HERO OF MAFEKING.

Otago Witness, Issue 2653, 18 January 1905, Page 71

HERO OF MAFEKING.

BADEN-POWELL'S EXPERIENCES,

Personal friends of General Baden-Powell tell an instructive story relating the preco-city-of the officer who so gallantly defended ZMaleking. The' incident occured at th© time when he was stationed in Dublin as a subaltern. At regular intervals it was his duty to take charge of the sentries guarding Dublin Castle.' For "the officers assigned to this work a special room had been set apart, where they had to while away the 2& hours they were on duty. It was a dreary, gloomy room, furnished in the barest and simplest fashion. Shortly after Baden-Powell's arrival in the Irish, capital, Lord Spencer, then LordrLieutenant of Ireland, happened to pass through the- room, and found that it had suddenly giown into a treasure-house of art. Along the walls were hung ;i number of finelyfinisfced etchings, while the ceiling was covered with water-colour and black-and-white sketches, evidently the work of a skilful artist.

Lord Spencer, being a distinguished art connoisseur, was quickly inspired , with a wish to add the etchings to his valuable collection. It turned out that. the artist was one of the subalterns who had occupied the room. When the matter was mentioned to him, that officer refused to sell the pictures unless those painted on the- ceiling were also purchased ! This could not be done without the ceiling being transported bodily from the castle— a task which even the Lord'-lieu+enant of Ireland was hardly likely to undertake. The subaltern, however, insisted upon the stipulation, and the result was that the Sovereign's i-epresentative in Ireland failed to deprive the officers' sentry rcom of its

artistic treasures. The sequel of the story is interesting. Baden-Powell had painltc 1 the pictures a:ii drawn the sketches with the object of entertaining his comrades. Accordingly, when Earl Spencer asked him to sell the works, the young subaltern promptly stipulated a condition which he knew perfectly well it was impossible to fulfil, and so the pictures were saved, greatly to tlu delight ot his fellow-officers.

— A Brilliant Family. —

Long before lie went to Dublin, the hero of ilateking had shown the same qualities — wonderful self confidence and splendid resource. At seventeen he even outwitted his father, who was an extremely able man, in a dispute that arose between them. The family is known as one of tlie cleverest in England. Ihe father, an Oxford professor, made his mark in the ecclesiastical controversies of his time. The mother has just celebrated her eightieth birthday, ard continues to take a keen interest in astronomy — her life hobby. All four sons were endowed with signal ability. " The eldest attained distinction as an Indian judge ; the second became a prominent Imperialist politician, and was knighted in 1888; the third went all over the world as a naval officei, and was finally a successful barrister; and the youngest is the mo.^t capable of all.

General Bader-Powell is regarded as one of the most brilliant officers in the British, army. His parents had no wish that their youngest boy should become a soldier. They sent him to Charterhouse, where he was notable for three things — his capacity for study, his skill in all games, and his versatility m the arts. Hardly anything seemed impossible to him in the eyes of rchoolfellows, for he was their leader in everything.

— The Two Examinations. —

When seventeen his father and mother de<ided that he should observe the traditions of the family by graduating at Balliol College, Oxford. Robert Stevenson Smyth© Baden,-Powell, it must not be forgotten, had made up his mind on the subject. He liked Oxford, but he ; liked the British army and the British Empire better. Painful scenes took place between the father and his youngest son. The youth, was self-willed and "headstrong, but the parent also was not without determination. The boy had to give way, and the day of his examination ior entrance to Balliol ar- -

rived. He attended it. An hour or two~~after it was over another Charterhouse boy, tip for the examination, found Baden-Powell looking gloomily into a shop window. The (examination papers were too severe, and he was afraid he had been "plucked." When tlie results were published his forebodings were found correct For a fortnight Professor Baden-Powell's youngest boy endured the disgrace of being considered the dullest youtli of the family. 7n » his disappointment the father showed little opposition to the boy's proposal that he should- enter for the preliminary examination for cavalry officers. Young BadenPmvell hpaded the list after an examination which was considerably more severe tLan the one for entrance to Balliol — and! only a fortnight separated the two exams"! — Swordsman, Artist, Musician. — Shortly after ibis incident he joined the 13th Hussars. It was not long before his versatile gifts made him immensely popular with the men of the regiment, as well us with'hiu fellow officers. The first accomplishment that pleased them was the fact that he was as skilful a fencei and! swordsman with, his" left hand as he was with his right. He was ambidextrous also both with the revolver and the carbine, and the messroom soon became embellished with his drawings, which he could turn out with either hand.

