Part 60

=Knight Baronet=, or =Baronet=. A dignity or degree of honor next below a baron and above a knight, having precedency of all orders of knights except those of the garter, and being the only knighthood that is hereditary. The order was founded by James I. in 1611, and is given by patent. The word, however, in the sense of _lesser_ baron, was in use long before the time of James I.

=Knightage.= The body of knights taken collectively.

=Knight-bachelor.= One of the lowest order of knights, who were expected to remain unmarried until they had gained some renown by their achievements.

=Knight-banneret.= A knight who carried a banner, who possessed fiefs to a greater amount than the knight-bachelor, and who was obliged to serve in war with a greater number of attendants. He was created by the sovereign in person on the field of battle.

=Knight-errant.= A wandering knight; a knight who traveled in search of adventures, for the purpose of exhibiting military skill, prowess, and generosity.

=Knight-errantry.= The practice of wandering in quest of adventures; the manners of wandering knights; a quixotic or romantic adventure or scheme.

=Knight-erratic.= Pertaining to knight-errantry.

=Knighthood.= Originally a military distinction, came, in the 16th century, to be occasionally conferred on civilians, as a reward for valuable services rendered to the crown or community. The first civil knight in England was Sir William Walworth, lord mayor of London, who won that distinction by slaying the rebel Wat Tyler in presence of the king. In recent times, it has been bestowed at least as often on scholars, lawyers, artists, or citizens, as on soldiers, and in many cases for no weightier service than carrying a congratulatory address to court.

=Knighthood.= The character, dignity, or condition of a knight.

=Knightliness.= Duties of a knight.

=Knightly.= Pertaining to a knight; becoming a knight; as, a knightly combat.

=Knights, Military.= An institution of military knights at Windsor, England, formerly called “Poor Knights,” which owes its origin to Edward III., and is a provision for a limited number of old officers. These officers consist of a governor and 12 knights on the upper foundation, and 5 on the lower, together 18, and are composed of officers selected from every grade, from a colonel to a subaltern, chiefly veterans, or on half-pay. They are allowed three rooms each in Windsor Palace, and 2 shillings per diem for their sustenance, besides other small allowances.

=Knights of St. George.= See GARTER, ORDER OF THE.

=Knights Templar.= See TEMPLAR, KNIGHTS.

=Knight-service.= A tenure of lands held by knights on condition of performing military service. It was abolished in the time of Charles II. of England.

=Knob of a Cascabel.= See CASCABEL.

=Knot.= A twist or loop in a rope or cord, so made that the motion of one piece of the line over the other shall be stopped. The knot owes its power of passive resistance to the friction of the rope. The three elementary knots, which every one should know, are the _timber-hitch_, the _bow-line_, and the _clove-hitch_.

The virtues of the _timber-hitch_ are, that, so long as the strain upon it is kept up, it will never give; when the strain is taken off, it is cast loose immediately.

The _bow-line_ makes a knot difficult to undo; with it the ends of two strings are tied together, or a loop made at the end of a single piece of string. For slip nooses, use the bowline to make the draw-loop.

The _clove-hitch_ binds with excessive force, and by it, and it alone, can a weight be hung to a smooth pole, as to a tent-pole. A kind of double clove-hitch is generally used, but the simple one suffices, and is more easily recollected.

There are other knots very useful in the artillery service and indispensable aboard ship, viz.: _single knot_, _weaver’s knot_, _figure-eight knot_, _artificer’s knot_, _mooring knots_, _hitches_, _capstan_, or _prolonge knot_, _square knot_, _loops_, _becker knot_, and _anchor knot_.

=Knot, Shoulder-=. See SHOULDER-KNOT.

=Knout.= A scourge composed of many thongs of skin, plaited, and interwoven with wire, which was till lately the favorite instrument of punishment in Russia for all classes and degrees of criminals. The offender was tied to two stakes, stripped, and received on the back the specified number of lashes; 100 or 120 were equivalent to sentence of death, but in many cases the victim died under the operation long before this number was completed. This punishment is at present only inflicted upon ordinary criminals, such as incendiaries or assassins. It is no longer in use in the army, except when a soldier is dismissed for ill conduct, in which case 3 to 10 lashes are given, in order to disgrace the soldier, rather than punish him.

