The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-06-06

ance, never gay or merry, vet seldom
stern. and wholly ignorant of passion. 1
have known many great faces, but that
of Lord Roberts Is a face apart.
He dresses in serge khaki, which, plain
as that always must be, he renders the
more plain by Riding II of all orders and
decorations. There are men on his staff
who wear line and half OF ribbons But
the chief, who is entitled to perhaps four
lines, appears every day. fer every duty
and function, with a tunic as bare of
decorations as that of any civilian He is
quick and nervous in his movements and
his constant habit is TO thrust either one
or both hands under his belt. He is in
Simultaneous and direct in conversation
and goes as straight to the point in view
as a wtll-aimed bullet to a target.
A Modest Man.
THE field marshal works cautiously,
and to do so has to be free from inter-
ruption; therefore visitors meet him only
at lunch or dinner. In Bloemfontein,
where he was living between walls, his
table was small one standing few feet
from the head of the large, long table at
which sat his staff of distinguished men
of the aristocracy. You dined with 'Bobs'
In Khaki, of course, at his small table
If you were highly honored; or you may
dine with his staff and be presented to
him after the meal fer long or brief in
Lord Roberts never smokes tobacco,
and with drink he has little to do glass
of wine with two of the three meals suf-
ficeS for him. He breaches temperance
to his soldiers, and they all know that he
shows no patience with those who drink
to excess. He presides at meetings of the
Army Temperance Association and extols
sobriety, but. like all broad-minded men,
he refrains from advocating the mpossi-
ble-one form of which is total abstinence.
He has never been known to use an oath,
and, indeed, there must be comparatively
few men whose religion influences them
so deeply as does his in every affair of
life.
His Many Traits.
81 have asked many of his friends how
he can be both sorts of men at once
how he can possess traits which we inn
agine must war with one another.
He does possess them, that's ALL Is
the best answer that l got. I don't know
how, but he does
He is all things to all men, in the best
sense of the phrase said one who knows
him well. He has the royal gift of re-
Numbering everybody. the human quality
of fiawless tact the superior, almost SUI
perhuman gift of justice. Good men like
him because he is good; kindly men find
responsive chord in his nature; and those
who are stern feel that he, too is stern
upon occasion.
He has complimented Tommy on
his soldierliness in such a way as to win
the mans loyalty to the end and surren-
der OF his life and on the very same
day he has ordered home a general,
knowing that the order carried with IL
the disgrace of a man who meant as well
as himself, but had not the capacity TO
realize his ambition. His army will do
anything for 'him-march longer, starve
with
rum more days and weeks and die in
greater numbers for him than for any
other man alive.
Soldiers Idol.
''It was the so-called London pets'-the
Guards-who broke all European records
in q three-days' march into the Free
State. Instead of grumbling they made
II a matter for boasting Whenever other
privates would damn another leader, Rob-
erts' men would say simply 'Bobs knows
what es about; 'Bobs will do the Job
1t suffices the majority merely to sum up
Lord Roberts with this phrase. 'E is
man. He can make no mistake that his
army will recognize. Whatever he orders
or does Is regarded as the reflection of
superhuman inspiration.
when he visited Modder river he found
Lord Methuen established in the hotel
and that General had been at the pains
to clear out part of the building and
appoint 1t for the Field Marshars lodg-
fngs. But Lord Roberts, thanking him.
remarked that he had ordered his tent
20 be set on the veldt, and that there he
meant to stay. When his army is in mo-
ton, marching and fighting. he travels
with a covered wagon and tent, the first
being his house and the second his work
room. The wagon is light four-wheeled
contrivance, whose top is a roomy and
complete Enclosure and defense against
rain and cold wind. On the sideboard is
painted. Fl. M. Lord Roberts, so that we
may all know II when ID comes along"