The Irish standard., 1898-10-22
IS An FRESHMAN LIKE WELLINt:TON.
WOLSELEY AND ROBERTS,.
A NATIVE OF The KINGDOM OF KERRY
CAREER OF MAJ.-
GEN. HORArIO II. KITCHENER.
HIS CONSPICUOUS COURAGE II BATTLE
A BOLD AND CHARACTERISTIC ACT
MADE HIS REPUTATION.

Like Wellington, Wolscley and Rob
crts, Maj.-Gcn. Horatio Herbert kitch-
| ener is an lrishman having been born III
| the "Kingdom of Kerry" some IL years
ago. He is tall, standing full six feet
| in his stocking feet, and dark skinned
which latter is but natural after 20 years
| of service in Africa. Finding his com
! mission in the royal engineers too peace
full he fought as a volunteer in the two
great European wars Of recent times
against the Prussians With Gen. Cham
zy's army of the Loire, and against the
| cZar's soldiers in the Balkans. under
Baker Pasha. But most of his service
has been in the East, where he first went
in charge Of Il party Of surveyors in Pal
cstinc. Here he began to acquire his re-
markable knowledge Of Oriental lam
guages and tribes, OF which many stor-
les are told. For example, at one OF his
armys camps on the Nile, two Arab
date sellers were arrested as suspected
spies, and confined i'll a guard tent.
Shortly afterward Il third Arab prisoner
was hastily bundled into the tent. An
animated jabbering ensued between the
three, and in a few minutes, much to the
astonishment of the sentry, the latest
arrival drew aside the doorway and
try, I'm going to the general 1t was
Kitchener. Again, only Il few minutes
passed when an orderly hurried up, and
a spade was handed to each of the two
Arabs, who were marched outside the
lines, dug their graves and We're shot.
Probably because he has thus been 4
wanderer on the face of the earth-;l
modern Ulysses, who has very literally
seen many men and known their minds
perhaps also because he has been a tor
ribly busy man from his early youth,
Sir Herbert has never married. In his
18th year he is still a bachelor. But
perhaps marriage will come in the near
future with all the other desirable things
that his grateful country is preparing
for him. 1t is stated in some quarters
that his honors for Omdurman will in
clude Il heavy money grant, in addition
to a pceragc.
Kitchener began his career by very
slow steps. taking II years to gain his
captaincy i'll the engineers. But directly
his chance came, his coolness and self
command his indomitabc energy, and
his miraculous capacity for hard work
marked him out as man of action. The
turning point in his career came when
Gen. Sir Evelyn Wood undertook the re-
organization of the Egyptian army. He
took service under Wood in 1882, and in
1885 his marvellous knowledge of the ma.
tive mind and language brought him to
the front. lie WAS sent ahead Of Sir
Garnet Wolselcy to deal with the native
chiefs and officials whose attitude was
uncertain. The following picturesque ac-
count Of him when engaged on this tick
lish mission was written by an enth,lsi-
astc admire OF the sirdar soon after the
victory of Atbara:
"Thc 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 dcrvish re-
bellion. 1t was a strange sight to see
this tall, slim, blue-cyed Irishman, armed
only with illmitable selfconftencc and
fearlessness, 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 Stewart and Con-
sui Power moi many miles further up the
| Nile.
"When persuasive reasoning failed, he
did not shrink from telling these people
| what their punishment would be when
the white cmir and his lcgions came
upon them, meaning Lord Wolsclcy with
the British battalions that were then toll
| ing slowly up tho cataract. These brave
words, in which there was no doubt a
touch of u1astfulness partlonablc 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 Iuailcd if looking at
| grim dcath-cycs that in such moments
glow so cnrionsly that the light in them
seems fixed as if suddenly frozen"
1t was Sir Herbert Kitchener who
! went ahead of Sir Herbert Stewards col
| umn with two native guides in the first
| dash for the wells of Gakoni. Near there
notorious robber leader, who had ac-
companied the Mahdists in their mcrci-
less raids, was surprised and chased by
| the 18th hussar scouts. He and his few
followers would probably have escaped if
Kitchener, who was well mounted, had
not over taken them. Alone, and far
ahead of the hussars, he closed with these