Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1898-10-27

service under Wood in 1882, and in
1885 his marvellous knowledge of the
native mind and language brought
MIN to the front. He was sent ahead
Of Sir Garnet Wolseley to deal with
the native chiefs and officials whose
atutude was uncertain. The following
picturesque account of him when en-
gagged on this ticklish mission was
written by an enthusiastic admirer OF
the sirdar soon after the victory of
Atbara:
The first time | saw Kitchener he
was alone and unarmed among the
semi-hostile Arabs, endeavoring to
persuade them that their interests
would be best served if they took part
with British and Egyptian forces
against the deryish rebellion 1t was
strange sight 10 see this tall, slim,
blue-eyed lrishman. armed only with
iliimitaDle self-confidence and fear
lessness, arguing with, and some
times threatening, the powerful chiefs
who, for aught he knew, might have
been sworn allies of the tribe that
had Just murdered Col. Donald Stew
art and Consul Power not many miles
farther up the Nile When per-
suasiye reasoning failed, ne did not
shrink from telling those people what
their punishment would be when the
white emir and his legions came upon
them, battalions that were then tolung
slowly up the Cataract. Those brave
words, in which there was no doubt
touch of boastfulness, pardonable in
the circumstances, frequently gave
rise to angry murmurs and sullen
looks, but they were met by the
glance Of eyes that would not have
quailed If looking at grim death
eyes that in such moments glow so
curiously that the light in them seems
fixed as if suddenly frozen"
II was Sir Herbert Kitchener who
went ahead of Sir Herbert Stewards
column with two native guides in the
first dash for the wells of Gakoni
Near there a notorious robber leader,
who had accompanied the mahdists in
their merciless raids, was surprised
and chastised by the 18th hussar
scouts. He and his few followers
would probably have escaped if Kitch-
ener, who was well mounted, had not
overtaken them. Alone, and far
ahead of the hussars, he closed with
these ferocious freebooters, and called
upon them TO surrender The cool
daring that had so often succeeded
told in this moment. Deceived by it
into the belief that they were sur
/ fTgIJf Az trbr pa
bold Englishman had at his command,
they parleyed, and were lost, for this
gave the hussars time to come up and
make prisoners of the band. 1t was
a bold and characteristic act, which
established kitchener's reputation
with British soldiers.
At the crisis Of the Dongola ex-
petition, when it became necessary to
seize a strategic point, so that sup
plies might accumulate there before
the Nile got too low for river tran
sports, tropical storms of violence pre-
viously unknown in these regions
, washed away sections OF the railway
on which these supplies were in a
great measure dependent. Follow
ing upon cholera and other sickness
in his corps, this fresh disaster
seemed overwhelming. But he stood
, up against 1t with characteristic for
titude In "a hours the distribution
of forces along the line Of communica-
tion was so arranged that battalions
could be set free for fatigue work on
ale railway. He went to inspect sew
eral points where great damage had
occurred, looked at ruined bridges and
broken entertainments with the eye of
an engineer, told the officers that
these things must be repaired in SO
many days, and then confident in the
effect Of that word must, went
away, leaving them to their own re-
sources, Though the task thus set
seemed in some Gases herculeen, it
was done, and trains were running
again on the renewed line on the very
day which he had named for the com
pleton Of the work.
Sir Herbert Kitchener's courage in
battle is as conspicuous as his faculty
for organization, whereby he has peen
able to conduct a great and eyentful
campaign at a cost which seems ride
ulously small BY comparison with
others. The sirdar is a strong man,
and his faults are the faults of
strength, He has, if anything. too
HJJie sympathy with or tolerance for
human weaknesses. Untiring himself,
he expects others to have the same
power of endurance, rising early and
going 70 bed late yet always about
and always ready for action He has
not, perhaps, made many firm friend
ships since his rapid rise to eminenee
began, but he has known how to keep
the old ones, and they are ready TO go
wherever he leads, as the history of
the Soudan for the past 10 years
should prove.