Evening star., 1920-02-22

cities and from outlying portions at
opposite ends of the country all at
one time, and could understand and be
un< erstood by them all. He dressed
in native costume and was an adept
at disguise. He actually outdid the
Bedouins at their favorite sports,
such as camel-riding, craftsmanship,
etc. and by them was regarded as a
sort of Superman. He was the second
Christian in history to penetrate, as
such, Holy Arabia" that portion en-
bracing the territory around Mecca
enjoy the confi-ence of these fanatical
and intolerant followers of the
prophet.
'In 1916 the Sheriff of Mecca. spir-
itual head of the Moslem Church.
started revolt and in the first battle
around the holy city of Mecca the
Turks were unfortunate enough to
hit with shell the Mosque of Kaaba,
holiest spot in the Moslem world con-
tanning the black stone from which
Mohammed ascended into paradise
Not only that but they killed nine of
the faithful who were at their devo-
tions. The Arabs. incensed to the
point of frenzy, achieved the appar-
entity impossible, taking the Turkish
fortif1cations by a frontal attack and
massacring their foes. Then, flushed
with victory, they found themselves
out of ammunition and sent an appeal
for help to the allied powers. In this
connection, with its answer Lawrence
was sent by the British as a sort of
liaison officer with the Arabian army
led by the sheriff, later known as King
of the Hedjaz, and his son. Emir
Feisul. now the unanimous choice for
ruler by the nationalist party of
Arabia
Lawrence did a good deal more
than function in his capacity as liai-
son officer. A born organizer in a
few months he had formed a splendid
dlsciplined body of some zoe 900
Arabs mounted on fleet camels and
pure-bred desert horses-a job that
no one had ever been able to accom-
piish since the Sultan Selim conquered
the land two centuries and more ago
FINALLY he reached the point where he
not only led the armies. but signed
the state papers of the newly freed
Arabia.
Wouldn't Salute Anybody.
Lawrence as a British officer is a
paradox. He wouldn't salute anybody.
AS often as not he omitted all in
sigma of rank from his uniform.
When he was a full colonel he used
TO wear the collar devices of a sub
aitern, or at least one, for the other
was usually lost. There is nobody
else quite like him.
military work he has been offered inn
portant eastern posts, handles to his
name. medals He has declined them
all. He hates to be known; he hates
isctnre Even 10 pc seen. When I opened my
House. London, his former associates
appeared in great numbers and tried
TO locate Lawrence. but no one even
knew where he was; he had disap-
peared with the nrst breath Of pub
10 fnr
from him saying: I was at your
show; thank God, the lights were
out! and imploring me to stop tell
ing the story. 1 found he had fled
house, where his landlady, who was
an amazon, protected him from lion
izers of both sexes, particularly femi-
nine, from whom he had, up to that
time, received no fewer than thirty
five proposals of marriage. He finally
left London for Oxford"
Mr.. Thomas has just arrivd in
america after a six-month stay in
england, where more than a million
persons heard his lecture, and saw
mis- moving pictures b,th the result
Of some 10000 miles of travel. For
the benefit of those unable to attend
ms remarkable entertainment during
the past or coming week at the local
theater he has consented to supple-
ment this work by a series of seven
speciai prle1 artlcleS to appear ex-
clusively in The Star The first will
be printed in tomorrow's issue.
AS an indication of the value of
such series, Lord Riddle, the man
who stands second only to Lord
North eliffe as British publicist. paid
him $4,000 for a series of five similar
articles which he published in the
Strand Magazine, one of the publica-
tions which he owns, and which was
the largest price paid for such a piece
OF work since Conan Doyle created
the character of Sherlock Holmes.
Copyright 1920 by The Washington Starl