The evening times., 1900-01-08
vICToRIA's PRIVATE MUsEUM.
Information About a LittIe-Knoyvn
Room at windsor

(From Tit-Bits.)
There is at Windsor Castle private mu-
scum which is Of very recent date and in
I the formation Of which Her Majesty has
I taken an immense amount Of interest Its
/ treasures are in many cases Of unidue
/ value, both from their associations and
/ their intrinsic worth.
/ In 1896 some wOrkmen engaged in tear
/ ing out set Of apartments that had long
remained unused and which were situated
/ IN the tower, came upon some old lumber
, as they imagined it TO be- in a passage
which was quite blocked up with it. On
| closer examination. however. the lumber
I turned out 10 be a collection of most In
/ teresting and valuable rei--s. whose very
existence mad been forgotten for genera
/ tions
Her Majesty took great interest in the
nnd, and. IN conjunction with the inspec-
tor, conceived the idea OF making a private
museum OF these and similar treasures in
the lower veSubule. an apartment near the
equerries' entrance on the ground floor.
II was just at this time that Sir Herbert
Kitchener. now Lord Kitchener. Of Khar-
tum. paid visit to Windsor on the concIu-
sion Of the DongOla expedition in 1897 He
brought with him several trophies Of the
campaign. which the Queen promptly or
dered to occupy the first case Of her new
museum These treasures consisted Of
Wad Bisharas red banner with its lin
rattle. which was captured at the battle Of
FlTket; also crusaders sword found in
his house. and with a Spanish motto in
German characters. which says DO not
sheathe me without honor In this case
too. the Queen has placed the Afghan tro-
phies presented to her by Lord Roberts ten
years previously.
The second contains several notable ar
ticles. chief of which is a fine Specimen of
executioner's ak. which has evidently seen
great service and which was given 70 the
Queen by Sir William COngTeve, who in
vented the war rocket.
The next case has a unique collection Of
beautiful feather clOaks formerly belong
ing to some chiefs Of the South Sea Is
lands. On a charming network are sewn
feathers so minute that they form a
smooth finished surface in black. yellow
and red colors Most of these are single
feathers of a very rare species OF parrot.
and each Of the magnificent clOaks has
been valued by experts at not less than
G10,G00. On further enquiry it was
found that they had been given by the
King of the Sandwich Islands. in 1924. 20
his majesty King George ".
In the fourth case are a great set of
Nepaulese knives and daggers used in
our Indian frontier campaigns BY the
GhOOrka and similar tribes The "Kolri -
or GhOOTka. fighting knife. which the na-
tive uses in preference to the sword or
bayonet. is we'll worth attention.
Case No. . displays the head and skin
of an enormous Indian lion around which
have been grouped the ancient Hanoverian
standards of the first three Georges: some
weapons Of the Zulus taken at ISandhlana.
some finely capaTisoned saddles Of war
horses and a "sampit. or blow tube used
to shoot poisoned darts by the natives of
Borneo.
The next collection is a very fine and
unique one being that Of a succession of
spurs of all shapes and sorts. from the
wars of the roses till today. With these
are placed six pieces Of plate which for
merly belonged to the Thirty-second Regf-
ment. They will at once strike the specta-
tors attention by their extraordinary
snaps, being twisted into most fantastic
This was due to the effects
Of a shot which struck the regimenta1 plate
chest during the siege Of Lucknow.
Case No may be said to represent war
weapons of various countries They are
old muskets and blunderbuses of the Prus-
slams. French. HanOvariOns Russians. P0r-
iuguese Spanish and English Also Afri-
can war hatchets and hammers. together
with bundles of spears and arrow heads
1f the North American Indians Then
here are the shields and weapons of Asiat-
c savages. as well as of such nations as
the Chinese and japanese.