Sota
Origin	Near Ndali, Benin, Borgou Department
Mouth	Niger River at Malanville
Basin countries	Benin
Length	150km
Avg. discharge	31 m3/s (1,100 cu ft/s)
Basin area	15,000 km2 (5,800 sq mi)

The Sota is a river of northern Bénin flowing through the departments of Borgou and Alibori. It is a tributary of the Niger River. The river is approximately 250 km in length and covers a basin area of 15,000 km2 and flows through towns such as Malanville.

Geography[link]

The Sota begins northeast of the town of Ndali in the territory of Benin in the Borgou department. The river runs toward the north-north-east and at the end of course it empties into the Niger River at Malanville.

Rainfall[link]

The annual precipitation is has been recorded at several stations in the basin of the Sota:

• Segbana (center-east of the basin, near the Nigerian border): 1177.4 mm spread over 53 days.
• Kandi (center-west of the basin): 1055.1 mm, spread over 80 days
• Malanville (at the north end of the basin at the confluence with Niger): 919.9 mm in 53 days

There is everywhere a large surplus rainfall from July to September (boreal summer), giving rise to violent floods, but the deficit is a severe dry season from December to April.^[1]

Hydrometry[link]

The flow of the river has been observed for 40 years (1953-1992) at the hydro station in Couberi, located near its confluence with the Niger River at Malanville.

At Couberi, the average annual flow module or observed during this period was 31 m³ / second for an area taking into account 9111 to 13,410 km ². The monthly average flows observed from February to April are from 3.7 to 3.9 m³ / second, which is quite remarkable in Africa at its discretion, with other rivers in the region falling consistently enough to nearyl drying up in the dry season. It is true that the level of rainfall of 900 to 1200 mm per year is very consistent. On the observation period of 40 years, the minimum monthly flow was 2 m³ / second ,while the maximum monthly flow amounted to 358 m³ / second which is more than the average flow of the Seine in Paris.^[2]

Average monthly flows of Sota (m³ / second) measured at the hydrometric station Couberi. (Data calculated over 40 years)

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References[link]

External links[link]

• www-naweb.iaea.org (French)

v t e Niger River Countries Guinea Mali Niger Benin Nigeria Sections Source of the Niger Middle Niger Inner Niger Delta Lower Niger Niger Delta Tributaries (list) and distributaries Tinkisso River Sankarani River Milo River Bani River Mekrou River Alibori River Sola River Sokoto River Sota River Kaduna River Benue River Anambra River Forcados River Nun River Cities Siguiri Bamako Segou Mopti Timbuktu Gao Niamey Lokoja Onitsha Lakes Kainji Lake Lac Debo Dams and bridges King Fahd Bridge Martyrs Bridge Markala Dam Gao Bridge Kennedy Bridge Kainji Dam River Niger Bridge (Onitsha) Protected Areas Niger Basin Authority National Park of Upper Niger W National Park Kainji National Park

Hiram Johnson
United States Senator from California
In office March 16, 1917 – August 6, 1945
Preceded by	John D. Works
Succeeded by	William F. Knowland
23rd Governor of California
In office January 3, 1911 – March 15, 1917
Lieutenant	A. J. Wallace (1911-1915) John Morton Eshleman (1915-1916) William Dennison Stephens (1916-1917)
Preceded by	James Gillett
Succeeded by	William Stephens
Personal details
Born	Hiram Warren Johnson (1866-09-02)September 2, 1866 Sacramento, California
Died	August 6, 1945(1945-08-06) (aged 78) Bethesda, Maryland
Political party	Progressive, Republican
Spouse(s)	Minne L. McNeal
Alma mater	University of California-Berkeley
Profession	Politician
Religion	Episcopalianism

Hiram Warren Johnson (September 2, 1866 – August 6, 1945) was a leading American progressive and later isolationist politician from California; he served as the 23rd governor from 1911 to 1917, and as a United States Senator from 1917 to 1945.

