VALLEJO  , a

city of Solano county, California, U.S.A., on the San Pablo Bay, at the mouth of the Napa river, about 24 M . N.E. of San Francisco . Pop . (1890) 6343; (1900) 7965 (2033 foreign-born); (1910) 11,340 . It is served by a branch of the Southern Pacific railway, by steamboats to San Francisco, and by an interurban electric line . The city is situated at the mouth of the great interior valley of the state, and has a good harbour, the channel of which, since the removal of a shoal by the Federal government in 1902-1906, has a maximum depth at low tide of 24 ft . Directly opposite the city, half a mile distant and connected by ferry, is Mare Island, the headquarters of the Pacific Naval Squadron of the United States, with a large United States Navy Yard, a naval arsenal, two stone dry docks (one 750 ft. long) and a lighthouse . The Navy Yard was established in 1854, and its first commandant was D . G . Farragut . In the city are a Carnegie library, St Vincent's Academy and a Good Templars' Home (1869) for orphans . Vallejo is the outlet of the beautiful Napa Valley, one of the finest fruit-growing regions of the state, and, besides fruit, ships large quantities of wheat .

Among its manufactures are

flour, leather, dairy products and lumber . The municipality owns and operates its waterworks, the water-supply being obtained from the mountains 25 M. distant . The city takes its name from General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, a prominent Mexican leader in the years immediately preceding the annexation of California to the United States . It was a dull and out-of-the-way settlement in 1851, when, through General Vallejo's efforts, it became the state capital . The state legislature met here in 1851, 1852 and 1853 . In 1871 Vallejo ranked third in population among the cities of the state, and its position and the excellence of its harbour made it a rival of Oakland in the struggle (1869-72) for the terminus of the Central Pacific railway; but Vallejo was unsuccessful, and after 1872 began to decline in relative importance . VALL$S, JULES (1832-1885), French journalist and author, was born at Puys, France, on the loth of June 1832 . Coming to Paris, he joined the staff of the Figaro, and became a constant contributor to the other leading journals . In 1866 he republished much of his newspaper work in Refractaires, the volume forming a romance of the seamy side of Paris life . He was in Paris during the siege of 1870, and after the capitulation was a member of the Commune and founded Le Cri du Peuple . Hetook a conspicuous part in the fighting in the Paris streets, but finally made his escape to London, whence he contributed anonymously to the French press . In 1878 he began•in the Siecle the serial publication of his principal work, Jacques Vingtras, a long autobiographical romance .

He died in Paris on the 14th of

February 1885 .