Arizona republican., 1898-09-13


 would not recognize him as the Mahdi. l He extended his domains far north or the Egyptian Soudan to Nubia, and Egypt entirely lost for thirteen years all of the trade and revenue she de- rived from her southern provinces.
 f No wonder that Egypt rejoiced over the anticipated overthrow of the kha- ilifa who succeeded to the power of the Mahdi when that potentate died. All the traders were pleased, because they expected the old trade routes to be opened again. The merchants, the till- iers of the Nile valley and the Bedouins of the desert all hoped that vengeance would oyertake the tyrant Abdullah, under whose atrocious' rule the popula- tion of the. Soudan is believed to hav3 been reduced about one-half, immense regions being now uncultivated and de- serted. The thousands of Soudanese and Khartoum natives who took refuge in the north were. especially exultant. | The campaign undertaken under the leadership of General Sir Herbert IF Kitchener of the Egyptian army, with the support of Great Britain and A goodly contingent of her troops in ad- dition to the soldiers of Egypt, was un- dOubtedly inspired in part by the de- 1 termination to release the millions of the Egyptian Soudan from the Mahdlst yoke and restore this vast region to the world as a field of commercial enter prise. How far territorial aggrandizc- ment and the desire of Great Britain to still further tighten her hold upon Egypt may have secured the participa- | tion of that country remains to be seen. 1 Some of the newspapers make the mistake of saying that Khartoum has fallen. There is today no tShartoun. There are nothing but rubbish heaps to mark the site of the former flourish ing capital of the Egyptian Soudan. When the Mahdi captured the city and killed Gordon in 1885 he utterly de- stroyed it. He founded his capital, Omdurman, across the river from Khartoum, and ultimately nearly all the stone and brick that had made the walls of the Khartoum buildings were carried across the Nile and utilized in the many hundreds of buildings that course of time Omdurman became much larger and more populous than Khartoum ever was, though very few of it's structures were as solidly and we'll built as those of khartoum.
 1 l ! the white prisoners of the Khalifa as having been rescued among the twenty five or thirty unfortunate persons who fell into the Mahdis hands. This is i Charles Neufeld, German merchant, against whom the Khalifa seemed to have grudge, for he has always treat ed him with greater severity than al most any other prisoner in his hands. Father Ohrwalder wrote that Neufeld's name always appeared at the top of the list of prisoners which was pre- pared every month for the inspection of the Khalifa. He was kept in prison for longer time than any other Of the whites. At one time the KLalifa gave the order to hang Neufeld. He Twas taken to the market place escorted by hOrsemen, and the crowd raised a yell of delight when he appeared. Neu field was very cool ascended the gal lows with brave front and bent his head so that the rope migh. be ad tjqsted about his neck. At the last mo- nent the judge appeared and said that the Khalifa had been graciously pleased to spare the culprl~s life. Sc Neufeld was marched back to jail and loaded with chains. lie spent four years in prison and was then employed in the saltpetre works. The chain on his ankles became as bright as silver from constant friction, while there were. great black marks around h.s an kles. One of the gunbcats in Kitch- ener's service is named the Neufeld.
 It will be interesting to learn the fate of the other prisoners. The only ones who escaped from rhe living death the Khalifa imposed were Father Oarwal- der and two Catholic sisters, Father !ROssignOli and Slatin Pasha, who man aged to elude the vigilance of the Nah dists after years of captivity and reached Cairo in safety. All the pris- oners had to embrace the tenets of the Mahdi or they would not have been suffered to live. A number of the white aaptives wlo showed that they could make gunpowder or perform lother skilled service were employed by the Mahdi, aid later worked for his successor and were fairly well treated. Others led miserable lives as slaves. lOne white man, who escaped and was captured, suffered death by hanging. Some Of the white. women have long been harem inmates. Other prisoners selves, picking up a living as best they
 
 ticles of clothing and peddIed them On the streets, and have led a most un- happy and precarious existence.
 We are told that 5000 Dervisnes were lest in the battle by which Omdurnlan was captured. They undoubtedly fought with desperation to save their icapital and the Khalifa. Though for years past the people of the Egyptian Soudan would have welcomed any means of escape from the tyranny of tie Mahdis successor, he was a.,le to COW them with his soldiery, made up chiefly of the formidable savages of his town Baggera tribe. But though the Dervishes fought we'll against Kitca- ener at Ferket in the fall of 1896 ;nd doubtless defended Omdurman last week to the best of their ability, they have not in this last campaign been inspired with the overwhelming fanat- ,ical faith in the Mahdi wnicn gave strength to their weakness ill 1885 and 1,,,