Life and career[link]

Early years[link]

Johnson was born in Sacramento, California on September 2, 1866; his father was Grove Lawrence Johnson, a Republican Representative and a member of the California State Legislature famous for his support of personal interests. His mother was Annie DeMontfredy, partially descended of a family of Huguenots who had left France to escape religious persecution there. Annie was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, claiming descent from a general of the Continental Army. Johnson had a brother and three sisters.^[1]

After attending public schools and Heald College, Johnson first worked as a shorthand reporter and stenographer in law offices. He eventually decided on a legal career, studying at the University of California Berkeley, where he was a member of the Chi Phi Fraternity. He was admitted to the bar in 1888 and commenced practice in his hometown. In 1902 he moved to San Francisco. He served as assistant district attorney and became active in reform politics, taking up an anti-corruption mantle. He attracted statewide attention in 1908 when he assisted Francis J. Heney in the graft prosecution of Abe Ruef and Mayor Eugene Schmitz, his success due in large measure to the fact that after Heney had been gunned down in the courtroom, he took the lead for the prosecution and won the case. He married Minne L. McNeal; the couple had two sons.

Governor[link]

In 1910 Johnson won the gubernatorial election as a member of the Lincoln-Roosevelt League, a liberal Republican movement running on an anti-Southern Pacific Railroad platform. He toured the state in an open automobile. In office, Johnson was a populist who implemented many important reforms. Among them was the popular election of U.S. Senators, which stripped away the sole franchise of the California State Legislature to vote for federal Senators. Johnson's administration also pushed for women's suffrage and the ability of candidates to register in more than one political party, a reform that he believed would cripple the influence of what he viewed as a monolithic political establishment. In 1911, Johnson and the Progressives added initiative, referendum, and recall to the state government, giving California a degree of direct democracy unmatched by any other U.S. state.

Johnson supported the California Alien Land Law of 1913.

Nationally, Johnson was a founder of the Progressive Party in 1912. That same year, he was the party's vice presidential candidate, sharing a ticket with former President Theodore Roosevelt; his selection helped Roosevelt to carry California by 0.2 percent of the votes. The Progressives finished second nationally ahead of the incumbent Republican, President William Howard Taft, but still lost the election to the Democrats and their candidate, Woodrow Wilson.

Johnson was re-elected governor of California in 1914.

Senator[link]

In 1916 Johnson ran successfully for the U.S. Senate, assuming office on March 16, 1917. It is alleged that was the year that he spoke the words for which he is best remembered today : "The first casualty when war comes is truth," referring to the United States's entry into World War I. However, the source of the famous quote has yet to be determined.^[2] From 1917 to 1929 he resided at Riversdale in Riverdale Park, Maryland.

Following Theodore Roosevelt's death in January 1919, Johnson was regarded as the natural leader of the Progressive Party. In 1920, however, he did not attempt to revive the Progressive Party, but ran for President as a Republican. He was defeated for the Republican presidential nomination by Warren Harding. Johnson also did not get the support of Roosevelt's family who instead supported Roosevelt's long time friend Leonard Wood.

When the motion picture industry sought someone to establish a self-regulatory process and to help the industry fend off official censorship, three candidates were identified: Herbert Hoover, Johnson and Will Hays. Hays, who had campaigned actively for Harding amongst industry leaders, was ultimately named to head the new Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America in early 1922.^[3]

Johnson received ten votes for the Republican nomination against Calvin Coolidge in 1924. As a senator, Johnson proved extremely popular. In 1934, he was re-elected with 94.5 percent of the popular vote.

Hiram Johnson at 1913 California State Fair

During the early presidency of Franklin Roosevelt, Johnson supported the president's economic recovery package, the New Deal, frequently crossing the floor to aid the Democrats and even backing FDR in the 1932 and 1936 presidential elections, although he never switched party affiliation. He became disenchanted with Roosevelt and the New Deal following FDR's unsuccessful attempt to increase the size of the Supreme Court. As a staunch isolationist Johnson voted against the League of Nations. He did not vote against its successor organization, the United Nations, however; only senators Henrik Shipstead and William Langer cast votes against the United Nations Charter.

Johnson achieved Senate seniority as Chairman of the Committee on Cuban Relations in the Sixty-sixth Congress; he was also a member of the Patents, Immigration, Territories and Insular Possessions and Commerce committees.

