552 



OBITUARIES, AMERICAN. (KEENE KOHLER.) 



imenting, without any practical results. lie con- 

 structed and discarded 129 different models. In the 

 first of these he employed water as a generator, but 

 later the experiments were made with what he 

 called a "liberator," a machine equipped with a 

 large number of tuning-forks, which, he claimed, 

 disintegrated the air and released a powerful etheric 

 force. In 1881 a wealthy Philadelphia woman built 

 him a new laboratory and provided a weekly salary 

 for him to continue "his experiments. He gave ex- 

 hibitions at various times before scientists and the 

 stockholders of the Keely Motor Company, but at 

 no time did he disclose the means by which he pro- 

 duced many remarkable effects. In 1888 he was 

 for a time confined in jail for contempt of court in 

 refusing to tell his secret, but till his death it was 

 known only to himself. Then it was discovered 

 that his machines were propelled by a compressed- 

 air motor in the cellar, and that his whole scheme 

 was a fraud. See "Annual Cyclopaedia" for 1887, 

 page 407, for a detailed description of his machines 

 and his theories. 



Keene. Thomas Wallace, actor, born on Staten 

 Island. N. Y., Oct. 26, 1840; died in New York city, 

 May 30, 1898. His real name was Eaglcson, and 

 lie was a member of an old Staten Island family 

 settled abont Castleton Corners, where Mr. Keene 

 made his home. At a very early age he attached 

 himself to the Old Bowery Theater, New York, as a 

 supernumerary. His first regular engagement was 

 in the company of James H. Hackett, from which, 

 after five weeks' service, he entered the stock com- 

 pany then maintained at Newark, N. J. The next 

 season he was at John Brougham's Lyceum, New 

 York city, and he then went to the stock company 

 of the National Theater, in Cincinnati. In 1870 he 

 began a four years' engagement at Wood's Museum, 

 New York city (the same theater on Broadway that 

 is now called Daly's). At this theater he was chiefly 

 engaged in burlesque and melodramatic parts. Dur- 

 ing an interval between engagements at Wood's, 

 Keene went to P^ngland and produced there the 

 play of "Across the Continent." He reappeared 

 at Wood's as Joe Morgan in " Ten Nights in a Bar- 

 room," Jan. 18, 1871. In 1875 he was engaged as 

 leading man of the California Theater, San Fran- 

 cisco, then under the management of John McCul- 

 lough, who, having resolved to star, selected Mr. 

 Keene to take his place at the head of the stock 

 company. He became a favorite with the very crit- 

 ical audiences of this theater from his first appear- 

 ance before them. When Edwin Booth visited 

 California in 1876, after an absence of twenty years, 

 he played a brilliant engagement of eight weeks at 

 the California Theater, during which he was sup- 

 ported by Mr. McCullough and Mr. Keene in the 

 principal subordinate roles. In the alternation of 

 the parts of Mark Antony and Cassius in " Julius 

 Ca-sar" Mr. Keene fairly shared the enthusiastic 

 plaudits of the public with his illustrious comrade, 

 and this artistic triumph brought him before the 

 American public as a star. He was engaged in 1879 

 by Eugene Tompkins, manager of the Boston Thea- 

 ter, for the part of Couplan in " Drink," an adapta- 

 tion of Zolas " L'Assomoir," and it is said that his 

 representation of the reckless inebriate was vivid 

 and si art ling. In 1881 he made an engagement 

 with W. R. Hayden for the performance of Shake- 

 spearean characters under the business direct ion of 

 Mr. Hayden for several years. The devices of pic- 

 torial advertising liberally resorted to attracted 

 much attention to this venture, and, coupled with 

 the actor's ability, quickly established it as a finan- 

 cial success. Mr. Keene was particularly fortunate 

 in such parts as Richard III, Cassius, lago, Othello, 

 Louis XI, and Richelieu, and for seventeen years lie 

 was generally regarded as one of the best American 



actors. In private life he was a genial and affec- 

 tionate friend, a sympathetic comrade, and a gentle 

 and devoted husband and father. He suffered a 

 stroke of partial paralysis in 1885, which obliged 

 him to retire from the stage for two years ; and 

 though he eventually resumed his work, and often 

 played with his old fire and enthusiasm, he never 

 fully recovered his natural buoyancy. His death 

 resulted from the failure of an overworked consti- 

 tution to resist the shock of an operation for appen- 

 dicitis. His last appearance was in the character of 

 Richelieu at Hamilton, Ontario, May 23, 1898. 



