The Washington herald., 1916-05-17
YOUR WEDDING DAY.
AND
The Famous Men and Women Who
Have Shared Il.
May .l7-Lord Roberts.
By MARY MARSHALL,


There. too, I found my fate in the
shape OF Nora Bews, a young lady
| lVlng with a married sister not far
from my fathers place. who a few
months later consented to acc rmoanv
me on my return to India"
In these homely words Lord Rob
erts. the distinguished British mill
! tary hero. mentions one OF the hap
plest events of his life in his autobi-
ography He had returned to his home
IN ireland after a long period OF serv-
ice in India, having first stopped off
at London for the very necessary re-
equipment of the outer man." We
can imagine this fine looking young
soldier. already distinguished in the
service, fresh from his London tailor.
as he appeared in the eyes of the
girls in his native Ireland. No wonder
that Nora consented to return to In
dia with him!
They were married ffty-seven wears
ago today in the parish church Of
waterford. Ireland. and after brief
wedding tour in Scotland they were
forced by an unexpected order to re-
! turn to India to start out on the voy-
age over the Red Sea
The courage of the plucky young
bride must have been severely put TO
the test more than once. So intense
was the heat at this time of year that
more than once the captain ordered
the boat to turn around and steam
against the wind in order to revive
the fainting and suffoCating passen-
gers. Once. in the dead of night, they
passed the wreck OF a ship that had
struck coral reef not long before,
and as the crew and officers went to
work to restore the mails and personal
property aboard, Nora must have
thought longingly Of the verdant
shores of Ireland
Life in India for the young bride
was not any too comfortable. For
time she lived in tent-of enormous
proportions. to be sure, but still ex-
posed to the intense heat.
In his biography Lord Roberts de-
scribes the pleasure he had in taking
his wife over the scenes of his early
years in India. Once a few months
after their marriage, they visited the
Tai Mabel and had the opportunity of
seeing the tomb by moonlight On
this occasion Lord Roberts writes:
My wife was more delighted than
l had anticipated with the perfect
beauty of the Tai and the exquisite
little mosque in the fort. I greatly
enjoyed showing her all that was
worth seeing and witnessing her pleas
ure on first viewing these wonderful
works of art" This is Lord Roberts
simple tribute to the mutual appre-
citation and companionship that in
their case, as in so many others, was the
foundation of a happy married life
With scarcely an exception" he writes
in another place, my friends became
hers. and this added much to the happi-
ness Of our Indian life"
Ten years after their marriage a
little daughter came to add to their
happiness, but on a voyage when she
was a year old the child caught
fatal cold. Alas" says Lord Roberts,
our little girl never recovered from
that cruel experience, and we had the
terrible grief of losing her soon after
we passed Alden. She was buried at
sea-" Throughout the happiness that
came with other children. Lord Roberts
never forgot this child whom he lost.
No one but a military man can ap-
preciate just what the companionship
erts' career. She was his constant
companion throughout the trials of his
Indian campaign and through much ILL
ness brought on by the Indian climate
she was his constant inspiration.
In 1898, when they left India for
England. a native delegation spoke
thus of this remarkable woman in a
public address: I'VE have only to
pray to the Father of all good that
He may shower His choicest blessings
upon you and your consort-that noble
lady who has, in addition to cheering
you in your hard and onerous work
in India. herself done a great deal for
the comfort of the soldier and the
Sepoy."
Copyright, l9l6)