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KITE

1007

KNIGHTHOOD

HORATIO H. KITCHENER.

Companion of the Bath. In 1888 he was made adjutant-general in the khedival or Egyptian army, and held that position until 1892. In the latter part of that year he was appointed sirdar. He commanded at the taking of Dongola in 1896, and was then made K. C. B. In August, 1898, he was ^in > command of an English and Egyptian army near Omdurman, opposite the site of Khartum. Opposed was a force of dervishes numbering about 50,000, Kitchener's force being about half that number. This dervish army opened the attack on Sept. 2, 1898, and the defeat resulting was among the most remarkable in modern history. For this victory the general was given a peerage as Baron Kitchener of Khartum and Asp all. He rendered conspicuous service in the Boer War. Since 1902 he has been com-mander-in-chief of the British forces in India, See Stevens' With Kitchener to Khartum,

Kite, a bird of prey, a member of the same family as the hawk and eagle. The swallow-tailed kite appears to spend all its waking hours in flight or sailing in the air; it feeds, drinks, woos and, it is thought, sleeps while in motion. No bird that soars is more graceful, its flight being so easy as to appear mere floating. Whether rising, diving, wheeling or skimming low above the surface, every movement is sure and beautiful. The bird is seldom seen walking, for its legs are short and scarcely visible. It is about 24 inches long, its spread of wings four feet, its plumage glossy black, the head, neck, under part and band low on back snowy white, tail long and cleft like a swallow's. It usually winters south of the United States, comes north in April and returns south in October. It is more common in the western gulf states and the region north of pur great plains. It feeds largely on snakes, lizards, grasshoppers, locusts and crickets.

Kites. Kites until very recent times were a toy used exclusively by children, and were of two or three easily-constructed conventional forms. Since 1880 many attempts have been made to use them for scientific and advertising purposes, and under repeated experiments the forms have changed. One of these newer forms consists of an oblong box, open at both ends, constructed of light material and raised by the suction of the wind. Several differing forms have been invented during recent years, besides that above mentioned. The incentive is not amusement, but a desire to use kites of strong lifting power to carry instruments into the upper strata of the air for scientific observation and record and for making photographs.

Kla'maths, Indians living on the Kla-math lakes in California and southern Oregon. In connection with the Modocs, Shas-tas, Cahwes, Hoopahs, Wallies, Tolewahs and other tribes, they often are called Dig-ger Indians; but the Klamaths proper are far superior to the tribes with which they are often classified. In 1864 they ceded all their lands to the United States, except about 1,200 square miles, where they engage in agriculture and lumbering.

Klon'dike, the name first of a river and later of a gold-mining region in Yukon Territory, northwestern Canada. The name became suddenly famous in the autumn of 1897, because of the disco very of very rich placer gold-diggings earlier in that year by Geo. McCormick with a companion named Henderson. Great excitement followed this new discovery, many thousands of persons going to the region during the spring of 1897 and later. Since that date excitement has subsided, but the gold-fields have been indefinitely extended in various directions in the Klondike and in Alaska by new discoveries. The gold is found in frozen gravel-beds,. which are covered with muck to a depth of from 10 to 25 feet, and all frozen solid. The work of the mines is thus very difficult and laborious. The chief city is Dawson, on the Yukon, north of the mouth of the Klondike, which has a population of 30,000. Yukon Territory has an area of close upon 200,000 square miles.

Klop'stock, Friedrich Gottlieb, a German poet, was born July 2, 1724, at Quedlin-burg. Having read Vergil's Mneid and Milton's Paradise Lost, he resolved, when quite young, to write a German epic poem, selecting The Messiah as his theme. The first three cantos of this poem appeared in the year 1748. They attracted great attention, and caused Klop stock to be regarded as a religious poet of the highest order. The remaining cantos were published at Halle in 1773. Odes, tragedies and biblical dramas, with some hymns, constitute the remainder of His works. He died at Hamburg, March 14, 1803. See Life by Muncker.

Knight'hood. Our word knight is derived from the Anglo-Saxon word cniht, which first meant a boy or youth and afterward a servant or attendant It was at length restricted to the military attendants upon nobles and officers of state. Under the feudal system, this relation was made binding and permanent by the relation of tenancy in which the knight held land on the condition of rendering service to his superior whenever called upon. Knighthood as a feudal institution was established in England by the Norman kings. The whole system of knighthood was abolished in the reign of Charles II. The history of knighthood, as a voluntary institution, began with the crusades. During these wars for the recovery of the Holy Land, the younger sons of many