[1] In addition to the large foreign-born population (4023 Germans,
3017 English, 2683 English Canadians, 1885 Chinese, 1720 Irish and
smaller numbers of French, Mexicans, Swedes, Italians, Scots, Swiss,
Austrians, Danes, French Canadians, Russians, Norwegians, Welsh and
Japanese) 26,105 of the native white inhabitants were of foreign
parentage (i.e. had one or both parents not native born), so that
only 54,121 white persons were of native parentage. German, French
and Italian weekly papers are published in Los Angeles.
LOS ISLANDS (ISLAS DE LOS IDOLOS), a group of islands off the coast of
French Guinea, West Africa, lying south of Sangarea Bay, between 9° 25´
and 9° 31´ N. and 13° 46´ and 13° 51´ W., and about 80 m. N.N.W. of
Freetown, Sierra Leone. There are five principal islands: Tamara,
Factory, Crawford, White (or Ruma) and Coral. The two largest islands
are Tamara and Factory, Tamara, some 8 m. long by 1 to 2 m. broad, being
the largest. These two islands lie parallel to each other, Tamara to the
west; they form a sort of basin, in the centre of which is the islet of
Crawford. The two other islands are to the south. The archipelago is of
volcanic formation, Tamara and Factory islands forming part of a ruined
crater, with Crawford Island as the cone. The highest point is a knoll,
some 450 ft. above sea-level, in Tamara. All the islands are richly
clothed with palm trees and flowering underwood. Tamara has a good
harbour, and contains the principal settlement. The inhabitants, about
1500, are immigrants of the Baga tribe of Senegambian negroes, whose
home is the coast land between the Pongo and Nunez rivers. These are
chiefly farmers. The Church of England has a flourishing mission, with a
native pastorate. At one time the islands were a great seat of
slave-traders and pirates. The latter are supposed to have buried large
amounts of treasure in them. In an endeavour to stop the slave trade and
piracy, the islands were garrisoned (1812-1813) by British troops, but
the unhealthiness of the climate led to their withdrawal. In 1818 Sir
Charles McCarthy, governor of Sierra Leone, obtained the cession of the
islands to Great Britain from the chiefs of the Baga country, and in
1882 France recognized them to be a British possession. They were then
the headquarters of several Sierra Leone traders. By article 6 of the
Anglo-French convention of the 8th of April 1904, the islands were ceded
to France. They were desired by France because of their geographical
position, Konakry, the capital of French Guinea, being built on an islet
but 3 m. from Factory Island, and at the mercy of long range artillery
planted thereon. The islands derive their name from the sacred images
found on them by the early European navigators.
See A. B. Ellis, _West African Islands_ (London, 1885), and the works
cited under FRENCH GUINEA.
LOSSIEMOUTH, a police burgh of Elginshire, Scotland. Pop. (1901) 3904.
It embraces the villages of Lossiemouth, Branderburgh and Stotfield, at
the mouth of the Lossie, 5½ m. N.N.E. of Elgin, of which it is the port,
by a branch line of the Great North of Scotland railway. The industries
are boat-building and fishing. Lossiemouth, or the Old Town, dates from
1700; Branderburgh, farther north, grew with the harbour and began about
1830; Stotfield is purely modern and contiguous to the splendid
golf-course. The cliffs at Covesea, 2 m. W., contain caves of curious
shape. Sir Robert Gordon of Gordonstown used one as a stable in the
rebellion of 1745; weapons of prehistoric man were found in another, and
the roof of a third is carved with ornaments and emblems of early Celtic
art.
Kinneddar Castle in the parish of Drainie--in which Lossiemouth is
situated--was a seat of the bishops of Moray, and Old Duffus Castle,
2½ m. S.W., was built in the reign of David II. The estate of
Gordonstown, close by, was founded by Sir Robert Gordon (1580-1656),
historian of the Sutherland family, and grandfather of the baronet
who, because of his inventions and scientific attainments, was known
locally as "Sir Robert the Warlock" (1647-1704). Nearly midway between
Lossiemouth and Elgin stand the massive ruins of the palace of Spynie,
formerly a fortified residence of the bishops of Moray. "Davie's
Tower," 60 ft. high with walls 9 ft. thick, was built by Bishop David
Stewart about 1470. The adjacent loch is a favourite breeding-place
for the sea-birds, which resort to the coast of Elginshire in enormous
numbers. A mile S.E. of the lake lies Pitgaveny, one of the reputed
scenes of the murder of King Duncan by Macbeth.
