Evening star., 1898-10-15
FUNERAL OF GORDON
4 Martial Requiem Amid the Ruins
of Khartum.
Under THE FLAG OF HIS OWN PEOPLE
Fourteen Years After the Death Of
the Great Hero.
HE WAS NOT FORGOTTEN
UNDER THE FLAG OF HIS OWN PEOPLE
HE WAS NOT FORGOTTEN
G w S.c.rcns in Tho Inndon Mail.

C. W. Stevens in the London Mail.
The steamers - screws. paddles. stern
Observation-Disclosures their steady way
up the full Nile. Past the northern fringe
of Omdurman. where the sheikh came out
with the white hag, past the breach where
we went in TO the khaIifas stronghold.
past tn. choked embrasures and the Iacer-
ated mahGi's tomb past the swamp-rooted
palms Of Tut Island. We looked at it all
with a dispassionate. irnpersonal curiosity.
1t was Sunday morning. and that furious
Friday seemed already half lifetime be-
hind The volIeys had<dwindled out of
our ears. and the smoke out of our nostrils:
and today We were going to the funeral of
Gordon. After nearly fourteen years the
Christian soldier was to have Christian
burial
on the steamers there was a detachment
of every corps, white, or black, or yellow,
that had taken part in the vengeance.
Every white officer that could lie spared
1Tom duty was there. fifty men picked from
each British battalion, one or two from
each unit Of the Egyptian army That we
Were goIns uD To KhaTtum 1t all was evil
dence OF our triumph; yet II you looked
about you, triumph was not the note. The
most retkitS~ SuDaIt,rn, the most Darbar-
Gus black was touched with gravity Ne
were going 10 perform a necessary duty
which had been put off far, tar TOO long.
England Does Not Forget.
Fourteen years next January yet even
through that humiIiating thought there ran
a whisper OF triumph. We may be slow;
but in that very sEowness We show that we
do not forget. Soon or late. we give our
own their due. Here were men that fought
Tor G0rdon's life while he Observation-Disclosures
who went disguised and alone among fur
irus enemies to get news Of him: Nau-
Chupe. wfo poured ont his blood like water
at Tamai and Kir5ekan; Stuart WortIey.
Who missed iy but two days the chance Cf
dying at his side And mere. too were bcys
who could hardly lisp when their mothers
told them that Gordon was dead. grown
up now. and appearing in the fullness of
time to exact 10000 lives for one. Gordon
may die-other Gordons may die in the fu-
ture-but :he same clean-lmbed brood will
grow up and avenGe them
The boats stopped plugging and there was
silence We We're tying up opposite a grove
of tall palms; on the bank was a crowd of
natives Curiously like the backsheesh-hunt-
ers who gather to greet the Nile steamers.
They stared at us; hut looked beyond
them to a large building rising from a
Crumbling quay You could see that it had
once Oeen a handsome building Of the type
You know in Cairo or AieXandria-an stone
and stuCCO. twC-storied. faced with tall
regular windows. Now the upper story was
clean gone; the blind windows were filled
up with bricks: the stucco was all scars,
and you could walk up to the roof on rub
BILE In front was an acacia, such grow
in Ismailia on the Ghezireh at Cairo. only
unpruned-Geep luscious green, only droop-
ing Ike q weeping willow. AT that most
ordinary sight everybody grew very SOL
emn- For 1t was a piece of a new world,
or rather of an old world. utterly different
from the squald mud, the baking barren
ness Of Omdurmau. facade with tall
windows. a tree with green Ieaves-the IA
cade battered and blind. the tree dropping
to earth-there was no need to tell
were at q grave In that fOrlorn rum. and
that disconsolate acacia, the bones of mur-
dered civilization lay before US.
Where Gordon Fell.
The troops formed up before the palace
in three sides of rectangIe-Egyptians to
our left as We looked from the river, Brit
tsh to the right. The sirdar the generals
Of division and brigade. and the staff stood
in the open space facing the palace. Then,
on the roof-almost on the very spot where
Gordon fell. though the steps by which the
butchers mounted nave long since vanished
we We're aware Of two flagstaVes. BY the
rieht-hand halliarGs stood Lieutenant
StaEeley, r y, and Captain Watson h
r r, by the left hand Bimbashi Milford
and two other officers.
The sirGar raised has hand. y pull on the
lsIliardS. up ran. out flew the [ufan lack
IugEtug eagerly at his TeinS. dazzling gIu-
HJuSly in the sun, rejoicing in his strength
and his freedom. bang went the Me-
Hks 12i5-pouuder. and the boat quivered TO
her backbone God Save our Gracious
Queen hymued the guards baud-'bang,"
from the Meiik-and sirdar and private
stood Stifi-"b&ng. attention. every
hand at the helmet peak-"bang!'-i sa-
Lutte The Egy ptiaH flag had gone up at the
same instant. and now the same ear
SMASHING sogl-upHftine bangs marking
time. the band OF the llth SUdanese was
playing The khedivia! hymn. Three cheers
for the queen cried the Sirdar helmets
Ieap=G IN the air. and the melancholy ruins
woke - the first wholesome shout of all
these years Then the same for the khe-
dive. The cnmrade flags stretched them
selves Justify. enjoying their own again.
the bands peaied forth the pride Of cotIn-
try, the tWeuty-one guns banged forth the
strength of war. Thus, white men and
black. Christian and Moslem AngIo-Egypt
set her seal once more, for ever, on khar-
tum.
An Impressive Ceremony.
Before we had time to think such
thoughts over to ourselves the bands were
PLAYING the dead march in Saul Then
the black band was playing the march
from HaUGers "Scipio." which in England
generally goes with Toll for the Brave"
this was in memory of those loyal men
among tbe kheGtve.s subjects who could
have saved themselves by treachery, but
preferred 10 Gle with Gordon. Next fell
deeper hush than ever except for the
solemn minute guns that. had followed the
ilerce salute -Four chap.a-ns-C Catholic,
Anglican. Presbyterian AMI AIethud;sg-
came slowly forward and ranged them
selves. with their backs 10 The palace. Just
before the sirjar. The Presbyterian read
the 10Th Psalm. The Anglican led the
rust!iug whisper Of the Lords Prayer.
Sncw-hairvd Father BTinale. best beloved
OF priests iai5 his helmet at his feet and
read memorial prayer bare-he AIDED in the
Sun. Then came forward the pipsrs and
walled Ii-G,. and the Suianese played
"Abd= With Ne" Perhaps lips did twltch
JUst little 10 see fhe ebony heatnens fer
NeHtly blowing out Gordons fax rite nYmn:
hut the most irresistible inCJngruity would
hardly nave made Us laugh at,tBat mo-
meut- And Their. were thcsa who said the
cold siraar himself could hardly speak or
see. a. Gen. Hunter and the rest stepped
cut according to tier rank and shook his
hand WHAT wonder, II had trodden this
T"ad To- kharthm fer fourteen years, and
n stood at the goal at last.
In G"rdon's Garden.
Thus. with Maxim. NOrdenfcIdt and Rible
We buried Gordon after the manner of his
race The parade was over the troops
We're dismissed and for short space we