The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1889-04-08
KING JOHN, OF ABYssMIA.
A Talk with q New York Journalist VIII
Knew Him Personally.

Knew Him Personally.
New York Sun.
Mr.. Alvam S. Southworth. at one time
secretary of the American Geographical
Society, and who was formerly In Abyssinia,
and an acquaintance and correspondent of
King John, reported slain in battle, said,
yesterday, to q Sun reporter:
."Yes, l knew King John, or, as he was
if the report of his death be true, it will
prove a great calamity to .Abysslnla. My
acquaintance began with him in 1872. He
was about thirty-two years old at that
time, having proclaimed himself King. on
the suicide of Theodore at Magdala, after
the defeat of his forces by the British nm
der Lord Napier. He set out to rule with
great pomp, going to the ancient city of
Axum to be crowned before an assemblage
of 5000, 600 people, who kept up the festiv-
three days, and the jewellers were wild
with fanatical enthusiasm. brought on by
this exceedingly seductive beverage, which
l have put to the test myself.
when he retired to Adowa, the capital
of Amhora, whose language is a classic
closely allied to it's Hebrew stem, he took
with him an English subaltern from Ma
piers command named Kirkham. He made
him a general, and put him in command of
his army, and Kirkham was the sole for
eigner he would trust. Kirkham was a
brave and venturesOme fellow, but very
ignorant and unpublished, and, in manner
III CdIIldSc. SO III luSiSu ICdu COIu-
pared with the A~byssinlan chiefs, who are
handsome, dignified, silent and serious men.
The King, however, stuck by irkham al
though he encountered much native hOstil-
isy.
HE began to drill the soldiery in Euro
pean fashion, and modern arms and artil-
lery were purchased in Europe. Every
thing was going on we'll, and there was
every prospect that the country, closed for
LOO years to the trade of the world, would
6a 0nny,aI 4 - ,nraa hr n vh4~ol wfn141
NAL like yohannez., But when / happened
to reach Massowah late in 1872, / found an
Egyptian expedition on hand to capture
the province of Bogos. l took prompt
was telegraphed over Europe, and the
Western powers took immediate and eff
fective measures to prevent the annex
alton of Christian soil by a Moslem state"
Christianss"
well, they are not all Christians. The
country, including the Walla Calais to the
south, has a population OF about 100000,
and two-thirds of these are Coptic Chris
tians, with their Patriarch at Cairo. The
rest are Mohammedans. and often dwell in
the same communities with the COpts,
with little or no friction. But the Moham-
medan element has been in Abyssinia less
to near the beginning of the Christian era.
But this Egyptian foray was followed by
others which actually proved menacing
enough. The MOhammedan troops, COM
manded by American officers, Inc among
them the late General Loring.. invaded the
country, but were put to lnglOrlOus flight,
with great loss Of life.
These attempts to subjugate and annex
Abyssinia maddened the king, who had
wished to open his country to the trade of
the world. In fact. knowing the friendly
act L had done to his country in causing
the seizure of BOgOs to be abandoned, he
c-->coI kLa< II ckD,1J l.vA ~ z--a &Lo
capital, and conduct the relations of Abys-
sinia with all foreign powers-in fact, be
his Prime Minister. For this service he
offered to pay me $4,000 a year in Austrian
tract of land to govern internally on which
should be situated a mountain and lake,
and other considerations equally pleasant.
/ told him that L was on my way to- London
from the Soudan, and would give the prop
o%sitiOn, my earnest thought: Meeting
General Kirkham (who could not even
write his name) a few months later in
London. he brought renewed and even
more liberal propositions, and he also had
letters to the various soverelgns OF Europe
and to President Grant from Johannez,
which i undertook to forward to their
proper destinations. Shortly after, with
the full approval of the King, and in asso-
citation with several wealthy and ~influen-
tial Engllshmen, at the head of whom was
| Admiral Sherard Osborne, l undertook to
organize an Abyssinian company, founded
upon the general outlines of the old East
| India Company and the Hudson Bay Com
pany. In the meantime the willy Kirkham
had interested a German trading syndicate
which has since tried feebly to carry out
| part of the idea without enterprise, nerve,
or cooperation of the King"
What became of Kirkhamf"
"He was shot and killed while trying to
cross through the Egyptian lines. and since
then the King has had no sincere and intel
| ligent adviser; for Kirkham, however III
tutOred, had showed common sense. The
consequence has been the Italian ~invasions,
the Mahdi operating from the direction o.
Khartoum, and civil wars with provinces
other than his own, have made him mar
row, arrogant and fanatical, exactly as the
Sun says.
You may say" continued Mr.. South
worth, that / do not credit the assumption
that John has been killed in any contest
with the actual followers of the Mahdi.
This seems to me like a geographical i'm
possibility, because of the long camel trail
between the B lue Nile and the Abyssinian
frontier, and the impossibihty of the Atbora
at this time of year. 1t is more probable
that he has been killed IN a conflict with
some rival state to Amhora. and that he has
fallen at the head of his troops. Whatever
may be said of him. one fact cannot be
denied, that he was the most obstinate,
notable and successful chieftain that has
fiourished on the African continent for a
generation, and one of the ideal Abyssinian
monarchs since the extinction of the old
Ethiopian empire"