The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-07-27
LORD KITCHENER'S BIOGRAPHY
There Seems to Be Difficulty IN Getting Facts for It

Lord Kitchener cannot appear in the
.+raets of London without being sur
-o,,nded by a dense and enthusiastic
ou,d He is looked upon as one of
Eneland's greatest men. And yet there
annears to be but little known about
The facts of his life. Charles Mild
mar in the Philadelphia North Amer
team. on this point says:
Please remember that I myself lay
claim to no especial knowledge of Lord
kitchener. If l could get consistent
accounts of himself and his family, 1
sbonld be quite satisfied, whether they
we're true or not. But every new BIZ
ography of him that is published con-
+ains a lot of fresh facts. which are
unite inconsistent with previous ac-
counts.
For instance. on June "a. an evening
naper published an article on the great
general, stating that that day was his
birthday. There seems at first sight
nothing improbable in this statement.
But unfortunately, no man is allow
ed more than one birthday in the year,
and a little while before another paper
had said that he was born on June Is.
1850.
A Vague Uncertainty.
To decide the question you would
naturally refer to the standard books
of reference. who's Who" saws
vaguely that Lord Kitchener was born
in 1850, and some of the "peerages"
follow this example. Some, however.
mention June, and one July as the
month of his birth. Two or three years
ago the Sketch gave his birthday
as June Is, and soon afterward pub
lished an article supported by a con-
vincing wealth of detail. in which his
birthday was again June Is. 1t SEEM
ed, then, that the only fact of which
one could be sure was that he was
born in 1850. Yet. on Sept. II, 1898,
IN. A. P" said that Lord Kitchener
was born "forty-seven years ago."
To find out where he was born is
even more difficult. The "Bijou Biog-
raphy' and a number of other biogra-
plies tell us that he first saw the
light at Crotter House. County Ker-
ry The Sketch" refers to his bap-
tismal certificate and gives Gunsbor-
ough Villa, Ballybunion, as his birth
place. This statement recurs in many
other Lives" An Irish paper, which
spelling of an Irish name, speaks of
Crotta House. And a correspondent of
IN. A. p" who says that he was
born close to the Kitcheners' abode,
announces that Lord Kitchener was
not born at "Crotto" House, but at
another house about two miles away.
Finally an American paper is respon-
sibe for the statement that he was
born in barrack.
Father Had Left Army.
The reason given for his having been
born in Ireland is usually that his faith
er's regiment was stationed there. AS his
father is variouSly stated to have been
colonel of several different regiments
at that time, this method of account
ing for his presence in Ireland might
be hard to confute were it not for the
fact that Col. Kitchener had left the
army nearly three years before Lord
Kitchener was born. At least that is
what the official documents say. And,
according to another authority, there
is no place near Crotto House where
any regiment could have been station
ed. The Thirteenth Light Dragons, the
Twenty-ninth Regiment and the Ninth
Foot are some of the regiments of
which Col. Kitchener seems to have
been in command simultaneously.
AS 70 his nationality, newspaper
controversy has ragged long and acr!-
moniously. The Daily Chronicle, the
Pail Mall, IN. A. P" and many others
have asserted that he is an Irishman.
Admittedly he was born in Ireland,
but the truthful if uncomplimentary
reply has been made that a cow born
In a pig sly is not necessarily a pig.
Some have gone so far as to say that
his ancestors were Irish, but this hon.