This section is from "The American Cyclopaedia", by George Ripley And Charles A. Dana. Also available from Amazon: The New American Cyclopędia. 16 volumes complete..
Strait Of Bonifacio (It. Bocca di Bonifacio), the passage between Corsica and Sardinia, about 7 m. wide in the narrowest part. The land is mountainous and the shores steep on either hand. Several small islands lie at the eastern entrance. The strait is difficult of navigation. The town of Bonifacio, an ancient seaport on the southern extremity of Corsica (pop. about 3,000), has important coral fisheries. A submarine telegraph connects it with Longo Sardo on the opposite Sardinian coast.
Strait Of Dover(Fr. Pas de Calais; anc. Fretum Gallicum), a strait connecting the English channel with the North sea, and separating England from France. It extends from Dungeness and Cape Gris Nez N. E. to the South Foreland and Calais; length, 24 m.; breadth at Dover, where it is narrowest, 21 m.
Strait Of Macassar, a channel connecting the Celebes and Java seas, and separating the island of Celebes from that of Borneo. It is about 400 m. long, and from 75 to 240 m. wide, and runs N. and S. During the N. winds of January and February a strong current runs through it toward the south. Its navigation is obstructed by shoals and rocks.
Straits Of Malacca, the waters which separate the Malay peninsula from the island of Sumatra. This channel is the most frequented route of European vessels proceeding eastward to Chinese and neighboring points; and it is also in the line of Australian and Malaysian communication with continental India. It enjoys with the Malaysian seas an entire exemption from the hurricanes and typhoons which prevail in the neighboring waters to the eastward and westward. Two lighthouses constructed by the British government, at the N". W. and S. E. extremities, contribute greatly to the safety of its navigation. The channel is about 600 m. long, and from 30 to about 200 m. wide.
See Datura.
Stratford, a town, port of entry, and the capital of Perth co., Ontario, Canada, on the Avon river, at the junction of the Grand Trunk railway with the Buffalo branch, 88 m. W. by S. of Toronto; pop. in 1871, 4,313. It has good water power, and contains manufactories of iron castings, mill machinery, agricultural implements, woollens, steam engines, leather, boots and shoes, etc, and several fiouring mills, distilleries, and breweries. The railroad shops are very extensive. There are three branch banks, three weekly (one German) newspapers, a monthly periodical, and Baptist, Congregational, Episcopal, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Roman Catholic churches. The value of imports for the year ending June 30, 1874, was $1,026,038; of exports, $247,244.
Stratford Canning Stratford De Redcliffe, viscount, better known as Sir Stratford Canning, an English diplomatist, born in London, Jan. 6, 1788. In 1809 he was appointed secretary of embassy at Constantinople, in 1814 minister plenipotentiary to Switzerland, in 1820 a special commissioner at Washington, and in 1824 at St. Petersburg. He was ambassador to Constantinople from 1825 to 1827, and again from 1841 to 1858; and his diplomatic activity was very conspicuous both during the negotiations which resulted in the intervention of the western powers in favor of Greece, and during the opening period of the Crimean war. He was a warm friend of Reshid Pasha, and many important reforms in Turkey, particularly those affecting the condition of the Christian population, were attributed to his efforts. He was ennobled in 1852. He has published "Why am I a Christian?" (1873), and a play entitled " Alfred the Great in Athelney" (1876).
 
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