New Britain Herald Newspaper, June 21, 1916, Page 7

W, BRITAIN DAILY HERALD, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21, 1916. Joffre, Stalwart; Tireless Head of the French Army (Correspondence of the Asso. Press). “paris, May 25—Months of respon- gibility by General Joffre in the con- duct of the greatest war in history, during which time he has been on duty an average of 17 hours a day and has traveled more than 70,000 miles in a motor car, do not seem to have aged this veteran soldier a bit; there is not the slightest betrayal of fatigue h; his countenance, his step or in his xigd; he is quite as ready for any development today as at any time singe the war began, and his decisions | are as prompt and clearly thought out as on the historical August 26th, 1914, when he issued to the French armies the general instructions for the Battle of the Marne. It is in a quiet villa surrounded by a pretty garden and in a spacious room on the ground foor with a bil- liard table covered with maps in the center and maps on all the walls that the general-in-chief begins to receive reports from his staff officers hetween B and 6 o’clock in the morning. General Joffre on sitting down at his work-table finds a single sheet of papers on whieh are noted the latest news of the situation of the French and German armies received during the night. There is no inkstand on the table., for the general writes very little, and no telephone, <n instru- ment that he detests, and never uses excepting by proxy. There is a com- plicated set of colored cravons, how- ever, with which the general with his own hand marks changes in the situ- ation of the armies upon the maps. _After a hasty glance at the memor- ~andum, the general listens to reports from the staff, which are rapidly com- mented upon, while concise orders are given covering questions of detail; af- tesward projected orders of consider- sble consequence are submitted to the general by members of his staff, oF submitted by him to the staff. Has Disinterested Air. General Joffre listens to his officers with a rather detached air; he even has the appearance of paying no at- tention to what is heing said; then suddenly will surprise his staff by in- terruping the reader of the report er letter and reaching out for it. When- ever a phrase or a word strikes him, he insists upon reading for himself; Xe also follows for himself, pencil in hand, reports concerning military op- erations and movements of troops, and seeks out for himself even the | most insignifieant points named in the despatches. With the same care he reads every telegram, every order, be- fore signing it. The first session of the day disposes of questions of organization, troops required at different points, move- ment by rail, sanitary service, ar- rangements for reinforcements, all of which are decided to the smallest de- tail. The first part of the session is de- | voted to what is called the situation of the ‘“northeast,” which means the north and east of France or the Cuticura Stops ltching Instantly Trial Free. Just Bathe with the Cuticura Seap, dry and apply the Cuticura QOintment ‘For Eczemas, Rashes, Itchings, irritations, pimples, dandruff, sore hands and baby humors, Cuticura Soap and Ointment are supremely effec- tive. Relief is immediate and healment,in most cases,is com- plete, speedy and permanent. Sample Each Free by Malil With 32-p. Skin Book uest, Ad- drees post-card “Cutienra, Dept: 16, Boa- ten.”” _ Sold throughout the world. Franco-Belglan front; then follows a discussion of what is called the “T. O. E.” standing for “Theater Opera- tions Exterior.” After about three hours conseerat- ed to reports and the necessary or- ders to provide for the eventualities of the day, Joffre rises from his desk and puts on his cap, which is the signal for the departure from the general headquarters to some one of | the armies at the front. It is gen- erally about haif past nine. Three | powerful motor cars are always wait- ing at that hour in front of the villa. As the general passes out of the door, an officer pushes into his hand a small paper that he sticks into the pocket of his jacket. It is the time table and the itinerary of the day’s journey, ar- ranged and approved by him the evening betore and from which no di- vergence is permitted. Automobile His Couch. The general-in-chief and an ord- nance officer get into the first car, while a second officer follows in what is called the ‘‘relief car’” the third one being reserved for two secretaries who aecompany Joffre on all his visits to the armies. These same cars have carried the general and his suite since the beginning of the war nearly every mile of the ground from the sea io the Vosges. The hours he spends speeding over the country are hours of comparative rest for him. He im- proves the occasion to read in more detail long reports that have not re- quired immediate attention but which he wants to know from beginning to end, but most of the route is spent in rest, the general being an adept in the art of catching snatches of sleep en route. He is eredited with the power of sleeping when he wants to and of awakening at will. The general's car is known to everyone in the army by the tri-cel- ored fanion with a geld fringed cravat that it carries. He always arrives without ceremony and proceeds im- mediately and simply to the business in hand, whether it be a discussion of important projected operations with the commander of an army, or wheth- er it be his simple luneh, whieh he | often takes seated on the ground at the side of a road, and which he disr | patches with good appetite. Fre- quently, instead of leaving the ear to visit the headquarters of an army, he takes the general in command into the car with him and diseusses matters en route, thus saving time and keeping to the time table prepared for his round. The discussion goes on while the general-in-chief and the general in command of an army are making their way to the communicating trench through which they will pro- ceed to the first line trenches. Nothing in the construction of these trenches escapes Joffre; if there is anything wrong anywhere, the ficers and soldiers say, it is that very thing that the general's eye will light upen. He prefers to be unnoticed in these sort of business trips to the front, insisting that they in no way