ger than
ever in the East.

* * * * *

Great Britain suffered one of her greatest losses during the war on June
7, 1916, when the cruiser _Hampshire_, on board of which was Earl
Kitchener on his way to Russia, was sunk by a German mine or torpedo.
Over 300 lives were lost in this disaster. Earl Kitchener had been
throughout the war the chief force in raising and training the British
army, and to his ability and zeal was due largely the great feats of
landing large numbers of British troops in France within a time which in
the period of peace would have been considered impossible.

KITCHENER

LADY ST. HELIER

Copyright, Harper's Magazine, October, 1916.

[Sidenote: Lord Kitchener a mystery to the outside world.]

[Sidenote: Fond of old friends.]

To the outside world Lord Kitchener was something of a mystery; they
knew little of him personally, he shunned publicity, he was not a seeker
after popularity. Though he had few personal friends, he was endeared to
that chosen few in a way unique and rare. He was shy and reserved about
the deep things of life, but a charming companion in ordinary ways--very
amusing and agreeable. He had a great sense of humor, and his rapid
intuition gave him a wonderful insight into character, and he soon
arrived at a just estimate of people, and of the motives of those with
whom he came into contact. He did not make many new friends, and the
people who knew him well, and with whom his holidays or hours of
relaxation were passed, were confined to those he had known for many
years. He always impressed one with a deep sense of decency in
conversation and conduct; one felt in talking to him how impossible it
would be to drift into the easy-going discussion of questions and
problems of our modern life, and it seemed impossible to imagine his
taking a silent acquiescence in the jokes and insinuations which are not
considered now extraordinary or unpleasant.

[Sidenote: Economy in expenditure in Egypt.]

[Sidenote: Kitchener's unsparing activity in South Africa.]

Lord Kitchener's strength lay in the fact that his views broadened as he
went on in life. As long as he was confined to Egypt and had to carry
out his task with the minimum of force and expenditure, he was careful
even to penuriousness, and his subordinates groaned under his exacting
economy; but he was justified in his care by the wonderful development
of the country devolving from his u