Raemakers

3910

Railroads

Raemakers, Louis (iS6g- ), cartoon-
ist, born in Rocrmonrl, Holland. During
World War I his cartoons had great influence.
He came to the U. S. in 1340.

R.A.F., the Royal Air Force of Great
Britain.

Ragtime, in music, is a strongly synco-
pated melody superimposed on a regular ac-
companiment. The term was first applied to
certain southern negro melodies but it has
been colloquially extended to any popular
music characterized by marked syncopation.

Ragusa (Slav, Dubrovnik), in., Dalmatia,
situated at the foot of Mount San Sergio, on
the eastern shore of the Adriatic. The chief
points of interest are the Franciscan Church
(i4th century); the Rector's Palace, a beauti-
ful Renaissance building; the Cathedral (i7th
century); the Dominican monastery; and the
theater and museum. Ragusa was founded
in the seventh century by refugees from Epi-
daurus. From the fifteenth century to 1806
it was an independent republic under the pro-
tection successively of Venice, Hungary, and
Turkey, and was famous for its maritime ac-
tivity and for a remarkable literary move-
ment It was annexed by Napoleon to the
Kingdom of Illyria and was awarded to Aus-
tria in 1814. Following World War I Ra-
gusa passed to Jugoslavia under the terms of
the Peace Treaty; p. about 18,767.

Ragweed^ a name applied to any species of
the composite genus Ambrosia. Ambrosia ar-
temisiijolia, known also as Roman worm-
wood or hogweed, is a common pest in mead-
ows and pastures in all parts of the United
States. It grows from one to five feet in
height, with long deep green leaves, twice
pinnatifid, and small greenish flowers. Its
juice is bitter, and when the weed is eaten
by cattle, imparts a bitter flavor to the milk.
Giant ragweed (A. trifida) is a huge coarse
plant from 4 to 10 feet high, found in fields
and waste places from Nova Scotia to Flori-
da and westward to Nebraska and Colorado,
It is commonly accepted as the chief cause
of hay fever, or more properly autumn fever,
in the United States.

Ragwort, is the popular name of any one
of several herbs of the genus Senecio, of the
aster family (Composites}, with irregularly
lobed and toothed leaves; especially the Gol-
den Ragwort and Woolly Ragwort of the
United States.

RaLbek, Knud Lyne (1760-1830), Danish
author, was born in Copenhagen, As a crit-

ic he exercised an important influence on
Danish literature.

Rahu, in Hindu mythology, the demon sup-
posed to cause eclipses.

Rahway, city, Union co., New Jersey, at
the head of navigation on the Rahway River.
A residential suburb of New York, it is impor-
tant also for its manufactures. The New Jer-
sey State Reformatory is situated near here.
Besides chemical, oil and barrel industries,
Rahway is the seat of a large press and bind-
ery which manufactures books issued by
many New York publishers. Two miles
away, in Linden, are the refineries of the
Standard and other leading oil companies;
p. 17,498-

Raichur, town, India, 80 m. n.e. of Bellary.
It is famous for its glazed pottery; p. 26,000.

Raid, a hostile incursion into the territory
of a state by an armed force acting without
the authority or sanction of any politically
organized society. The state whose territory
is raided need not, and does not, extend the
rights of belligerents to those taking part in
such an attack upon it, but may punish them
according to its own laws without incurring
any responsibility to the state whose subjects
they may be. On the other hand, if the gov-
ernment of the country to which the raiders
belong has negligently permitted the prepara-
tion of such an unlawful expedition in its own
country, it may justly be held liable for the
damages which are the natural and probable
consequences of its neglect, though, of course,
such a liability, unless voluntarily admitted
or submitted to arbitration, can only be en-
forced by war.

Rail, a general name for the birds belonging
to the family Rallidae, which includes the
coot, corndrake, gallinule, and other species,
most of which frequent marsh lands. The head
is small, the body greatly compressed, the legs
and toes long, the wings short and rounded,
the tail short, and the bill straight and rather
long. The plumage is loose, and in typical
rails is a motley of delicate browns and grays
with transverse darker markings. Several spe-
cies of rail occur in the United States.

Railroads, a term generally used in refer-
ence to a system of transportation wherein
cars carrying persons or commodities are
moved in trains, by mechanical traction, over
a roadbed or structure along which the flanged
wheels of the cars are guided by rails. The
first really successful application of the steam
locomotive was made on a mine railroad n?ar