The Washington herald., 1914-09-27

apnears regularly before the Duma and
! explains in measured phrase, the details
OF the appropriations for which he asks.
There Is the greatest precision In the
care With which he prepares these ex-
plantations. For many years he has been
/ taught elocution by the best instructors
available, and there Is no small flaw In
the manner in which he delivers him
self Yet his thinking is as clear for he
! is never at a loss for a word when these
explanations must be extemporaneous.
| As head OF the Russian government.
a position for the employment OF the
greatest statesmanship, this bureau
crat who has known only finance, Is a
peculiar figure. There is no question
| of his ability as a financier. and, for
years he has been credited in Paris
/ and Brussels as a man of rare f1nan-
cial acumen. But statesmapship had
never been a part of his NE until he
was advanced to his present position.
There is none Of the spirit OF force
about him. He will dispute with no
! individual His methods are adrolt
and tend to circumvent rather than
overcome. Instead of opposing a lib
eraI Duma he advised the Gar to elect
one that was in sympathy with the
: government. Through the govern
/ mental oficial machine he succeeded
in doing this and allaying much OF the
friction with the representative branch
of the government.
Altogether a very capable, clever,
cautious. foresighted man Is this little
finsncier. but a strange and incon-
gruous figure at the head Of the gov
ernment Of vast, autocratic, military.
| force-loving Russia at the time Of
them all when its titanic armies are
being hurled headlong into the war
ring caldron of Europe.
Stories OF Kitchener.
When Lord Kitchener was appoint
ed war minister and reported to the
war office. so it is related. the first
individual he met was the porter.
is there a bed here?" he asked
mo. sir" said the porter.
Get one" said Kitchener.
This story is believed to be true by
those who know the great British
fighting man best. for it is about what
would be expected of him.
II was in the early days Of the Soudan
campaign when the British were anxious
to get at the things that were in the
minds OF the natives that Tommy
Atkins strolled along an embankment In
the Upper Nile country and looked dis
dainfully down upon a party of natives
working at a water mill below. With
the hatred of the British soldier for
these "niggers'' this recruit picked up
a stone and hove il malciously into the
group Of workmen- 1t hit tall man be-
hind the ear and he crumpled up un-
conscious. Yet the laborer turned out TO
be. not a native. but a blue-eyed Irish
man. He sits today in the war ONCE at
London and directs the military destiny
of Great Britain. At the time he was
struck by the stone thrown by Tommy
Atkins he was in disguise and endeavor-
ing to get at the secrets of the enemy
by thus associating with them on terms
OF intimacy.
For Kitchener is master Of many Ian
guages and dialects. The tongues of
the east Mediterranean and the Red Sea
are his speciality. He had his first les
sons in these languages when he fought
with the Turks against England's present
ally, Russia. in 1877. for at that time the
young Irishman had grown tired OF the
too peaceful conditions in England and
had gone aheld in search OF fighting.
The present war in France, in fact is
not his first experience there. As lad
OF twenty he Joined the French army in
1870 and fought under Gen. Chanzy In
the campaign Of the Loire.
Then. as a member of the British en-
gineers' corps he went to Palestine In
charge of a party OF engineers and there
spent much time. Thence he drifted into
the Egyptian service. Wherever he went
he learned the language Of the people
and the things that were in their hearts
Another story is told of his fondness
for disguise and the manner in which
he often used II. The campaign was being
rushed into the Soudan and there was
much trouble with the Arab tribesmen
Two date peddlers one day came into the
British camp and were suspected Of be-
ing spies They were arrested and con-
fined. under guard. in a tent. Presently
third Arab was brought to the tent
for safe keeping. No sooner had he en-
tered than the guard heard a grea'
amount Of jabberlng going on within
Presently the flap of the tent was thrown
back and one OF the Arabs stood forth
and said in the best of English:
Alright. sentry. will go to the gen
eral" 1t was young Kitchener in dis
guise.
Presently a squad returned with two
shovels. One OF these was given to each
Arab who was required to dig his OWL
grave and was then shot and tumbled
into it. Kitchener had found them to be
dangerous spies.
1t was in the campaign of the Soudar
in the eighties that Kitchener first at
, tracted much attention. He preceded tht
, Wolseley expedition as a sort of scou
? and negOtiatOr, his understanding O
= the native mind and languages beinl
vastly important. His first endeavor wa!
to get in touch with the native chief:
and induce them to take the side o.
t the British rather than that of thei
; dervish enemies. He talked long Will
these native chiefs. argued with them
Z told them Of the benefits of joining tht
: British of the inevitable results II they
opposed them. He reasoned with, cajoled
and threatened these wild trIbesmen, al
the time being in danger of being sieZeC
) and killed.
} He was one day far in the lead of his
column with two native guides in a dasf
into the deserts for the wells of Gukoni
4 band of a score OF Arab bandits dashed
past in the direction of the wells. Kitch
ener, believing they were being pursued
gave chase. Being mounted on a yer!
z swift horse he soon overlook the party
but found himself alone. as his guides
were not able to keep up. Nothing daunt
I'd the young scout rode into the partI
and demanded its surrender. Believing
that he had supporters near the tribes
men. he stopped for a parley. Kitch
rner drew out these deliberations unit
+, a column of Hussars arrived and tn
Mahdists surrendered.
: Kitchener was Chief-of-staf for Lor
Roberts in Pretoria and had a lot to d
with bringing the South African arm
INTO such shape as to finally overcom
, the elusive BOe-. He IS above all A work
er and detests the folderol of some o
. the society men in the service. youn
O. officer on the general staff quite recu