LOSSING, BENSON JOHN (1813-1891), American historical writer, was born
in Beekman, New York, on the 12th of February 1813. After editing
newspapers in Poughkeepsie he became an engraver on wood, and removed to
New York in 1839 for the practice of his profession, to which he added
that of drawing illustrations for books and periodicals. He likewise
wrote or edited the text of numerous publications. His _Pictorial
Field-Book of the Revolution_ (first issued in 30 parts, 1850-1852, and
then in 2 volumes) was a pioneer work of value in American historical
literature. In its preparation he travelled some 9000 m. during a period
of nearly two years; made more than a thousand sketches of extant
buildings, battlefields, &c.; and presented his material in a form
serviceable to the topographer and interesting to the general reader.
Similar but less characteristic and less valuable undertakings were a
_Pictorial Field-Book of the War of 1812_ (1868), and a _Pictorial
History of the Civil War in the United States of America_ (3 vols.
1866-1869). His other books were numerous: an _Outline History of the
Fine Arts_; many illustrated histories, large and small, of the United
States; popular descriptions of Mount Vernon and other localities
associated with famous names; and biographical sketches of celebrated
Americans, of which _The Life and Times of Major-General Philip
Schuyler_ (2 vols. 1860-1873) was the most considerable. He died at
Dover Plains, New York, on the 3rd of June 1891.
LÖSSNITZ, a district in the kingdom of Saxony, extending for about 5 m.
along the right bank of the Elbe, immediately N.W. of Dresden. Pop.
(1905) 6929. A line of vine-clad hills shelters it from the north winds,
and so warm and healthy is the climate that it has gained for the
district the appellation of the "Saxon Nice." Asparagus, peaches,
apricots, strawberries, grapes and roses are largely cultivated and find
a ready market in Dresden.
LOST PROPERTY. The man who loses an article does not lose his right
thereto, and he may recover it from the holder whoever he be, unless his
claim be barred by some Statute of Limitations or special custom, as
sale in market overt. The rights and duties of the finder are more
complex. If he know or can find out the true owner, and yet convert the
article to his own use, he is guilty of theft. But if the true owner
cannot be discovered, the finder keeps the property, his title being
superior to that of every one except the true owner. But this is only if
the find be in public or some public place. Thus if you pick up bank
notes in a shop where they have been lost by a stranger, and hand them
to the shopkeeper that he may discover and repossess the true owner, and
he fail to do so, then you can recover them from him. The owner of
private land, however, is entitled to what is found on it. Thus a man
sets you to clear out his pond, and you discover a diamond in the mud at
the bottom. The law will compel you to hand it over to the owner of the
pond. This applies even against the tenant. A gas company were lessees
of certain premises; whilst making excavations therein they came upon a
prehistoric boat; and they were forced to surrender it to their lessor.
An aerolite becomes the property of the owner of the land on which it
falls, and not of the person finding or digging it out. The principle of
these three last cases is that whatever becomes part of the soil belongs
to the proprietor of that soil.
Property lost at sea is regulated by different rules. Those who recover
abandoned vessels are entitled to salvage. Property absolutely lost upon
the high seas would seem to belong to the finder. It has been claimed
for the crown, and the American courts have held, that apart from a
decree the finder is only entitled to salvage rights, the court
retaining the rest, and thus practically taking it for the state on the
original owner not being found. The modern English law on the subject of
wreck (including everything found on the shore of the sea or tidal
river) is contained in the Merchant Shipping Act 1894. The finder must
forthwith make known his discovery to the receiver of wreck under a
penalty. He is entitled to a salvage reward, but the property belongs to
the crown or its grantee unless the true owner claims within a year. In
the United States unclaimed wreck after a year generally becomes the
property of the state. In Scotland the right to lost property is
theoretically in the crown, but the finder would not in practice be
interfered with except under the provisions of the Burgh Police
(Scotland) Act 1892. Section 412 requires all persons finding goods to
deliver them forthwith to the police under a penalty. If the true owner
is not discovered within six months the magistrates may hand them over
to the finder. If the owner appears he must pay a reasonable reward.
Domestic animals, including swans, found straying without an owner may
be seized by the crown or lord of the manor, and if not claimed within a
year and a day they become the property of the crown or the lord, on the
observance of certain formalities. In Scotland they were held to belong
to the crown or its donatory, usually the sheriff of a county. By the
Burgh Police Act above quoted provision is made for the sale of lost
animals and the disposal of the free proceeds for the purposes of the
act unless such be claimed. In the United States there is diversity of
law and custom. Apart from special rule, lost animals become the
property of the finder, but in many cases the proceeds of their sale are
applied to public purposes. When property is lost by carriers,
innkeepers or railway companies, special provisions as to their
respective responsibilities apply. As to finds of money or the precious
metals, see TREASURE TROVE.
LOSTWITHIEL, a market town and municipal borough in the Bodmin
parliamentary division of Cornwall, England, 30½ m. W. of Plymouth by
the Great Western railway. Pop. (1901) 1379. It is pleasantly situated
on the banks of the river Fowey. The church of St Bartholomew is
remarkable for a fine Early English tower surmounted by a Decorated
spire; there are also beautiful Decorated windows and details in the
body of the church, and a richly carved octagonal font. A bridge of the
14th century crosses the river. The shire hall includes remains of a
building, called the Stannary prison, dating from the 13th century. The
Great Western railway has workshops at Lostwithiel.
