Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 11.djvu/697

* KURNBERGER. 633 KURSK. dust (1805); and Qiiiiilin Messis. His critical and political writings include LitterariscUe Uci- zemssaclicii (1.S77). which shows a wide kjiowl- edge of European literature. KURODA, koo-rO'da. Iviyotaka, Count (18.35- I'.MIiii. A .Japanese .statesman, born in Satsuma about 1835. He took an active part in the light- ing of 1808, and comi)leted the subjugation of the rebels in the naval operations at Hakodat<5 (q.v.). Later lie did much to raise the standard of education of the women of .Japan. Becoming .Minister of the Department for the Colonization and Development of the Hokkaido — the i.sland of Vezo, plus the Kuriles — he visited the United States and secured a staff of scientific men, who under his direction imported live stock and im- plements, reclaimed waste lands, constructed roads and bridges, superintended model farms, built towns and cities, and laid out lailways. Out of the survey of Yczo grew the Geological Survey of Japan, first begun by I'.aphael Puni- pelly (q.v.) and carried on by Prof. Benjamin Smith Lyman (q.v.). In 1874 Kuroda was ap- pointed an Imperial Councilor, and in 1870 went to Korea and made a treaty of peace and com- merce. In 1877 he commanded a division of the Imperial troops in suppressing the Satsuma Re- liellion, and played an imjiortant part in the relief of Kumamoto. In 1889, when the Constitu- tion was promulgated, he was Premier of the Empire. At the time of his death in Tokio, August 2.3, inOO, he was president of the Privy Council. KUROPATKIN, koo'ro-pat'kon, Alexei Ni- kola yevitcu I 1S4S — ). A Russian general, who entered the army at si.xtcen. and distinguished himself in Turkestan. He was sent to Algeria in 1874. was diplomatic agent in Chitral in 187.5. and in 1870 was fighting again in Turkestan and Samarkand. He served through the Russo- Turkish War of 1877-78. and in the campaign against the Tekke-Turkomans (1880-81) made himself famous by a forced march of more than 600 miles. In 1890 he became lieutenant-general; he was appointed ilinistcr of War in 1898. and in 1902 was made Adjutant-tienoral. He wrote Sketches of Kashffar (1879), and accounts of campaigns in the Russo-Turkish War (1881 and 1SS4) an<l of (lie conquest of Turkestan (1899). KXJRO SHIWO, koo'r* she'vo (Japanese, black current). A great current of the Pacific Ocean, washing the southeastern shores of Asia. It has its sour;-e in the north equatorial current, which, (lowing westward, is partially dellected by the Philippine Islands and Formosa, and takes a northerly course into the Eastern Sea. Here the Kuro Shiwo, under the influence of the southwesterly monsoon, bears off to the north- east past the sliores of the ,Tapan Archi]iclago, gradually taking a more easterly direction and merging with the drift that crosses the Pacific between latitudes 40' and 50° N. The color of the stream is a deep blue. Its temperature is 5° to 12° above the normal temperature of the sea at a given latitude, and its velocity varies from 1 to 3.5 miles per hour. The rate of flow varies with the seasons; during the late spring and summer months it is accelerated by the south- west monsoons, while the prevailing northeast- erlies that blow from September to March retard or wholly obliterate the current. The mass of moving water is only about one-half of that car- ried by the Gulf .Stream through the Straits of Florida. A branch of the Kuro Shiwo passes into the Yellow Sea, and a second branch into the Japan Sea; but it sends oil" no arm northward through the Bering Sea, as has been commonly sujiposed, the northerly current of the Bering Sea being due to local conditions. The view that the Kuro Shiwo moderates the climate of the Pacific shores of North America is not based upon fact, their moisture and warmth being cau.scd by a general drift eastward due to the prevailing winds of the North Pacific. Consult: Wild, Thalassa (London, 1877) ; Report of the United Htates fount Siinri/ for IHSO (Washingtop, 1882). KTJROTCHKIN, kUUroch'kin, Vasilii Ste- PAXoiTCii (1831-74). A Russian journalist, born in Saint Petersburg. The son of poor parents and self-educated, he first became known to the literary world by his translations of Be- langer (1855). His satirical and humorous poetry also found apprcciators, and he was em- boldened (1859) to launch the first Russian comic journal, which he called lakia ("The Whistle"). He edited it alone from 1H04 until it ceased to be published in 1873. A volume of his own work was published in Saint Petersburg two years after ids death. He has been called the 'Henri Mounier of Russia.' KURRACHEE, kur-rii'chS. A district and town of British India. See K.rachi. KURSCHNER, knrsh'ner, Joseph (1853- 19021. A Herman autlior and editor, born at Gotha. At first engaged in mechanical engi- neering, he afterwards studied at the University of Lei])zig. In 1889 he was made Aulie Councilor by the Duke of Coburg-Gotha. Besides several publications connected with the history of the (^rman theatrc. he edited successively in Berlin and Stuttgart a considerable number of liter- ary monthlies, year-books, and other periodicals. He was also editor of the Deutsche yaliomil- Utteratur. a critical collection in 220 volumes of all that is best in German literature: but was most widely known as the editor, after 1883, of the Allijemeiiicr deutscher Littcratur- liilriiiler (Stuttgart. 1879 et seq.), an annual biographical record of all German authors and their works. His original writings include: Konrad Ekhof (1872): liai/rcuther Tngebuch- hliitter (1870) ; Heil Kaiser Dir! (1897) ; Frnu. ilusika (1898) : China (1901) ; and Kaiser ^^il- hehn II. als Soldat und Seemann (1902). KURSK, knrsk. A government of Central Russia, adjoining Little Russia ; area, about 17.900 square miles (ilap: Russia, E 4). The surface is only slightly elevated and is inter- sected by numerous river valleys. It is well watered, and its soil is very fertile. The climate is moderate. Agriculture, the chief occupation of the inhabitants, is carried on in a very crude way. Considerable quantities of grain are ex- ported. Rye and oats are the chief cereals; pota- toes are grown for distilling, and beet-root is also raised to some extent. The manufacturing indus- tries are only slightly developed : the chief indus- trial establishments are sugar and flour mills, distilleries, and oil-presses. The house industry yields little beyond what is necessary for do- mestic consumption. Population, in 1897, 2.603,- 205. Capital. Kursk. KURSK. The capital of the Russian govern- ment of the same name, situated on the small