The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1898-10-22
.DERVISHES AND
THE BRITISH.
(ocarrruED FROM FIRST PAoE.l

(ocHrfNuED FROM FIRST PAoE.l
IN every courtyard you see the misera-
Die emblems Of panic and massacre. Ride
tossed aside: soiled red, peak-toed, a slip
per dropped from the foot that burst not
stop to pick it up again; the broken
sticks and decayed cords OF new an-1
gareb that the butchers smashed because
+ WAS not worth taking away. And IN.
every courtyard you see great patches Of
black ashes spreading up the wall. Those
monuments are recent: they are the
places where, only days ago, they burned
tho bones OF the Jaalin. The dead scamela
ana donkeys lie there yet, across every
lane. dry, but still shrinking. A parrot
beaked, hairy tarantula scrambles across
the path, lizards tail slides deeper into
hole; that Is all the life OF Metemmeh.
Everything STEPPED in the shadeless sun,
everything dry and silent, silent. The
stiffness and the stencil merge together
ana soak into your soul, exuding rrom
every foot OF this melancholy graveyard
the cenotaph Of a whole tribe, fifteen
years Of the Soudan's history read in an
hour. Sun, squalor, stink and blood;
that is Mahdisn. Press your bride on
the dropping pony's neck, turn and ride
back to the river, the palms and the
lances. God send he does not run away"
Well, we know now he did not run
away; not, at least, till he had stood and
fought, and his army had been almost
! wiped out. ..-....
The Times correspondent also makes
some interesting remarks on the personnel
OF the sirdars force: "The Soudanese
have great dash, and are at once fiery,
anectionate, and childish. The Egyptian
| fellah, so long despised and now so good
| soldier, orderly, hard working. and I'M
complaining, Is capable of unlimited toll,
afhin0 he NN,,yrlr tn, hi
power of endurance. Once afraid as soon
| as dervish showed himself above the
horizon, he Is now confident in himself
and his officers proud and experienced,
| with firm belief that he Is as good
han as his once dreaded enemy Ther
| there are the British, careless Of health
and comfort, complaining and grooming
over small discomforts, yet keen to get
| forward to, greater hardships, bearing
sickness without word lest they should
miss the hardships and dangers it is their
| ambition to meet. Here Is force Of
which the sirdar should be very proud"
But, to he quite fair to the British
Tommy, though his incorrigible love of
grousing," as he calls it, i. e., grumbling
| Is proverbial, the correspondent mentions
| one or two of the minor evils with which
ne has to put up when campaigning under
! tropical sun:
| There is also criticism on the kit of
the British soldier. AS long as he is put
| into tight-ftting khakee jacket and
! trousers, with many straps and buckles,
| ne cannot be expected to march The two
! Highland regiments in their kits can
| march far more freely than the rest Of the
infantry. Experienced officers suggest
| loose, baggy knickerbockers, with kha-
kee CATERS. a loosely cut coat in the style
of the Norfolk jacket, with cases sewn on
! TO contain cartridges. In such a kit they
could march. The native infantry in In
Ola are dressed much on the above model,
and they laugh at the efforts Of the Brit
lsh soldier, in his tightly swathed legs,
struggling up a hill on the northwest
frontier. The khakee jackets are bad to
march In, and the men are liable to chills
In no way can they be compared for
comfort or efficiency with the gray serge
Jackets worn by the camel corps in the
Nile expedition of 1885. The whole matter
is complicated by questions Of economy,
and what the highest authorities would
recognize to be undoubtedly the better
klts have to give place to the less useful
on the ground of expense. The serge coat
IS expensive and so is a good helmet The
Drown wooden jersey Of the Egyptian
army is excellent serviceable and ALWAYS
smart IN spite of long marches and much
dust the only drawback to their kit being
thelr tight-ftt1ng trousers and putties.
were they to wear loose-ftting trousers
IKE the native infantry in India fewer
that they do their share of this on a. hard
day as we'll as the British soldier
Inc story OF the battle itself there is
no need to tell over again; it was one of
those battles that are won before the first
snot mas been fired; the only thing that
would nave robbed the sirdar of his VIC
tory was for the dervishes to avoid the
1gnt; once the fray had begun, science,
oacked up by courage. discipline and plen-
~ OF machine guns, was obliged to prove
TOO strong for the frenzied valor of the
derv1shes, despite their superior numbers.
But I will take just two incidents from
the account mailed to the Times nv Col
Rhodes. The first deals with the advance
or the dervishes upon the Anglo-Egyp-
tan camp:
One striking instance Of fanatical cour-
age was the advance of a large white
nag, "hlch was borne aloft we'll to the
front OF the advancing force It must
have changed hands many times. hut as
the standard-bearer fell another seized it
ana carried it forward in the same heroic
manner, until at last there was a small
stoup or SIX men, within 200 yards of
our line, bravely struggling until thew
al nlt the dust and the flag lay stretched
grew from the lips of that most charm
ing gentleman Count Calderari, Italian
military attache, the remark, what a
magn1ncent sight. but am sorry for
tnoSe brave men, -
Inc second is from an account of the
now famous charge of the Twentv.f,rst
Lancers In this charge every one seemed
70 nave acted the part Of a hero, but here
IS an episode that shows there were he
roes on either side: -
Inere is a story of a corporal stoppinr
IN the nullah to pick up wounded man.
Wnom ne put on his saddle, and It Is
said that the dervishes were so struck
WIN ms gallantry that they let the cor
= porals through. their ranks with hts h,,r.
Den without attempting to modest him"
one cannot do better than finish with
story: ..,,., ~. - - - 'S
Tits wonderful to think that tho whole
campaign-that is, all the military opera
IONS since 1896-has only cost f2, 600 600.
I'm Inis includes a yearly increase OF ESQ.,
OoO IN the Egyptian war budget and
t!,ooO'OOO spent on Soudan railways. For
this million there are 500 miles Of rail-
way to show. think one may say it is