Kite.
1. A light frame covered with paper or cloth, and flown at the end of a string. Centuries of use among the Chinese, and the remarkable use by our Benjamin Franklin, have aided to make the kite respectable. Benjamin had a roughly made kite, two cross-sticks, over which was stretched a silk handkerchief, and this was flown in June, 1752. Franklin was not a boy at this time, but a mature man of 46. Betsy Trotwood observed, “Franklin used to fly a kite. He was a Quaker or something of that sort, if I am not mistaken, and a Quaker flying a kite is a much more ridiculous object than anybody else” ; so he might have appeared to some of the Philadelphians. Some of his propositions for conducting and using the electric current seem strangely modern. He proposed to fire spirits, kill animals, drive machinery, and discharge guns. Some of these things he performed. The kite has been used in scaling eminences; two remarkable occasions may be cited: the ascent of “Pompey's pillar,” a pillar of red granite 114 feet high, near Alexandria; and in the ascent of the Peter Botte Mountain in the Mauritius. It is also used for lodging a cord on steeples and other structures, to enable them to be fitted with lightning-rods or for the purpose of repair. The first wire of the foot Suspension-Bridge at Niagara was carried over by a kite. In 1827 Pocock yoked a pair of kites to a carriage, and traveled from London to Bristol. He determined that a 12-foot kite gave the power of a man, with a moderate breeze, and, when the wind is brisker, a power of 220 pounds. (This is an incomplete statement, but the figures are not ours.) The force, he states, in a rather high wind, is as the squares of the lengths of the kites; and two kites, of 12 and 15 feet respectively, will draw a carriage and four or five passengers at the rate of 20 miles per hour. (Grade not stated.) Pocock had an extra line to vary the angle of the surface of his kite, so as to adjust its tractile force, and side lines to vary the direction of the motion till it came nearly to a right angle with the course of the wind. His kites were made of varnished linen on jointed frames, so as to be folded and stored compactly. The Indian and Chinese kites are made of Chinese paper, thin and tough, and the frames of finely split bamboo. They are gayly colored, and are sometimes made in the shape of dragons, — whatever that may be, — eagles, or spiders. The string is made of the silk obtained from a wild species of worm, and is called nuck; after spinning, it is treated with gum or glue, and then drawn through pounded glass. Being dried in the sun, it is ready for duty. This gritty coat is to enable it to saw asunder an adversary's line, should it become fouled, when flying on a wager or for sport. The Celestials put as much enthusiasm into the business as do the owners of trim wherries, fast nags, fleet greyhounds, rampant game-cocks, surly bull-dogs, dapper terriers, or the other thousand and one devices or excuses for actively wasting time. Chinese kites are sometimes furnished with various aeolian attachments which imitate the songs of birds or the voices of men. The pigeons also in Pekin are frequently provided with a very light kind of aeolian harp, which is secured tightly to the two central feathers of their tails, so that in flying through the air the harps sound harmoniously. The frame of the Japanese bird kite is made of thin bamboo, and is covered with colored paper. The wings, which are somewhat concave, and fall back a little, are dark maroon, and the body and tail represent a bird. Small white twine is used. By various devices, the hoverering and soaring of a hawk can be admirably imitated. Length of middle cane 20 inches, spread of wings 26 inches; a b, points where the “belly-band” must be attached. Dotted lines show the paper. |
| Japanese bird-kite. |
2. (Nautical.) One of the unusual sails above the royal; sky-sails, moon-rakers, etc.
