The Washington herald., 1912-10-21
GOSSIP GATHERED IN Ss|
COUNTRIES ACROSS THE SEA

n a. =.
There can b no douht abeat ths pop
ularity Of Lord Roberts. hsre e xan1a-
hAr. s6sctioaatsiy known IN ths, British
army - NBoba" Who csisbrated his
sightisth birthday the othsr day. HIS
military dssds are famous and sinos bis
baptism OF nfs - lieutenant in the
Bengal artillery during tie Indian mutt
ny IN the. 'svs some sixty war tropAieA
with the Victoria Cross.
have been awarded him for: dssds Of sal-
lantv. He has bean through ssvsn cam
paisns. for which he wears twsnty-ous
medals and clasps. also . bronze star.
Perhaps he 10 prouder, however. Of the
fact that his second son fell In action
during the Boer war In desperate at
tempt to save ten guns At Colsnso. for
which gallant deed he was awarded the
Victoria Cross after death.
Lord Roberts himself got the Victoria
Cross December "a. 1865. for saving the
regimental standard. which had been
captured by Sepoys. The oflscial account
relates how Lieut. Roberts saw in the
distance two sepoys going away with
the standard. He put spurs to his horse
and overlook them just - they were
about to enter . village. They turned
and presented their muskets At him. and
one of the men pulled the trigger. But
fortunately the cap snapped. the stand
ard-bearer was cut down by the young
onicer, and the standard regatned.
And to-day. in spite OF his eighty
years, Lord Roberts put to shame youth
by his vtgor In the cause OF national de-
fense. The juvenility Of 'Bobs" u
something to marvel at and. a. one no
ticed at q recent rifle shooting meet.
ing. his erect and wiry figure. It was I'M
possible to believe that he was day
older than sixty.
Perhaps the most remarkable tribute
paid to Lord Roberts was that Of the
Kaiser. who. at the maneuvers Of the
German army, . year ago. entered into
friendly conversation with . group OF
foreign war correspondents during lull
in the operations. At length a represen-
the Kaiser who his favorite soldier was.
my favorite soldier, sir" he said. IL .
countryman Of your own-Lord Roberts.
Of Kandahar. He has much Of the sub
tlety and ability to see his opportunities
that distinguished the greatest military
geniuses OF tho past" There are not
many who will disagree with this impe-
rial expression.
Three years ago Lord and Lady Rob-
erts celebrated their golden wedding. II
was In ls6e that he married q soldiers
daughter, Miss Nora Henrietta Bews.
whose father was in the Seventy-thtrd
Foot Regiment. Lady Roberts - an ideal
soldiers wife. Undoubtedly the secret Of
Lord Roberts' popularity In the army
lies In the fact that he alwalk possessed
tho quality Of being able toS8ecure the
confidence OF the men under his COM
mand. When at the outset Of his work
in the Boer war the loss of an important
convoy at Waterfall meant that four
days supplies for his army had disap-
confidence and affection Of his troops.
was able to carry through his original
scheme.
After Waterfall. Lord Roberts sent for
Col Richardson. the head Of the British
Army Service Corps CommissAry, and
asked him II he could provide rations
for his men II he kept to his original
plan and moved them on At once. Rich
ardson replied IN tho negative. Can you
give them three-quarter rationsT' The
answer was still ''No.' Can you give
after a moments thought: mo. but !
can give them nearly half rationa" Lord
Roberts said: Il will go on. I think the
men will do It II ask them
And they did.
The present critical situation in the
Balkan lands recalls an interesting &C
count Of the character and personality
Of the late King Edward Of England.
and the part he took in the events fol-
lowing the assassination OF King Alex
ander and Queen Draga Of Servis in
1893.
II was in the summer Of 1906 and the
new King OF Servia. Peter, and his cabl-
net were straining every nerve to Sc
cure the re-establishment Of diplomatic
relations with Britain which had been
broken on after the double murder.
King Peter was on good terms with Rus
sia and as Queen Helena Of Italy Is
his sister-in-law. the italian and Rus
Slan dfnDdSSdOorS al lOuOOn were III
structed to. use their influence in the
matter. Both Of them apparently re-
ceived hint that the problem could be
solved by the King Of England only.
Count Beckendorn and Signor Pansa
therefor asked and were accorded an
audience and made their presentations
to King Edward. who replied:
Il regret very much that cannot COM
ply with your suggestions. The assassi-
nation OF King Alexander and Queen
Draga was SO terrible that 1t made a
deep impression on public opinion in
England. Public opinion has not yet
recovered from the shock. and would
certainly not approve Of the re-estab-
lishment Of diplomatic relations with
Servia. and you know well that I and
my government must take into account
the public opinion Of our country.
And besides this reason have another
80 to say. a personal reason. Mon
meter a moi est etre Roi, King Alex
ander was also, by his meter. "un
Roi." AZ you see. we belonged to the