There wei - e oilier considerations also "ivivy *he youth became a universal favourite in ihe army. He was an accomplished musician, composed operas, and wrote comic tongs dealing with regimental topics. At all smoking concerts he was the principal performer. He is endowed with a capital voice, which he knows how to use well. He was a finished elocutionist, and the men were never satisfied till he had recited to them ; and, moreover, he was an excellent actor, with a born genius for managing amateur theatricals. All these attainments made ..im popular privately. In the barrack-yard ond drill ground the estimation in which he was held was equally high. As a student his records in the army examinations were remarkably good ; his practical knowledge of the soldier's work was put repeatedly to tho test; and. above all, he commanded ths enthusiastic loyalty of the men. He was captain in cricket and footlsall of the regimental teams, and always represented »he 13th Hussars in polo matches and hunting, yachting, and -horse-racing fixtures. — The Burnaby of South Africa. —

A friend once described him as the "Fred Burnaby of South. Africa." Like the hero of Khiva, Mafeking's defender is a picturesque personality among the Englishmen of his time, No one, however, could be more unlike Colonel Burnaby in personal appearance. The latter was an extremely tall, strongly built, giant-framed, handsome man, who looked every inch a warrior. General Baden-Powell is barely above middle height, and can hardly be termed handsome. His physique is slight, but he looks a typical cavalry officer. Despite his bald pate, he is not yet 48, and his light, flaxen hair, blue eyes, and keen bright face, sun-browned by tropical and South African climates, suggest an even younger man.

Wj^ter, soldier, actor, athlete, sportsman, pud painter — ho has something of the chalacteristics of each and all of these occupa- 1 tions. He shares Colonel Burnaby's intense" love of danger, but he also resembles Sit. Redvers Buller in craftiness and in b.ia.

gifts as a leader of men

There is hardly a. well-known tribe in tbla whole of South, and Central Africa he doea not understand, whilst among the Matabele) his frequent escapes from danger ranked! him as one of the native god's. Even, ki^

own comrades are accustomed to say he bears a charmed life. — "Patijnee Gains the Day." — • Geneidl Bacien-Powell's expetience of vuri'\ie is confined almost exclusively to fi^liLing tubes in South and Central Alrica. As soon as ha \K9s> disengaged from manoeuvring against the wily native, he was shooting big game, for which, he has roaiued all over the live continents, or he was experimenting with yachting patents. As soon as he grew tired of this, he was back in England, writing books on the subjects with which he had been acquiring practical knowledge- A career like his indicates a certain amount of bustle and activity, and it is all the more_surprising to learn that his one motto is, "Don't flurry ; patience gains the day," and "A stick and a smile will carry you through everything." t He practised these principles with marked success against the Matabelp. It was the campaign waged by the British Chartered wompany against rebellious natives which may be said to have directed public attention to the versatile officer. He acted as chief of staff to Sir Frederick Oarrington, but the chief work he performed was in getting information about the movements of" the enemy. He is probably the highest living authority on the subject of military scouting. Baden-Powell got to know almost every yard_of"the territory Iving between Mafekmg and the Zambesi River. He gained a terrible reputation among the natives. To them he appeared to be in many places at once. — The Methods of Sherlock Holmes. — When in India, before he ever went to ■ Africa, General Baden-Powell employed hiis Sherlock' Holmes methods for military purposes. He habitually made deductions from, everyday incidents in order to qualify Trimself "for the work of a cavalry scout. As an example of these may be mentioned a. bet which he won when riding out with a cavalry staff at"soln*e manoeuvres in Berkshire. • It was a misty afternoon. Oil a distant lull was seen, four groups, which one officer "said were squadrons of cavalry. Another declared that they were guns. BadenPowell, seeing an individual cross from one group to the next, offered to bet tha,t they were sheep. An orderly was sent out to see, and sheep they proved to be. Here is another anecdote which shows how well Baden-Powell had trained himself in. the art of deduction. He was riding -across- an open grass plain in Matabeleland when he observed that the grass bad been recently -trodden down. He found! it was the track i.of t several women and" boys who had left in the direction of the enemy. Lying a few yards off the track was a leaf. 2Tow, there were no trees about for miles, and from. this_ simple fact Baden-Powell deducted that the. women and children came from a village some miles away, where leaves of thafa particular land grew. The leaf was damp, aaad smelt of beer. From this it was evident that the party had, according-, to" their custom, been carrying pots of native beer on their heads, and that the mouths of the pots had been<. stopped with bunches of* leaves. Its position, a few yards away from the track, proved it was blown there. It was then iwwrly 7 in the morning, and there was no wind. There had, however, been a j breeze about two hours previously. i All these signs proved that during the J night the women had; conveyed beer from. | the village to the hills, where the enemy were lodged, arriving there probably about 6 o'clock. In the ordinary course of events the men would start drinking the beer immediately. By the time it' woald take him to reach them the drink would be having its effect, and the enemy's sleepy condition would afford a favourable opportunity for reconnoitring theii position. He followed the women's tracks, found the enemy as he supposed, and got away with" the valuable information'. — Lseds Mercury.