THE MAN OF THE HOUR.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6662, 7 December 1899, Page 2

THE MAN OF THE HOUR.

-♦ ■ SIR REDVERS BULLER. You ask me (writes my military correspondent), "What manner of man is Redvers Buller 'r" Well, he is a soldier of distinction, one who has won battles and wears the V.C., who has led and followed the lead of .others, who has worked his way up step by step with no particular influeiice to help him, to the highest- prize of his profession, the command of what will be the largest British army that has ever left these shores. All this' you know; you know his counterfeit presentment too, but. not to a very large extent, for Buller is a rare product in this advertising age ; he haiPalways been averse from giving an interview to a pressman or a photograph to a (newspaper, and if his picture is to be seen in print, or in the Lon- , don shop-fronts to-day, it ds but a recent and certainly a grudging concession. Buller in full-dress blazing with medals ; Buller in undress on horseback reviewing troops ; Buller as a slim young colonel — a Queen's aide-de-camp ; Buller as a middle-aged man of greater girth and with something of a jowl ; all these are familiar enough to you now. But the Buller iritime, the personal Buller, himself, his traits, character, idiosyncracies ; how much does the public at' large know of these? Little enough ; and only through a glass darkly. It is high, time that the generalissimo of .her Majesty's forces in South Africa, who will shortly bear a great burthen fraught with the most momentous national issues, should be better understood by his fellow-countrymen. THE RIGHT MAN. First and 'before all, it cannot be stated too clearly and emphatically that he is what our friends across the pond call rx " real live man," There is no humbug about him, nor anything unreal ; what he says he means, what he promises he performs, what is given him to do, he does, or has done so far, and that is much to say in this disappointing world. His fitness for the job now entrusted to him cannot be questioned. He is the best soldier of his standing, available for the present crisis. Lord Wolseley's time for field service , is pretty we'll over, so is that of Lord Roberts. The Sirdar can afford to wait for his next great chance, and, seriously speaking, he. has not Bullers qualifications for this particular business. READY, AYE READY ! ' Buller knows his .trade by heart, is up to every move, can handle every tool with the perfected skill of the master craftsman. He has studied soldiering incessantly, practised it continually, and gained a.n intimate acquaintance with that most difficult profession, war. Those who have seen him at work will bear ample testimony to his worth. He has the natural gifts indispensable to a good general ; he is watchful and observant, with a keen eye for country ; a full appreciation of what troops can do and when- it should be done; he can wait for the right moment, and then strike with concentrated effect. He has the cool judgment that comes of profound self -reliance, an'd'his courage is not only of the physical " two o'clock in the morning " kind, amply shown =by feats of, daring that are household words, but the rarer moral quality that rises .superior, to the darkest and most dangerous crises of war. His record tells but baldly of the day atEl Teb, or that other day at Tamai, when the shaken squares stiffened into fresh and successful resistance under his personal direction ; or of the masterly manner in Avhich he got the desert column* out of the tightest of tight places at Metemmeh, after Herbert Stewart and Burnaby had been struck down at Abu Klea, AT THE END OF THE WIRE. A British general called to high command has more to do than march and countermarch to bring his enemy to battle and meet him. He has to manipulate the threads of the somewhat cumbrous military machinery that holds him. tight, and may often hamper and hinder him from a distance. He is never quite free of War Office control, for he is at the end of the wire,, and may always expect interference. Not the least of Buller's merits it that he knows our War Office by heart, for he has been closely associated with it for years as a military staff officer in. the highest grades. He lias a profound contempt for it, too. His evidence given before the committee for decentralising War Office work, and giving more initative to the generals commanding districts and stations at home and abroad, was quite amusing in its outspoken ridicule of War Office

