Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-01-03
Prisoners of the Mahdi Ever Since
Khartoum's Fall. Escape and
Tell Their Story.
FORTY EUROPEANS STILL THERE.
Unfortunates Cruelty Beaten, Eanacled
and Forced to Toll for Their
Subsistence.
THE MUSHROOM EMPIRE on THE wANE
Petty Quarrels Within and Fierce Foes Without Art
sspping Its Strength.

LONDON; Jan. 2.-Telegrams have been
received here from kongo which confirm
the statements made by Father Ohrwalder,
the priest of the Soudan Austrian Mission,
who was taken prisoner by the Mahdists
some nint years ago, but who recently es'
capped f76m Omdurman and made his way tc
Korosko.
FaTher Ohrwalder, who was accompanied
in hS flight bv Sisters Chincarindi and Ven
tugIni, said 40 Europeans are still in the
hahds of the Mahdists at Omdurman. He
added that they are loaded with manacles
And cruelty beaten. They are so closely
watched that they had lost all hope of es-
Gaping Among the prisoners are 10 Greeks,
8 Svrisns, Hebrews, ? Austrian mission
aries Slatin Bey and Herr Neufeld.
The last named prisoner was captured in
1886 at Selma. His imprudence was the
cause of the capture by Nejumni, of the
convoy Of arms and ammunition sent by
General Grenfell to Selah, the chief of the
friendly Kababish tribe. He is now en-
ployed in making saltpeter.
Captives Earn Their Own Living.
In telling of his mode of life while in
captivity, Father Ohrwalder said the Mahdi
granted no provision for the subsistence of
the eaptives, but allowed them sufficient
liberty to earn living as best they could.
Father Ohrwalder lived by tailoring and
weaving, and the sisters by baking and SELL
ing bread. The three refugees show the
traces of the suffering which thev have en-
dured during their nine years captivity,
ana thew state that the latest news which
they received from the civilized world was
in 1882 hv an Arabic newspaper, relating to
the bombardment of Alexandria
During the last IS months the fugitives
lived in mud huts, but previously their only
shelter was made with their own hands from
canes and Indian cornstalks. They say
Ehartoum is entirely destroyed except the
Austrian church and General Gordon's pal
ace, and vegetation is covering the sites of
the houses.
During two wears famine and smallpox
made fearful ravaces in the Soudan. Indian
corn rose to ten times its normal value, but
now food is plentiful and cheap. Darfur is
nearly deserted by the Dervishes, who have
a steamer at Fashoda. but they do not
venture bevond a short distance from the
Nile hank.
The Mahdi Empire on the wane.
A short time ago the Shilluks killed 800
Dervishes at that place, and consequently
achievements have been sent there from
Omdurman.
The khedive's visit to the Egyptian
frontier last winter has produced a favor
able impression among the Soudan tribes
The Dervishes still retain monopoly of
The trade in gum ivory and feathers which
they sell at large profits to merchants, who
send The goods to Suakim
To-dav's advices from the Kongo corrob-
crate Father Ohrwalder's report of the
waning power of the Dervishes in the south
western part of the Soudan. Frequent con-
fiictS have occurred between the Mahdists
and native chiefs, and the latter have often
been victorious.
Father Ohrwalder and the two sisters
travelled direct from Korosko to Cairo, and
the priest had said that the numerous
widows of the Mahdi are complaining that
the Ksalits Abdullah does not provide them
with maintenance befitting their station.
DissenSions are weakening the power of
Nahdism and the people generally, Father
Ohrwalder said, would welcome any change
bringing them relief from its tyranny.