The Irish standard., 1900-09-01
worsted, wounded, and all but de,

worsted, wounded, and all but de
graded.
He was said to be at the point O.
death, and so escaped reprimand; the1
i he swallowed the bullet in his throa
and suddenly recovered. Yet Hitch
eners fame will rest rather on deed.
that are non-militant. His forte i:
organization, the slow, patient prepar
alton of means to an end. His sery
ices have been invaluable in this re
spcct In South Africa as they We're il
the Soudan, and in neither case could
the great advance have been made but
for his marvellous handling of the 81
gantic supplies of transport by land
or river. In carrying out his program
he spared no one and utilized all.
We know now that his whole care
was to keep the effective men in good
spoke. and he undoubtedly neglected
the wounded and suffering who had
become unserviceable. That is the
man; his whole thought and every
effort are concentrated on the work
ahead and on the successful mainte
nance of the struggle. Those who had
dropped We're of no account, so he took
the ambulances at Bloemfontein to
carry food and warlike stores, and left
the sick unattended. He is a machine,
not a man, grinding out results with
mathematical precision and having no
care for the human flesh and blood
that may be caught up by the mex
orable wheels.
He has shown a strongly marked
bias toward friendly relations with
the native races he has been asso-
elated with. The influence he thereby
acquired was great and lasting. 1t
was so marked that Charles Gordon,
long years ago when Kitchener was
no more than a subaltern, named him
as the officer most fitted to succeed
him in the important post of Governor
General of the Soudan. Kitchener in
those early days was always perfectly
happy in the desert with the wander
ing Arabs. On one occasion, when
Lord Wolseley was moving up the
Nile, he rode over to see Kitchener,
who was detached to gain Informal
ton, and found him in an Arab en-
campment, quite at home in a filthy
tent, surrounded by still filthier
friends, and the whole party covered
with flies and sand and nastiness.
Il suppose you will be glad to get
away from this" said the chief.
Not ut all, sir. I'm quite happy
here. like it."
To rough it is no hardship to Kitch-
cner. In the great Sirdaria or palace
which was his headquarters in Cairo
he lived in The utmost simplicity.
There was plenty of fine furniture in
the reception rooms. but his own place
was bare and carpetless-a camp bed.
a single body-scrvant not always with
in call. The night that it was decided
all in Il hurry, TO march on Dongola,
the British general in Cairo and an.
other officer hurried off to warn Hitch.
cner. 1t was past midnight; the Sir
daria was dark and silent; no one an
swcred the bell. They broke in
through the window and after wan
dering through the empty rooms they
came at last upon Kitchener, sleeping
calmly, the only soul in the house.
There is not much that is domestic
about Kitchener; he has no laundering
for the chimney corner, the hearth and
home, the happy family gathering.
He is a confirmed bachelor. While
Sidar he disapproved entirely Of mar
riages among his officers, and the pen
atty of such weakness was an order
to resign. The natural inference that
Kitchener is misogynist would be
wrong, for he is fond of women's So
ciety and can make himself very agree
able when he pleases. We have the
highest authority for this, no other
than that of the Queen. After Kitch.
ener paid his first visit to Balmoral by
her majesty's command the queen
gave her opinion naiyely:
''They told me Lord Kitchener hated
women; can only say he was very
nice to me-" Yet he still prefers
single blessedness, and the gossip that
has given him to one great heiress
| after another has no foundation.