6
THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN. PORTLAND. SEPTEMBER 29, 1912.
J
erf
To
6
i '
1
m
m
AZZ England Loves Lord Roberts,Whom
Kaiser Has Called Greatest Military
Man of Modern Times Popularity
Was, Shown at Coronation, Where He
Was a Prominent Figure.
3 THE splendid coronation pageant
of the fifth of England's Georges
wound Its gorgeous length in and
out through the historically eloquen
streets of the capital of the greatest
empire the world has known, three- men
were greeted with markedly special
enthusiasm by the cheering thousands.
The Monarch's self was one, of course,
embodying the hopes of nearly 400,000,
000 people, settled on the shores of all
the Seven Seas. The second was Lord
Kitchener of Khartoum, steely-eyed
and grim, the personification of a mod
ern Mars. The third was he at whose
right rode this "K. of K"; another sol
dler, small of stature, his white hair
matched by white moustaches and crisp
chin beard, easily erect upon the glossy
roan charger, whose arched neck and
mincing steps seemed to proclaim to
all and sundry that be was perfectly
aware of the proud duty of bearing
Lord Roberts of Khandahar, Pretoria
and Watertord, Field Marshal and Earl.
But the whispers that ran right and
left through the crowds as he appeared
seldom named him so. It was usually,
"Here's Bobs," with a crackling cheer
close following. And few there were
who gave a thought to any of all the
honors heaped u-on the man, save for
thos best typlf.cd by the Indian and
Abyssinian and Afghan medals which
glittered on the scarlet tunic, beneath
the bronze star of Khandahar. These
stood for deeds writ clear upon the
pages of British daring, these marked
the strikingly brilliant actions in
Ion career of splendid service-
career which tomorrow will reach the
80th of Its milestones.
It is to be said, however, that this
"Bobs" Is scarcely to be called 80 years
old; the hackneyed "80 years young" is
rather true of him, as all admit who
see blm hunting or bicycling througn
the Ascot countryside near his home,
"Eaglesmere," or catch a fleeting
glimpse of the veteran of nine wars
as he motors unprotected through the
rains of London between his city resi
dence and the United Service Club.
There will be no suggestion of "the
sad sunset of declining life" in the cel
ebrations which will mark his "own"
anniversary on Monday, the 30th, cele
brations In which half a world will
Interest Itself.
Tka Beat of Today's Soldi.
Were ' one to set forth the man's
titles In full. It would read as If an ex
tract from some peerage rolLM 61r
Frederick Bleigh Roberta, whose for-
mm
t
ftrV' :::.
- x smu m "
'g:t t i - -C - WL- '-irJc!
II-' . - sjb-
1 i U If
mal style" as already given recalls his
achievements In Afghanistan and South
Africa as well as memories of that lit
tle Irish town with which the family
has long been connected, is Knight of
the Garter. Grand Commander of the
Bath, Grand Commander of the Star of
India, Grand Commander of the Order
of the Indian Empire, recipient of the
Order of Merit. Privy Councillor to the
King, and (this... perhaps, he values
most of all) one of that noble army of
heroes on whose breasts . have been
pinned by the Monarch's own hand the
Victoria Cross, molded from the bronze
of captured cannon.
In addition to these things; Lord Rob
erts has twice been denominated a doc
tor of civil law and four times LL. D.
He haa been accorded the honorable
freedom of three boroughs and ten
cities. Including London, Edinburgh
and Glasgow. Thrice has he received
the formal thanks of the Imperial Par
liament, and times almost without num
ber similar votes at the hands of the
Government of India.
All this (to summarize the matter)
has come to blm for being the best
soldier of his day. At least, that is
the way the German Kaiser has
thought well to put it, and Wilhelm II
is nothing if not an authority on mat
ters of such sort. He emphasized the
opinion by giving him the Order of
the Red Eagle, and with the rift came
this expression, as If to explain why
the distinction had for the first time
been conferred on a non-Germanic
warrior: "Roberts of Khandahar has
much of the subtlety and ability to
perceive his opportunities- that have
distinguished the greatest military
geniuses of the past. I hold him the
ablest of today's soldiers."
