The Washington times., 1901-07-14
LONDON news And GOSSIP.
The Question of Kitchener's Sue
cess0r in South Africa.
Charges of Bocr Cruelty Being AGi-
tated &c influence Public Opinion
Wounded Britishers Well Cared
for - Topics of the Metropolis.

tated &c influence Public Opinion
Wounded Britishers Well Cared
for Topics of the Metropolis.
LONDON. July 13.-A new turn is like
ly % be given to affairs in South Africa
! General Kitchener is, according 10 an un-
contradcted public statement destined TO
the position of Commander-in-Chief in
India upon the vacation of that post on
April !, 1902 by Sir Power Palmer. The
! assertion in military circles that General
Kitchener expects to return to England
/ early in September fits in with this an
| noUncement, allowing for holiday. His
successor in South Africa Will, it is said,
be Lieutenant General the Hon. Neville
! Lyttelton. a brother Of Lord Gotham, and
himself distinguished in the Egyptian and
! Sudan campaigns. General Lyttelton is
/ now in London, and his movements sug-
gest that he is quietly selecting his staff
! preparatory to his return to the front in
| the chief command. This. at least, is the
| expectation in military quarters, where
~Tch matters often leak out. 1t would be
| pure conjecture to sug. est at this moment
what effect such change may have upon
| the British military policy and the con
| tinued resistance of the Beers.
On the surface il is rot easy to under
and in Parliament this week over the
ALE cations that the Beers shot wounded
British soldiers at Vlakfontein. General
Kitchener hastened at first to give the
lie to the correspondents who made these
allegations, but now admits the existence
of prima facie evidence of their truth.
This admission is being worked for all
and great deal more than it is worth.
and 1t is impossible to dismiss the sus-
picion that the aSita ton has for its chief
object a wish so to infiame public opinion
against the Beers that the Government
and especially General Kitchener, may
have no opportunity of weakening in the
determination to fight the war out to the
bitter end with the utmost rigor
Granted that the Boer forces include
few ruffians destitute of all humane feel
ings, may not the same be said of every
army in the field? Certainly it may be
of some of the combatants in the
Franco-German war Brutality is the in
evitable accompaniment of fierce hand-to-
hand conflicts everywhere Moreover,
against th>se isolated allegations must
in justice be set the fact which the
Times recalls. that by the general tes-
timony Of those who have seen the most
fighting, the conduct Of the Beers as a
rule has been irreproachaDIe in this re-
spect.
Captain seely. Conservative NJ. P.
who fought with he Imperial Yeomanry
in South Africa. publicly declares that
the relatives and friends of those now
fighting may rest assured that English
men left wounded in the field will receive
from the Beers no less care and kindness
than wounded Ijoers invariably have re-
ceived from the English and, despite the
shriekings of a section, a very small sec
ton, of the Ministerial press the great
body of Englishmen are not so foolish as
to forget that determination is impossi- |
bic. as il certainly would be absolutely
repugnant to them, for half Cape Colony |
is Dutch and half the population of the |
two conquered Republics are in British |
hands as prisoners and refugees. They |
must be restored at the end Of the war. |
and upon their industry and good will !
the life of the new colonies must largely |
depend. Indeed, considering all things, |
the extremists are most unlikely to sue |
ceed in forcing the Ministry TO take those |
short and ruthless cuts 10 the close of |
the war from which they hitherto have |
held back.
Londoners this week have learned to |
sympathize with New York, for the past |
few days have been the hottest OF the |
year, the thermometer registering 50 de- |
grees in the shade and ll3 degrees in the |
the shade. Cases of death from the heat |
have been Of daily occurrence. Swimming |
baths are oVercrowded. So greatly has |
the city man fallen away of late from |
the old-time TigOTs of the frOck coat and |
silk hat that the Lancet today seriously |
urges him henceforth to pursue his sol |
emn business In flippaEt light hannels and |
a broad straw wideawake- It also begs |
him to take to iced tea. coffee, and soup |
in place of his customary wine and |
whisky AT uncheons.
The British Museum has just bought the |
collection of Gaulish and Merovingian |
antiquities formed by NJ. Leon Morel OF |
RHEIMS. said 20 be one OF the most eX-
tensive and valuable Gallo-ROman col |
lections in existence the series of stone |
ana bronze prehistoric objects being un-
eQualed. The glass vessels are also very |
fine. Everything in the collection. from |
the Stone Age to the MerOvingian period, |
was found in France. II is intended To |
exhibit the collection as a whole.
London has seen this week the opening |
Of the first completed section of its new !
electric tram system, with which the |
metropolis soon will be girdled. Fifteen |
out Of a total of forty miles were opened |
this week, carrying passengers along tho |
UXbrdge Road. past Acton, Ealing, ana |
Hanwell to Southall. This is the result of |
a company enterprise at st. Heleu's. in |
Lancashire. The municipality there has |
shown what il can do. II has successfully |
run a municipal milk depot, and its re- |
port shows d noticeable reduction in the |
rate Of infant mortality in consequence
The York town council has now decided |
10 follow St HelenS example, and sever
al other corporations are considering a |
similar departure.
FUNERAL OF j. W. THOMPSON.