=Kolin.= A town of Bohemia, on the left bank of the Elbe. Here the Austrians under Daun defeated the Prussians under Frederick the Great, June 18, 1757.

=Koloshes.= The Russian name for the Indians of the coast of Alaska.

=Komorn.= See COMORN.

=Koniagas=, or =Kadiaks=. The names by which the various tribes of aborigines living along the coast of Alaska for over 1500 miles, are known.

=Konieh= (anc. _Iconium_). A town of Asiatic Turkey, the capital of the province of Karamania, Asia Minor. Here the Turkish army was defeated by the pasha of Egypt, after a long, sanguinary fight, December 21, 1832. See ICONIUM.

=Königgrätz.= A town and fortress of Bohemia, on the left bank of the Elbe. On July 2, 1866, the Austrians under Gen. Benedek were signally defeated with a loss of 40,000 men by the Prussians under King William, at Sadowa, near Königgrätz.

=Königsberg.= A fortified city of Prussia, and former capital of the kingdom, is situated on both banks of the Pregel, and on an island in that river, 4 miles from its entrance into the Frisch Haff. It was founded in 1255, and in 1365 became a member of the Hanseatic League; in 1626, it was surrounded with walls; and in 1657, received a strong additional defense in the citadel of Friedrichsburg. It suffered much during the Seven Years’ War by the occupation of the Russians from 1758 to 1764; and also from the French, who entered it in 1807, after the battle of Friedland.

=Königstein.= A town of Germany, in Saxony, 17 miles southeast of Dresden, on the left bank of the Elbe. It has a fortress, situated on a rock nearly 450 feet high, which is one of the few in Europe that never yet were taken. The royal treasures have usually been deposited here during war.

=Koom=, or =Kum=. A town of Persia, in the province of Irak-Ajemee. It was destroyed by the Afghans in 1722.

=Kootenais=, =Kontenays=, =Cottonois=, =Coutanies=, or =Flatbows=. A tribe of Indians who formerly resided wholly in British Columbia, but some of them are now located in Washington, Idaho, and Montana Territories. They are generally peaceable and self-supporting, and have made some progress in civilization. About 400 of them reside at the Flathead Agency, Montana.

=Koreish.= An Arab tribe which had the charge of the Caaba, or sacred stone of Mecca, and strenuously opposed the pretensions of Mohammed. It was defeated by him and his adherents, 623-30.

=Kossacks.= See COSSACKS.

=Kossova.= A town of European Turkey, 8 miles northeast from Pristina. A battle was fought near this place in 1389 between the Turks and Serbs. The latter were defeated, and the king slain.

=Koszegh=, or =Guns=. See GUNS.

=Kotah.= The chief town of a protected state of the same name; is situated in Rajpootana, India, on the right bank of the Chumbul. In 1857, notwithstanding the fidelity of the rajah to the British government, Kotah fell under the power of the mutineers, remaining in their possession until March 30, 1858, when it was stormed by Gen. Roberts.

=Kot-duffadar.= See DUFFADAR, KOT.

=Koul.= A soldier belonging to a noble corps in Persia.

=Kouler-Agasi.= A distinguished military character in Persia, who has the command of a body of men called _Kouls_. He is usually governor of a considerable province.

=Kouls.= The third corps of the king of Persia’s household troops. The Kouls are men of note and rank; no person can arrive at any considerable post or situation in Persia who has not served among the Kouls.

=Kovno.= Capital of the government of the same name in European Russia, near the confluence of the Vilia and the Niemen, was founded in the 10th century, and was the scene of many bloody conflicts between the Teutonic knights and Poles during the 14th and 15th centuries.

=Kraal= (probably from the language of the Hottentots). In South Africa, a village; a collection of huts; sometimes a single hut. This term is applied to the villages and military camps of the Zulus.

=Krasnoe.= A Russian village, 30 miles southwest of Smolensk, near which the French, in the retreat of 1812, lost, during three successive days, 25,000 men, several thousand prisoners, and 25 pieces of cannon.

=Kreuznach.= A town of Rhenish Prussia, on the Nahe, 40 miles south-southeast of Coblentz. This place was stormed by Gustavus Adolphus in 1632.