Johnson died shortly after the Senate ratified the United Nations treaty.

Death and legacy[link]

Having served in the Senate for almost thirty years, Johnson died in the Naval Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, on August 6, 1945. News of his death, however, was overshadowed by the atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima, Japan, which occurred that same day. He was interred in Cypress Lawn Memorial Park in Colma, California.

Johnson gained some recognition in the media and general public during the 2003 California recall election because he was the most important person behind the introduction of the law that allowed state officials to be recalled. Also, then-gubernatorial candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger referred to Johnson's progressive legacy in his campaign speeches.

On August 25, 2009, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife, Maria Shriver, announced that Johnson would be one of 13 California Hall of Fame inductees in The California Museum's yearlong exhibit. The induction ceremony was on December 1, 2009 in Sacramento.

Johnson's papers reside at the Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley.

Hiram Johnson High School in Sacramento, California is named in his honor.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Hiram Johnson

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Hiram Johnson

Wikisource has the text of a 1922 Encyclopædia Britannica article about Hiram Johnson.

• JOHNSON, Hiram Warren at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Guide to the Hiram Johnson Papers at The Bancroft Library
• Historical archive of the Sacramento, California newspaper The Sacramento Bee
• Hiram Johnson at Find-A-Grave

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v t e United States Senators from California Class 1 Frémont Weller Broderick Haun Latham Conness Casserly Hager Booth Miller Hearst Williams Hearst Felton White Bard Flint Works Johnson Knowland Engle Salinger Murphy Tunney Hayakawa Wilson Seymour Feinstein Class 3 Gwin McDougall Cole Sargent Farley Stanford Perkins Phelan Shortridge McAdoo Storke Downey Nixon Kuchel Cranston Boxer

Kenneth Grahame
Drawing of Kenneth Grahame by John Singer Sargent
Born	(1859-03-08)8 March 1859 Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
Died	6 July 1932(1932-07-06) (aged 73) Pangbourne, Berkshire, England, UK
Occupation	Writer of children's books, and banker
Genres	Fiction
Notable work(s)	The Wind in the Willows

Kenneth Grahame (8 March 1859 – 6 July 1932) was a Scottish writer, most famous for The Wind in the Willows (1908), one of the classics of children's literature. He also wrote The Reluctant Dragon; both books were later adapted into Disney films.

Personal life[link]

Grahame's birthplace in Castle Street, Edinburgh

Kenneth Grahame was born on 8 March (1859) in Edinburgh, Scotland. When he was a little more than a year old, his father, an advocate, received an appointment as sheriff-substitute in Argyllshire at Inveraray on Loch Fyne. Kenneth loved the sea and was happy there, but when he was 5, his mother died from complications of childbirth, and his father, who had a drinking problem, gave over care of Kenneth, his brother Willie, his sister Helen and the new baby Roland to Granny Ingles, the children's grandmother, in Cookham Dean in the village of Cookham in Berkshire. There the children lived in a spacious, if dilapidated, home, "The Mount", on spacious grounds in idyllic surroundings, and were introduced to the riverside and boating by their uncle, David Ingles, curate at Cookham Dean church. This delightful ambiance, particularly Quarry Wood and the River Thames, is believed, by Peter Green, his biographer, to have inspired the setting for The Wind in the Willows.^[1] He was an outstanding pupil at St Edward's School in Oxford. During his early years at St. Edwards a sports regimen had not been established and the boys had freedom to explore the old city with its quaint shops, historic buildings, and cobblestone streets, St Giles' Fair, the idyllic upper reaches of the River Thames, and the nearby countryside.^[2]

Grahame wanted to attend Oxford University but was not allowed to do so by his guardian on grounds of cost. Instead he was sent to work at the Bank of England in 1879, and rose through the ranks until retiring as its Secretary in 1908^[3] due to ill health, which may have been precipitated by a strange, possibly political, shooting incident at the bank in 1903. Grahame was shot at three times, all of them missed.^[4] An alternative explanation, given in a letter on display in the Bank museum, is that he had quarrelled with Walter Cunliffe, one of the bank's directors, who would later become Governor of the Bank of England, in the course of which he was heard to say that Cunliffe was "no gentleman", and that his retirement was enforced ostensibly on health grounds.

