The Savannah morning news., 1900-07-21

came in 1882, when the rising tide of
Mahdism threatened to sweep from end 10
end of the Soudan. But 1t was suspected
that the false prophets successes were
being exaggerated, and young Kitchener
was deputed 20 make Investigations and
report. He dressed himself as an Arab
trader and entered Omdurman, taking his
life In his hand. He went among the
wild Kababish and treadherous pachas.
who, had they once penetra ted his dis
guise, would have shown him little mercy.
One day he witnessed an execution of
supposed spy in the town. The poor
wretch was subjected to such torture that
Kitchener procured tiny phial of cyanide
of potassium, which ne concealed about
his person. AS he subsequently remark
ed to a brother Office. Death at their
hands l did not fear; in fact, l expected
1t. But such a deathr'
For two years Kitchener lived under
such conditions, never knowing when he
might be brought face to face with vi
olent death, but all the while commune
eating TO the heads OF the Egyptian intel
ligence department information of the ut
most importance regarding the Mahdi and
his movements. SO strictly was his iden-
tity preserved that the British troops did
not know him, and a Tommy" on one oc-
casion flung a brickbat al the brave young
officer, whom he mistook for blooming
niger The blow inflicted a rather nasty
scalp wound, and had the additional re-
suit of creating a proverb: Throw Il stone
at a niger and you'll hit the Sirdar."
Now that the Roentgen rays are being
employed with satisfactory results in our
field hospitals, il is improbable that any
officer will have such an experiences as be-
fell Kitchener about this time. During a
skirmish near Suakin, Maj. Kitchener
Was hit in the side of the face by stray
bullet The missile made clean wound
which soon healed. but the bullet itself
| could not be found.
| In those days, of course the x-reys had
not been discovered, and the doctors had
not the aid of the wonderful apparat us
| in their search for the missing buHet
Eventually they came to the conclusion
that, unknown to the patient II had work
ed itself out and been lost member
OF the Medical Staff Corps, Sergt Billion
| was in attendance on the injured officer,
whom he one day induced to eat a beef
steak. In the midst of the meal Maj
Kitchener stopped suddenly. Billion" he
said, ''if there was no bone in that steak
I've swallowed that bullet" 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 in the guard tent Shortly
afterwerd they were Joined by a third
| The trio held an animated conversation
! for some minutes, and then, much to the
astonishment of the sentry, the latest ar
rival stepped forward and said in indis-
putable English: IAN right, sentry, I'm
| going to the General" The third prisoner
was Kitchener who by this daring russ.
| coupled with a perfect knowledge of ma
| tive languages, confirmed the suspicion
that the fellows were dangerous spies
| They were promptly shot.
Perhaps the most striking trait in Lord
! kitcheners character is his Discrimination
to put married man in a position of re-
| sponsibility under him. He appears to
hold the opinion that matrimony interferes
| with business. He backs up his precept
by example, for as 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 pre-
| sented to certain well-knoWn countess at
Cairo. and opened the conversation by
asking: DO you find Cairo nice at this
season of the year?" "Dellghtful. she
replied. There was pause of five min
utes, during which Kitchener tugged
thoughtfully at his mustache Then he
said "Ah, l am gladr Lord Kitchener
does not claim to be "a ladies' man"