=Kris=, or =Crease=. A dagger or poniard, the universal weapon of the inhabitants of the Malayan Archipelago. It is made of many different forms, short or long, straight or crooked. The hilt and scabbard are often much ornamented. Men of all ranks wear this weapon; and those of high rank, when in full dress, sometimes carry three or four. In Java women sometimes wear it.

=Krupp Gun.= The metal used in these celebrated guns is cast steel, a composition of puddled steel and wrought iron. The wrought iron is obtained from the best hematite ores of Europe, the puddled steel from the spathic ore of Siegen, in the immediate vicinity of the works. The proportions of each metal, the details of their preparation, as well as certain ingredients guessed at but not known, remain a secret with the manufacturers. Manganese in small quantity is supposed to be present and to exercise an important influence. The result is a metal equal in elasticity and tensile strength to the best English steel, the excellent quality of which is largely due to “oil tempering,” a process entirely omitted in the Krupp gun. The ingots forming the different parts of the gun are cast in cylindrical iron molds, an operation requiring the greatest care to prevent the imprisonment of air or other gases in the casting,--a defect which the tenacious character of the metal renders fatal. Subsequent hammering only increases the trouble by involving a larger area. As soon as the ingot is hard enough to permit handling it is removed from the mold and cooled slowly in ashes. It is next brought to a working heat in a furnace, placed under a steam-hammer weighing from 1 to 50 tons, according to the size of the ingot, and drawn out to the required length and thickness, when it is again buried in ashes and gradually annealed to remove the tensions induced by hammering. From the rough ingot thus prepared the tube forming the barrel is made directly by boring, turning, and rifling. The ingots intended for hoops, trunnion bands, etc., are cut up into short lengths, which are formed into rings without weld by being split through the centre within a certain distance of the ends, after which the slit is gradually widened to a circle by swaging. The parts when finished are carefully annealed.

The Krupp gun consists of a central tube or barrel, comprising the greater mass of the gun, and a series of encircling hoops. The tube has a thickness of about eight-tenths of the caliber from a point over the front of the charge to the termination of the rings or hoops, whence it is conical, tapering to a thickness of about half the caliber at the muzzle. From the seat of the charge breech-wards the tube thickens rapidly by a series of steps to a cylinder about 1¹⁄₅ calibers thick. The hoops overlie the tube from the cylinder in rear to the base of the cone in front, covering about half the total length of the tube. The hoops are put on in layers, the number of layers being determined by the size of the gun. The 6-inch gun has one, the 8- and 9-inch two, and the higher calibers have three layers of hoops. The hoops are shrunk on at black heat, the different layers being held in place by small key-rings.

The rifling for Krupp guns is polygrooved, the twist uniform, the grooves being gradually narrowed towards the muzzle for the suppression of windage. The chamber in which the shot and charge rest is a little larger than the bore, though they coincide at the bottom. This makes the passage of the projectile into the bore direct and prevents the abrasion which would occur if tilted upwards in leaving its seat. Moreover, the shot is “centred”--that is, has its axis in the axis of the bore--from its entry into the gun.

The breech-mechanism is essentially that of Broadwell. The breech is closed on the “sliding block” principle. Through the cylindrical part of the _barrel_ in rear of the rings, from one side to the other, a slot is cut in which the breech-block slides horizontally, alternately exposing and closing the rear of the chamber. The block is run in and out by an attached screw, which works partly in the upper wall of the slot. The motion of the block is governed by guides in the upper and lower walls of the slot slightly inclined from the perpendicular to the axis of the piece. The rear of the slot is so cut that the block is wedged firmly against it when it is home. The block is locked in this position by a large screw, which catches in certain threads cut on the rear wall of the slot. The block is furnished with an “indurator plate,” a disk of hardened steel, which is set in its face to receive the direct action of the powder gases. The vent is in the axis of the gun through the block. The gas-check used is the _Broadwell ring_ (which see). The powder for all the large guns is the _prismatic_. (See GUNPOWDER.) Both steel and cast-iron projectiles are used. The steel projectiles for armor piercing have their points water-tempered. Rotation being communicated by compression, the projectiles belong to the soft-jacketed class. The projectile is turned smooth in a lathe, pickled in dilute acid, and then put in sal-ammoniac to remove oil. It is next galvanized by immersion in molten zinc, then immersed in lead, and afterwards a heavy lead jacket is cast on it, which is turned down, leaving several prominent rings to facilitate compression into the grooves. In late years Herr Krupp has adopted for his large guns the American system of projectiles, having soft metal expanding sabots attached to the base, with a centring ring in front.