Kenneth Grahame in 1910

Grahame married Elspeth Thomson in 1899; they had only one child, a boy named Alastair (whose nickname was "Mouse") born blind in one eye and plagued by health problems throughout his short life. On Grahame's retirement, they returned to Cookham where he had lived as a child, and lived at "Mayfield", now Herries Preparatory School, where he turned the bedtime stories he told Alastair into his masterpiece.^[5] Alastair eventually committed suicide on a railway track while an undergraduate at Oxford University, two days before his 20th birthday on 7 May 1920.^[6] Out of respect for Kenneth Grahame, Alastair's demise was recorded as an accidental death.

Grahame died in Pangbourne, Berkshire in 1932. He is buried in Holywell Cemetery, Oxford. Grahame's cousin Anthony Hope, also a successful author, wrote his epitaph, which reads: "To the beautiful memory of Kenneth Grahame, husband of Elspeth and father of Alastair, who passed the river on the 6th of July, 1932, leaving childhood and literature through him the more blest for all time".^[7]

Writing[link]

While still a young man in his 20s, Grahame began to publish light stories in London periodicals such as the St. James Gazette. Some of these stories were collected and published as Pagan Papers in 1893, and, two years later, The Golden Age. These were followed by Dream Days in 1898, which contains The Reluctant Dragon.

There is a ten-year gap between Grahame's penultimate book and the publication of his triumph, The Wind in the Willows. During this decade Grahame became a father. The wayward headstrong nature he saw in his little son Alastair (also known as "Mouse") he transformed into the swaggering Mr. Toad, one of its four principal characters. Despite its success, he never attempted a sequel. The book was a hit and is still enjoyed by adults and children today,^[8] whether in book form or in the films, while Toad remains one of the most celebrated and beloved characters of the book.^{[citation needed]} Wind in the Willows won the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award in 1958. In the 1990s William Horwood came up with a series of sequels.

Works[link]

• Pagan Papers (1893)
• The Golden Age (1895)
• Dream Days (1898)
  • Including The Reluctant Dragon (1898)
• The Headswoman (1898)
• The Wind in the Willows (1908)
• Bertie's Escapade, illustrated by Ernest H. Shepard

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Peter Green, the historian of Hellenistic Greece, wrote a biography of Grahame, Kenneth Grahame 1859-1932. A Study of His Life, Work and Times in 1959, with black and white illustrations, and subsequently wrote the introduction to the Oxford World's Classics edition of The Wind in the Willows. Several abridged versions of the biography with added color illustrations were published in the United States and Britain 1982 to 1993 under the title Beyond the Wild Wood: The World of Kenneth Grahame Author of The Wind in the Willows ISBN 0-87196-740-5 and ISBN 1-85627-336-9

• Grahame, K, The Annotated Wind in the Willows, edited with preface and notes by Annie Gauger and Brian Jacques, Norton, ISBN 978-0-393-05774-4.

• Grahame, K, The Wind in the Willows: An Annotated Edition, edited by Seth Lerer. Belknap Press / Harvard University Press, ISBN 978-0-674-03447-1.

• Alison Prince: Kenneth Grahame: An Innocent in the Wild Wood (London : Allison & Busby, 1994) ISBN 0-85031-829-7

External links[link]

Wikisource has original works written by or about: Kenneth Grahame

Find more about Kenneth Grahame on Wikipedia's sister projects:
	Images and media from Commons
	Quotations from Wikiquote
	Source texts from Wikisource

• Works by Kenneth Grahame at Project Gutenberg (Including all of the above five books)
• An online literary society focusing on the life and works of Kenneth Grahame is at www.kennethgrahamesociety.net
• The Killing of Mr Toad A play by David Gooderson about the moving story of the Grahame family and its resonances with The Wind in the Willows.
• Plaque to Kenneth Grahame at Blewbury (Oxfordshire Blue Plaques Board)