Evening star., 1900-08-11
kITCHENER'S ADVENTURES.
Inc strong Man of the British Army
and His PeriIs in Egypt.

The Strong Man of the British Army
and His PeriIs in Egypt
From the London Mall.
| Ii is no eXaggeration Of public opinion TO
say that in Lord Kitchener rests much OF
the country's hope that a different COM
pIeNion will be speedily put On the state Of
affairs in South Africa. Recent events have
demonstrated that a strong man is wanted
I there. Lord Kitchener is a strong man A
great authority has pronounced him as
the most prominent man in the British
| army" He has certainly done much in re-
cent years. and done it all well. He is a liv-
ing contradiction Of the saying that a
| man who never makes a mistake never
| makes anything. Lord Kitchener has Vet
| much
Lord kitchener's career in Egypt was an
| unbroken succession of triumphs He had
some Of the most difficult problems TO
| tackle. and he overcame them all his
| crowning achievement being the smashing
up OF Mahdism at Omdurman Throur hout
| that campaign he proved himself a com
mander, an organizer and strategist of
| the hneSt quality. although 1t is none too
! often that combination of these Qualities
Is found in one man. Lord Salisbury has
described him as "a singular master of
! desert warfare
Cool. daring. resourceful and possessed OF
wonderful power Of self-restraint Lord
Kitchener is the very man for the position
he will fill in South Africa He is NOT the
soldiers idol that Lord Roberts. his great
! chief. is, because Kitchener never spar.s
| his men: nor for that matter does he spare
| himself Once project is afoot once a
goal is to be reached. Kitchener means TO
| get there. He does not consider the mere
| comfort of his men. Each unit he locks
upon as part of a vast machine. which must
not stop until he gives the order If any
| thing interferes with the smooth working
Of that machine IT must be removed imme-
diately He has been known to dispense
| with the services of men who for years
| have worked under him well and faith
| 1ully until some temporary indisposition has
| laid them low. They were no longer OF use,
so they had to 60.
1t is hardly to be wondered at that a
| man Of this hard. cold. calculating dispose
| ton is not loved and Tommy will never
make pet" of Lord Kitchener. But he
admires him and places implicit faith in
! his Judgment, and would follow him wher-
| ever he chose TO go. And what more would a
| commander have7
An authority who was with Kitchener in
| the Soudan wrote Of him: 1t appears TO ne
the sirdar's policy to advance deliberately
step by step. to make his position secure
after each step before venturing on an
| other. to run no unnecessary risks, but at
the right moment to strike hard with un-
| expected suddenness. and to follow up the
| blow with energy" Lord Kitchener is OBJ
riouSly the right man in the right place in
| South Africa.
Every soldier hopes for chance" and
! many hope in vain. Kitchener's chance
came IN lSSZ, Wnen the rising tide of NAH
dism threatened to sweep from end 10 end
! of the Soudan. But il was suspected that
! the false prophets successes We're being ex-
aggerated and young Kitchener was de-
puted to make Investigations and report
! He dressed himself an Arab trader and
! entered Omdurman, taking his lif. in his
! hand. He went among the wild kababish
ana treacherous pachas. who. had they
once penetrated his Disguise would have
shown him little mercy. one day he wit
messed an execution of a supposed spy in
/ hsa ton .-,1~
! TO such torture that Kitchener procured a
| tiny phial of cyanide of potassium. which
he concealed about his person. As he sub
! sequently remarked TO a brother officer
| Death at their hands l did not fear-ia
fact, 1 expected it. But such a deathp'
For two years Kitchener lived under such
| conditions, never knowing when he might
be brought face to face with a violenu
death, but all the while communicating
! to the heads Of the Egyptian intelligence
| department Information of the utmost i'm
portance regarding the Mahdi and his
| movements So strictly was his identity pre-
served that the British troops did not know
| him, and a Tommy on one occasion flung
brickbat at the brave young officer
whom he mistook for blooming niggcr"
The blow inflicted a rather nasty scaIp
wound, and had the additional result Of
creating a proverb. Throw a stone an a
niger and you'll hit the sirdar'
Now that the Roentgen rays are being /.
employed with satisfactory results in our
| field hospitals, it is improbable that any
OFFICER will have such experience as
befell Kitchener about this time During a
skirmish near Suakin Major Kitchener was
hit in the side of the face by a stray bull
let The missile made a clean wound, which
soon healed but the bullet itself could not
be found.
In those days. of course the rays had
not been discovered, and the doctors had
not the aid of the wonderful apparatus IN
their search for the missing bullet. Eventu-
ally they came to the conclusion that un-
known to the patient, II had worked itself
out and been lost A member Of the medical
| stan corps, Sergeant Billion. was in attend
ance on the injured officer whom he one
day induced to eat becfsteak. In the midst
of the meal Major Kitchener stopped sud
denly "Biton.' he said, IF there was no
bone in that steak, I've swallowed that bull
let" And so he had.
Adventures by the score happened to
Kitchener in the exciting role of detective
of spies On one occasion two suspected
Arabs were brought into the British camp
and confined I'm the guard tent. Shortly
afterward they were Joined by third. The
trio held an animated conversation for
some minutes, and then. much To the as
tonishment of the sentry. the latest arrival
/ stepped forward and said in indisputable
Eng .ish "All right, sentry: I'm going TO
the general" The third prisoner was Kitch-
ener who by this daring ruse coupled with
a perfect knowledge Of native languages,
confirmed the suspicion that the fellows
were dangerous spies. They were promptly
shot.
Perhaps the most striking trait in Lord
kitcheEer's character is his Discrimination
to put a married man in a position of re-
sponsbility under him. He appears to hold
the opinion that matrimony interferes with
business. He backs up his precept by ex-
ample. fer. everybody knows, Lord
Kitchener is a bachelor Like many a
notable parsonage before him. he does not
shine in the society of women. 1t is related
that on one occasion he was presented to a
certain well-known countess at Cairo and
opened the conversation by asking: DO
you find Cairo nice at this season Of the
year," Delightful" she replied There was
a pause OF five minutes, during which
Kitchener tugged thoughtfully at his mus
tache- Then he said: Ah. am glad," Lord
L mi La