Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1883-03-16
STONE PASTA
Arrives in His Native Country After an
Absence Of Thirteen Years, and
Tells Story Of
Surprising Interest, and Which Bears
Witness to the Honorable Conduct
Of American Officers.

NEW YORK, March 15.-Gen. c. P. Stone,
(stone Pasha) late acknowledgement Of the
Egyptian army, arrived in this city Tues
day and has gone to Philadelphia. Inter
viewed recently, as 10 his work in Egypt, by
a Herald reporter, he said:
81 saw az once that the great necessity Tor
| the army, in order to make it good end cap
| able, and The great necessity for the NJ ass of
| the people who would have to furnish the
| material, was Instruction and education.
| large number Ell the officers could neither
| read nor write, but quite a number of The
| Junior officers, who had come from the mill
tary schools re-established by Ismail Pashs,
were fairly instructed. His highness, the
Khcdive, during reveral months m ade no de-
mands en- me as to what was necessary Tor
great improvements in the army, leaving me
full time to study the subject carefully. But
in the mouth Of August or Sep
| TENDER, 1870, he suddenly asked me:
'Genersl, what is the worst thing you
see 10 the Egyptian army? L told him
that the worst thing | saw was that 1t was
commanded entirely BY civilians. Al this
he was greatly sstonished. You say that?
Have / no generals or colonies or majors in
the reyimentsP / told. him yes; but at the
| same time alongside each captain there was
a civilian clerk who prepared all the papers
of the company, and alongside each chief Of
battalion there were one or two civilian
clerks who did for the battalion what the
company civilian clerk did for the company,
and thus the whole administration Of the
| regiments, the control OF the pay, the cloth
ing and the rations, were In the hands OF
civilians. He then asked me how 1t was In
America ! told him. 'Ah, then,' he said,
your non.commissioned officers and privates
can read and writer That, your highnes-,
wac exactly what L was trying to get at.
That is the great necessity for your army
EDUCATING THE EGYPTIANS.
"After thinking a moment, the Khedive
said: General, you are right and he sent
Immediately to the Minister of War and or
dered that thenceforth no man should be
promoted in the Egyptian army unless he
could read and write. Thus private soldier
| could not become a corporal, lieutenant
could not become captain, unless he could
at least read and write. Then l said: Your
highness, you make requirement, but your
highness must give the means for meeting
this requirement, and must be allowed to
| establish a school in every battalion OF your
| army This was Immediately done, and the
| effect of this can be very easily conceived.
The whole Egyptian army became immecl-
.
half each day outside of their regular duties
to education. So great was the effect Of this
that four years afterward seventy-six per cent.
of the whole Egyptian army could read and
write. This carried instruction throughout
the whole country in the class Of peasants, be-
cause the soldiers, finding The advantage OF
instruction, desired the same advantages for
their children. At The same time the
Khedive gave me carte blanche for the estab-
lishmeut OF good aft college. The eteues
of this school were CHOSEN from the best
scholars Of the best schools oil the country.