"Bobs" has written that General
Wolfe was ever his beau ideal, but di
rect heredity came In to amplify and
strengthen the force of high example
set by that victor of Quebec. Born at
Cawnpore, British India, on the 30th of
September, 1832, when William IV was
England's king, this one-day com-mander-ln-chier
of all his country's
armies was fathered by General Sir Ab
raham Roberts, while his mother, Isa
bella, was daughter of Major Bunbury,
of the famous Sixty-second Foot. "The
playing fields of Eton," which have
turned out so many English men of
war, received "Fred" when Just in his
'teens, with Sandhurst to follow with
its practical military training and in
spiring ideals, and so. when 10 weeks
turned of 19, he came to his first com
mission as second lieutenant of the
Bengal Artillery.
- Soon dawned darkly the bloody days
of the terrible "mutiny," through all
of which this stripling in his twenties
served as deputy assistant quartermaster-general.
He took his part la the
siege and capture of Delhi In '57, once
being wounded, and at another time
having a horse shot under him; an ex
perience, by the by, twice after re
peated at Bulandshahr and at KananJ.
He fought during the reliefs of both
Lucknow and his natal town of Cawn
pore. and was present at half a score of
other heavy actions and lesser fights
innumerable. Small wonder thaj; the
close of that dreadful time saw him
captain with a major's brevet.
The Abyssinian expedition ('67- 68)
made him brevet lieutenant-colonel.
and the Lushasi expedition C71-'72)
brought hia colonelcy. His. Christmas
present from the war offices in 1878
was a promotion to major-general.
Im the "Buffer State."
Which brings one to the man's most
renowned exploits, centering about
Kabul in the December of '79, and at
Khandahar In the January following, j
jZ&jr&S SZtS SsrSrs-
tyZtliZ jT2r z&i rf.75&z. &2tzs&ji'
though it is to be borne in mind that
he had already been mentioned for
conspicuous gallantry In action, in of
ficial dispatches, no less than 23 times.
Afghanistan merely capped the climax
to this record of ability and bravery
and it was no small thing to plunge
northward into regions practically un
known, barbarously hostile, and well
beyond the reach of news or ready
help. But he marched up into the
"buffer state" of the Amir at the head
of not 10,000 men, broke up the Afghan
army, relieved Kabul, and at Khanda
har secured from these war-loving
mountaineers a peace that has never
since been broken. One hesitates
which to admire most in the exploit,
the cold-blooded courage which made
It possible, or the ever-ready capacity
which brought such fine success; but
the fact remains that for more than
30 years India was thereby safeguard
ed from a possible, perhaps otherwise
probable, - Russian attack.
This may be called mere speculation,
but all Englishmen believe it true, quite
as all Russians scoff at the very idea.
And once upon a time it was coolly de
bated by authorities no less than this
same Lord Roberts and the Czar. The
two are gqod friends, it should be said.
so that It was possible, wmie on a
visit in St. Petersburg during which he
was several times granted Imperial au
dience, for the British soldier to ask
when the Russians were "coming to
India."
Never," replied the Czar, with em
phasis. "I could not conceive a greater
we
disaster for my land than that
should even make the attempt."
"But we all expect to have to fight
you there some day," went on the dar
ing "Bobs," to which came the reiter
ation: "Never, I hope. Such a thing is not
only outside our ideas, but would
amount to national madness. Why, look
at the immense distances, the enormous
difficulties of transport, the loftiest
mountains. In the world to cross! No,
it is impossible."
Roberts, remaining skeptical, went
on: "But, sire, you will, I think, come
down, all the same. And you will then
find that there isn't a village in all
India where there is not a traditional
prophecy that some day a white people
from the north will conquer the land."
"Then why on earth do you not claim
that you are that people?" burst in the
autocrat. "You are white. Tou are
from the north. Why Insist that we
are the ones referred to? . Tou do three
peoples a great barm!" And there the
matter rests unsettled still.
The Advocate of Riflemem.
If Major-General-Roberts, marching
down victorious from out the Afghan
passes, had but a brief road to travel
to reach his field marshal's baton, he
covered it quickly. He was Lieutenant
General when he took the field in Bur
ma ftt '86, and before '90 had passed
was full General; his field marshal's
commission bears date of May 25, 1895.
Then he laid down the military com
mand of India, which had been his for
an even dozen years, and' served in
turn as commander-in-chief In Ireland
'95-'99). in South Africa ('99-1900)
where he relieved "Kimberley, and cap
tured Cronje, with his "army of the
West", and lastly of all the British
army ('01-'05). He then became chair
man of the imperial defense committee.
