Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 05.djvu/424

LEFT KLOPSTOCK 356 KNAPWEED ous town but as soon as the rich placer diggings were exhausted, men became discouraged, owing to the lack of stamp mills and the expense of working the quartz, and the mines were finally aban- doned. In 1880, Juneau, a Frenchman, with a companion started out from Sitka and traveling N. discovered gold in a creek which they named Gold creek, and at the mouth of this creek founded a town first called Harrisburg, and later Juneau. In 1886 a rich find was re- ported on Stewart river, in the Yukon district, and the following year an expe- dition was sent out by the Canadian gov- ernment, headed by George M. Dawson, which explored the Upper Yukon and re- ported the existence of an abundance of gold. The difficulties and hardships to be encountered in reaching the location were so great that but a few hundred miners attempted to seek their fortunes there. These, however, persevered and established Circle City on the Alaska side of the boundary. It was not till 1897 that the wonderful riches of the Klondike region were made known through George McCormick, or Cormack, who went from Illinois to Alaska in 1890 and there mar- ried an Indian squaw. In 1897 he lo- cated at the mouth of the Klondike river for the purpose of salmon fishing, but this not proving profitable moved up the river till he came to Bonanza creek which he began to explore for gold. He found large quantities of paying dust and located an extensive claim. The news spread and miners poured into the newly found gold fields, and stories of sudden riches spread over the United States. Through fall and winter of 1897 the mad rush for the Klondike region continued. Juneau, Dyea and Skaguay, sprang into sudden prominence and rap- idly added to their population, while Dawson City in which the first hut was built in September, 1896, in 1901 had grown to a prosperous city with hand- some residences. This section of country is not far re- moved from the Arctic regions. For seven months of the year intense cold prevails, varied by furious snow storms which begin in September and occur at intervals till May. By October 20, ice is formed over all the rivers. The ground for the better part of the year is frozen to the depth of from 3 to 10 feet, and the only way to get at the gold is to thaw the earth by building a fire and after- ward break up the soil with a pick. See Alaska. KLOPSTOCK, FBIEDRICH GOTT- LIEB (klop'stok.), a German poet; born in Quedlinburg, July 2, 1724. In free- ing German poetry from the exclusive reigfn of the Alexandrine verse, he was the founder of a new era in German literature. His great epic "Messiah" (1748-1773), at first partly vvrritten in prose and changed afterward to hexa- meters, made him famous. His most fin- ished work, however, was doubtless his "Odes." Schiller and Goethe were artis- tically indebted to him. He died in Hamburg, March 14, 1803. KLUCK, ALEXANDER VON, a Ger- man general. Bom at Miinster in 1846; he enlisted in the Prussian army in time to serve in the seven weeks' war against Austria in 1866. In the Franco-Prus- sian War he served with great gallantry being twice wounded. He was made a general of infantry in 1906. At the opening of the World War he was given command of a group of Army Corps composing the extreme right wing of the German Army invading France. Apparently with irresistible force he swept the English and French forces in front of him until he was considerably S. W. of Paris. The check given the other German armies on the Marne left von Kluck almost surrounded, a position from which he extricated himself by hard fighting and superior strategy. When the French and English attacked him in his intrenched jwsitions on the Aisne they received a severe check. His later career in the Army was relatively unim- portant. KNAPP, MARTIN AUGUSTINE, an American jurist and public official, born at SpafFord, N. Y., in 1843. He gradu- ated from Wesleyan University in 1868. He was admitted to the bar in the fol- lowing year. He served as corporation counsel for the city of Syracuse, from 1877 to 1883. In 1891 he was appointed a member of the Interstate Commerce Commission and was re-appointed suc- cessively by Presidents Cleveland and Roosevelt. From 1898 he was chairman of the commission. He was appointed circuit judge in 1910. He served as mediator in several disputes between the public and the railroads. He was a member of several economic societies. KNAPSACK, a soldier's or tourist's case or wrapper for clothes, etc., to be carried on the back during a march; a tourist's or traveler's satchel. KNAPWEED, a popular name given to some species of Centaurea. C. nigra, black knapweed; and C. scabiosa, greater knapweed, are common weeds, being rough, hardy herbaceous plants growing by waysides, etc.