SPRINGFIELD  , a

city and the county-seat of Clark county, Ohio, U.S.A., at the confluence of Mad river and Lagonda Creek, about 45 M . W.S.W. of Columbus . Pop . (189o), 31,895; (1900), 38,2J3, of whom 3311 were foreign-born (including 1337 German, 1097 Irish and 308 English) and 4253 Were negroes; (1910, census), 46,921 . Springfield is served by the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St Louis; the Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Chicago & St Louis; the Erie, and the Detroit, Toledo & Ironton railways, and by an extensive inter-urban electric system . The older portion of the city is in the narrow valley of Lagonda Creek, but from here the city has spread SPRUCE, i.e. spruce-fir, a coniferous tree belonging to the over the higher and more undulating surface farther back ' genus Picea, of which there are several species, such as the Norway until it occupies an area of about 82 sq. m . Among the public spruce, Picea excelsa; the black spruce, Picea nigra, &c . (see FIR). buildings are the United States government building, the The name has a curious origin, which explains also the particular Clark county court house, the City building (the first floor meaning of the adjective " spruce," neatly dressed, smart in of which is occupied by the city market), the Warder public , appearance, fine . From a number of early quotations given by library (established 1872), which in rgo8 contained 25,000 volumes, the city hospital, and the city prison and work- acres, and in 1908 the city adopted plans for an extensive park system . Ferncliff cemetery is a picturesque burial-ground . On a hill on the north side of the city is Wittenberg College (Lutheran; 1845), which in 1909 had 35 instructors and 710 students . Springfield is in a productive farming region, and water power is provided by Lagonda Creek, so that manufactures closely related to agriculture have always been prominent .

The value of the factory product in 1905 was $13,654,423, of which $4,051,167 was the value of agricultural implements, $2,914,493 of foundry and

machine-shop products, and $1,025,244 of flour and grist-mill products . The municipality owns and operates the waterworks . Natural gas is piped from Fairfield county . In 1799 Simon Kenton and a small party from Kentucky built a fort and fourteen cabins near Mad river 3 or 4 M. beyond the present western limits of the city . Later in the same year James Demint built a cabin on a hill-side over-looking Lagonda Creek . In 18or he engaged a surveyor to plat a town here and soon after this the site of the Kenton settlement was abandoned . The new town was near the border-line that had been fixed between the Whites and the Indians, and the latter threatened trouble until 1807, when in a council held on a large hill in the vicinity, at which Tecumseh was the principal speaker for the Indians, peace was more firmly established . In 1818, when Clark county was erected, Springfield was made the county-seat . It was incorporated as a town in 1827, and in 185o it was chartered as a city . See E . S . Todd, A Sociological Study of Clark County, Ohio (Spring-field, 1904) .

SPRING-

GUN, a device formerly in use against poachers and trespassers . Wires were attached to the trigger of a gun in such a manner that any one stumbling over or treading on them would discharge it and wound himself . Since 1827 spring-guns and all man-traps are illegal in England, except within a house between sunset and sunrise as a protection against burglars . Spring-guns are sometimes used to trap wild animals .