The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1884-02-22
CHINESE GoRDoN's STICK.

CHINESE GORDoN'S STICK.
"A "Reminiscences orthe Campaign in
China by an Ola ~Artillerylnan.
From the New York Tribune.
although I actually served under
Chinese Gordon" said the captain OF q
National Line steamer to a Tribune
reader, "yet the truth is l never ex.
changed words with him but once, and
that was when ! went to him for a com.
mission in the imperial service. Thai
was in 1863 or 1864, | forget which. ]"
was chief officer on a vessel that came
into Shanghai, and l left her determined
to join Gordon. All the young fellows
at that time were crazy to join Gordon,
So l went to General Gamble at Shang
hal. He was in reality only a captain in
Her Majesty's forces, but was acting I'M
der Gordon rs Quartermaster Gen
eral. He gave me a chit, or letter OF
recommendation, to the great man, and
l went up the river in a sail-bo at. a ma.
tive craft, to Quin-San. where he had his
headquarters; had learned that ali
Europeans who had any knowledge OF
EN'ASA "ShO oPPolttSA liCuCCloiit.
with q pay. of $40 a month
to shy nothing of the chances OF
loot picking up things yon know, in a
C. captured town. When | got to Quln.San
| found where his place was. 1t was Il
large Chinese house, with II courtyard
round it. There was an orderly outside
ii door, who asked what | wanted. /
said that l wished to see General Cor
don. He went into the and COM
ing back, told me to go ir. The famous
man was in Il white shirt and white
trousers, and his red sash lay upon a bit
of carpet on the floor. He was at q desk
studying over a lsap. l stood in front
of the desk waiting. Presently he stood
up and fixed a pair of gray eyes full on
me, and said:
IAN appointment
"Where baye you been? What do
you know Are you acquainted with
gunnersT
II ,o!d him as briefly as possible,
sho eed him my credentials from the
P-oyal Naval Reserve, and my warrant
US a chief officer of the mercantile ma
rine. He nodded, and said: Very
good and then wrnte q note to the chief
officer commanding the Fifth Regiment,
tN;ng-pos' we used to call them. l went
! of about the town and anchored myself
for the night in a sort of military hotel.
- the piazza were a lot Of officers OF
Gordon's 90 some military, some
naval, aad Tiers WAS = w. Ia deal Of
chafins about the two arms at the ser,
vice. /. being n sailor, naturally SAD
with the sailors, and raid my say. l no.
ticed that the captain of
ONE OF oOHpoN7s euNDoATs
was attentive to ,Uy remarks. Present.
ly he asked me snne questions about
What I was going to de- and told him.
He mounted his pony and rode Off al a
hand-gailop. In half an hour he came
back a I'd handed me a commission. as
lieutenant of his gun boat, 'hs FREELY.
So went on board next morning, and
remained on her for five months, when
l left Gordon's force, and returned to
the commercial marine.
'And was that all you ever saw OF
Gordon?"
"Oh, no. But that was all I ever had
to say to him, or he to me. If / had
joined the Ming. pos, no doubt l should
have been bought often in contact with
him. I often san him at the head O ( his
expeditions to take s%tockades, and it was
queer to see him marching i'll front OF
Lis men. twirling i'll the fingers of his
right hand . ehort black stick. There
were queer yarns in the force about
that slick. IL was said to have extra.
ordinary powers. He has been known
to creep to the palisades of q stockade,
put n end Of the stick to his ear and
the other to the bottom of the poles.
He would listen intently, and Their he
would come back and detail a captain,
two lieutenants, and a hundred men to
be at a certain part of the stockade ats.a
4 rarlair h0nr "A snrpla IF p,,rp 3r,,r,
hv Chinese soldiers, but manned BY
European artillerists, lieutenants every
maj of them, would be of the Q pedi.
ton. He would suddenly announce to
them that the guns at that particu.
lar part had been Withdrawn to another
part ofthe stockade, and that if breach
were briskly mad ), it could be stormed
with little loss. As soon as the guns had
made a hole the infantry would 20 at it,
GORDON OF EVERYBODY.
as likely as not without his sword, but
with q revolver and his little black stick.
He was very humane, and was most
careful in taking precautions to lose us
few lives as possible. He seemed tc
everything to him. When one wns
killed, he always felt it and showed
that he did :"
WAS there anything particular about
the stlck?"
"Not that l know of. Shortly after we
took Soo-Chow, where he led his troops
as calamity as ever, with the stick twirl.
ng between his fingers, there was a ru.
NOR hat it was lost. There was a procla.
inatlon offering a large reward for it,und
it was re overed. Some men stole
it, probably, for the hope of
getting Il reward. re-
member there was q great deal of talk
abb ut it. Captain Curtis, who command
ed our boat, the FREELY. was an Amer
lean, and he thought it was hollow, and
loaded with some chemical arrangement
that made IL remit sounds with singular
delicacy. Others thought it was flied
with quicksilver, and others had still
stranger notions, But it had its effect,
and most of Gor,ton's officers had s,ort
black sticks. There was one Major
Ning-pos no had five gold rings on his
suck, which male it quite a fancy arti-
Gle. Pm sorry, Mr.. Tribune, that / can.
not tell you anything more about him,
but truth is the truth, and | have given
you q straight yarn"
The Mexican government has made a
contract with Oscar A. Droege to plant
2,an),000 trees in the valley of Mexico
W thi i four years. The contractor
pledges himself to so,eon, ash, $1,000
willows, l2n,taD p~oplars. G9.0O) eucalyp-
tus trees, 6n,0U0 r oenosjapones, $4,000