KNIFE 



3268 



KNIGHTS HOSPITALERS 



maker's name. The hardening process leaves 

 the steel brittle, and it must therefore be 

 tempered, that is, brought to one of several 

 degrees of hardness. Tempering consists in 

 slowly heating the blade on a steel plate, the 

 degree of temper required being judged by 

 the color. Each color represents a different 

 degree of hardness. Some blades are left a 

 straw color, others a reddish-brown, and so 

 on. After being tempered the blade is sent to 

 the grinder, who places the tang in a holder, 

 which he grasps with one hand. With the 

 other he presses the blade against a grindstone 

 which revolves at a high rate of speed. A 

 final finishing is usually given the blade after 

 it has been fitted to the handle. 



The other parts of the knife are made by 

 the material maker. He fashions the steel 

 spring which controls the blade in opening and 

 shutting, and the brass or iron lining of the 

 handle (the scale), and it is a part of his work 

 to fasten tips to the outside of the lining when 

 the material which forms the handle does not 

 cover the ends. The various parts of the 

 knife are put together by the cutler, who also 

 drills, files, polishes and buffs the handles. 

 Ivory, pearl, silver, gold, tortoise shell, cellu- 

 loid, rubber, various woods and other materials 

 are used for knife handles. They are polished 

 on power-driven wooden wheels, which are 

 covered first with leather and then with a 

 mixture of glue and emery. In buffing, cotton 

 cloth takes the place of the leather, emery 

 and glue. 



Similar processes enter into the manufacture 

 of table knives. The more expensive blades 

 are hand forged from shear steel, but cheaper 

 ones are forged with machines called goff ham- 

 mers, and are made from cast steel, which is 

 more brittle than shear steel. Large power- 

 driven stones are used in punching holes in the 

 tangs and grinding the blades, but the finishing 

 processes are done by hand. In some cases 

 the blades are rough-ground by being placed 

 in a brass frame, six or more at a time, the 

 frame being so manipulated that it gives them 

 a side-to-side and also a vertical motion on 

 the stone. In American factories the greater 

 part of the work is done by machinery, the 

 cost of the knife increasing with the amount 

 of hand work that enters into its manufacture. 

 The cheapest knives are made in a single piece. 

 Table knives used for cutting such soft sub- 

 stances as bread and meat are given a rougher, 

 thinner edge than the ordinary pocket knife. 

 Knives to be used on the dining table may 



be wholly of metal, in one piece, and plated 

 either with nickel or silver. B.M.W. 



KNIGHT. See CHIVALRY. 



KNIGHTHOOD, nite'hood, ORDERS OF, in the 

 modern sense of the term, are organized bodies 

 of men constituting honorary associations es- 

 tablished by a sovereign. In Great Britain 

 there are seven associations of this character; 

 these are the Orders of the Garter, the Thistle, 

 Saint Patrick, the Bath, Saint Michael and 

 Saint George, the Star of India and the In- 

 dian Empire. The title knight in Great Britain 

 is conferred as a mark of honor and as a re- 

 ward for personal merit or distinguished serv- 

 ice, and entitles the holder to prefix Sir to 

 his Christian name. Such knights may or may 

 not belong to an order of knighthood; those 

 who belong to no special order are properly 

 called knights bachelors. Among the conti- 

 nental orders of knighthood are the Golden 

 Fleece and Spain and Austria, the Seraphim of 

 Sweden, the Black Eagle of Prussia, Saint 

 Andrew of Russia and the Legion of Honor of 

 France. Each order has its appropriate insig- 

 nia, including usually a badge or jewel, a col- 

 lar, a ribbon of a certain color, and a star. 



In the Middle Ages there existed various 

 associations or fraternities possessing property 

 and rights of their own as independent bodies, 

 which were known as orders of knighthood. 

 Famous among these were the religious orders 

 founded during the Crusades the Templars, 

 Hospitalers and Teutonic Knights. 



Related Subjects. The reader is referred for 

 further information to the following articles in 

 these volumes: 



Bath, Knights of the Legion of Honor 



Chivalry Templars, Knights 



Crusades Teutonic Knights 



Garter, Order of the Thistle, Order of the 



KNIGHTS HOSPITALERS, nites hos'pital 

 erz, OF SAINT JOHN, called also KNIGHTS OP 

 SAINT JOHN OF JERUSALEM, and later KNIGHTS 

 OF MALTA, a religious military Order founded 

 in a monastery at Jerusalem in 1048. The 

 monastery was dedicated to Saint John the 

 Baptist, and the monks were called Brothers 

 of Saint John, or Hospitalers, for their early 

 work was limited to hospital service, in caring 

 for the poor and the ill and in assisting pil- 

 grims. During more than 500 years the Order 

 fought the Mohammedans, from its head- 

 quarters in Malta. When Napoleon captured 

 that island in 1798 the Knights turned to Rus- 

 sia and assisted that state against France. 

 England gained Malta in 1800, and from that 