Advantages Of pay were given them, and 1t
is from this college that have come the ex-
cellent staff officers now found in the Egyp-
tan army. The staff college having been es-
tablished, and the artillery, infantry and
cavalry schools much improved, thea pro-
posed the establishment of non commits
stoned officers school, drawing sergeant
and corpoTl from each company. This
made 4 school OF 1900 non-commissioned
officers, forming Two model bsttalions. 1t
| had two great adv&utages-6tsi, it instructed
| non-commissioned officers in reading, writing
| and arithmetic, etc., and having well-se-
lected officers for these two battalions it uni
| fed the details OF drill; for these men re-
L turned to their companies and wers replaced
by others, and carried with it to all regi-
| nenis the same detail Of instruction and
L liz. L
| the Aforementioned officers brought their
| Young sons to the school to learn in the
] hours of their recreation what they them
selves were learning. / then proposed 10 his
highn.ss that, as they had themselves learned
the value of education, the time had come
for the establishment of a soldiers children's
school. He was very much delighted
with the idea, and ordered the immediate
erection of a school for soldiers children
in each division of mis- army. These schools
Established in 1879 were 30 successful that
in 1878, when the great insCcisl difficulties
fell upor the Khedive, there were $500 sons
of soldiers receiving good education in these
| schools, and some of them had reached the
higher branches of geometry and drawing
This echool was established not as charity
but expressly az The RIGHT OF soldier bear
ing arms for the Khedive to have his son
educated. Unfortunately for Egypt, which
was thus Introducing instruction to the lower
classes, the economies introduced by the
European administration of 1873 econeuaized
BY the destruction Of these schools. 1t hi;
slways seemed to me very unfortunate ioi
| Europesn prestige that at the moment THU
economy was made of $4,000 per anHum
which was the cost Of the Soldiers Children
School, the salaries paid TO the ministers
were raised in such proportions as to abort
nearly as much. The English Minister O.
Finance had his pay raised from 600 t
$50, 900 per annum, the French Minister d
| Public Works the same, while each of the
native ministers had $1,000 added to his an
nual pay.
AMERICAN OFFICERS.
81 have stated this very much at length,
continued Gen. Stone, "to show that my ids;
of raising the condition of Egypt was tina
it was to be done by commencing with th'
1 Of he I nd ar my
arrival in Egypt several American officer
already there, in different grades, from brig
adier-genersl 10 captain. These officers wer'
all placed in staff positions, where they coult
give instruction which should be largely
felt. Gen. Loring was placed in command
| of the troops on the coast, Gen. Sibley wa
made chief OF the artillery of the coast
Gen. Mott was fret inspector-generai Of cav
airy, and afterwsrd general abide camp t
the KhedIve, and the others were distributed
in the stats of the Two generals named, ans
, some in the stats of the generals OF tn
! country, while others were placed in the stat
bureau to direct operations in the War De
partment. They all rendered large services
As early as 1871 expeditions OF exploration
| and reconnaissance commanded by American
officers began to be sent into the interior o
| Africa in the immense prosecutions of the Khe
dive, in Nuoia and the Soudsn, and as fas
as the young officers came from the stat
| school some were attached 10 these eI
peditions, thus giving them practical il
! | struction in that part OF their duties, Will
others were attached to the stsff bureau l.
| the War Department and others 90 the staff
| of the general officers. The value of the ex
; | pedilions in the Soudan conducSd by III
| staff officers is in great part well known {
| he world. The work of such men as Purd
Cohesion, Long, Proui, Mason, Mocktal
Handy, Fsusy and many others has bee
we'll appreciated by the variou, geograpt
:. icsl societies of the world. In fac, in 1877
the KhediVe Ismail had a we'll appointe
army OF go, 900 men with large capacity {
reserve and excellent military schools {
provide good officers for the future. tn
Khediye IsmIil understood fully the vslu
of sound instruction and education in hi
army and in his country, ard he undel
: stood fully the enormous valus OF his gres
| possessions in the Soudan and the necessil
!, | existing for Egypt to maintain these possei
u | sious and 10 control The entire country bt
:, tween the great lskes snd the sea. l. is mo:
: unfortunate for Egypt that his efforts {
y instruct his army aud his peopi
were stayed by circumstances, an
! that his appreciation OF the importanC
y of the Scudan possessions has not bee
: continued by the European administration
c The Soudan possessions OF Egypt, in N
Z, opinion, bear much the same relation I
Lower Egypt that The great back country {
= the United States bears 10 New York an
New Orleans. The delta OF the Nile is c
about the same size as the delta of th
: Mississippi, and the upper regions Of th
Nile can easily he made 10 pour into thz
e delta as much of value as the upper region
of the Missouri pour into the delta Of th
i Mississippi. This the Khedive Ismail full
II understood, aud his movements in ID
y | Soudan were 40 yigoroua and 80 we'll directs