The Bellefontaine Republican. [volume] (Bellefontaine, Logan County, Ohio) 1855-1905, 1900-06-15
A HERO OF THE SOUTH AT.
RlCAN WAR.
Lord Kitchener's Remarkable Career
that Reads Like Arabian Nights,
By Horace Barnell.

The man who, next to Lord Roberts,
is winning laurels for the British arms
In South Africa is fifty-one years of
age. He is an Irishman and halls from
County Kerry. There is an old prov
erb current in the West Of Ireland to
the effect that if Kerry cattle are small
Kerry men are big-big in stature, big
in muscle and big in brain and under
standing. Horace Herbert Kitchener
is no exception to this rule, for he
stands trife over six feet in his stock
ings, and a smarter or braver soldier
never drew breath.
Like the late General Gordon, Kitch-
ener is Royal Engineer officer; and
he made his first acquaintance with
the East in 1874, when he was dispatch
ed to Palestine in charge of . survey
ing expedition. Prior to this, how
ever, he had seen plenty of active SER
vice, having fought as volunteer in
the Franco German war.
In 1882 his change came. He was en-
gagged in a surveying expedition in the
neighborhood of the Dead Sea, when
news was brought by Arab runners Of
the total destruction of Hicks Pasha's
army of 10, 900 men by the forces Of the
Mahdi. The intelligence created the
widest excitement among the native
tribes, and the greatest CONSERVATION
in the minds Of the rulers Of Egypt. All
communication with the disaffected
districts was cut off; but . pretty clear
record of the advancing tide of NAH
dism was kept by the overwhelming
area of telegraphic silence, as station
after station fell into the hands of the
conquerors.
In this crisis it became absolutely
necessary that some one upon whom
the governments could rely should PEN
citrate to the Mahdi's camp, and dis
cover what were his plans, and the ex-
act means he possessed for carrying
them out. It was service of infinite
danger. Not death alone, but death
preceded by the most fiendish tortures
that Oriental cruelty could suggest,
was the certain fate of a detected spy.
''They will roast you alive or fog
you to death as they did So-and-so and
So-and-so," urged one of the officials
who knew of his intention; but Kitch-
ener pooh-poohed their warnings.
A few days later an Arab date-seller
set out from Korti. 1t was the young
Engineer officer, who thenceforth be-
came lost to civilization for the space
of some years.
| An account OF what he saw and suf
fered during that terrible time would
fill volume. Three times in one week
he was fred at by wandering bands Of
robbers, and over and over again he
was wounded. Only short tire back
while dining, Dervish Remington
bullet fell On his plate from the back o1
his throat, where it had long lain EN-
bedded.
At Omdurman he witnessed the exc.
cution of supposed spy by hogging.
The unfortunate man was whipped un
til the flesh hung in shreds from his
body, and his whole back from the
shoulders to the loins, was one vast
lgaping wound. Then he was taker
down; rock-salt, seasoned with a liberia
allowance Of the strong red pepper O
the country, was rubbed into his hurts
and, after being fastened face down
ward in the blazing sun, he was left t.
die. He fingered for nearly forty hours
in indescribable anguish.
That Sir II. Kitchener escaped sim
liar fate is due to his wide and intimate
acquaintance with Eastern habits ant
modes of life. Needless to say, HI
speaks Arabic like native, and is, il
addition, conversant with every ''bat'
Ii. e., local dialect spoken between
Cairo and Khartoum.
AS proof of this may be mentionet
an incident that occurred during Gen
eral Wolseley's advance up the Nile
One dark night two suspiciOus-loOkinl
characters were caught prowling roun'
the camp, and confined in the guar
tent. Half an hour later the patro
stumbled upon q third Arab stranger
who was quickly arrested and sent t
keep his compatriots company. N
sooner was the new arrival thrust in
side the tent than an animated dislogu
Ioo h
best part of an hour. At the end {
that time the flap of the tent-door wa
i quietly lifted and Kitchener stepped ou
81 am going to the Generals quarters,
It he explained to the astonished sentr!
|. "see that you keep sharp eye on thos
= two scoundrels in there. They al
Dervish spies" A short whispere
consultation, followed by few brit
directions, and the affair was settles
At daybreak next morning the tw
Arabs were marched out little wa
r. into the desert, forced to dig their ow
8 graves, and then shot.
l. The omnipresence and ubiquitousne
of General Kitchener has long been 6
ia article of faith among the English sc
diers in Egypt. ''Throw q stone at
niger, and you'll hit the Sirdar," tn
say. This proverb also dates ba'
IS from Wolseley's campaign. Kitchen
was working in disguise among t
fellaheen on the river bank when 81