The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1924-04-11
CAPTAINS OF
ADVENTURE
By ROGER POCOCK
Observation-Disclosures
Copyrlght By Bobbs Merrill Company
By ROGER POCOCK

thing back-a slap in the face of China.
| The emperor sent gold medal, but
Gordon, scratching out the inscription,
gave it to a charity bazaar. The en-
peror made him prince of the Chi
nese empire, and with the uniform of
that rank as a curio in his trunk, he
returned TO England.
In China he was prince and con-
| queror; in Gravesend Major Gordon
did garrison duty and kept ducks,
which he delighted TO squirt with the
| garden hose.
| He was Sunday school teacher, and
reared slum boys to manhood he was
lady bountiful in the parish, he was
cranky as an old maid, full of odd
whims, a little man, with tender gray
eyes, and voice like peal of bells.
For six years he rotted In Gravesend,
then served a couple of years as Brit
| ish commissioner on the Danube, and
then in 1874 was borrowed by Egypt
! to be yiceroy of the equatorial prov
inces. There he made history.
The Turkish empire got its supply Of
| slaves from this big Soudan, tract
of the size of Europe, whose only trade
was the sale OF human flesh. II Cor
| don stopped the selling Of slaves, the
savages ate them. But the Egyptian
| government wanted money, so Cor
don's work was to stop the slave trade,
get the people prosperous. and tax
| them. To aid him he had Egyptian Of
| ficials, whose only interest in the Job
was the collecting of brides, plumber
and slaves for their private use; also
staff of Europeans, all of whom died
of fever within the first few months.
Moreover, the whole native population
was, more or less, at war with the
| Egyptian government.
Gordon had a swift camel, and
reputation for sorcery, because, leaving
his escort days astern in the desert,
he would ride alone in the midst of
ic uniform consisting of gold lace and
trousers, quite unarmed, but compel
ling everybody to obey his orders. He
was so tired that he wanted to die and
when the tribes disobeyed he merely
cut off their whole supply of water I'M
til they learned to behave. So Cor five
years, the only honest man in all that
region fought the Soudanese, the Egyp-
tan government and the British min
istry to put an end to slavery. He
failed.
Long chapters would be required for
the story of Gordon's work in Bessara-
bia, Armenia, India, South Africa, or
the second period in China
In 1884, England, having taken
charge of Egypt, was responsible for
the peace of Soudan. But the Arabs,
united for once, and led by their proph-
et-the Mahdi-had declared a holy
war against everybody, and wiped out
an Egyptian army So England said,
This is very awkward; let US pray"
| and the government made up it's mind
! to scuttle, to abandon the whole Sou
dan. OF course the Egyptians in the
Soudan, officials, troops and people,
would all get their throats cut, so the
British government had a qualm of
conscience. Instead Of sending an army
to their rescue, they sent Gordon, with
| orders to bring the Egyptians to the
| coast. With a view to further econo-
mics they then let the Arabs cut off
Gordon'S retreat to the coast. England
folded her hands and left him to per-
ish.
AS soon as Gordon reached Khar-
toum, he began to send away the more
helpless of the Egyptian people, and
before the siege closed down some two
thousand, five hundred women, chill
dren and servants escaped from the
coming death. At the last moment he
managed to send the Englishmen, the
Europeans and forty-five soldiers down
the Nile. They were saved, and he re-
manned TO die with his soldiers. May
our Lord" he wrote, mot visit US as a
nation for our sins; but may His wrath
| fall on me-"
He could not believe in England's
COW ardice, but walled his city with
ramp and bastion. planned mines and
raids, kept discipline while his troops
were starving to death, and the Union
Jack afioat above the palace, praying
for his country in abasement, waiting
for the army which had been sent too
late. So for nine months the greatest
of all England's engineers held at bay
an army of seventy-five thousand fight
ing Arabs. And when the city fell, raj
lying the last fifty men of his garrison,
he went to his death, glad that he was
not doomed to outlive England's honor.
Year after year the army fought
through the burning deserts, to win
hack England's honor, to make amends
for the death of her hero-saint, the
knightliest of modern men, the very
pattern of all chivalry. And then his
grave was found. a heap of blood
stained ashes, which once had been
khartoum.
Now, in Trafalgar square, men lay
wreaths at the base OF his statue,
where, with his Magic Wand of Vic
tory, that prince of the Chinese en-
pire and viceroy of the African equa-
torial provinces, stands looking sor-
rowfully on people who were not
worthy to be his countrymen. But
there is greater monument to Gordon,
new Soudan. where men live at
peace under the Union Jack, and