The cost of the Soudan War.

Manawatu Herald, 17 December 1898, Page 2

The cost of the Soudan War.

Lord Edward Cecil, just home from the Nile (writes Mr Lucy) is full of praises of the Sirdar. He served on his staff a» aide-de-camp, rode in his suite when he entered Omdurman and accompanied him on the expedition to Fashoda. He describes the personal labour and endurance of Kitchener through the campaign as something marvellous. He overlooked everything, seemed to be übiquitous, and was simply tireless. On the night before the battle of Omdurman he got three hours' sleep taking it wrapped in his cloak on the desert sand, having previously dined and supped on bread and water. He was the first man to enter Omdurman, riding forward regardless of the sniping going on from every corner and many huts. Remonstrated with by his staff for heedlessly incurring this danger, he answered, " Well, well, they are very bad shots." What the Sirdar is prouder of even than bis complete victory is the fact that he had achieved it an expenditure less by £300,000 than the War Office estimate. This is the result of careful planning and of patient personal supervision of details. The campaign will cost a trifle over a million sterling, which the Sirdar's staff complacently compared with the eight millions spent on Lord Wolseley's campaign. 4| — — — — — — V 7