The Northern Guardian. — 1898-09-26 (Hartlepool, Cleveland, England)

LATEST FROM THE SOI7DAN.  The latest news from the Soudan is that the Sirclar has notified Captain Marchand that the French force must remove from Pashocla, as the territory belongs to Great Britain. He has hoisted the Union, Jack and Egyptian ensign and has left two Soudanese Battalions in Fashoda as garrison. It remains to be seen whether Prance will quit the /lace quietly, or whether the Sirdar will drive Marchand out by force. The former is the more uroliable, although .9ir H. Kitchener's instructions are very expressive, and the Preach intruders will have to take immediate action. To-day's telegrams also state that fUrther severe fighting has taken place, the Dervishes losing heavily, while the British loss was 'nil, and the Etalifa's last stronghold has been captured. TIM recent battle has teen dese:iibed by ono of the war correspcndents as an execution rather than a battle. The fatiati Cal .abs practically eoinmitted suicide in the terrible fire of the Sirdar's army. Of the Dervishes, one-half the entire force were killed or wounded. There were 10,000 dead bodies left on the sandy ' plain before Omdurman; the number of wounded is set dcwn at 15,00 a. It is terrible; it is piteous. The Arabs, persuaded of victory, because the late Mandi had predicted that. a British army should be destroyed on the very place where the fanatical power which he organised has found its grave, rrshed like madmen to their death. Faith and ignorance were their destroyers as much as the skill of Sir Herbert Kitchener and the efficiency of his army. Of the artillery and machine guns captured at the fall of Khartoum the Emirs made but little use. Trained gunners and ammunition were procurable among the Egyptian prisoners and deserters who had thrown their fate with the Khalifa. He had time to adapt his army to semething apprOaching the requirements of nse. dern tactics, but he preferred to cal/ on Allah for , ;victory, and the Dervishes, blind with fanatacism, Ifleng themselves into the whirlwind of teed and , fire in which no army could lire. It was like a tiger attacking a locomotive with its steam up. The British army was never pitted against a more heroic foe; it never !Ought at smaller individual risks. It has been the custom lately to compare the brilliant successes of our arms in the Soudan with the less striking triumphs of the campaign with the•Afridis. The reason isPlain. The hill tribesmen, adapted their tactics to the end they had in view—to infilet the maximum of loss on their invaders at the mill Imuta of risk to themselves. The weapon to which they trusted was the rifle. They fought, as the sportsmen say, "tor all they were worth," but never onee came to close quarters ith the Britisll infantry, and seal-,sely over allowed I  themselves to serve as target 3 to artillery ot. dine guns. The campaign was ono long skir• mith. The pacification of Afridilatd was, in reality, far more difficult than the rex/if-pest of the udau If the Khalifs had adopted the tactics of avoiding a pitched battle, and utilised the superior mobility of his force for harassli.g our troops alnight, and by such ambuscades as that whirrt rearly led to the destruction of the 21st Lancers, rho Sirdar's task woukt have been far less simple. Dut the successor to the Ma staked all his chances on one pitched battle, and, incapable of learning from the experience of Atbara, rushed ol inevitable destruction. Never did a savage leader commit a more trensendous blunder; never did the ignorance of fanaticism so greatly miscalculate the might of the civilised forces arrayed against it. Probably never again will faith in the Mohemmedan Messiah call for such fiery contempt for death. The prediction that the plain before Omdurman was destined to me the totals a the enemy of the Prophet has been put to a. terribe test. Of those who believed it in the Khalira's army half are dead. By the survivors it should be truned into bitter wrath against the pretender, if there is any human nature in Arab fanaticism.