the first Government issue. The manu-
facture of U. S. postage stamps is carried on
by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.
The collecting of postage stamps, known as
Philately or Timbrology, has a wide vogue

Postal Savings Banks, a system of sav-
ings banks established by government au-
thority and conducted through the Post Of-
fice Department. Postal savings in the Uni-
ted States date from 1910, when Congress
authorized the establishment of postal sav-