the squadron which raised the siege of Londonderry in 1689. He became rear-admiral in 1690, and fought at the battle of Beachy Head. In May of 1692 he served under Russell at the battle of Barfleur, and he greatly distinguished himself in a night attack on the French fleet at La Hogue, when he succeeded in burning six of their ships. Shortly afterwards he received the honour of knighthood and a reward of £1000. In 1693 he commanded the Smyrna convoy, which was scattered and partly taken by the French admiral Tourville near Lagos Bay. Till the peace of Nymwegen(1697), he continued to serve in the Channel and Mediterranean. In 1702 he commanded the expedition against Cadiz, and on the passage home destroyed the Plate fleet in Vigo. With Sir Cloudesley Shovel he took part in the capture of Gibraltar on the 21st of July 1704. On the 13th of August of the same year he attacked the French fleet off Malaga, the battle being drawn. On account of the dissatisfaction expressed indirectly at the result of the contest, he retired from the service in February 1705. He died on the 24th of January 1709.
Rooke's Journal for 1700-2 has been printed by the Navy Record Society.
ROOM, originally a word meaning space or accommodation;
the ordinary meaning of an apartment in a building, one of the
interior divisions of a house, dates from the 15th century. The
word is common to Teutonic languages, cf. Du. ruim, Ger.
Raum, Swed. and Dan. rum, with the original meaning of space.
Skeat connects the word with the root seen in Lat. rus, open
country.
ROON, ALBRECHT THEODOR EMIL, COUNT voN (1803-1879),
Prussian general field-marshal, was born at Pleushagen,
near Colberg, in Pomerania, on the 30th of April 1803. His
family was of Flemish origin, and was settled in Pomerania. His
father, an officer of the Prussian army, died in poverty during
the French occupation, and young von Roon was brought up, in
a country ravaged in the War of Liberation and in straitened
circumstances, by his maternal grandmother. He entered the
corps of cadets at Kulm in 1816, whence in 1818 he proceeded
to the military school at Berlin, and in January 1821 received a
commission in the 14th (3rd Pomeranian) regiment quartered
at Stargard in Pomerania. In 1824 he went through the three
years' higher course of study at the war school in Berlin, where
he also applied himself with the greatest energy to improving
his general education. In 1826 he was transferred to the 15th
regiment at Minden, but in the same year was appointed an
instructor in the military cadet school at Berlin, where he devoted
himself especially to the subject of military geography. He
published in 1832 the well-known Principles of Physical, N alional
and Political Geography, in three volumes (Grundziige der Erd-,
Volker- und Slaalen-Kunde), which gained him a great reputation,
and of which over 40,000 copies were sold in a few years. This
work was followed in 1834 by Elements of Geography (Anfaragsgrande
der Erdkunde), in 1837 by M ililary Geography of Europe
(M ilitiirische Liinderbeschreibung von Europa), and in 1839 by
The Iberian Peninsula (Die I berische H albinsel).
Meantime, in 1832, he rejoined his regiment, and was afterwards
attached to the headquarters of General von Mtiflling's
corps of observation at Crefeld, when he first became alive to
the very inefficient state of the Prussian army. In 1833 he was
appointed to the Topographical Bureau at Berlin, in 1835 he
entered the General Staff, and in the following year was promoted
captain and became instructor and examiner in the
military academy at Berlin. In 1842, after an illness of two
years brought on by overwork, he was promoted to' be major
and attached to the staff of the VII. corps, in which post he
was again impressed with the inefficiency of the organization of
the army, and occupied himself with schemes for its reform.
Two years later, as tutor to Prince Frederick Charles, he attended
him at Bonn university and in his European travels. In 1848
he was appointed chief of the staff of the VIII. Army Corps at
Coblenz. During the disturbances of that year he served under
the Crown Prince William (afterwards German emperor) in
the suppression of the insurrection at Baden, and distinguished
himself by his energy and bravery, receiving the 3rd class of the
order of the Red Eagle in recognition of his services. While
attached to the Crown Prince's staff at that time he broached
to him the subject of his schemes of army reform. In 1850
came the revelation of defective organization and efficiency
which led to the humiliating treaty of Olmiitz. In the same
year Roon was made a lieutenant-colonel, and in 1851 full colonel.
He now enjoyed the confidence of Prince William, and began
active work as re organizer of the army.
Promoted to be major-general in 1856 and lieutenant-general in 1859, Roon had held since 1850 several commands and had been employed on important missions. Prince William becam e regent in 1857, and in 1859 he appointed Roon a member of a commission to report on the reorganization of the army. Supported by Manteuffel and Moltke, Roon was able to get his plans seriously considered and generally adopted. His aim was to create an armed nation, to extend Scharnhorst's system and to adapt it to Prussia's altered circumstances. To attain this he proposed a universal three years' service, and a reserve (Landwehr) for the defence of the country when the army was actively engaged. During the Italian War he was charged with the mobilization of a division. At the end of 1859, though the junior lieutenant-general in the army, he succeeded von Bonin as war minister, and two years later the ministry of marine was also entrusted to him. His proposals of army reorganization met with the bitterest opposition, and it was not until after long fighting against a hostile majority in the chambers that, with Bismarck's aid, he carried the day. Even the Danish campaign of 1864 did not wholly convince the country of the necessity of his measures, and it required the war with Austria of 1866 to convert obstinate opposition into enthusiastic support. After that von Roon, from being the best-hated man in Prussia, became the most popular, and his reforms were ultimately copied throughout continental Europe. He was promoted general of infantry at the outbreak of this war, was present at the brilliant and decisive victory of Koniggratz, and received the Black Eagle at Nikolsburg on the road to Vienna. His system, adopted after 1866 by the whole North German Confederation, produced its inevitable result in the victorious war with France 1870-71, throughout which von Roon was in attendance on the German emperor. The iftieth anniversary of his entrance into the army was celebrated at Versailles on the 19th of January 1871, when the emperor expressed his gratitude for the great services he had rendered. He was created a count, and in December 1871, having resigned the ministries of war and marine, he succeeded Bismarck as president of the Prussian ministry Ill-health compelled him to resign in the following year. He was promoted to be held-marshal on the first of January 1873. He died at Berlin on the 23rd of February 1879. A
After his death his son published the valuable Denkwzirdigkeiten ans dem Leben des Generalfeldmarschalls Kriegsministers Grafen Roon (2 vols., Breslau, 1892), and Kriegsminisler von Roon als Redner pol iii sch und rnililarisch erlaulerl (Breslau, 1895). His correspondence with his friend Professor Cl. Perthes, 1864-67, was also published at Breslau in 1895.
ROORKEE, or RURKI, a town of British India, in the Saharanpur district of the United Provinces, on the Oudh 81 Rohilkhand railway, 22 m. E. of Saharanpur. Pop. (1901) 17,197. It is the headquarters of the workshops of the Ganges canal, and also of the Bengal Sappers and Miners. Two heavy batteries of artillery are usually stationed in the cantonment. The Thomason Civil Engineering College, founded in 1848, was transferred from the Public Works to the Education Department in 1895 and reorganized. It was instituted in order to train natives in engineering, and students originally received stipends. After 187 5 the emoluments were limited, and became in the nature of scholarships, but the education of all students, remained practically free till 1896, when fees began to be charged. The college works in co-operation with the workshops and foundry of the canal, and also trains in surveying, photography and other subjects, having chemical, physical, electrical and mechanical laboratories and workshops.
