Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1914-11-18
LORD ROBERTS DIES
d WHILE At FRONT
Famous English Soldier Sue
CumbS to Pneumonia.
GEN. FRENCH WIRES NEWS
Field Marshal Was in France to VISIT
His Indian Forces on Battle Line
Warned Nation of War
With Germany.

London, Nov. 16.-Field Marshal
Earl Roberts is dead in France from
pneumonia.
A telegram from Field Marshal Sir
John French, commander of the Brit
ish expeditionary forces on the CONT
nent, appraised Earl Kitchener, secre-
tary of state for war, of the death of
England's great soldier. The telegram
read:
Il deeply regret to tell you that Lord
Roberts died at eight o'clock in the
evening"
The place where Britain's aged hero
died is not known definitely. 1t is sup
posed to have been somewhere along
the Belgian-French frontier, where the
British have been fighting for weeks.
Left to Visit Indian Troops.
Field Marshal Roberts, who was
colonelin-chief of the Indian troops,
had gone to France to give them his
greeting. Soon after his arrival he
became seriously ill. He suffered from
a severe chill on Thursday and pneu-
monia rapidly developed. His great
age - eighty-two years = initiated
against his recovery, the crisis in the
disease coming quickly.
The news of his death came as sur
prise to England. The veterans devo-
ton to the interests of the army, his
hard work in this connection and his
seeming good health had been the
subject of comment since the begin
ming of the war.
He was the most popular military
figure in Great Britain and national
hero without rival in the affections Of
the people.
Wanted Compulsory Service.
During the last five or six years,
when the German war cloud had been
growing, Lord Roberts prosecuted an
active campaign to persuade the ma
ton to adopt a compulsory military
service. In his last speech to parlia-
ment he warned the nation of the dan
ger of war with Germany.
Said Germans Waited Chance.
In private conversation he expressed
the conviction that Germany was plan
ming to make war on Great Britain
when it found an advantageous mo-
ment, and he believed that the sup
posed menace of civil war in Ireland
was factor in setting alight the pres
ent European confiagration.
Field Marshal Roberts worked day
and night for the welfare of the sol
diers from the outbreak of the war.
Breast a Blaze of Medals.
The brilliant record of achievement
OF Lord Roberts, England's greatest
and most popular soldier, was written
emblematically in the medals and hon
Ors which he wore in a perfect blaze
on his breast when he attended the
royal levees at st. James palace. He
wore them then because court ETH
quette so DEGREES. At other times he
dressed as simply and plainly as pos
sible.
There was the Victoria Cross, with
It's crimson ribbon, one of the earliest
of his distinctions, which he won for
an act of bravery when he was an
officer of the engineers, and many
others.
Frederick Sleigh Roberts was born
September 80, 1882, at Cawnpore, In
dia, while his father, Gen. Sir Abra-
ham Roberts, was conducting one of
the Indian campaigns. His father
owned an estate in Waterford, Ireland,
and his mother came from Tipperary.
He was very young when sent to Eng
land to be educated. There he was
graduated from Elton, Sandhurst and
Addiscombe.
He remained in England until 1852,
when he returned to India to begin
the foundations for the fighting career
that caused Kaiser Wilhelm, in Sep
TENDER, 1912, to refer to him as the
ablest soldier of the times"
1t was in Delhi that his career Of
glory began, perilous though it was,
and often all but cut short by the bull
lets, shells and sabers of the Sepoys.
Wherever the fighting was hottest
young Roberts was pretty sure to be
in great evidence. Wounds he recov-
cred from and fevers he defied.
Married a Captains Daughter.
He became a lover, and he courted
as he fought-resolutely, determined
ly, with no thought of defeat. On May
II, 1859, he married her-Kora Henri
eta Bews, the daughter of a captain.
She gave him two daughters and one
son. The latter was killed in the Boer
war.
Two years ago he retired to private
life, but when the European conflict
began his war spirit was reawakened
and he FASTENED TO the side of his
huge friend, Lord Kitchener.
Lord Roberts died possessed Of more
than $1,O00,000, thanks to his trust in
his friend, ]. ]. Hill, the American
railroad wizard. "Bobs," with no de-
sire for riches for himself, for he
would rather live in an army post than
in a palace, but with thought for his
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