methods. He gave it as his opinion that sthe i elerks-^hought ' tiie." army . existed solely for them, and that they had invented half the red tape and routine simply that they^ might justify their existence, and, that one 1 of the first results of decentralisation would be to cut down their number. NO COURTIER. Buller is no courtier, but he has always been popular withi the Royal Family. : There is a strong bond of personal attachment between him and the Duke of Cambridge.: He was long the trusted friend and right' hand of the late Commander-in-Chief, to'; such an extent that he was practically the head of the army for years. It was then,;j no doubt, thiat Sir H. Campbeli-Bannerman,: as Secretary for War; --conceived that higbr opinion of him which so nearly made him the Duke's successor. Buller could say any thing to the Duke. A year after the latter's retirement, lie was sitting in Buller'g room (the Duke could not keep away from the War Office at -first ; the habit had -be- 1 come ingrained) bemoaning big- hard lot,j' when Buller turned on him and saidn! "Come, sir, admit, that ypu are. ever so' much better since you went out of harness ?'* " Upon my soul you're right !" admitted the Duke, with a loud laugh ; " I believe if has added years to my life !" TO THE QUEEN. Another plain speech, to a more august personage, is attributed to him which is ben trovato, if not precisely true. At the first Aldershot review graced by the Queen's presence after Buller took up the command,, her Majesty is reported to have said: "I; have' not seen much of you lately, Sir Redvers Buller." "That's not my fault,: ma'am !" was the" blunt soldier's reply. Per-| haps the Queen had hot forgotten his speech! when she issued her comnlaad for him to go to Balmoral to say good-bye. A- BRITISH BULLDOG. Buller's tenacious self-reliance, which has served him so well in the field before, and will, no doubt, again, has its Toots in great obstinacy of character,. He does not like to admit that anyone else is right, or so'exactly right as he is himself. One story iai worth reviving in this connection.. It, is! not very new, perhaps, but it is so striking-! Ly illustrative of this trait that it is Worth, repeating. When he was coming down the First Cataract on the Nile with Charlie Beresford, after the evacuation of the Soudan, a sharp discussion arose as to which was the proper channel for the gunboat to' take. Buller advised one and Beresford another, but in the end Buller's channel was followed with perfect success. "You -see L was right, "he. chuckled exultantly. "Not at all," retorted Charlie. "I knew it was the right one myself ; I only recommended! the other because I knew you would oppose whatever I said!' 1 This tendency"*to take up a hostile attitude to whatever is said or proposed is so well known in Buller that it has rather militated now against the effeci.ve preparation, of his farce. Even high officials have hesitated to make suggestions that were pregnant and useful, fearing that he would oppose them, because they were not his own. On the other haiii, it is certain that his* selection of Sir Archibald Hunter as his chief of the staff was at the instance of another, and the employment of Colonel BrocKiehurst as a cavalry brigadier was accepted by Buller on the urgent advice of General French. ELECTRICIAN, FINANCIER, AND • COOK. If Buller is self-opinionated, he has some excuse. He is remarkably well-instructeu, well equipped with practical knowledge. A man of great mental activity and grip, he likes to master the technique and inner working of all sorts of subjects. Thus he is a first-class electrician, and when his house in Brut on Street, was wired t a few years back for the electric light, he surprised the .engineers with his knowledge of details. Finance, again, greatly interests him ; he has a first-rate head for figures, and if he had not taken to arms he would have beenra magnate in the City. His astute management of the resources of the Naval litnd Military Club, his favourite club,. put it oa its present sound footing. He was almost perpetual president of its committee, and the club cuisine, and especially the club cellar, have ever been under his fostering care. Omniscience is no doubt a role he likes to play, but he can assuredly hold his own with the experts m many lines. One of his hobbies is agriculture and stock-raising. At home, on his own estates at Downe, near Crediton, he is an enthusiastic farmer, and has very sound judgment on crops, horses, *nd cattle. With that peculiar bias of his, to believe that all he has is the best posfible, he always stoutly maintains that the products of Ins lands 'are unrivalled, and,; Indeed, agricultural shows often bear out this claim, for he is a great pryse-winner. AT HOME. Buller is seen at ais best in his own house* whether at his country place, or, till lately, in Bruton Street and Government House, Aldershot. There's no sign there of his somewhat brusque, abrupt, surface manner, which many were inclined to call rude. Heis the kindliest and most hospitable of men, and likes nothing better than to welcome his friends, and particularly an old friend^ to his board. He has no greater joy than to make a night of it, talking everything out, past and present and to " come, till a very late hour in the snug privacy of his study, when he lets out freely, not over pipe or cigar, for he is no smoker, and of late !he is very abstemious in fluids. As a case in point,* showing his fondness for sitting up, he was to be seen and heard " cracking " in the Beefsteak Club till half -past ens the very morning of his departure. He is, as a matfter of fact, satis*fied with very little sleep, and has, often been heard to declare thait he hates going to bed. A strong constitution and great physical energy are inesltdmafble natural gifts toflhe campaigner. AS DRILL SERGEANT. There are two very different and distinct!) aspects of Buller's personality — the stern look, 'Uhe brief, caustic speech; the fierce contempt he ihows for fools. Yet he will never fuss and storm end worry. Quite lately, since he has oommamded at Aidershot, a grea!fc change has com© over the drills before the field dfcys. Buller did not believe in letting his men grow stale by over pineparaition, not always to lihe contentment of his staff. As his ©win Deputy-Adjutant-General put it;- mildly .protesting : " In' the Duke of Oonnaughit's time -we had "boo much rehearsal, now " "There are not enough, eh?" retorted BuSler, ca'tdhing him up, bub quietly insisting on his own plan. He always 'has his own way, by hook or crook, sooner or later. Yet he is withal a very hind-hearted man, and after he haa let "off his indignation against an offender he will certainly take the most lenient view of his case. When he was Adjutant-General of the Army, some of (hds immteddaite subordinates found fault with this— to them—excessive tenderness for mistakes and wrongdoing. Within his own family circle, Buller altogether unbends ; he is the life and soul of the talk, and the friend arid companion of his children, although he has only one of his own. A NOTE OF SORROW. Lady Audrey Buller was previously married, and there are two Misses Howard, of whom Sir Redvers is exceedingly fond. A great grief recently fell upon the Bullers in the death of Lady Audrey's* only son, Mr Howard, of the King's Royal Rifles, who was carried off by enteric fever in India last summer. It should be noted that the stepson had entered Buller's old corps, for Sir Redvers is, and always will be, " one of the 60tih." He loves the King's Royal Rifles with the affection of aai old soldier for his alma mater, and nowadays wears for choicf at 'his dinner-parties the green jacket and mess dress of the rifleman.— ("M.A.P.") Sale of watches, clocks, spectacles, jewellery, etc., 20 per cent under pawnbrokers' auction prices at Clarke and •■ Cp-'e, Jewellers, 148,* Colombo Street, opposite Recce's. Special— 20 short wind Waterburys 9s 9d each, 23 English Levers from 19s 6d to 39s j clocks 2s 6d. A present of two butter knives or Idoz teaspoons to every purchaser of an 18ct. £1 Is Redding ring, heaviest and best at the price in New Zealand. Three shillings in the £ discount on engagement rings, gold chains, e fcfl. Visit us before t>urcha»ing. Open to-night until 8.30. Clarice gad Qa.l

Mr Beethcim, 8.M., hud to attend a meeting of the "Lyttelhjii Licensing- Committee tins morning, and, n< consequence, the civil cases at the Christulmreh it illustrate'? ('our!; were adjourneduntil 2.30 p.m.