The Portland daily press., 1899-11-30
CHAMPION PAGAN CIvILIzER
pir Claude McDonsid's I.ife-He Cen
Take Heather Land aud civiiize ~
oaicker Than Amy Other Man in the
Queen's Service.

queens SERVICE
q ondon Correspondence Of st. Louis
Glole Democrat.)
The British empire has intrus.sd IT.
Interests in the far East to a tall, thin.
red-bes6e1 500 lehman. He IL ceicribsd
as man so dignified that 1t is painful
TO he near him." He IL not q pleasant
rerlcn eithe. t. know or 10 talk with.
but he can tai e testhen colony and
civili:e 1t quicker than any one In TIE
queens service. II msy BIS interesting
to Americans to know how this man gcei
about making good citizens Of savagss.
Col. Sir Claude Mcdonald Is now
British emtassador to Chira. be was
promoted to tfai position tesausa In Az
rioa, he about fulfilled tie Ideals Of =
colonial gov nor. He war hssri from
last wi en- this Germans We g In kai-Chow
bay and the empress OF China was ac-
cutei OF trying to XIII OF the young en-
peror. HE report we1t out that this
lad was very siok and gradually dying.
Tie 6owagsr Is hostile to the English,
who tave championsd tie emperos's
cause. The reports continued TO grow
alarming until one day q note came to
tie dowa.et from the British entesss-
dor 1t said simply, iIime for the en-
peror to get better" and tho cables soon
announced bis recovery.
Sir Clsude's reputation hns preceded
him. Wherever English colonial gov er.
nors are spoken Of the mare Of McDora aid
has first plsce. And though his methods
are inois.ye and efieotual his name does
not inspire tie dislike or even terror that
docs the mention OF Sir Redvers Butler.
"Buller kills; just kills." the colonial
Engiishn an will tell you. Sir Claude Is
moss con siderate and even kind. But
woe to the person who trits to trick him
Last week an Australian surgeon re-
turned from Old Calatar and the Cana
rooms, on the gold coast, West Africa.
He had been a-sooiatsd there with Sir
Claude from the time of his first arrival,
and he says that ths preseucs Of one such
maa "a iyanoes Civilization In the African
tribes more than a SCORE Of missionaries
and many ma shine gans. His method is
to bring about results gradually aud let
the native develop himself. "You can
not transplant a civilization CT 90 CEN
turtles on q tribe of savages and expect
them TO breathe In It,. Is his contention.
At the same time Sir CIagde believes
in b eirg oteyed and In stringent meas
ures when they are required. One rrac-
tice of The west oeast Africans which he
thought should be abruptly stopped was
Vot. l..
days or whe u entertaining a guest it has
been tie custom along tho banks of the
Niger for chief to have several priso-
neis put TO death. In Central Africa
thrre Is still great deal of this done.
Mcdonald put stop to 1t on the gold
coast by one more. He had been away
taking = vacation to England, and ON
returning found a native uprising CAUSED
by several chiefs slauq entering some priso-
ners. There were IA guilty prisoners In
slI, and Sir Claude had them brought
before him early In the morning.
Ranging 10 In front OF him, he said:
snow you men have never been here
before. This is your trst oifense. 1t 10
Justice that you should te warned. Go
away and never come back"
'sYou two have teen here before. You
know the law. To tho chains
"But you two are incorrigi bio. There's
no gocd In you. l III going 10 hang you.
Sergeant take them away and hang
them. Orderly, Is my breakfast ready"
While Sir Claude's methods are SO in
cislve. Sir Claude is not deyo old Of genial
ity and kindness, and the natives were
actually fond of him II Africa. 1his
WIS true also OF his subordinate officers.
A party of them were living for a time
akk
the Niger, and Sir Claude came there TO
tnke dinner.
"By the way" he said when cham
pagne WIS brought on, II order ed some
fine Burgundy from an English firm to
be sent here. Did 1t ever arriysY"
he officers looked at one another in
confusion. and finally pluoked up cour-
age TO explain that the wine had arrivei
aud been consumed. "Ms did not know
to whom 1t belonged" they hastensd TO
say, ''ann thought II any one put in
claim we would mako 1t goo1."
."What good does that do me now!'
inquired Sir CLAUDE. with 9 suspicion of
temper, that may be excused when enc
can realize what 1t is to be deprived OF
such luxury in that fo-saken. torrid
spot "But," he added, "young men will
be young men; Steward, bring on that
last bottle Of champagne
At another time. to illustrate quality
in this English emil ire-builder. the wife
of an officer Unexpectedly arrived. The
quarters provided for hsr were very In
ierior, and Sir claude gav9 up his own
In order that this woman might be more
suitably accommodated. which 10 more of
concession than might be supposed for
pei son who commands in his particular
sphere the .espect OF king. IL shows
him thoughtful OF others.
While Sir Claude Is not a military
man, be possesses coolntss in time CT
danger that would make BIN q warrior
II his aspirations lay IN that direction.
He took command personally OF an expe-
dition up the Niger to qcell an uprising
once, travelling on a big tug boat armed
with rapii-iire guns. When 90 miles up
the river fearful fusillade Of bullets ana
arrows Came from The banks, and every
man on the boat suddenly discovered
that he had business below, excepting
Sir Claude. He stood leaning against "a
stanohion, smoking long cigar. and
when the storm burst nsvsr moved.
Casting his eye about, he noted where the
fire came from. and then gave orders 10