This last post, however, failed to sat
isfy him. Younger men, to be sure, had
to be given the active commands, but,
none. the less, no sort of "silly clerk
ship" (so the man dubbed it) could
hold him. Against the pleadings of the
tnen Premier, Campbell-Bannerman,
and, its said. King Edward's self, he re
signed to throw himself with all Mis
energy into the work of organizing rifle
schools and clubs throughout England,
vhich should, he hoped, so far supplant
cricket and footoaii as to breed up a
generation of soldiers trained from
youth. He was then and is still to
considerable extent prone to borrow a
Jeremiah's point of view as to the is
land's state of unpreparedness against
posaible.Jnvaslon. "It is a wilful gam
ble wlth the safety of the heart of an
empire," he says. To reinforce his plan
he drew and presented to the peers a
bill looking towards compulsory serv
ice in the territorial (reserve) army
.of all men between the ages of IS and
30.
. In one speech on the subject which.
It is to be added, he has vitalized to
the extent of some 60 odd schools or
clubs now in active existence, though
the measure Just referred to haa not
become law he said: "I am aware thai
It is urged against my proposals that
they are little short of conscription.
Now I have frequently asserted that I
am altogether opposed to conscription
as being totally Inapplicable to an army
the greater part of whih must always
bs serving abroad. But Is there not all
the difference in the world between a
nation every man of which is obliged
to serve In the ranks of the regular
army and perform while in those ranks
all the onerous duties of a regular sol
dier during times of peace and for
small wars (as is the case on the con
tinent), and a nation which, while
maintaining a regular army for for
eign service, asks every man to under
go such a training as will fit him to
take a useful part in a great national
emergency, when every true Briton
would be, in point of fact, certain to
volunteer?" i
A Boy and Three Books.
Somewhat apropos of all this Is
story told of one braw Scotch laddie
who was to be a single unit in a "Boys'
Rifle Brigade" of 10,000 to be reviewed
at Glasgow not so long ago by "Bobs."
When, at the last moment, the noble
Earl" was forced to cancel the en
gagement, a local notability being
hastily substituted for him, the man
agers of the affair thought it only
right to inform those who bad pur
chased tickets that the famous soldier
would not be present. But in one in
stance they sadly overrated the effect
of their anonuncement. When the
small youth in question came for his
two tickets, he was told the news, and
replied with delicious unconcern: It's
no Laird Roberts falther .and mlther
are comln' to see; it's me."
It is a tale that undoubtedly will
find its place in an autobiographical
volume which the grizzled field mar
shal is now writing, for he has the
keenest sense of humor. This book is
to include the period of the South
African "unpleasantness" and if the
writer sets to cold types such com
ments on certain generals who fig
ure in that campaign as he has not in
the least hesitated to express in private
conversation, it is positive to cause a
sensation, it will be a supplement, as
it were, to the "Forty-one Years in
India," published in 1897, which, in its
turn, had followed by 20 months a not
less masterly account of "The Rise of
Wellington."
A Soldier's Bride.
In the dedication of the former, and
more famous, of these works. Is
summed up a deal of career and char
acter. It reads: "To the country, to
which I am so proud of belonging; to
the army, to which I am so deeply in
debted, and to the wife, without whose
loving help my 'Forty-one Years in
India' could not have been the happy
retrospect it is." The romance thus
hinted at began when the Just-created
Captain of 27 was home on his first
leave: There he met Miss Nora Sews.
daughter of the commander of the
Seventy-third Foot, and, after a few
months' courtship, the two were
(Concluded on Pag 7.)
i wiles Wis
60MI0r-niE0UlP5:ANDJE5T3fROM-PEN50rWNETOPMfrniJM0RIS
erse
Tales From Humorous Pens
B V Yl Q HIS WIFE'S CLOTHES.
Ellsha Dyer, New, York's cotillon
leader, returned from Europe recently
and a reporter asked him if the duty be
was paying on a large stock of London
clothes would not make them cost mot
than he would have paid for theu. in
New York.
"Well, ev so." Dyer replied, ""we
need have ae regret about the cost of
our wardrobes. Look at the unfortu
nate feminine folk.