Lostwithiel owed its ancient liberties--probably its existence--to the
neighbouring castle of Restormel. The Pipe Rolls (1194-1203) show that
Robert de Cardinan, lord of Restormel, paid ten marks yearly for having
a market at Lostwithiel. By an undated charter still preserved with the
corporation's muniments he surrendered to the burgesses all the
liberties given them by his predecessors (_antecessores_) when they
founded the town. These included hereditary succession to tenements,
exemption from sullage, the right to elect a reeve (_praepositus_) if
the grantor thought one necessary and the right to marry without the
lord's interference. By Isolda, granddaughter of Robert de Cardinan, the
town was given to Richard, king of the Romans, who in the third year of
his reign granted to the burgesses a gild merchant sac and soc, toll,
team and infangenethef, freedom from pontage, lastage, &c., throughout
Cornwall, and exemption from the jurisdiction of the hundred and county
courts, also a yearly fair and a weekly market. Richard transferred the
assizes from Launceston to Lostwithiel. His son Edmund, earl of
Cornwall, built a great hall at Lostwithiel and decreed that the coinage
of tin should be at Lostwithiel only. In 1325 Richard's charter was
confirmed and the market ordered to be held on Thursdays. In 1386 the
assizes were transferred back to Launceston. In 1609 a charter of
incorporation provided for a mayor, recorder, six capital burgesses and
seventeen assistants and courts of record and pie powder. The boundaries
of the borough were extended in 1733. Under the reformed charter granted
in 1885 the corporation consists of a mayor, four aldermen and twelve
councillors. From 1305 to 1832 two members represented Lostwithiel in
parliament. The electors after 1609 were the twenty-five members of the
corporation. Under the Reform Act (1832) the borough became merged in
the county. For the Thursday market granted in 1326 a Friday market was
substituted in 1733, and this continues to be held. The fair granted in
1326 and the three fairs granted in 1733 have all given place to others.
The archdeacon's court, the sessions and the county elections were long
held at Lostwithiel, but all have now been removed. For the victory
gained by Charles I. over the earl of Essex in 1644, see GREAT
REBELLION.
LOT, in the Bible, the legendary ancestor of the two Palestinian
peoples, Moab and Ammon (Gen. xix. 30-38; cp. Ps. lxxxiii. 8); he
appears to have been represented as a Horite or Edomite (cp. the name
Lotan, Gen. xxxvi. 20, 22). As the son of Haran and grandson of Terah,
he was Abraham's nephew (Gen. xi. 31), and he accompanied his uncle in
his migration from Haran to Canaan. Near Bethel[1] Lot separated from
Abraham, owing to disputes between their shepherds, and being offered
the first choice, chose the rich fields of the Jordan valley which were
as fertile and well irrigated as the "garden of Yahweh" (i.e. Eden, Gen.
xiii. 7 sqq.). It was in this district that the cities of Sodom and
Gomorrah were situated. He was saved from their fate by two divine
messengers who spent the night in his house, and next morning led Lot,
his wife, and his two unmarried daughters out of the city. His wife
looked back and was changed to a pillar of salt,[2] but Lot with his two
daughters escaped first to Zoar and then to the mountains east of the
Dead Sea, where the daughters planned and executed an incest by which
they became the mothers of Moab and Ben-Ammi (i.e. Ammon; Gen. xix.).
The account of Chedorlaomer's invasion and of Lot's rescue by Abraham
belongs to an independent source (Gen. xiv.), the age and historical
value of which has been much disputed. (See further ABRAHAM;
MELCHIZEDEK.) Lot's character is made to stand in strong contrast with
that of Abraham, notably in the representation of his selfishness (xiii.
5 sqq.), and reluctance to leave the sinful city (xix. 16 sqq.);
relatively, however, he was superior to the rest (with the crude story
of his insistence upon the inviolable rights of guests, xix. 5 sqq.; cf.
Judges xix. 22 sqq.), and is regarded in 2 Pet. ii. 7 seq. as a type of
righteousness.
Lot and his daughters passed into Arabic tradition from the Jews. The
daughters are named Zahy and Ra'wa by Mas'udi ii. 139; but other
Arabian writers give other forms. Paton (_Syria and Palestine_, pp.
43, 123) identifies Lot-Lotan with _Ruten_, one of the Egyptian names
for Palestine; its true meaning is obscure. For traces of mythical
elements in the story see Winckler, _Altorient. Forsch._ ii. 87 seq.
See further, J. Skinner, _Genesis_, pp. 310 sqq. (S. A. C.)