Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 06.djvu/91

This page needs to be proofread.
LEFT
65
RIGHT

MACKENZIE BIVER 65 McKINLEY put to flight after a brief skirmish in which several were killed. Mackenzie and others effected their escape and took possession of Navy Island in the Niagara river, where he established a provisional government. He was soon, however, com- pelled to break up his camp, and was afterward sentenced by the United States authorities to 12 months' imprisonment in Rochester, N. Y. On the proclamation of amnesty in 1849 he returned to Can- ada, and was a member of Parliament from 1850 till 1858. Reforms more radi- cal than those he contended for have since been granted. He died in Toronto, Aug. 28, 1861. MACKENZIE RIVER, in North Amer- ica, a stream having its origin, as the Athabasca, in a Rocky Mountain lake in British Columbia, flowing over 600 miles to Lake Athabasca, and 240 as the Slave river to Great Slave Lake, where it assumes the name of Mackenzie river, conveying the waters of the Great Slave Lake to the Arctic Ocean at Mackenzie Bay, after a final course of 1,045 miles, making a total river system of nearly 2,525 miles. It drains an area of little less than 600,000 square miles. The mouth of the river is closed from Octo- ber to June by ice. The Mackenzie dis- trict itself is desolate and unfit for colo- nization; but its great tributaries, the Laird and the Peace and Athabasca rivers, drain an immense fertile country, with abundance of petroleum (the fields have more than once been reported to be the largest in the world), and some coal and lignite. The Mackenzie received its name from Sir Alexander Mackenzie, by whom it was discovered and first navi- gated in 1789. Sir John Franklin de- scended it in 1825. MACKEREL, Scomber scomber (Linn.) , S. scombrus (Cuv.), the common Euro- pean mackerel. Snout pointing, under jaw projecting, gill covers large and smooth, pectoral and ventral fins in ad- vance of the dorsal ; five finlets above and below the tail, vertically over each other; tail crescent shaped. Above the lateral line the color is a fine green, varied with rich blue, and marked with broad, dark, descending lines, straight in the males, undulating in the females; under parts silvery with golden tints. The home of the common mackerel may be broadly described as the North At- lantic Ocean, south to Spain in Europe, and Cape Hatteras in America; it is common in the North Sea, and all round the British and Irish coasts. It is an extremely valuable food fish, and the mackerel fishery is only second in impor- tance to the herring and cod fisheries. McKIM, RANDOLPH HARRISON, clergyman and writer; born in 1842 in Baltimore, graduated from the Uni- versity of Virginia in 1861. He served with the Confederates in the Civil War, becoming deacon in 1864 and priest in 1866. He was assistant at Emmanuel Church, Baltimore, and later rector of Christ Church, Alexandria, Va. (1867- 1875), Holy Trinity Church, Harlem, New York City (1875-1886). In 1889 he became rector of Epiphany Church, Washington. His works include: "Vin- dication of Protestant Principles" (1879), "Future Punishment" (1883), "Present- Day Problems of Christian Thought" (1900), "Catholic Principles and the Change of Name" (1913), "The Soul of Lee" (1918). He died in 1920. McKINLEY, MOUNT, highest peak in North America, situated in central Alaska, about 150 miles N. of Cook Inlet. It is estimated to be about 20,500 feet in height. Its summit was first reached in 1912 by Belmore Browne and Prof. Her- schell C. Parker. McKINLEY, WILLIAM, an Ameri- can statesman, 24th President of the United States; born in Niles, O., Jan. 29, 1843. He was educated at the pub- lic schools, and at the Poland, O., Acad- emy. In May, 1861, he volunteered for the army, and entered the 23d Ohio Infantry as a private. He served four years, rising by merit and faithfulness to the captaincy of his company, and to the rank of major, when mustered out in 1865. He at once began the study of law; in 1867 was admitted to the bar, and commenced practice at Canton, O., where he afterward had his residence. In 1869 he was elected prosecuting at- torney for Stark county, where his suc- cess attracted local attention. Entering politics, he was elected to Congress in 1876, and was re-elected for six succes- sive terms. In 1882 his election was con- tested, and he was unseated, but tri- umphantly returned at the next election. His reputation in Congress rests chiefly on a tariff bill that bears his name. It was drawn by him as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, and passed by the 51st Congress. This bill and his able advocacy of it before the House dis- tinguished him as the leader of the Re- publican party on the tariff question. McKinley failed of re-election in his dis- trict in 1890, though largely reducing the adverse plurality created by a re- districting that changed the limits of the district. In 1891 he was elected governor of Ohio by a large plurality, and re- elected in 1893. By this time his name