The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1923-10-12

less conducted by Russian officers
Russians swarmed at the court of Dost
Mahomed, and an ambassador from the
car was there trying to make a treaty.
| Great was the indignation and alarm
In British India and, for fear of Rus
sian invasion, in panic haste the gov
eminent made big famous blunder,
for, without waiting to know how Dost
was fooling the Russians, an army was
sent through the terrible Bolan pass.
That sixty-mile abyss, with hanging
walls, belongs to the Pathans, the
f1ercest and widest of all the tribes
of men. The army climbed through
the death trap, marched, starving, on
from Quetta to Candahar, and then
advanced on Cabul. But Dost's son,
Akbar. held the great fortress of
Ghuznee, quite impregnable place
| that had to be taken.
One night, while sham attack was
| being made on the other side of the
fortress, Captain Thomson placed nine
hundred pounds Of gunpowder at the
foot of a walled-up gate, and then
touched off the charge. The Twenty
first light infantry climbed over the
smoking ruins and, at the head of his
storming column, Colonel Dennie, in
| tire hours fighting, took the citadel.
Dost Mahomed fled and the British en-
| tered Cabul to put a puppet sovereign
on the throne.
Cabul was live volcano, where
| English women gave dances. There
| We're cricket matches, theatricals,
sports. The governor general in camp
| gave state dinner in honor of Major
| Pottinger, who had come in from the
siege of Herat. During the reception
of the guests a shabby Afghan
watched, leaning against a door-post,
and the court officials were about to
remove this intruder when the COVER
nor general approached, leading his Sis
ter. Let me present you," said Lord
Auckland, "to Eldred Pottinger, the
hero of Herat." This shabby Afghan
was the guest of honor, but nobody
would listen to his warnings, or to the
warnings of Sir Alexander Burnes, as
sistant resident. Only the two spies
knew what was to come. Then the vol
cano blew up.
Burnes had a brother staying with
him in Cabul, also his military secre-
tary; and when the mob, savage, ex-
cited, bent on massacre, swarmed
round his house he spoke to them from
the balcony. While he talked Lieuten-
ant Broadfoot fell at his side, struck
by a ball in the chest. The stables
were on fire, the mob filed his garden.
He offered to pay then in cash for his
brothers life and his own, so a Cash
miri volunteered to save them in dis
guise. They put on native clothes,
they slipped into the garden, and then
their guide shouted, This is Sekunder
Burmese" The two brothers were cut
to pieces.
Pottinger was political agent at Ko-
histan, TO the northward, and when
the whole Afghan nation rose in re-
volt his fort was so sorely beset that
he and his retinue stole away in the
dark, joining a Ghoorka regiment But
the regiment was also beset and It's
water supply cut off. Pottinger fought
the guns the men repealed attacks by
night and day until worn out; dying
of thirst in an intolerable agony the
| regiment broke, scattering into the
hills. Only a few men rallied round
Pottinger to fight through to Cabul,
and he was fearfully wounded, unable
to command.
The officer commanding at Cabul
was not in good health, but his death
was unfortunately delayed while the
Afghans murdered men, women and
| children, and the British troops, for
| lack of leader, funked. ENJOYS wait
ed on Akbar Khan, and were murdered.
| The few officers who kept their heads
were without authority, blocked at
every turn by towards, by incompe-
| tents. Then the council of war made
treaty with Akbar, giving him all the
guns except six, all the treasure, three
| officers as hostages, bills drawn on
India for forty thousand rupees, the
honor of their country, everything for
safe conduct in their disgrace. Dying
| of cold and hunger, the force marched
into the Khoord-Cabul pass, and at the
end of three days the married officers
were surrendered with their wives and
| children. OF the sixteen thousand men
three-fourths were dead when the Off
Ger commanding and the gallant Brig
adler Shelton were given up as hos
| CHI ii
on through the Jugduluk pass, which
! the Afghans had barricaded, and there
was the final massacre.
| The captured general had sent orders
| for the retreat of the Jellalabad gar
rison through the awful defiles of the
and in the dead of winter but Cen
| eral Sale, commanding, was not such a
fool. For three months he had worked
his men to desperation rebuilding the
fortress, and now, when he saw the
white tents of Akbar's camp, he was
prepared for a siege. That day an
| earthquake RACED the whole fortress
| into a heap of ruins, but the garrison
rebuilt the walls. Then they sailed
and, led by Henry Havelock, assaulted
Akbar's camp, smashed his army to
| flying fragments, captured his guns,
baggage, standards, ammunition and
food Nine days later the bands of the
| garrison marched out to meet a reliev-
| ing army from India.
| Meanwhile the British prisoners,
well-treated, were hurried from fort to
| fort, with some idea of holding them
| for sale at so much slave, until they
managed to bride an Afghan chief.
! Tho hrihad man led a revolt against