Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-10-05

at was easy to see," said Gen. Colston,
who was found at the library OF the STR
geon Generals, where he is now in
charge, sit was easy to see that with
England taking the part in Egyptian
affairs that she proposed to take, there
might arise complications which would
make it unpleasant, and perhaps i'm
proper, taat representatives of other ma
tione should continue in the service there,
and the result was the resignation Of
nearly or quite all of the foreign officers
in the employ of the Khedive."
"What do you think of the situation
there now, GeneralW
''That is a pretty large question:" he
answered, with a smile, "the situation
is so complicated and the issues so grave.
1t is easy to tell what ought not to be
done, and what is impracticable, but not
so easy to say what ought to be done, or
what is the most practicable thing"
.''YOu are quite familiar with that coun-
try, GeneralW
Swell" he replied, with little touch of
satisfaction, "havlng spent some years in
it, travelled several thousand miles over it
by camels, encountered some of the diff
culties which the proposed rescuing party
must encounter in still greater force,
seen the people with whom they have to
deal, and learned their pecullarities, /
suppose l might be said to be tolerably
familiar with the situation"
"And do you think it possible for the
British Government to rescue Gordon,
| surrounded as he is at KhartOum with
| the hostile tribes of that desert country,
| to which the troops that will be sent are
| quite unaccustomedp
''TO British pluck and British gold
! almost anything is possible; though
whether it will be possible for any human
agency to reach him before the Mahdi
gains sufficient strength to capture him
nobody can tell. A force large enough to
rescue him, or even to protect itself, can
not make the trip from London to Khar-
tOum in 20 days, as Gordon did. He is a
man of wonderful energy, and made that
| trip in less time than ever it was made
before. Nobody but Chinese Gordon
could have accomplished it as he did. He
was in London, preparing to 60 to the
| Congo country for the Belgian Govern
ment, when he was asked one morning
by the British Government if he would 90
to KhartOum. He replied that he would
if he could get leave from the Belgian
Government. He telegraphed for per-
mission, received a favorable response,
accepted the British commission to Khar-
toum, and before night was on the way.
Nobody but Chinese Gordon would have
done that"
''Do you know him personality"
" cry We'll. A snort, 0OrlQ Sc0tchman,
with hair and beard pretty strongly mixed
with gray; peculiar in his manner, al
most to 'crankiness'; with an iron Scotch
determination and pluck, and thoroughly
familiar with the people and country
where he is. 1t was his former long SER
vice there that led the British Govern
ment to select him for this service when
the rebellion of Ell Mahdi made it neces-
sary to send their best man there. Cor
don was, you know, Governor General of
that province some years ago. He was
popular with the people there because he
rendered every man his due, but was I'M
popular with the government because by
this process he did nOtreturn to the Treas
ury as much as some who had preceded
him. 1t was because of this, however
knowing how popular his honesty had
made him with the people there-that he
was selected as the only man who could
prevent the Mahdi from gaining complete
control over them"