The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-03-21
STORIES OF BRITISH VALOR
TOLD OF THE WARS OF THE IN
DIAN TRIBESMEN.
A British Hussar, Son of the Late
Lord Randolph Churchill, Is Au-
thor of the Latest Breezy Book.

! New YORK, March 3p.-ln tnlS city ana
London tomorrow a bright and breezy
book. "Ths Story of the Mainland Field
Force" from the pen of Lieutenant
Winston Spencer Churchill. of the Fourth
| British Hussars, will be placed before
thepublic by Messrs. Longmans. Green <
Co. Lieutenant Churchill is a grandson
/ of the late Leonard jerome, OF New
York. and is the son of the late Lord
/ Randolph Churchill. The book will doubt
/ less be welcomed by those who delight in
| reports, picturesquely made. OF deeds or
valOr and hard fighting generally under
\ the greatest difnculues. The young heu-
tenant has blended accurate details. nard
facts and figures. dates and names with
pretty pictures OF Indian warfare ana
I fine examples of herOiSm and endurance
both among friend and foe.
Some idea of the country in which the
/ fighting took place can be formed from
the following extract:
THE Himalayas are not a line but
great country OF mountains. Standing
on some lofty pass or commanding point
in Dir Swat or Bajaur range after range
is seen as the long surges of an Atlantic
swell. and in the distance some glittertnS
snowpeak suggests a white-crested roller,
higher than the rest. The drenching rains
which fall each year have washed the
soil from the sides of the hills until they
have become strangely grooved by num-
berleSS water courses, and the black
Drir1evaI rock is everywhere exposed The
silt and sediment has filed the valleys
which lie between, and made their surface
sandy. level and broad. AGAIN the ram
has cut wide, deep and constantly chang
ing channels through this soft deposit:
great cutters, which are sometimes 40
feet deep and two or three hundred yards
across. These are the .nullahs' Usually
the smaller ones are dry and the larger
occupied only by streams, but in the
season of the rains abundant water pours
! down all and in few hours the brook
has become an impossible torrent and
the river SWelled into a rolling flood
which caves the banks round which it
cxx-irIS and The channel dnnDer
by year
follows:
Except at the times of sowing and of
harvest a continual state of feud and
strife prevails throughout the land. Tribe
wars with tribe. The people of one valley
fight with those of the next. One village
attacks another. To the Guarrels of COM
munities are added the combats of IN
dividuals. Khan assails khan, each sup
ported by his retainers. Every tribes
man has a blood feud with his neiShbor
Every mans hand is against the other,
- eli against the stranger.
Nor are these struggles conducted with
the weapons which usually belong TO the
races of such development. To the fero-
city of the Zulu are added the craft of the
redskin and the craftsmanship or the
BOer. At a thousand yards the traveller
falls wounded by the well-aimed bullet
of a breech-lOading rifle. His assailant
approaching. cuts him in pieces. as he lies
bleeding, with the fury of a South Sea
islander. The weapons OF the 18th CEN
fury are in the hands of the savages of
The Malakand is then described at
length. the following extract giving some
idea of the scene of so much severe fight
THE Malakand is like a great cup of
which the rim is broken into numerous
clefts and jagged points. At the bottom
of this cup is the crater camD. The deep
est cleft is the Malakand pass. The high
est of the jagged points is Guides hill,
on a spur of which the fort stands. It
LnnvvIaflc~o "a thar
to defend such a place the rim of the
cup must be held. But In the Mainland
the bottom Of the cup is too small to con-.
tain the necessary garrison. The whole
position is therefore from the military
point Of view. bad and indefensible."
Touching upon the policy which brought
about the outbreak, Lieutenant Churchill
says:
'''Here. then. at once. the whole vast
question of frontier Golicy is raised We
hold the Malakand pass TO keep the Chit
raj road open We Keep the Chitral road
open because We have retained Chitral-
We retain Chitral i'll accordance with the
forward policy. / am thus confronted at
the very outset of this book. which was
intended to be devoted chiefly to the mar
ration of military events and small Incl
dents. with that wide political question
on which the keeneSt intellectS in England
are in doubt and the most valuable ex-
pert evidence in India is divided
y comprehensive review of the Chitral
campaign follows. and then comes the
story of the outbreak, which IS led up to
in this manner:
But q single class had viewed with
quck intelligence and intense hostility the
approach of the British power The priest
hood of the Afghan border instantly rec
Ognized the full meaning of the Chitral
road. The cause of their antagonism is
not hard to discern. Contact with civil-
cation assails the superstition and credu-
lily on which the wealth and influence Of
the mullah depends. y general combina-
ton of the religious forces of India
against that civiliZing. educating rule.
which unconsciOusly saps the strength of
superstition. is one of the dangers of the
future. Here MahOmmedanism was
threatened and resisted. i vast. but silent
agitation was begun. Messengers passed
war holy war. were breathed to a race
intensely passionate and fanatical. Vast
ana mysterious agencies the force OF
which is incomDrehensible 10 rational
minds. were employed. More aStute brains
than the wild valleys of the north produce
conducted the preparations. Secret en-
enlargement came from the sOuth-frOm
India itself. Actual support and assist
ance was given from Kabul-
AT length the time came. a strange
combination of circumstances operated to
improve the opportunity. The victory of
the Turks over the Greeks; the publica-
ton of the amir's book on JOhad:' his
assumption of the position of a caliph Of
Islam and much indiscreet writing in the
AnglO-Indian press united to produce a
boom in Mahommedanism-
OF the examples of herOism contained
in the book just published, the following
is taken haD-haZard:
Lieutenant Ford was dangerously
wounded in the shoulder The Euiiet cut
the artery and he was bleeding to death
when SurgeOn Lieutenant V. Hugo came
TO his aid The fire was too hot to allow
of lights being used. There was no cover
of any sort. 1t was at the bottom of the
cup. Nevertheless the surgeon struck a
match at the peril of his life and exam
ined the wound. The match went out
amid sDuJter of bullets. while kicking
up the dust all around. but by its uncer-
tain light he saw the nature of the in
jury. The officer had already tainted
from the loss of blood. The doctor seized
the artery and. as no other ligature was
forthcoming. he remained under the fire
for three hours holding mans life be-
tween his finger and thumb.
When at length it seemed the enemy
had broken into the camp. he picked I'D
the still unconscious officer in his arms
and. without relaxing mis- hold. bore him
to a place of safety. His arm was
many hours DaralyZed with cramp from
the effects of the eXertion of COMPRISING.
the artery. I think there are few. what
ever may be their views of interest. who
will not applaud this splendid act Of devO-
ton"
The book abounds in strong descriptions
of gallant fighting. pleasing 10 ALL young
or old. civilian or military men. But
space will not allow further lifting of the
veil.