Kirkland, William A., naval officer, born in 

 North Carolina. July 3, 1836; died in Mare Island 

 Navy Yard, Cal., Aug. 12, 1898. He was appointed 

 a midshipman in the United States navy July 2, 1N~)0 : 

 was promoted passed midshipman, June 20, !*'>(> ; 

 master, Jan. 22, 1858 ; lieutenant, March 18 follow- 

 ing; lieutenant commander, July, 1862; commander, 

 March 2, 1869 ; captain, April 1, 1880; commodore, 

 June 27, 1893 ; and rear admiral, March 1, 1895; and 

 was retired July 3, 1898. His early service was in 

 connection with the Pacific and Brazilian squadrons, 

 and in the first years of the civil war he was on duty at 

 the China station and with the East India squadron. 

 In 1864-'65 he commanded the ironclad " Winne- 

 bago," of the Western Gulf blockading squadron, 

 and served under Rear-Admiral Thatcher in the 

 combined movements of the military and naval 

 forces against the defenses of Mobile, which result- 

 ed in the capture of that place and the surrender of 

 the Confederate fleet. From 1866 till 1882 he com- 

 manded several vessels in the South Atlantic squad- 

 ron, and from 1883 till 1886 was attached to the 

 navy yards at Norfolk and Brooklyn. He was su- 

 pervisor of the harbor of New York in 1889-'91 ; 

 then became commandant of the League Island 

 Navy Yard, at Philadelphia; and, after his promo- 

 tion to rear admiral, commanded the European 

 squadron till October, 1895, when he was detached 

 and ordered home. His sudden recall created a 

 sensation in naval circles. In the preceding Janu- 

 ary, after M. Felix Faure had been elected Presi- 

 dent of the republic of France, Admiral Kirkland 

 sent him a letter of congratulation, and this art 

 brought upon him a reprimand by the Secretary of 

 the Navy, who held that the position of Admiral 

 Kirkland precluded him from making any comment 

 on French politics. The admiral resented the rep- 

 rimand, claiming that his letter was a friendly, 

 personal communication to a gentleman he had 

 long known intimately. He appealed to President 

 Cleveland from the act of Secretary Herbert, but 

 the latter was sustained, and the admiral was re- 

 called. On June 1, 1896, he was appointed com- 

 mandant of the Mare Island Navy ^ ard, and after 

 his formal retirement he was asked to retain the 

 command till the close of the war with Spain. 



Knupp, Arthur Mason, librarian, born in St. 

 Johnsbury, Vt., Aug. 3, 1839 ; died in Boston, Ma-.. 

 Dec. 28, 1898. He was graduated at Harvard i" 

 1863, and after teaching several years in Phillips 

 Andover Academy, in the Boston Latin School, and 

 in the Brookline High School, he entered the serv- 

 ice of the Boston Public Library in 1875, and filled 

 the place of custodian of Bates Hall from 187S un- 

 til his death. In this capacity the extent and depth 

 of his special knowledge in genealogy and leal 

 history, as well as his thorough acquaintance with 

 Elizabethan literature, made him of the great e-t 

 service to hosts of readers and students, and tin 

 personal interest that he manifested in the hun- 

 dreds of inquiries which came to him daily was IV li 

 as a most helpful stimulus to study and research. 



Kohler, John, clergyman, was born in Juniatft 

 County, Pa., May 27, 1820 ; died in New I [(.Hand. 

 Pa., April 11, 1898. He was graduated at Pcnnsyl- 