"I have just left Paris, where all the
smart women are wearing delicate lit
tle straw hats mounted in front with
bunches of whit aigrettes as thick as
your wrist. To be without one of
these hats is to be shabby, and yet,
simple as they are. they cost as much
as $150 each.
"Last month an American girl en
ticed her husband Into a shop on the
Rue Royale and tried a bowler hat with
a huge aigrette.
" 'How do you think this looks.
John? she asked.
" Hm! It looks to me like a month's
salary,' ha said." New York Sun.
LEGAL GROUNDS FOR ACTIOX.
A lawyer overworks the telephone to
tell us this one:
"A woman came up to my office the
other day and wanted to know if she
could get a divorce because her hus
band didn't believe in the Bible. I told
her that unless she had -something else
for grounds for divorce It was no use
bringing suit.
" 'But he is an absolute infidel!' she
Insisted.
"'That makes no difference." said I.
'Doesn't it, Indeed?" she cried
umphantly. "Well, you are a fine law
yer, I must say. Here's the laws of
Ohio, and they say that infidelity, if
proved, is a ground for divorce!" "
New York Press.
HAND WORK BAD ENOUGH.
A boy was asked by his mother to
go to the country with her, but the boy
refused.
All the coaxing and pleading was of
no avail.
When his father came home that
evening he was told by his wife that
Johnny (the boy) refused to go to the
country.
"Did you ask him why' he didn't
want to go?" said the father.
"No." said the mother, "I didn't think
of that. I will go up to Johnny and
ask him.
Then the mother went up to Johnny
and said: "Johnny, why don't you want
to go to the country?"
"Well, answered Johnny, "they have
thrashing machines out there, and it's
bad enough here when you get It by
hand." Philadelphia Record.
swer. Let the work go undone till
June: then what will you do? "Too late,
too late!' will be the cry.
""Just sow it in buckwheat," called
out an old farmer from a rear seat.
The preacher sat down. National
Monthly.
- FOR A LATE CROP.
Rev. John B. Craft was conducting a
series of meetings in a rural neighbor
hood of Southwest Virginia. One night
he was trying to bring the necessity of
early embracing a religious hope to
bear upon his congregation. Said he:
"Well just Illustrate: You begin In
February or . March to prepare your
ground for planting out your Spring
crp. You plant in April to be f
time. Suppose you neglect this work.
II y will be late, but perhaps will &n-
CARRYING IT TOO FAR.
"Scientific management, like any
good thing, may be carried to excess."
The speaker was R. Marriott Thomp
son, the San Francisco scientific man
agement expert. - H continued:
We sclentifio managers musn't go
as far as Hustler went.
"Hustler was the proprietor of a
tremendous factory where scientific
management had reduced the motions
of every hand from 80 to 17. Hustler
attended a very fashionable wedding
one day, a wedding where the cere
mony was performed by a bishop, as
sisted by a dean and a canon, and in
the most impressive part of the writ
Hustler, overcome by his scientific
management ideas, rushed up to the
altar and pushed the bishop and canon
rudely back.
" 'Here, boys,' he said, 'one's quite
enough for a little Job like this.'" N.
Y. Tribune. -
Quips and Flings
"Can I get a steak here and catch
the 1 o'clock train?" "It depends on
your teeth, sir." Meggendorfer Blaet
ter. ,
"Yon used to part your hair so nice
ly, Reggie. Why do you wear It with
out a parting now?" "Life Is getting
sucH a deuce of a rush nowadays, my
dear glrL One must save time some-
.where!" London Opinion.
MODERN MORALS.
"This latter-day or new morality Is
too lax for me."
The speaker was Jerome S. McWade,
the Duluth millionaire. He continued:
"This new morality, which seems in
its tolerance rather to encourage than
to oppose wickedness, reminds me of
a lad in my Sunday school class.
" "Now, Tommy," I said to this lad
one Sunday, "now. Tommy, what must
we do before our sins can be forgiven,"
" "We must sin," Tommy replied."
New, York Tribune,
1 Lady (at the bottom of. the steps)
I want to see you just a minute, but
this skirt is so tight I can't climb the
stairs. You come out. - won t you
Lady (inside) I would If I could, but
this new hat Is too Wide to go through
the doorway! Exchange.
II can't think why the pater calls
me a good-for-nothing. Last winter I
won two toboggan races, and also a
prize for pigeon shooting and motor
racing. And then lately I have been
made vice president of the golf club."
