Elongation

ELONGATION, strictly, "lengthening"; in astronomy, the apparent angular distance of a heavenly body from its centre of motion, as seen from the earth ; designating especially the angular distance of the planet Mercury or Venus from the sun, or the apparent angle between a satellite and its primary. The greatest elongation of Venus is about ; that of Mercury generally ranges between 18° and 27°.

EL PASO,

a city in the extreme western corner of Texas, U.S.A., on the Rio Grande, opposite the Mexican city Juarez; a port of entry, the county seat of El Paso county and the largest city on the Mexican border. It is on Federal highways 8o and 366; and is served by the Santa Fe, the Southern Pacific, the Texas and Pacific and the Mexican North-western railways, and the National railways of Mexico. The population was 77,56o in 1920, of whom 30,769 were natives of Mexico; and increased to 102,421 in 1930 by the Federal census. The city occupies 13 sq.m. on the mesas at the foot of Mt. Franklin, at an altitude of ft., with the Organ, Hueco, Sacramento, Guadalupe and Sierra Madre ranges in the background. The climate is mild and dry, particularly beneficial in cases of pulmonary disease. In the architecture of both public and private buildings the early Spanish influence is apparent. The Mexican section is picturesque with gay shops and its adobe houses, many of which are over ioo years old. In 1916-17, following a survey of health and housing made for the chamber of commerce, 2,00o unsanitary :wales (commu nity dwellings) in the Mexican quarter were razed by the health department. The (completed 1917) contains a public auditorium seating 6,00o, the county jail (on the top floor) and a roof garden. A fine high school and stadium was completed in 1915, at a cost of $I,000,000. The parks, covering 679 ac., in clude one of 43 ac. which is a memorial to the men who fell in the World War. A scenic driveway around Mt. Franklin (built in 1919) gives fine views of the city and the valley. A city plan is being developed in accordance with recommendations of a com mission appointed in 1922. The assessed valuation of property in 1927 was $102,150,000.

Climate, cattle, copper and cotton are the chief foundations of El Paso's economic life. There are several large sanatoria in or near the city, including the William Beaumont general hospital of the U.S. army at Ft. Bliss; and it is estimated that Ioo,000 tour ists visit the city annually for health or pleasure. The stockyards handle 400,000 head of live stock, and the trade in leather, hides, wool, mohair and fertilizers amounts to $70,000,000 annually. The principal manufacturing industry is the smelting of copper and lead ores from Mexico, New Mexico and Arizona, in one of the largest custom smelters of the world (just outside the city limits), which handles 500,00o tons of ore in a year. The output of the factories within the city was valued at $20,847,661 in 1927. There are extensive car shops, two meat-packing plants, a large cement plant, one of the largest wooden box factories in the country, many diversified smaller plants; and the introduc tion of cotton-growing in the valley has brought in the associated manufacturing industries—cotton gins and compresses, cotton seed oil mills and a textile factory with over 5,000 spindles. El Paso is the centre of the Rio Grande reclamation project of 180,0o0 ac., for which water is supplied from the Elephant Butte reservoir (completed 1916). By 1927 about 138,000 ac. was under cultivation, producing crops valued at $12,000,000, of which about two-thirds was cotton. For this rapidly developing agricultural valley, and for the wide expanse of mining, grazing and lumbering regions within its trade territory, El Paso is the commercial and financial centre. A branch of the Federal Re serve Bank of Dallas is located here. Debits to individual ac counts in the city's banks aggregated in 1927. The foreign commerce of the El Paso customs district in 1927 amounted to $9,347,268 in imports and $11,572,709 in exports.

El Paso is the seat of the College of Mines of the University of Texas (established 1914), and of several private boarding schools. Three miles north-east is Ft. Bliss, a cavalry post with a reservation of 2 sq.m., a garrison of 5,000 to Io,000 men, an Air Corps flying field (Biggs field), and a large base hospital. Juarez, across the river, is a colourful ancient city, with the oldest Spanish mission in this part of the country, Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe (established 1659). At Ysleta, Io m. S.E., live the survivors of an ancient tribe of Pueblo Indians, and here is the second oldest mission of the region, Nuestra Senora del Carmen (established 1682).

The first European visitor of record to the site of El Paso was Cabeza de Vaca, in 1536. Other pioneers stopped here from time to time, and in 1659 the first permanent settlement was made. It was won from Mexico in the Texas War of Liberation in 1836. Before the Mexican War it was known as Ponce de Leon Ranch; afterwards, for a time, as Franklin. The name El Paso was adopted when the new town was plotted in 1858, perpetuating the Spanish phrase (El Paso del norte) for the pass to the north formed here where the river breaks through the mountains. The city was incorporated in 1873, and in 188o the population was 736. In 1881 four railroads rushed in their tracks in a race for the most favourable terminal site, and by 1890 the population was 10,338. In the next decade it increased 54%; between 1900 and 1910, 147%; between 1910 and 1920, 98%. A commission form of government was adopted in 1907.