The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1899-03-10

Structure Raced aud Prophets Body
Destroyed. ta

Act Jasttfled rs a Mcasare 10 Prrven,
the Place Becoming the Meecs oi
Fanatics by Revealing the Fact tina,
He was Only H~msn A0~s>sn. ------r
boston Transcript
The action taken by Lord Kitchener in
regarding the Mahdi's tomb and the strong
criticism to which u has been subjected
excite great interest. In many minds tn,
act appears quite justlna bio. 1t Is cum
tended that although at first slight one
might be apt to blnIne the sisdsr or hii
officers tor desscratlng the dead, In THU
instance there WAS no other course open.
The following ress ons are put forward;
Firstly, the tom had suffered 81 tevcrs-
ly from the boinbardmcnt thst the struc-
ture was unsafe In that condition,
Secondly. although tho Egyptians and
5 oudaasse trocps had not embraced Nah.
dis'n, there 10 no doubt that many had Z
seorst belief that, the Mahdi was not
buried within the Sdiak hut that he had
vanished INTO Paradise and u t4e&s tbnly
the fact Of exhuming the body And &C.
tually exhibiting 10 to the troops present
that convinced them that he was an ordi-
nary mortal and an impostor.
Thirdly. had the tomb been allowed 70
remain untouched there is no doubt II
would eventually have become second
Mecca. - for many years the khalIfa
preached this doctrine, and circqlated the
same far and wide. Even now he 10 en-
deavoring to imbue the. Inhabitants Of
Kordofan and district with the same idea,
hoping that they may still rally round
him. and another severe blow must yet BE-
dealt before the khalifs's power Is finally
and absolutely overthrown.
Lord Cromer quite conours in the
demolition Of the tomb for the reason .
assigned
A special correspondents .ot. the London
News has this 10 say on the subject: The
great white dome Of tho Mahdi's toni
rose from hard BY the spot whore be died,
conspicuous above the huge mud city Of
Omdurman. You could Gee 10 from every
house In the DeryiSh c.ptal, and for
twelve miles TO the north ~ you came
over the plan from Egypt. The tombs OF
all Mussulman saints are regarded Is holy
shrines at which pilGrims should pray but
an ordinary holyman Amongst popu..
lation Of half Arab, half negro blood. nf
half MOham msdan, half heathCn molina
tions, the Mahdig fonn gas something
more than holy shrine-it was also q
great fetish. It. IVES not 0nly . symbol OF
the peoples religious BELIEFS reminder
of the prophetic in1unctions 70 have no
peaceful dealings Wi4h unbelisxsss--of his
promises to those who died fighting In the
holy war-the war waeed against those
who would not acknowledge him-of his
prophecy that the white man should be
at some future time b routed And slaugh-
tered near Omdurman but also the Der
Wishes believed the tomb to :be IN iesslf !;
powerful charm. The tomb and bones OF
the Muhdi were to tho Defvishes the
greatest charm which they possessed.
They thought that this. their great fetish,
would do for them whatever the densest
superstition demanded Of It, and that, 90
long az 1t stood, the qnbelievers would
never triumph. it was the centre Of the
religious and military life of the city. II
stood IN the midst Of the great walled in
| closure, and around it we're quartsrrd the
devoted booyguard, Of the khalifs.
quippsd with all the rifles In Om-
durham. In the mosque, in front OF the
Aahdi's tomb, their military spirit. their
ardor and devotion were imbibed. 1t wae
the simplicity, Of the faith which appealed
to them; God, Mahomet. and the Mahdi
were their trinity. The khalifA preaching
from near the great fetish! where the
bones Of the prophet lay, seemed to them
the representative and spokesman Of al
three.
The khslifA's power over his people was
irrssisti ble-it was the power OF supersti-
tion which II. po's %s. Of the great sss
tenets Of Mahdism gave to them devotion
and valor on the battlefield at which the
whole civilized world stood amazed. which
is model Of bravery, to Europe. And
this devotion to their faith was indis-
solubly associated with the great fetish,
the tomb fof their prophet. Ny first
glimpse Of it was in the early hours OF
rising out Of the great brown stretch Of
mud novels which line the banks-of the
Nile for eight miles. In the plain be-
tween the "SignAl HIP and the city of
Omdurmau were then moving hither and
thithcr crowds of armed men, but 1t was
not till later in the morning, when the
howitzsr battery opened Dire from the
opposite bank ON the tomb itself. that
the whole male population rushed to arms
and formed up in battle array outside the
walls 1t was that which reused them
to frenzy-the firing upon their Holy Of
HOLES, the Dissertation of the great fetish.
1t was to them outside the beginning of
the abomination Of lcesolation; and 1t
was that which made them -hurl them
selves upon the zarsba with such reckless
ness.
When on the afternoon of the I'd en-.
tered tho enclosure Of tomb, the bodies
OF some i've or six OF the khalifa's body
guard lay in the gAteway-killed BY the
firing party which precei the sirtiar.
They had thrown away sheir lives at the
entrance to their holy place. When and
my colleagues were sent away from Om-
durham the shattered tomb etill stood.
The body stin lay in its grave. 1t was
not until we arrived IN Cairo that we
heard that the tomb had been subse-
quentiy demolished and the body thrown
into the Nils-the embalmed head being
presented to Major Gordon, X. X. tGen-
srsl Gordon nephew).
BY some the fact that the mahdis' tomb
possessed such curiously powerful In
fiusnce Nc the Dirvishes Tray te re.
garded as . reason why the sirdar should
have respected It more by others as
reason for Its destruction. European rules
R-1u Il