Fllegende Blaetter,
"Jones grumbles that his wife can't
take a joke." "That's funny, seems to
me." "How so?" "She took Jones."
Judge.
,
Jones I want to deposit the sum of
110. Receiving Teller (who knows
him) What! Have you sold- your
car? Puck.
"Oh. Willie! Willie!" cried a teacher
to a hopelessly dull pupil, "whatever
do you think your head la for?"
Willie, who evidently thought this
another of the troublesome questions
that teachers were always asking; pon-j
dered it deeply. "Please, miss," he re
plied at length, "to keep my collar
on." Youth's Companion.
"Pink. I'm afraid you are wasting
your time brushing my hat. I don't
seem to have anything smaller than a
310 bill." "I kin change that all right,
boss." Then you don't need the tip.
So long, Pink." Chicago Tribune.
Walker Do the De Roads get along
well? Speede Fine. The car is in her
name and he buys the gasoline. The
Roosevelt Lyre-Bird.
Hewitt Wly do you call this your
rrlll-room? Jewltt This is where my
wife corners me when I get in late at
night. New York Globe.
.
Mrs. Jinks Blngor says their baby
is the smartest in the United States.
Jinks Why doesn't he claim the Eur
opean rights, too? The Outlook.
"Have yon ever loaned Brown any
money T"
"I don't know."
"Don't know! How is that?" ,
" "I transferred some to him, but I'm.
not sure yet whether he considers it a
loan, or a present." Boston Transcript.
Kenneth was discussing the cricket
team of which he was a member and
said to the girl:
"You know young Barker? Well, he's
going to be our best man before long."
"Oh, Kenneth," she cried, "what a
nice way to propose to me!" London
Opinion.
He It was most unfortunate that
when I gave my first concert last Sum
mer two persons were carried out in a
fainting condition.
She (sweetly) An, but your voice
has improved so much since then, Mr.
Howler. London Tatler, ,
Among the Poets of ike Daily Press
THE COST OF LIVING.
The cost of living's awful.
There is no doubt of that;
Your wife pays sixty dollars
For a simple little hat.
And lobsters cost a dollar,
If you order them broiled alive.
And if champagne goes with them
That brings the check to five.
And autos are expensive.
Apart from gasoline;
There are so many fittings
That go with the machine.
You think, perhaps, to own one
Is cheaper than to hire.
And pop goes fifty dollars
Each time you bust a tire.
It's no use saving money.
For you are sure to lose.
Why, now It costs a nickel
Each time you shine your shoes!
The cost of living's awful
If you are prodigal.
But there's one way to beat It,
Be e-co-nom-I-cal!
Somerville. Mass.. Journal.
JAPAN'S ANTHEM.
The Japanese national anthem is the
most poetically worded In the world.
with the possible exception of the Nor
wegian, "Ja, vl elsker," written by
Bjornstjerne Bjornson. That is, of
course, a matter of opinion, but the
Japanese anthem is commendably short
and makes, in its English form, an
eminently pleasing poem. Its ten lines
are as follows:
Until this grain of sand.
Tossed by each wavelet's freak,
Grew to a cloud-girt peak
Towering above the land;
Until the dewy flake
Beading this blossom's gold
Swell to a mighty lake
Age upon age untold
Joy to Joy manifold '
Add for our Sovereign's sake,
London Chronicle.
FARMERS.
Sing a song of farmers.
Up at early morn.
With four-and-twenty chores to do
Before the breakfast horn.
When the breakfast's over.
There's little to be done.
Except to plow the 1'oo.ae.
And let the harrows run,
And mow the sheep and prune the beets
And curry up the swine.
And shear the hens and dig the hay
And shoe the gentle kine,
And saw the wheat and rake the rye
And wash and dress the land.
And things like that which city folks
Can never understand. Life.
NATURAL SEQUENCE.
Proud and pompous, the doctor was
strolling down the street, when ha was
spoken to by a poor woman.
"Good morning, sir." remarked the
latter.
"Good morning, madam," replied the
medico.
"I expect you're making a good thina-
out of attending to that Hon Smith
boy?" suggested the lady.
'Oh, yes, a fairly good fee." replied
the doctor, somewhat angrily.
"Well," whispered the lady, "I hope
you won't forget that It was my Willie
who threw the brick that hit him."
London Answers.