Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-08-24
Afridis Get q Foothold in Khyber
Pass by Hard Fighting.
SHELLED BY BRITISH ARTILLERY
Latter Were Afraid to Follow Up
Their Advantage.
MORE FIGHTING EXPECTED

LONDON. August PAN official dispatch
today from Simla announces that Fort
Maude. in the Khyber pass. has been cap
tured by the Afridis after desperate fight
ing. The garrison, which was composed of
native levies, known as the Khyber Rifles,
reured with the loss of three men. The
A1rfd1s afterward burned the fort
The fate of Fort Ali-Musjid, which was
simultaneously attacked by the Afridis. is
not known.
Shelled by British Battery,
SlMLA, August 24.-The British officer
commanding at Jamrud moved a battery of
artiiiery. escorted by the 4th Dragons yes
teruay, TO the mouth of the Khyber pass
ana shelled the enemy at a range of 32Oc
yards. The Afridis retired: but the battery
returned to Jamrud. the officer in command
oeeming 1t inadvisable to enter the pass
General Ellos win begin a concerted
movement against the insurgent tribesmen
today.
Mohmunds' Vnndal Acts.
boMBAf, August 24.-The report that
"hen the Mohmunds attacked Fort Shah
hadr they burned all the sacred books of
the Sikh Temple there has excited the
greatest Indignation among the Sikhs
throughout the province and has greatly
lEcensed the Sikh troops on the frontier.
-A'~ CAaSuS 10 increasing at POOnah,
Prominent Chiefs Arrested.
Inc Bombay Gazette announces that
three of the principal chiefs of Beluchistan,
Sifdars Mehrattawhan, Ghomesbakhis and
1armahomed, were arrested on the ar
rival of the Mushkaf-Bolan mail train,
upon which they We're induced to go to
Quota, to meet an agent of the governor
general. the Earl of Elgin, who had arrived
there by special train shortly before
oirdar Gnomesbakhis is son-in-aw of
Slrdar Sir Arad Khan, one of the most
royal chlefs Of BeluchiStan. All three of
the sirdars who have been made prisoners
belong TO the Sarawan division of Beluch-
lstan. and are suspected of intriguing
against the government They are known
te nave been disaffected for some time past
Inc arrests have caused a great sensation
among the Mahomedans, and further i'm
portant developments are expected.
III Is admitted even in official circles that
the news from India is of the ;sravest de-
scripticn. All those who are familiar with
the situation attach the greatest import
ance to the rising of the warlil1e Afridis
who are estimated to muster 250s) fighting
men. The Afridis, however. only form a
part of the insurgents.
Sultan Back of the Trouble.
A letter from India, published in the
Standard, emphasizes the belief that the
sultan OF Turkey is at the back of the
whole uprising. The writer says: The
average Mohammedan, even in British In
dia, cannot distinguish between the Greeks
and the other European nationaIities.
10 MIN the Christians of Europe are all
enc people, and when he learns that the
sultan mas been at war with the Christians.
Wnom he has utterly defeated, he und er-
stands that this means an English defeat
ana exults accordingly
Inc a1ternoon newspapers today COM
r.ent severely upon what they term the
Marquis of Salisbury's bad diplomacy. The
81; James Gazette says: The moral of the
Wbole story Is that we. who have $1,000 np0
Aionammedans in our eastern empire have
CHOSEN TO present ourselves to all the world
as the chief enemy of the sultan, whom tie
great majority of men of that Greed look
lpon as their head in religious matters
II we had succeeded in inspiring real
terror, the harm done might have been
less, nut what fear can be felt for a mower
whlcn after ringing warnings is pulled I'D
short by orders from st. Pete-sburgr'
Scene of the Rising,
The scene of the rising has the Khyber
pass for its center. The plan of the British
commanders is to draw the Insurgents to
the vicinity of Jamrud which is strongly
fortified, close to the Indian mouth of
the pass, having Poshawur and Koha. for
bases, and where the British number about
11o00 men.
The policy of the Afridis is to tempt the
Brltish into the hills and spurs of the mass
Fort Maude is small stone fort cve-
looking the road four miles I'D the pass
from Jamrud. Fort Ali-Musjid is five and
half miles further up. There the mass is
forty feet wide.