Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 05.djvu/421

KITCHENER OF KHARTUM, HORATIO HERBERT, LORD, a British military officer; born in 1850. Educated at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, he joined the Royal Engineers, and was employed for some time in and after 1874 on the Palestine Surveys. He served, having volunteered, as a major of cavalry in the Egyptian army in 1882, with the Nile Expedition in 1884, and became governor of Suakin in 1886. From 1888 till 1892 he held the rank of adjutant-general in the Egyptian army, and in the latter year was appointed Sirdar.

KITCHENER OF KHARTUM After the taking of Dongola, in 1896, he organized the final advance against the Khalifa, which resulted in the latter's utter defeat at Omdurman in September, 1898. For this he was awarded a peerage, as Baron Kitchener of Khartum and of Aspall, in the county of Suffolk. In 1899 he was appointed chief of staff in the South African campaign. Commander-in-chief in India 1907. British resident at Cairo 1911. In 1914 at the outbreak of the Great War he was appointed Secretary for War and through his efforts and the methods he inaugurated the British army was raised from 160,000 men to 5,000,000. He lost his life in 1916 when the "Hampshire" which was carrying him to Russia was sunk by a mine.

KITCHENER, town and county-seat of Waterloo co., Ont., Canada; formerly called Berlin; on the Grand river, and the Grand Trunk railway, 62 miles W. of Toronto. It has manufactories of furniture, leather, boots and shoes, pianos and organs, buttons, gloves, etc.; excellent sewerage system, water works, street railway, and gas and electric light plants; a Roman Catholic college, 22 churches, and several daily, weekly, and monthly periodicals. Pop, (1920) 21,052.

KITCHIN, CLAUDE, member of Congress from North Carolina, born in Scotland Neck, N. C., in 1869. He graduated from Wake Forest College in 1888 and at once began the study of law. He was admitted to the bar in 1890. He was elected to Congress in 1911 and was successively re-elected to the 64th and 66th Congresses and as such had charge of the chief financial measures passed during the war.

KITE, a name applied to very active, long-winged, small-footed Falconidæ, with rather short beaks, never truly notched like those of falcons. They fly strongly and gracefully. The typical genus is Milvus, confined to the Old World, and represented by half a dozen species. Of these the common or red kite, the Anglo-Saxon Gled or Glead, used to be common in Great Britain, but is now very rare. The bird measures two feet in length and is predominantly rufous. It is generally distributed in Europe and round about the Mediterranean shores. Its nest is built on a tree and made up of sticks and rubbish. The eggs (three) are laid in April or May, and have a dull-white or pale-blue ground, with spots or blotches of reddish brown. The black kite (M. migrans) has been recorded in Great Britain; the pariah kite (M. govinda) of India is a useful scavenger; M. isurus inhabits Australia. Under the title kite are also included the black-winged kites (Elanus) of both hemispheres; the beautiful swallow-tailed kite {Elanoides forficatus), occurring in the warmer parts of North America; the hook-billed kite (Rostrhamus) of South America and Florida, feeding, curiously enough, on fresh-water snails; and the large bee-kite or honey buzzard (Pernis apivorus), inhabiting Europe and Africa.

KITE, a wind toy, controlled by a string. As a plaything the kite has been known since 400 B.C., and in its familar form of two crossed sticks covered with paper, and balanced with a tail of string, on which are tied bits of cloth or paper, is a common sight. Kites were first employed in aid of science in 1749, by Dr. Alexander Wilson and Thomas Mellville,