The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1900-01-07
z LITTLE

-. N0rAAND has called Sir Horatio
Kitchener and Lord Frederick
~ Sleigh Roberts to her aid in the
~ TransvaAl. Each In his own
fashion. says the Chicago Times
Herald. II remarkable man. Each has
econ more fighting, more bioodshed, more
fAcings Of death In combat than ever Sir
Garnet Joseph wolseley has dared to
dream Of. 1t II something more than OPP
portunity. which makes a man, The moth
ers milk which sustained him In infancy
must have had certain potential qualities
for him to be genuinely great IN after life.
Kitchener and Roberts both come from old
English stock, with fair mixture Of Irish.
Kitchener was born in ireland. while Rob-
erts was born In india of English parents.
They call the sirdnr "the man Of certain
ties" In India Roberts IL called ''Bobs
Bahadur." that 10. "Bobs," the hero or
champion. Kitchener 10 more than six feet
in height. q strupping big fellow with
phenomenal endurance and a will power
that knows no master. Roberts is small,
wiry, nervously energetic. more OF diplo-
mat than the other, but none the less
fighter. This IL the second time he has
been supreme In command In South Afri-
ca. When Gen. George Colley was killed
at Majuba hin in 1882 Roberts was ordered
out to succeed him. but saw no lighting.
commander-in-chief OF all the English
forces in South Africa. and Kitchener win
be his chief of stan What each has ac-
complished in the past for England falls
little short of the marvellous What each
yor both can do against the armies of the
Boer republics ID another question.
NJ Xxx
Tho English army II not free from those
nasty, internecine QuarrelB and jeaiousles
which have affected the American army
az well as the continental forces. There
exists in England what IL called the
'Wolseley gang" 1t takes its title from
the commander-in-chief of the army, who
has seen ft, It IL charged. to surround
himself with favorites who know more of
the politics Of England than they do OF
active service at the front. A part Of the
charges now current In England IL that
Lord Lansdowne, secretary OF war, Is and
has been puppet In the hands Of wolse-
ley and those who follow his star. For
this reason. say the critics. Roberts and
Kitchener, neither Of whom has even been
favorite OF Wolseley, were not sent to
South Africa when they should have been,
ana hence the British reverses This may
or may not be true, but the careers Of the
two men show that they know more about
practical campaigns than those who have
been leading the advance against the Boer
armies. Again, critical Englishmen arc
not inclined to forget that 1t was Woiseley
who led the expedition against Khartoum
and failed The result Of this failure was
the death of Gordon. January q. 1885. and
the triumph of the mahdi until Kitchener
overwhelmed him last year. The Wellesley
people say that Gen. Roberts, who has
been commander OF the forces In ireland.
is too old. He will be % next year, or
seven years older than Admiral Dewey
when the latter fought the battle of Manila
bay. Kitchener II 4S years old Roberts
won his great fame at Candahar. Kitch-
eher's glory rests upon his triumph at
Omdurman and Fashoda.
xX X
Gen. Roberts, in the event OF the death
OF Sir Garnet Wolseley, IL in direct line to
become the head Of the English army. He
Ii popular with the rank and fiie of the EN-
pire. the people who pay the taxes and fur
nish the fighting private. There was q time
In 1878 when the Afghan uprising appear
ed to threaten as seriously the Integrity OF
the British empire as the Transvaal war
does now. Roberts was in India, and in
the campaign against the Afghanistans
performed series OF feats which showed
him to be one OF the ablest commanders
and most brilliant soldiers in the service
OF his country. He commanded the column