The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1884-02-02 00:00:00

GENERAL GORDON IN EGYPT.

Writirg• on Friday night in lad week, the Cairo cor-
re ipondeLt of the Standard says :
After rising ry early this morning, General
Gordon called on the Khedive, by whom he was most
cordially received,. as also by Nubar Paoha. After.
wards, accompanied by Sir Evelyn Wood, Lieut.-
Colonel Stewart, and Major Watson, he paid a visit to
Evelyn Baring, with whom he discussed the whole
situation in the Soudan for several hours, the
conversation, which was only interrupted for lun-
cheon, lasting until six o'clock in the evening, Sir
Evelyn Wood, however, left about three to attend to
his duties elsewhere. _

These d3liberations were, of course, strictly private,
and absolutely nothing is known of the result, but
there is reason to believe that General Gordon is to be
Entrusted with a mission, half military, half diplomatic,
and without any very definite instructions such as
might hamper his initiative while on the spot. His
primary object will be to secure, in whatever way
possible, by negotiation or otherwise, the safety of
those inhabitants of the Soudan who remain loyal to
the Cairo Government.
Should it appear to General Gordon on his arrival
at Khartoum that the strength of the Mandi is exag-
gerated, and that there is a reasonable prospect of
holding the town by the openirg up either of the
Suakim-Berber or the Massowah•Kasala route, there
is little doubt that an effort will be made to carry out
what are known to be his personal feelings on the
subject.
General Gordon leaves Cairo to•morrow evening.
He goes by train to Assiout, where 3 a steamer will be
chartered which will take him as far as Wady Haifa,
at the second cataract. Thence he intends to strike
directly acmes the desert for Abu Hamad, following
the course of the river from this point to Khartoum.
This plan, however, may be modified by circum-
stances.

The extent to which confidence has been restored
amongst all classes, European and native, by General
Gordon's arrival is almost miraculous. An old Pachs,
named Tohami, wh_ rved under him in his previous
undertaking in the Soudan, predicts that, immediately
on the ex• Governor's arrival. the Madhi s hordes will
"melt away like dew," and the Pretender will be left
"like a small man standing alone, until forced to flee
back to his Island of Abbas." Making all allowance
for Oriental exaggerations one can only hope these
anticipations will be verified.
It is not only the enthusiastic and possibly interested
natives who are so impressed by the advent of General
Gordon. Sir LEvelyn Wood, speaking of him after
their meetiog today, expressed himself in the warmebt
terms, ending by saying that the General had only one
fault—that he was too good for his time, and should
have lived centuries ago; and compand him to the
Chevalier Bayard.

Although Generals Wood and Gordon have not met
since they served together in the Crimea, the mutual
recoznition, when Gordon appeared on the poop of the
Tapjore at Port Said, was instantaneous, and a warm
friendship had already sprung up between the two,
as, indeed, is the case with all whom General Gordon
comes in contact.

A PANTOMIME CHILDREN'S FEAST.
The Daily News of Saturday describes an enter.
tainment given the previous day at the Elephant and
Castle Theatre to the children who take part in the
pantomime there. We take the following from the
account :

The National Anthem—the last piece in the pro-
gremme—having been sung the signal was given for a
change of scene which was hailed by the numerous
party with unmistakable tokens of satisfaction. Sud-
denly parting midway in the fashion of the panto-
mimes when the time has come to reveal the fairy
glade or the abode of bliss, the double flat rolled
beck in its grooves and ezhibited a central table
presided over by a cheerful looking lady, with
other long tables to her right and left covered
in like manner with white cloths, upon all of which
the abundant supplies of refreshment stood ready
for consumption in the midst of towering tea
urns. We have been present at gatherings of
this sort, whereat it has been deemed advis-
able t) consign the boys and girls respectively
t 3 separate tables; but no such separation was
attempted yesterday. All in brief took their places
where they would; and it is only just to say that
although there was nothing like want of alacrity die-
played in the process, there was no disorder. While
the business ot pouring tea and distributing cake and
sandwiches was in progress we had leisure to observe
and talk with some of the little company, whose ages
at a guess ranged from four to twelve years. It was
easy to see from their attire that they were mostly
children of very poor parents, though all had been
made clean and neat for the occasion, As regards the
bore where white shirt fronts and collars were pre-
sumptively wanting, worsted comforters had been
artistically tucked into waistcoats to conceal deficien-
elm Knickerbockers and trousers of a cut strongly
indicattve of home manufacture were rather frequent,
and ample pinafores of white linen, or brown
holland, were particularly conspicuous. In the case
of the girls there were to be noticed some exceptional
efforts in the way of personal adornment in the shape
of pink and blue smiles, head ribbons, and double and
triple necklaces of imitation amber and pearl beads,
while one little rosy-faced maioen had been made the
object of the envy of her young companions by a con-
spicuons display of what, without any stretch of cour-
tesy, might be called art needlework upon the bodice
of a frock of white woollen material. It was grati-
lying to observe that, though pantomime perform-
ances while they last involve rather late hours, pale
faces were decidedly less frequent than ruddy
cheeks. To our enquiry of an intelligent little
boy, whose thick crop cf black hair seemed to
have defied the most industrious brushing, what he
played at night, we received the prompt answer,
"First a rat, and then a demon, ands waggoner, sir."
We further learnt that three or four minutes sufficed
for the necessary change of costume in effecting any
one of these complete metamorphoses. A fair-haired
little girl, encouraged to be communicative by this ex-
ample, volunteered the information that she was "a
glow-worm and a draper," the appearance of the
latter character being explained by the cir-
cumstance that the pantomime includes a pro-
cession of typical representatives of various trades.
A little fellow by her side was thereupon anxious
to let us know that his name was "William
Parker," and that though he is now ten he was only
four when he appeared one season as "the tiny
clown" in a pantomime at the Surrey. But by far
the most popular of the company, judging from the
good-natured attentions bestowed upon them by their
little companions, were a small couple who, it ap-
pears, figure in the pantomime as "Mr. and Mrs.
John Bull." From inquiries we gathered that in
most cases the parents ot the children are employed
at the theatre as gas men, lime-lieht men, scene-
shifters, or what not. Most of the children, we learnt,
attend the Board Schools in the neighbourhood, from
which they were absent on this occasion by special
permission.
The final ceremony of the gathering was the calling
of a muster-roll for the purpose of presenting each in
turn with a bright new shilling. It was in this pro-
cess that the manager was reminded that two little
Invited guests were absent on the mournful business
of following to the grave a dead sister, whose funeral
took place yesterday afternoon. Much satisfaction
was expressed when it wae announced that two bright
shillings were to be duly conveyed to the absentees,
together with a fair share of cake and pudding.
The ceremony was a brief one—extending over
scarcely two hours—and, as they were reminded in
the businesslike tones of the stage manager, at
" half-past six "—it being then just five—the whole
party were to return to this theatre in order to go
through their nightly duties. The bag of coin being
now emptied, the assembly was about to break up,
when some cautious person was struck with the idea
that, like most other quarters of the town, the neigh-
bourhood] of the "Elephant and Castle" is not
entirely frequented by honest fclk ; and that the bright
coins in the possession of the little people might
preys too great a temptation for some unscrupulous
prowlers thereabouts. In these circumstances it was
deemed well to exhort the little folk to keep the
money in their pockets, while one grown-up visitor
kindly volunteered to see them at least safely started
on their way home.