TRAGIC PASSING OF GREAT SOLDIER.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXXI, Issue LXXI, 8 June 1916, Page 5

TRAGIC PASSING OF GREAT SOLDIER.

PROFOUND GRIEF AT HOME AND

ABOARD

MANY TRIBUTES FROM ALLIED

COUNTRIES

THE KING'S EXPRESSION OF

SORROW

SUPREME AND DEVOTED SER-

VICE EULOGISED

A GREAT SHOCK TO FRANCE

LONDON, June 7. The tragic passing of tfte great soldier who won the quiet conndence of the democracy, and proved that he held the confidence or the Empire, has evoked • profound grief throughout the country.

The newspapers publish elaborate biographies and many personal sketches. Many tributes have been received from Allied countries. The Times says that Lord Kitchener died in harness, as befits one of the most strenuous and unwearying workers of the great armies he called into being, which are his living monument. Daily Mail says that Lord Kitchener's career was romantic in its distinction. He was undoubtedly a great servant, of the 'State. : The King hurredly returned to town and summoned Mr Asquith to Buckingham Palace. ~ x The King, m an Army order, expresses proiound regret at the death or Lord ivitciiener, wno gave forty-live years of distingushed service to the State. It was largely due to his aciministrative genius and unwearying energy that tfiie country was able to create the armies which to-day were upholding the traditional glories or the Empire. Lord Kitchener would be mourned by the Army as a great soldier, who under unexampled difiiculty rendered supreme and devoted service to the. Army and State. His Majesty directs officers to wear mourning for a week from the 7th. Lord JD.esborough, presiding at a representative meeting at the Mansion House, regretted i\ir Asquith's absence from the distinguished company. He explained the reason, and, speaking with emotion, said that Lord Kitchener and his staif were personal friends. They were going to" Russia on important business. Though some people had not always agreed with Lord Kitchener, the whole Empire will recognise that it hits lost a very great man and a vei;y great soldier. Lord Kitchener was one of the first in the Empire who really understood what this war meant, and we will look in vain in the future for his perspicacity and long-sighted views. I The Lord Mayor said: "Words fail to express what our hearts feel. vVe have lost a unique personality, one of the greatest men England ever brought into existence. He is net dead in tne truest sense. His inspirations will make us steel our hearts with determination for greater courage to fight the battle to a finish, in the cause oi righteousness and freedom." Mr Perley said the Dominions not merely regarded Lord Kitchener as a great man, but as atf Institution. There was a strong feeling in the Do-

minions when it was suggested that Lord Kitchener might be compelled to give up his work that it would be a horrible tragedy and produce a feeling of deprivation in the Dominions. The Hon. B. R. Wise said that Australia would feel a personal loss. Lord Kitchener was responsible for the organisation of the Australian Army, and the institution of . compulsory training was the result of his personal

influence. His death was typical or his life —in the cause of duty, and gained a reputation no other in these islands possessed. He gained the confidence of our own nation, the Dominions, and the Allies. His epitaph would be "He did his duty." Sir Thomas Mackenzie said: "We in New Zealand regard Lord Kitchener as a man in whom we were justified in placing -absolute trust. He organised the defence policy of New Zealand. Since we had come into close contact with Lord Kitchener we had become more impressed with his outstanding ability and almost superhuman power. PARIS, June 7. The news of Lord Kitchener's death ran like wildfire through the city. TrFrench regarded him as the brain of the British Army. The news caused as sT'eat a shock as if Joffre had been i fcillad.

■ "Briand (French Premier) has seni ■>*.• - r,e to Mr Asquith expressing a mess*^ lences of all France whc the; cmmk loss of the great chief whc mou-imi fes# magnificent British army raised &Mgm *. wer forget the fertile i<rance^ will! jk forty-six year* organise!' wh& \ army agointh*F*»& DNEY, June 7. m. , ~ ®^- rrived hours be--1 Hough the a»wss x oompanied by fore, and i™^,, SK were wid various distorted dettfifflft, f Lord X, current, the earlier facts fc. eeneraHv chatter's death wer-e- iuf* g v in th e known till the publication* «sm , afternoon. Newspaper- editi^K eagerly and enormously pu;-H«v q* everywhere. There were- symptom regret at the War Lord's tragic rtH*y '" iisg. »ir R. Munro-Ferguson cabled! -foajl the King; Australia's, condolences- at-' Lord Kitchener's loss, adding that f Australia gratefully remembered Lor^1 Kitchener's services with our own; forces. T . . . LONDON,, June 7. % It is- estimated that 655 were drowned 1 riTe loss of tte Hampshire; i? ?e^ vs of Lor 4 Kitchener's death resulted m an exciting scene on the ' kwck Exchang;e. Members shouted j Ihis is the work of spies. Shall we ' longer tolerate German-born members in our midst ?" There was nracb cheering, and there is a likelihood of a re-opening of the campaign against GeTman stockbrokers . Mr BellaiTS r M.P. r in an interview insisted upon the necessity of handling the spy question on the strongest'lines ! lne whole country should be .made a war zone. He said: "When Lord Reading came back from America he was accompanied by destroyers, and I" Kope that Lord Kitchener, who was a priceless asset to the country, was similarly protected." Mr Hughes has returned to London In paying tribute to Lord Kitchener tie said that the dead hero had acco.*! plished a herculean task by raising an* army numbering millions of men at a critical juncture. The Empire had losfc *he guiding hand of its greatest leader, and could best show how deeply he was dePl°re(l oy pressing on more resolutely The Home Secretary's orders ar« gazetted making it necessary that persons proceeding to the Orkney's that they must obtain permission from the mill! tary authorities at Kirk wall. A rumor gained strength during the attetmoon that Lord Kitchener had been picked up. It was probably based on the fact that the communique "did not state positively that he was drowned merely that there was little hope of any surviving. The oommuniqiiie of the War Office issued at nine in the evening banished all hopes. It announced the postponement oi the official exhibition of war films. Lord Rosebery, addressing the convalescent soldiers.at Epsom, said if the Prussians claimed a victory at Skage rack they were welcome to many sue} victories. The Britishers died a dori ous death. He was confident their deatl had sown the seeds of victory. We c!< not lament the death of I/ord Kitcb ener. He had lived a full life, and wa extending Britain's influence by an im portant mission to Russia.