The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1911-08-16
pr la MARouIsE die EoNrMNoN.


7 ORD kITCHENER'S appointment
as the English lord paramount in
- Egypt and the Soudan is destined
to mark the disappearance from the
land of the Nile OF of it's most
picturesque and interesting figures.
namely, the Austrian Baron Slatin.
Pasha, who holds the honorary rank of
major general in the English army, be-
slowed upon him by the late King Ed
ward. with whom he was great fav-
orite.
Popular rs Slatin is with every one.
In SO many quarters. he has never been
liked by Kitchener. and although tho
latter has at no time vouchsafed any
explanation of his sentiments with re-
gard to Slatin. yet he had never made
any concealment OF his dislike, which
is manifcstly tingcd with a certain
amount of contempt. Slatin was. at
the outbreak of the Mahdi rebellion,
Governor of the Darfur province of tho
Soudan. and was in that position when
Gordon was appointed by the English
government TO proceed 10 khartoum.
Gordon relied much on Stains hold
ing Darfur. But Slatin surrendered tho
capital OF the province and his entire
army TO the Mahdi in the early part
Of 1854. almost without fight. and
from that time forth. until eleven years
later. when he effected his escape to
Lower Egypt. was first with the
Mahdi and after his death With the
khalifa. at Khartoum.
General Gordon's Journals" even in
their edited condition. contain a num-
her of very derogatory references to
Slatin. showing that the hero of
Khartoum was filled with resentment
and contempt towards him. Perhaps
IL is this that has influenced Kitchener
Possibly. too. he has in mind the fact
that Slatin became a convert to the
Mahdist form of Islam, renouncing tho
Christian creed fact which did not
commend itself To Kitchener as worthy
of an officer holding a commission in
the reserve forces of the Austrian
army.
Then, too. there has always Seen n
certain amount of question as TO the
precise role played by Slatin, during
the eleven years that he spent at
khartoum. According TO some, and
by his own account, he was a misused,
maltreated captive. According TO
others. he was the honored and trusted
military adviser or the Mahdi and of
the Khalifa Possibly Kitchener, who
is the safe repository OF many i secret.
hoth official and personal. has some de-
finite information on the subject which
he employed him in the Intelligence
Department of his eXpeditionary force,
after his escape and in the opera lions
concluding with the battle OF Omdur
man, where according to some. kitch-
ener found definite proofs of the role
that had been played by the Pasha dur
ing the eleven years that he lived with
the dervishes
Since then Kitchener has had little or
no use for Slatin. and has shown his
distaste for the man in such fashion
as 10 render the continuance of Slatin
in the Egyptian service as Inspector
general of the Soudan u matter OF inn
possibility. In fact. kitchener's APP
pointment to Egypt has been followed
by Slatn's resignation and by the an
nouncement that he Is withdrawing
from Egypt, to spend the remainder OF
his days in Austria. the land OF his
birth.
Birmingham University. in bestow-
ing the honorary degree of doctor of
laws upon Right Hon. John Burns, NJ.
p, prcsidcn- of that great department
OF the government known as the Local
Government Board. at Whitehall. con-
ferred a distinction on a man who, de-
spite the fact that he formerly earned
his living rs q mechanic, and received
his education al the night schools
of the Battersea district of London,
was in every respect Intellectually
qualified therefor. Few people are
aware that he is perhaps the great
est authority in England on the sub
1ect of Nelasquez paintings, and OF
Spanish old masters generally. In his
younger days he was sent by an Eng
lish contracting firm to Madrid to do
CO, .,I,, t.