The San Francisco call., 1905-08-09
Special Dispatch to The Cali.


LONDON. Aug. S.-Kaid Sir Harry
Maclean, chief military adviser to the
Sultan of Morocco, whose suit for di-
Vorce has furnished London with its
latest sensational scandal, is one of the
most picturesque characters that this
prosaic generation has furnished
Something less than thirty years ago
he was an inconspicuous Subaltern in "a
British regiment stationed at Gibraltar,
with small prospects of ever achieving
distinction, when his Sheridan Majesty
across the straits conceived the idea
that it would be a good thing to have
his army instructed in the art of war
by the infidel. He confined his ambi-
ton to the late Sir John Drummond
Hay, then British Minister at the Sui
tan's court, and as a result young Mac
lean was offered the post of musketry
instructor to the Moorish army Being
a Scotsman and therefore far-seeing he
jumped at the chance
He taught the Moors how to shoot.
but he did more than that--he gained
the confidence of his imperial master,
the King. of the Age, the Prince of
Believers, my Lord El Hassan," and d
few years found him standing next to
the throne itself. as its chief diplomatic
as well as military adviser. Without
changing his faith or ceasing TO be i
intents and purposes Moor He
roamed the wild country with the no
madic court and was often the only
link between Ell Hassan and the Min
listers of the powers who sat with
folded hands at Tangier. OF course his
influence with the Sultan excited much
jealousy and there were many who
watched his career with the green eyes
of envy. A military mission" from
M 10
disposal but all efforts to undermine
Kafd Maclean's influence and authority
proved futile. He accompanied the Sui
tan on many expeditions against re-
bellious tribes and was with him on
that last dread march from Marrakesh
TO Rabat when the Son of Mahomet"
a weary and broken old man, sue
cumbed TO the hardships of a forced
passage across the Atlas Mountains
against a people in revolt 1t was i'm
peratfve that the death of the Sultan
should be concealed until his favorite
son had been proclaimed his successor
lest some usurper should grab the
vacant throne. So, with Kaid MacIean
marching by the side of it, the body
was borne on state litter and the
sheikhs and khalifas paid homage to
the poor clay under it's trappings of
green and gold just as though it were
their royal master alive and powerful.
In secret the body was carried into
Rabat at dead of night through a hole
in the wall
The young Sultan came to the throne
with little knowledge of the world be-
yond the walls of his harem, but he had
sense enough to recognize that Kaid
Maclean was the strong and safe man on
whom he should lean for support AS the
power behind the throne the influence of
SCOfphn1an
In 1901 a knighthood was conferred upon
him for his assistance to British diplo-
macy in Morocco. The strenuous fighting
ife-hghting barbaric tribesmen fighting
the cholera scourge, fighting the wiles of
European diplomacy-has agreed well
with him. Though his beard and mus
tache are white and his hair frosted. at
81 he is still as hard as nails and far
more agile than most men at 40 A few
years ago on one of his visits to England
he bought for the young Sultan, who
takes a child-like delight in a new toy,
an up-to-date hanson. 1t was duly landed
at the coast, and then came the problem
of getting it across to Fez To the Moors
II seemed impossible. But the Kaid. who
had overcome so many difficulties. made
light of this one He mounted the box
cracked his whip and started off on a
drive of 12O miles across d country inno-
cent OF roads. And he reached Fez as
fresh as though he had merely taken a
spin up Piccadilly.
Many are the stories told of his Won.
derful powers of endurance. He has often
been in the saddle nineteen hours out of
the twenty-four. He has indomitabIe
pluck and perseverance. After he had
lost the sight of his right eye he made
himself a dead shot from the left
shoulder. and his one good eve has
proved better than any two ordinary op-
tics. He has not Jared badly at the hands
of the two Sultans whom he has served
so faithfully. He has magnificent resi-
dence in Morocco City and another fine
house at Fez. He invariably dresses when
at court in the picturesque native cos
tune, as shown in the accompanying
photograph plus cavalry riding boots. AS
a memento of the land of his ancestors
he keeps a fine set of. Scotch pipes, on
which he is no mean performer. The mu-
sic that he gets out of them is of a kind
that the natives appreciate much more
than that of modern instruments. 1t re-
sembles their own.
The one mistake of his career was his
marriage to the Spanish beauty. whose
intrigue with Lieutenant Mortimer, sew
eral years younger than herself, brought
the Kaid to London to seek a divorce
The Sultan told him he could show him
a trick worth two Of that, but, of course,
he refused TO adopt the Moorish method
of getting rid of an unfaithful spouse
and settling accounts with the GORE