THE SKETCHER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2623, 22 June 1904, Page 71

THE SKETCH ER.

MAKHAROFF. (M.A.P.)

— A Warrior's Death. — In spite of divided sympathies, and eve interests, .he whole "world for jnce ; kin. Makharoff has united them. So fa as we in England are concerned, I haven' met a human boing who did not speak c the death of that gallant fellow with feeling as of the loss of someone personal! known and personally loved. lam gla that even the fury of war has not madeth Japanese forget the tribute which is alway due to a brave foe. As to the son-o\ with which the death of Makharoff ha filled his own people, the indications ar tnat it has been felt as one of those terrifi blows which not only strike at the for tunes of a nation, but which bring hom3 ti each man's door and heart all the afflic tion of a dreadful and irreparable famil 1 bereavement. Ido pity that poor, peace loving Tsar, who has been dragged s< unwillingly from his dreams of Universa i^eace into this ghastly and bloody business I read in the papers that when the newi of -the death of "Makharoff was first con veyed to him, he grew deadly pale, and thei he burst into tears. What must have madi the news more distressing to him was thai a spirit of optimism as to the fleet and a; to Port Arthur had succeeded to the wav< «f depression which followed the first big attack by torpedoes at the opening of the war. Mr Henry Norman. M.P. — as everybody knows — was honoured by an interview •with the TsaT the other day, and he tells me that the Tsar appeared 'to be perfectly calm and confident ; that every other influential Russian he met was in exactly the same mood ; and all I have seen from othei sources confirms this as the dominant mood in St. Petersburg. And then comes this awful and overwhelming catastrophe. Oi course, the Russians would be more than Jiuman if they were not for the moment discouraged. — Signs and Omens. — It is characteristic of the ruler and of his people that their first thoughts should be 01 religion in this moment of trial. The Tsar, I see, sent, at once for his confessor, and, before anything else, arranged for the funeral service. Another characteristic trait in the story is tut there is the growth in Russi of superstitious anticipations and omens and portents which times of war always bring forth. When the South African ■war, in its dark hours, was bringing home every hour news of the passing away of some well-beloved and well-known name, there grew up quite a crop of legends of such omens and anticipations. You heard ihow in one case a gallant fellow, having found that he had still a few hours to spare" utilised them to go back and have a last look at his wife; and people associated 1 this act of affection with the fact that almost immediately after he had arrived in the field he was killed. We all remember the story of Major Child, who asked that his epitaph should be: "How is it wit!> the child? It is well with the child."' And next day he was slain. —The Obverse of the Shield.— There is a similar story with regard to the ■wife of Admiral Maiiharoff. On the day before the disaster, there was a Universal 2-umour — wh«noe arising nobody could tell that ihe admiral had either b £ en taken prisoner by the Japanese or killed. His wife was paying visits at the time to several •houses in St. Petersburg, just as the wife of Ueneral Wauchope was paying visits, J I remember rightly, on the day when the news came of her husband's death— news •which struck her in the heart from the placard of an evening newspaper. At one "house which Madame Makharoff was visiting, the porter was so anxious that he actually asked the poor lady if the story of her husband s death were true. Ail this upset her very much, as one can well understand and all the next morning she was at the telephone asking of the Admiralty if they toad had any confirmation of the news. In i spite of all the comforting assurances she ! received from the authorities, her presentiment remained ; and one of the first things she said when she was told the news of her husband's fate was : "I had a presentiment that my husband was dead," and burst into tears. And here is the obverse of th« shield of what used to be called "glorious •war." It is these suffering women and children of whom I always think when I read the bulletins of death. In this case an additional touch of sadness is added to the story by the fact that the daughter of the dead hero—a, beautiful girl of 17— lost her fiance in the same awful ihour as •aer father. The young fellow, doubtless ••wanting to be near the father of the woman lie loved, had obtained a place on the staff of Admiral Makharoff, and went down with Hum. — Makharoffs Death.— There is something of a- ful fascination in the story of how the disaster came. Never did anything appear to be more unexpected. It was evidently an hour when there was a certain atmosphere of tranquillity mixed with the work that gives joy and hope. -The admiral and his officers, after, profcably, a watchful night and a busy morning were sitting down to their breakfast in the admiral s comfortable cabin. You can, fey a small stretch of the imagination, reconstitute the whole scene. On the table a bounteous breakfast,, for in times of war and ever-present death men go about th! ?w a 7 ¥"7 ° f life in the o^inary way ; these hardy, brave men with their steady S'witff ft^™. tael-'muS is not forgotten even in this Stir gf comparative rest. Maps are on the table as well as good food, and the officers are ! discussing, with hopefulness, their future 1 plan of campaign, and the continuance of ] the work, which Makharoff had done so : far, of bringing back life, hope, and ac- i ' tivaty to the fleet deiaoralj^d by abound'- ' 1