Krupp guns range in size from small field-pieces to a gun weighing 72 tons. The field pieces manufactured number several thousand. They form the official equipment of the German army, and contributed much to German success in the Franco-Prussian war. The large guns, comprising 6-, 7-, 8-, 9-, 10-, 11-, and 12-inch guns, have been made in large numbers, and have found a ready sale in Germany, Russia, and Turkey.

The largest guns are a 14-inch gun weighing 56 tons, and a 15³⁄₄-inch weighing 72 tons. (See CANNON.) Herr Krupp is also a large manufacturer of gun-carriages of all kinds. His partiality for steel has led him to use it almost exclusively in his constructions. He has inherited likewise the aversion of the great Borsig for _welding_; and a noticeable feature of his guns is an absence of any _weld_. The “coil” principle, so well adapted to develop tangential strength, is also omitted, the character of the metal being relied upon to resist strains “across the grain.”

Perhaps the most novel piece of ordnance of modern times is Krupp’s _non-recoiling shield gun_. This gun is made with an enlargement around the muzzle in the shape of a large ball, which is held in a socket formed in a heavy armored shield protecting the gun in front, the arrangement giving a veritable ball-and-socket joint, about which the gun is elevated and traversed. On shipboard or in a fortification the shield would form a part of the armor or scarp wall. A narrow slit above the ball is used in pointing by the gunner, who for this purpose sits astride of the gun. The problem solved by this unique arrangement is the entire suppression of recoil, the strain being absorbed by the massive shield. In the late experiments at Mappen, 1879, the triumphs of Krupp guns culminated in the performances of this novel piece of ordnance. Its action was satisfactory in every respect, and so slight was the shock communicated to the gun that the gunner did not deem it necessary to dismount, but kept his seat astride of it during the firing.

=Krupp’s Steel Works.= On account of the wide-spread reputation which the steel produced in the great works of Krupp at Essen, in Rhenish Prussia, has obtained, it is necessary that these works should receive a brief notice. They were founded by Friedrich Krupp in 1810, and were continued by his sons after his death in 1826. For the last fifty years they have been increasing annually from one-sixth to one-third in size, until now they cover about 500 acres, and give employment to about 20,000 persons, including those engaged in building, and in the mines and smelting-houses. For large metallurgical works Essen is favorably situated, being in the centre of a coal-bearing area, where coal of the best quality can be procured cheaply, and near mines of manganiferous iron ore, which has been found excellently adapted for the manufacture of steel; but it is believed that the admirable organization of every part of his manufactory has conduced as much as anything to the great success of Krupp. The articles manufactured consist principally of rails, tires, crank-axles, shafts, mining pump-rods, gun-carriages and guns, the proportion of ordnance being about two-fifths of the whole. Guns have been made at Essen for the Prussians, Austrians, Belgians, Dutch, Italians, Turks, Japanese, and also for the English, although not directly ordered by the government. Since 1872 a field-gun invented by Krupp has been adopted by the Prussian government, and supplied to the whole army. The establishment possesses 286 steam-engines from 2 to 1000 horse-power, 1100 furnaces of various kinds, 71 steam-hammers, 264 smith’s forges, 275 coke-ovens, and 1056 planing, cutting, and boring machines. It burns over 1000 tons of coal daily, and has over 11,000 gas-burners, consuming in twenty-four hours 400,000 cubic feet of gas. It has, besides, a complete telegraph system, 800 cars, 15 locomotives, 33 miles of railway, over 3000 dwelling-houses, hospitals, chemical laboratory, a photographic and lithographic establishment, over 400 mines, 11 blast-furnaces and several smelting-houses which produce annually about 20,000 tons of pig-iron. These works have already produced over 18,000 heavy guns.

=Kshatriya.= The second or military caste in the social system of the Brahmanical Hindus.

