Traven Vtra-v3n\, B. (b. March 5, 18907, Chicago, Ill., U.S.7—d. March 27, 1969, Mexico City, Mex.) German-Mexican novelist. A recluse, he refused to disclose to publishers his parentage, nationality, and general identity, but he may have been forced to leave Germany for his partici¬ pation in its short-lived communist revolution in 1919. Most of his books were written in German. He is noted for adventure stories and as a chroni¬ cler of rural life in Mexico, where he settled in the 1920s. Among his novels are The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1927; film, 1948) and a series tracing the lives of impoverished Indians in southern Mexico, including The Carreta (1931) and The Rebellion of the Hanged (1936). His works are harsh and his themes compelling, and his lean prose has a hypnotic immediacy. Much confusion remains about both his life and his authorship.
travertine \'tra-v9r-,ten\ Dense, banded rock composed of calcium car¬ bonate, CaC0 3 . Formed by rapid chemical precipitation of calcium car¬ bonate from solution in surface and ground waters, it is a variety of limestone that has a light colour and takes a good polish. It is often used for walls and interior decorations in public buildings and as a paving stone. Travertine is mined extensively in Italy; in the U.S., Yellowstone’s Mammoth Hot Springs are actively depositing travertine. It also occurs in limestone caves in the form of stalactites and stalagmites.
Travis, Merle (Robert) (b. Nov. 29, 1917, Rosewood, Ky., U.S.—d. Oct. 20, 1983, Tahlequah, Okla.) U.S. country music singer and songwriter. Travis learned banjo as a youth, later applying banjo technique to the gui¬ tar. He worked on radio in Cincinnati in the 1930s. Moving to California in 1944, he quickly rose to prominence on the strength of his guitar style and for writing and recording honky-tonk classics such as “Divorce Me C.O.D.” and “No Vacancy” and the coal-mining protest songs “Sixteen Tons” and “Dark as a Dungeon.”
treason Offense of attempting to overthrow the government of one’s country or of assisting its enemies in war. In the U.S., the framers of the Constitution defined treason narrowly—as the levying of war against the U.S. or the giving of aid and comfort to its enemies—in order to lessen the possibility that those in power might falsely or loosely charge their political opponents with treason. See also sedition.
treasury bill Short-term U.S. government security with maturities rang¬ ing from one month to 26 weeks. Treasury bills are usually sold at auction on a discount basis with a yield equal to the difference between the pur¬ chase price and the maturity value. Because they are highly liquid (money not being tied up in them for long periods of time), their yield rate is nor¬ mally lower than that of longer-term securities. Their prices do not usually fluctuate as much as those of other government securities but may be influ¬ enced by the purchase or sale of large quantities of bills by the central bank. First used extensively during World War I, treasury bills were initially regarded as an emergency source of revenue, but their flexibility and rela¬ tively low interest led to their adoption as a permanent element in the national debt. From 1970 to 1998 the minimum order for treasury bills was $10,000, after which it was reduced to $1,000. In 2001 the U.S. Treasury stopped offering treasury bills with maturities of 52 weeks.
treaty Contract or other written instrument binding two or more states under international law. The term is generally reserved for the more
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1934 I Trebbia River ► Trentino-Alto Adige
important international agreements, usually requiring, in addition to the signatures of authorized persons, ratification by the governments involved. A treaty may be bilateral or multilateral; it usually contains a preamble, an enumeration of the issues agreed on, and clauses that dis¬ cuss its ratification procedures, lifespan, and terms for termination. Trea¬ ties may be political, commercial, constitutional, or administrative, or they may relate to criminal and civil justice or codify international law.
Trebbia River \'treb-bya\ River, Emilia-Romagna region, northern Italy. Rising northeast of Genoa, it flows 71 mi (115 km) northeast across the northern Apennines and the Po lowland to enter the Po River. It was the scene of two notable battles: a Roman defeat by Hannibal in 218 bc, and a French defeat by a Russo-Austrian army in 1799.
Treblinka \tre-'blii]-ka\ German Nazi concentration camp during World War II. Located near the village of Treblinka, Pol., it opened in 1941 as a forced-labour camp. A larger and ultrasecret second camp a mile away, called T.II, opened in 1942 as an extermination camp for Jews. Victims were stripped and marched into “bathhouses,” where they were gassed with carbon monoxide from ceiling pipes. Ukrainian guards and up to 1,500 Jewish prisoner-workers performed the executions. The total num¬ ber killed has been estimated at 700,000 to 900,000. In 1943 a group of prisoner-workers rose in revolt and escaped, but most were soon killed or recaptured. The T.II camp was closed in October 1943, the labour camp in July 1944.
tree Woody perennial plant. Most trees have a single self-supporting trunk containing woody tissues, and in most species the trunk produces secondary limbs called branches. Trees provide many valuable products, especially wood, one of the world’s chief building materials, and wood pulp, used in papermaking. Wood is also a major fuel source. Trees sup¬ ply edible fruits and nuts. In addition, trees take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen during photosynthesis. Their root systems help retain water and soil, preventing floods and erosion. Trees and forests provide habi¬ tats for a wide variety of animals, and they beautify both natural and altered landscapes. Growth rings in the trunk indicate the age of most trees. The tallest trees are the Pacific coast redwoods; the oldest are the bristlecone pines, some of which are over 4,000 years old. See also coni¬ fer; deciduous tree; evergreen; forest; shrub; softwood.
Tree, Sir Herbert (Draper) Beerbohm (b. Dec. 17, 1853, Lon¬ don, Eng.—d. July 2, 1917, London) British actor-manager. A romantic actor with a gift for character roles and comedy, he made his London debut in 1878 and won favourable notice in The Private Secretary (1884). As manager of the Haymarket Theatre (1887-97), he directed and acted in lavish Shakespearean productions, which he continued as actor-manager of Her Majesty’s Theatre (1897-1915). He produced notable stage ver¬ sions of Charles Dickens’s works. In 1904 he founded the Royal Academy of Dramatic Ait.
tree fern Any of various ferns (especially those of the families Cyatheaceae and Marattiaceae) of treelike habit with a woody stem. Many attain heights over 50 ft (15.2 m). They are natives of humid moun¬ tain forests in the tropics and subtrop¬ ics and of warm temperate regions of the Southern Hemisphere. The fam¬ ily Marattiaceae contains six genera; one species, Angiopteris evecta, has leaves (fronds) 15 ft (4.5 m) or more in length and stems of 2-6 ft (60-180 cm). Now-extinct members of the family date to the Carboniferous Period (354-290 million years ago). Members of the family Cyatheaceae are very large, terrestrial ferns with trunklike, upright rhizomes; the nearly 1,000 species are grouped into seven genera.
tree frog or tree toad Any of
some 550 species (family Hylidae) of mostly arboreal frogs, found worldwide but primarily in the New World. Most species are small, slen¬