LORD KITCHENER.

Bush Advocate, Volume XXII, Issue 12, 15 January 1910, Page 5

LORD KITCHENER.

Press Assn—By telegraph—Copyright. (Received January 15, 9.40 a.m.) MELBOURNE, This Day. Lord Kitchener spent yesterday in inspecting the tactical Seymour Camp. Rain made things very uncomfortable, and interfered with the movements of the troops.

No definite arrangements have been made by the Defence authorities for a display by the New Zealand Forces on the occasion of Lord Kitchener's visit, but it is understood (says the Post) that they are fully prepared to call on the men to do whatever the visiting FieldMarshal considers necessary to enable him to judge as to their value. A concentration of all the forces of New Zealand at Wellington is not considered to be probable, as the sudden cessation of work on the part of so many men would be too great a strain on the industries of the Dominion . It is suggested, however, that the local forces may be called upon to mobilise and concentrate at a given point near Wellington, at short notice, in the early hours of the morning. This would be excellent practice for the men, and would give Lord Kitchener a fair idea of what one centre, at any rate, can or cannot do in the way of mobilisation."

Lord K., as he is called (for the full name is abbreviated to a letter in army talk, and the old phrase of K. of K. has been reduced to an even briefer formula), is in his fifty-ninth year, but he carries his years well. His great stature makes him a commanding figure (writes the Brisbane Argus). He was slender when in Egypt, and he. is of somewhat fuller form, but with perfect military erectness. Among his staff Colonel Kirkpatrick is a tall man, but in the group seen on the Encounter's deck, Lord Kitchener's was the figure which dwarfed the others. His hair shows scarcely a tinge of grey, neither does the heavy moustache which droops over the mouth. He wore an undress uniform of blue when he landed in the afternoon. At the Governor's reception in the evening he was in evening dress, with a row of service ribbons and medals, as well as the Star of India and the sash of that Order. Lord Kitchener does not travel with a large and glittering staff. MajorGeneral Hoad was with him in the Encounter, and, besides General Hoad, the officers with him were only two, Colonel Fitzpatrick and Captain Fitzgerald, A.D.C. Colonel Kirkpatrick, who is a typical "Kitchener's man," is already well known in Melbourne (says the Argus). In India his position is that of A.Q.M.G. of the strategical branch of the Indion army. Captain Fitzgerald is new to A\isti - alia. In India he is a mighty shikari—a Nimrod who has hunted through and through the Himalayas, and finds this sport almost as good as soldiering. He has done more than hunt in these mountains ; he has travelled their passes, and has gone on special service to the plateau of Thibet. He-wears a frontier war medal, and he has the sincerest -liking for the frontier tribes of India, who help to provide England with her little wars. "They are good fellows, and they make war like sportsmen," is the substance of Captain Fitzgerald's conclusions. Like all men whom Lord Kitchener gathers round him, he has learned to face the hardest work in soldiering, for sheer hard work is the first thing demanded of a "Kitchener's man."