=Ku-Klux-Klan.= A secret organization of ex-Confederate soldiers, who, for several years after the close of the civil war, by their murders and other crimes disturbed the tranquillity of the Southern States. Their victims were chiefly freedmen, and persons suspected of favoring the policy of the government. Stringent measures were taken against them by Congress in 1871, and they soon after ceased their disturbances.

=Kul.= The Turkish word for slave to the Prince. The grand vizier, the bachas, the beiglerbeys, and all persons who receive pay or subsistence from situations dependent upon the crown, are so called. This title is in high estimation among the Turkish military, as it authorizes all who are invested with it to insult, strike, and otherwise ill use the common people, without being responsible for the most flagrant breach of humanity.

=Kulm.= A small village of Bohemia, 16 miles north-northwest of Leitmeritz, was the scene of two bloody conflicts between the French and allied Russian-Austrian armies on August 29-30, 1813. The French, numbering 30,000 men, were commanded by Gen. Vandamme; the Russians, during the first day’s conflict, were 17,000, and were commanded by Gen. Ostermann-Tolstoi. During the night, the latter were heavily reinforced, and on the second day Barclay de Tolly assumed the command with 60,000 troops. The result was the complete wreck of the French army, which lost in these two days little short of 20,000 men, while the allies did not lose half of that number.

=Kunnersdorf.= See CUNNERSDORF.

=Kunobitza.= In the Balkan, where John Hunniades, the Hungarian, defeated the Turks, December 24, 1443.

=Kupele.= Straits so called in India, through which the Ganges disembogues itself into Hindustan. They are distant from Delhi about 30 leagues. It was at these straits that the East Indians made some show of resistance when the famous Tamerlane (Timur) invaded India. The field of this victory is the most distant point of that emperor’s conquest in India, and on the globe.

=Kurrol= (_Ind._). The advanced-guard of a main army.

=Kurtchi.= A militia is so called in Persia. It consists of one body of cavalry, which is composed of the first nobility of the kingdom, and of the lineal descendants of the Turkish conquerors, who placed Ismael Sophi on the throne. They wear a red turban of twelve folds, which is made of particular stuff. This turban was originally given them by Ismael, in consideration of their attachment to the religion and family of Ali. In consequence of their wearing this turban, the Persians are always called by the Turks _kitilbaschi_, or red-heads. The Kurtchi form a body of nearly 18,000 men.

=Kurtchi-baschi.= The chief or commanding officer of the Kurtchi. This was formerly the most distinguished situation in the kingdom, and the authority annexed to it was equal to what the constable of France originally possessed. At present his power does not extend beyond the Kurtchis.

=Kush-bash= (_Ind._). Persons who enjoy lands rent free, upon condition of serving the government in a military capacity when called upon.

=Kustrin=, or =Custrin=. A fortified town of Prussia, in the province of Brandenburg, at the union of the Wartha with the Oder, 48 miles east from Berlin. In 1758 it was bombarded by the Russians, and in 1806 taken by the French. It has a large powder-magazine.

=Kutchin.= A family of Alaska Indians, which is divided into a number of petty tribes, who occupy the valley of the Yukon River.

=Kyanizing.= A process for preserving timber from decay,--so named from the inventor Kyan. The process consists in saturating the wood with a solution of corrosive sublimate.

=Kythul.= A town of India, and the capital of a district of the same name. The district fell into the possession of the British in 1843, from the failure of heirs to the last rajah.

L.

=Labarum.= A military standard of the Roman empire. It consisted of a long lance crossed at right angles near the top by a staff, from which hung a small flag or streamer of purple cloth inwrought with gold and precious stones, and bearing the effigy of the emperor. Constantine the Great, when he embraced Christianity, substituted for that device a crown, a cross, and the initial letters of the name of Christ, and made it the imperial standard.

=Labeates.= A warlike people in Dalmatia, whose chief town was Scodra, and in whose territory was the Labeatis Palus (now Lake of Scutari), through which the river Barbana (now Bogana) runs.

=Label=, =Lambel=, or =File=. In heraldry, is the mark of cadency which distinguishes the eldest son in his father’s lifetime. It consists of a horizontal stripe or fillet, with three points depending from it. When the mark of cadency itself is designated a _file_, its points are called _labels_.