The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1900-02-11

WRITTEN FOR THE SUNDAY REPUBLIC.
Csman DiEHa captured.
How the bis blacks Of the Souian must
have rolled their white eyes when that news
came. The .ribesmen Ct the Sa.aran sands
ard the fenakeen OF the Egyptian fields have
never found q word IN Arabic great enough
TO 4. Osman pigna. They have called him
vartous.y All, AbIbekT, EDlir, keoer. de
was the last thorn in Engiand's side where
Egypt "a concerned. Lord hitcheners woTk
1t Omdurman remained incomplete because
osman Digna had been neither killed nor
captured.
Tho mans real name was George Sisbet,
H.s father. according TO the story no" T.
m.liar, had taken wife and son TO Egypt
when the latter was yet Il boy. The elder
Nisbet died. The widow married q rich man
Of AlexanGria-Osrnsn DisLa. The step
father gave the boy his name, his edIcd-
zion and his calling. Thus the new Osman
p.gna became q Mohammetan, a slave
trader and a Hannibal of tie desert
Slavery fl Egypt IS Eomiaally abolished
In reality. it nourishcs. When the old Os-
nan nirna died the new Osman Digrla set
tlsI In tho Berbereen country. here ne
hire,a a band OF lawlczs desert denizens. who
swept w and down the banks Of tho Nile,
cant1,rirE Young men and women. The cap
tvs were hurried down the Red Sea ana
col. Os1nan DigHa grew rich. His head
quarters were At Berhar and at khartouIn-
The whole Suakiu region yielded tribute to
h traffic.
Tho English occupation threatened him
vt.h ruin. The new authorities had Issued
an el.et against slavery. They closed tbs
ports Of the south 70 the peculiar Uorchan-
cise of Osman pigua- He was now a typical
Mohammedau of -. with a harem ana q
beard. Ruin stared him in the face. lie
3cined the AIahdi.
His Appearance I'm the War.
The NIahdi detected the greatness OF thu
new follower. He gave him letters 30 tho
village shei6s and to the officials q his bar
barian government. Oaman Digna, in 1883.
was comparatively unknown beyond the
desert. Within It's limits a motley popUla-
ton feared him. Ills first work was 10
organize Il following OF desert bandits
Their bond Of union was plumber. Within 4
few years he had become the leader OF the
revolving population Ct the Eastern Soudan-
With his horde Of the desert he appeared
before Sinkat- This was in Angus lss3. He
rashed upon the settlement at the head
OF his force, only to be beaten back with
a loss Of eighty men. His following and his
influence melted away. The mans satellites
had been taught to deem him invincible. He
was now a broken idol The English dis
missed him from their minds. His army be-
came one Of sevgnty-nye soldiers.
In this extremity he dealt the blow that
first gave the British their measure OF the
man. II 4 Gedle between Suaki and Sinkat
he lay all one October night with the few
who stiu believed in him. He knew that a
little detachment Of native troops under a
native commander must pass that way. lie
snjolned absolute silence upon his force.
They hid behind sand hills ana the bare
rock masses. Osman pisra threatened with
Death any man who moved before he gave
the word. When the enemy had involved
themselves IN the defle the slave dealers
signal came. Out rushed the men from
thetr concealment. The enemy were al
most anaihtlated. and all Of Osman Digna's
lost prestige returned 20 him.
Victory After Victory.
-Four more splendid victories over the
Government forces followed in quick sue
cession. The British found TO their amaze
nient that this outlawed slave trader was a
General. In six months he had made him
self master of the country round about HIS
army grew like a field OF wheat. lie drilled
and disciplined his desert horde as Hannibal
had drilled and disciplined the Carthaginian
mob.
The dilemma of the English was extreme.
They retrieved their almost fatal mistake Of