Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1916-07-23
ROGER BASEMENT
 OF OTHER DAYS
 WE'LL DESCRIBED

WEAtL DECCn1DGlI Correspondence of the Associated Press)
 London: July S.--The Roger Case ment of other days is described by one who for some time was his neigh bor in Africa. He writes:
 At the time of the Boer war, Sir Roger easement was consul for South West Africa and had his head quarters at San Paul de Loanda, the capital of Portuguese Angola. zAldong the few Englishmen there he was an outstanding figure and was known all up and down the coast. He was an ideal consul. He had strong and a charming personality. Tall, 1.-the, and upstanding, with magnetic eyes and pointed beard, full of tireless energy and generous enthusiasm, he was one of the Sir Richard Grenville type. Usually gentle and suave he was capable of rage. He would boil with indignation at the wrongs Of some poor Servical whose tale of misery and suffering under the cruel system of indcntured labor came to his attention. He fought for them and strove to relieve them WhOlS- heartedly. All the world knows of his later work in the Belgian Congo and in Brazil. Ills early work in West Africa is less known, but it was equally great perhaps greater, because it was done quietly and out of the limelight It was true pioneer work. Public opinion had not then been aroused. and the existence of this formI of slavery was to most peo- pie unknown.
 ''He had considerable experience of the West Coast of Africa. Before joining the colonial seEvice he was for some time purser on the Elder Dempster steamers. It was while en- ployed by the Niger coast protector ate that he climbed the CameroOns mountaiils-a feat which he celebrat- ed in an excellent sonnet written at the summit It appeared in the Spec tator' It is typical of the man that he chose this method of expression. A sordid soul would have described the adventure in prose and have made money.
 He gained much insight into the native labor problem of West Africa on these voyages. a knowledge which he put to- very good, use ill his con- sular work afterwards.
 Loved, tU Stroll .Alene. 's-y,l:;
 "Casement lived at Loanda In a small bungalow, his sole companion a large Irish sheepdog called Rags, and they were inseparable. The con- sul was quite unconventional. He would frequently go out for stroll at sunrise with an old shooting jacket over his jamas and Rags at his heels and return at sunset. tired out and happy, having fared through the day upon a few bananas. He was much addicted to these lonely wanderings and was known to all the country round. The native children especial in his capacious pockets lurked bis cults and small copper coins which were theirs for a grin.
 "An excellent companion. witty good -humored, and, virile. Easement was full of the joy of life. He had many eccentricities, but they were all harmless and many of them Iowa, ble He had many pensioners. Nc beggar appealed to him in vain. His influence was always for good. He was keen athlete, strong swim, mer, and a good cricketer He was widely and we'll read, an artist ant poet of no mean order At tha time much of his leisure was devoted to compiling book of simple rhymes and delightful sketches for some chil dren in Ireland and it was a rare privilege to watch this grow under his hand.
 Easement was home ruler be cause he was an Irishman, and upoI this subject he was fiercely eloquent His usually soft voice would grov strong and deep and his eyes would flash on the rare occasions whel he allowed himself to be drawn int a discussion upon the subject of hi beloved Ireland
 Tt. has. been stated that he ha, pro-Boer sympathies at that time This is the reverse of the truth. NJ people who tolerated Oppression il their dealings with native races ha any sympathy from Roger Casemen
 He was at this time. true,
 loyal, and an honest gentleman. IS impossible to connect with ou Roger Easement the lonely and be draggled figure spewed up on tn coast of the land he loved so wei Our Rooer Easement is deadi"