TOPLADY

I924

TORPEDO

Top'lady, Augustus Montague, was born at Farnham, Surrey, England, Nov. 4, 1740. He went to Westminster School and Trinity College, Dublin, became a clergyman, and preached in Devonshire and in London. For a time he was editor of a religious magazine, and he published religious books. He is remembered as a hymn-writer, especially as the author of Rock of Ages. Toplady died at London, Aug. 11, 1778. Torna'do. See Storm. Toron'to, Can., capital of Ontario is on the northern shore of Lake Ontario. The harbor at its front is formed by an island lying south of it. We first hear of it as a trading-fort built by the French in 1749 and named Fort Rouille. Later it was known as York. It was incorporated as a city in 1834 with the name of Toronto. It is the legal, educational and legislative center of the province. Osgoode Hall with its court-rooms and law-library, named after Chief Justice Osgoode and centrally located in spacious grounds, is a center of attraction for visitors. The parliament-buildings, stately and handsome brown-stone structures in the park, and the group of buildings near by, devoted to the growing work of the University of Toronto, deservedly are objects of local pride. The main building of the university is, architecturally, one of the most imposing on the continent. Near these are Wycliffe, McMaster, Victoria and St. Michael's Colleges and, at no great distance, Knox and Trinity Colleges. The educational institutions attract 10,000 students. Only a few universities in the world have a larger roll-call than Toronto University. The city rises gradually from the lake northwards, and a number of streets in its northern portion, the residential part, are noticeably beautiful. Industrially Toronto is making great progress. The value of the annual output is near $100,000,000. One department-store 'alone (T. Eaton Company) employs 4,000 hands. In 1906 electric power was brought to the city from Niagara Falls, and cheap power unlimited in quantity so easily obtained will attract capital and further build up industries. The city is well-provided with hospitals, libraries, churches and parks. Its electric railway has nearly 100 miles of track, and each year carries nearly as many millions of passengers. The leading railways, the Canadian Pacific, Grand Trunk and Canadian Northern, contribute to its growth. Steamers, passengers and freight cross to Niagara (Lake Erie) and to Kingston and points east, including Montreal and Quebec, across Lake Ontario. Americans in great numbers visit Toronto each summer. The island, stretching along the front of the city, dotted with summer residences and hotels and overlooking the great lake, is attractive to citizens and visitors alike. Its ready accessibility (within a few minutes

of the heart of the city) makes it a most valuable asset. Population (1910), 342,000. See Canada and Ontario.

Torpe'do, the popular name for electrical fishes closely related to the skates and rays. They are capable of giving electrical shocks, and are also called cramp-fishes. There are 15 or 20 species inhabiting mainly the warmer seas, but one species is found on the Atlantic coast from Cape Cod south. It has a broad, disk-shaped body with a stout tail and reaches a length of three to five feet. It is black above and whitish below. The electrical organs in all these fishes consist of two clusters of six-sided prisms, one on each side between the head and the broadly expanded pectoral fin. There are about 500 prisms in a single organ. The latter is richly provided with nerve-fibers, and the discharge is under the control of the fish.

Torpedo, an apparatus or machine designed to destroy ships by blowing them up with an explosive. Torpedoes are either stationary, floating or moving. Stationary and floating torpedoes are used in defensive operations, as in harbors or rivers. They are placed in the harbor, either being anchored or allowed to drift within certain limits, and so arranged that they explode by contact with a ship or can be exploded by an electrical contact from some convenient point. . Moving torpedoes are projected through the water, either on or below the surface, and explode upon coming in contact with a ship. They may depend for motion wholly upon the original force of projection, or they may be supplied with some motive power by which they move themselves. When they are projected, they are usually discharged by compressed air from a long tube called a torpedo-tube. Many war-ships are fitted with these torpedo tubes, but special boats called torpedo-boats are more often used for the purpose. A torpedo-boat is a small, fast steamer fitted with appliances for launching torpedoes. Some navies have somewhat larger steamers which have great speed, and are equipped with fast-firing guns for protecting the large cruisers and battleships from torpedo-boats. Such boats are called torpedo-destroyers. Torpedo-destroyers are also supplied with torpedoes and torpedo-tubes for offensive operations. The use of torpedoes in warfare dates back to the 16th century, when floating torpedoes were used to blow up bridges etc. During the American Revolution floating torpedoes were tried with little success against Lord Howe's ships, both in New York harbor and on the Delaware. Col. Samuel Colt of Hartford, Conn., made numbers of experiments for the United States government about 1840. These experiments were in many ways successful, but did not lead to the general use of torpedoes. During the American Civil