The San Francisco call., 1898-01-30

reached Khartoum by steamer but two days after the fall of the town, only to find that the place was in the hands of the Mahdists and that nothing could be done to remedy the fatal error made by the English Government.
 It is no wonder that the British peo- pie were indignant; a wave of warlike enthusiasm passed over the land, and no cry was heard but that of revenge ] for the untimely death of Chinese | Gordon. The manner of his life, its | austere virtue and strange military piety, had always placed Gordon on a ! different plane from other soldiers of the crown. The manner of his death, after holding to the last with unfiinch- 1 ing courage a famine stricken and be- leaguered town, raised him almost to the heights of martyrdom.
 At least that was the popular feeling of the day, and it is no wonder that the sentiment spread to the colonies beyond sea. Australia caught the con tagion pretty badly, and the Govern ment of the colony of New South Wales, to show in a practical manner it's loyalty to the crown, volunteered to dispatch at it's own expense a con- tingent to aid the British forces in wiping out the disgrace of Gordon's death.
 There was a good deal of humor in the proposal. for New South Wales, though owning a large and wealth producing territory, had but little over million inhabitants. Great Britain, with her huge Indian army to draw ! upon, had obviously no need for aid from such a Liliputian source. Still, for some unaccountable reason, the suggestion struck the fancy of the En- i glish Cabinet. Perhaps it was to give ] the world an object lesson as to the solidity of the British Empire; perhaps merely to gratify the vanity of a valu- able colony. But whatever the cause. the British Government accepted the offer
 No one was more surprised than the Colonials. Such a thing had never been heard of before It had become quite fashionable. whenever the Eng fish nation was engaged in a little war. for the colonies to offer a portion of their diminutive armies for service at the front. The thing did no harm and helped to advertise the colony. to keep the world aware of it's existence
 There was hurrying and scurrying and unbounded patriotic enthusiasm when the news reached Sydney The worst Russian scare which had ever afflicted the colony was nothing to it. New South Wales was pledged to dis patch within a fortnight a fully equipped regiment of five hundred in- fantry and two hundred and fifty field artillery, guns and all. To the credit of the colony, the promise was faith fully fulfilled.
 There was no difficulty about the ar tillery. permanent force of some five hundred men is always maintain ed to garrison the harbor defense bat teries which make Sydney one of the best protected ports in the world Al that was necessary was to call fol volunteers, and the whole force at once signified its willingness to go.
 With the infantry it was different There was no standing army to draw from, only couple of thousand par tially paid volunteers, or militia men And when 1t came to leaving theil homes and families for the desert wilds of the Soudan these men were not es. pecially anxious to go. Some three hundred or so volunteered, but o1 course new regiment had to be form. ed, and material was drawn from al quarters.
 There was no trouble in obtainine recruits, civilians of all classes were only too willing to join. Bank clerks and civil servants, old soldiers an6 sailors, policemen and wharf laborers men of every occupation and charac-