The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-02-14

the face Of writer and man Of talent
if not of genius.
After dinner he said IN one of the
pauses Of conversation: "If you go
TO Suakim, as you intend, you ought
to have a look at Kitchener. Cromer
thinks a lot Of him"
had not a great opinion OF Lord
Cromer. He was solid. sto.id sort
of jew this real name was Behring
or Behreng or Behrens), and, unlike
most Jews, he put on airs and had
given rein to a naturally bad temper.
Later he and his wife were known
in Cairene society as Lord Grump
and Lady Trump, but even at this
early day he was respected by the
mediocrities, feared by the weak, de-
spiscd by the able, and made up to"
by almost every one. on small or
routine matters his judgment was
sound; on large questions he was in
variably In the wrong. He would
measure tradesman excellently, but
underrate and mlssce genius to GER
tainty He never concealed his belief
that Gordon was a fanatic fool, and
he took Gladstone for willy, un-
scrupulous politician.
Praise by Cromer," said. sis DIS
praise to me-
Portal laughed You are very
frank. and / know what you mean.
yet I'd like to hear your opinion Of
Kitchener. I'm free to confess he
puzzles me. He's so silent, it's difficult
to gauge him; yet he never says a
good thing, nor ever does a foolish
one"
ole is probably the usual type of arr
riviste, as the French call the climb
ers.'" replied. There are two roads
to the top in the English service" /
went ON zone is marked 'servility'
and the other Silence Kitchener
seems to have chosen the one which
is most impossible for a man Of
genius. He will probably go far"
1t did not need much knowledge
of the man to realize that he was
bent on succeeding, or much provision
to guess that with Cromcrs support
Kitchener was pretty sure TO be given
the opportunity. 1t was imperatively
necessary for England to reconque,
the Sudan, and equally certain that
the man who did it would be more
than amply rewarded.
have since followed Kitchoner's
career as closely as possible, talked
with other men about him, men above
as well as below him, corrected my
opinion by theirs and by the judg-
mont of results. and have little to add
TO my first estimate. Kitchener has
even less ability than the ordinary
general who energies in time of peace.
When he d seCratcd the Mahdi's grave
in Egypt he was bitterly condemned by
Winston Churchill, tho only CORE
spondent on the spot who Ventured
to crtcise the Commander In Chief.
In talk, however, Winston Churchill
always assumed that Kitchener, though
10. by any means a great man was
at least IAN excellent organizer" and
even those who understood the reason
of Kitchener's feat by the Beers
at Paardeberg and who realized that
it proved his utter Incompetence as
general still praised his powers of or
ganZation.
Some Of the Australian correspond
entS in the war Judged him more corr
rectly. remember one Of them telling
me of the mountains" of timed meats
and provisions Of all kinds left rotting
III lllf sun II l'f .NAl JullAAlblls llt
always said that Kitchener ordered
three times as much of everything as
could be consumed and so never found
himself at a loss. Kitchener's talent
for organization has been as much
overpralsed as his other gifts. The able
organizer does not become famous for
waste and Kitchener's pet contractors
in the war became multimlllonaires
one fight, however, he did engage in
and win and il must not be left out OF
the account. When in India and nomi-
nally Of course, under the supervision
of the Niceroy Lord Curzon he quar-
relied with that amiable nonentity and
having chosen his ground carefully be-
forehand gave his nominal superior
bad fail and forced him to resign.
But no one even In London takes
George Curzon for an eagle.
Lord Kitchener Is now midway be-
tween 60 and 20, and a quarter of a
century of success, high position and
good living is enough to enfeeble al
most any fibre Only the born lead
ers like the late Lord Roberts, who
really treat war as an art and keep
themselves physically 1T by constant
ascetCism and hard exercise, are able
to prove themselves capable captains
when middle age is past and gone.
To explain how II comes that Kitch-
ener was selected for his present high
position would need a volume, and
volume which could not be published.
1t is enough to say here that Lord
Rosebery has always been a supporter
of Kitchener and Lord Esher too, and
Lord Esher has almost unlimited power
as a member of the Council Of De-
fence, and Lord Rosebery has always
exercised great influence in high
places.
Lord Kitchener, like the late Cecil
Rhodes, never married. As an ardent
admirer said: HE has never wasted
any of his time on women" OF late
years he prefers port wine.
His cynical denial of the interview
he granted to Mr.. Irwin Cobb should be
sufficient to convince impartial Ameri-
cans of his moral value. To any one
who really knows English ways and
English standards the denial was
ridiculous. when Mr., Irwin Cobb
entered the War Office in Lon
don his name as a visitor u
Lord Kitchener was entered in
n...t.. l.,,rth - Visit