partake of the form and ceremony that attaches to reviews, but, instine- tively, when the old ‘grandfather’” passes, the sentinels and soldiers pre- sent arms, reddening with pleasurable emotion because of this opportunity to honor the general-in-chief. None of the army eommanders have yet been able to satisfy Joffre on two points—the shelters for the men along the first line are never deep enough, and the barbed wire entanglements that protect the first line are never dense enough. “It's very well, it's very well,”" says he generally to the colonel, shaking his hand, “but yeu must put up a lit- tle more barbed wire. I am going to send you more, and when you have a few men available just deepen these shelters a bit, toe.” He never forgets such things; the barbed wire is always forthecoming, and if he passes that way again and finds the shelters have not been deep- ened he notices it and makes the eol- enel notice it. Soldiers’ Comfort First Aim. The numerous reviews that Joffre has had occasion to pass are not en- tirely matters of show and parade, He first visits the installation of one of the battalions and inspects the kitch- ens, the laundry and the organization of the baths. After he has assured himself that the material wants of the soldiers are cared for, he passes along the line to salute the regimental flag. Of all the generals who have con- ferred decorations during the war, none, it is said, do it with such real feeling as Joffre. When he gives the “accolade” after pinning the cross It matters not whether rainy or fine So long as you have a SumotA shine SumorA is wax and oils that soften and preserve the leather instead of causing it to crack. pplied with any cloth or brush. For greater convenience get a SumorA HOME SET BLACK TAN WHITE ! he kisses him heartily on both cheeks, i itinerary of his round, and this is upon the brave soldier’s breast, wheth- er it be the simplest trooper, the black- est Senegalese rifleman, or an officer, never being satisfied with a semblance of an embrace as are some other gen- | erals. After conferring with the general of an army, visiting the quarters of the troops or passing a regiment, Joffre alwayy consults his little paper, the about the only thing that disturbs the equanimity of his temper. “We are going to be at least twenty minutes | late,” he often sa impatiently, and this means that the man at the wheel | must make up that time in order to get baeck into the general's good graces; he never goes too fast to suit his illustrious passenger. The tour of inspection is generally finished about 5 o’clock in the after- noon. Then back at headquarters comes the most annoying part of his day's work—questions of displace- ment, promotion, retirement, recom- penses of officers, and citations of sol- diers, besides a thousand-and-one questions relating to arms, material, ammunition supplies, and the sani- tary department. The reserve sup- plies of shells' for cannon of differ- ent calibre is a matter of such mo- mentous importance in this war that Joffre leaves these details to no one else; he keeps the figures in his head, and he, any day, can give the exact reserve stock of ammunition in hand. He knows also the exact figures rep- resenting the daily output of the am- munition factories. He personally at- tends to all trials of new engines of destruction or protection. After the audiences relating to these questions, the general receives the director of what is called the ‘ser- vices of the rear” to discuss trans- portation and plans for the repair or construction of railroads; still more designs, more figures, all of which are organized, co-ordinated, and filed in the prodigious memory of the gen- eral-in-chief, so accurately as to re- quire no memorandum. Safety Valve of the Army. General Joffre has been described by some of his generals as the safety valve of the army. While he is the direeting intelligence of the great machine, he is at the same time the relief for overcharged minds of su- bordinates who, under certain contin- gencies, may be over-affected by mat- ters of secondary importanee. Sur- prised by some unlooked-for develop- ment and impressed by a complica- tion that seems to them decisive and perhaps irremediable, a simple ob- servation from Joffre often reduces the exaggerated incident to its proper proportions and cools the blood of his subordinate. The general-in-chief is not partial to the visits of civilians in war-time. He has resisted with admirable con- sistency the constant pressure of thou- | sands of influential civilians who have | no business at the front, but never- theless desire ardently to see it. Be- sides the hundreds of war correspon- | dents, the supervising committees of | the Chamber of Deprties, hundreds of other influential politicians, ministers, | and other governmental officers, there are the visiting notabilities from the | allied countries who never fail to put in an application or a visit to the front. When the general lunches at the general headquarters, he manages to satisfy some of these innumerable de- mands by receiving French or foreign ministers, generals, other officers of allies armies, or notabilities, at his table. The dinner is generally a good one, because Joffre eats with an ex- cellent appetite, although he drinks little and smokes not at all. It is| one of the hours of the day which he looks forward to, because questions relating to the gervice are rigorously barred frem conversation and galety is the rule. After dinner the general turns over rapidly the leaves of the latest illustrated papers and com- plains of the multiplicity of photo- graphs representing him in all sorts of positions and poses that he rarely finds to his taste. The general-in-chief returns to his | work half past eight in the even- ing to receive the reports of the day that have arrived in his absence, and to approve the communique to the press, which is never transmitted to Paris without having received his ap- probation. The ordnance officers bring in the last telegrams and re- ceive their orders for the morrow. At 10 o'cloek, after the members of his staff have all retired, the general fin- ally, entirely alone in his workroom, finishes his day’s task. itching ski ‘When you know physicians have pre- scribed Resinol for 20 yeais in the treat- ment of itching, burning, unsightly skin eruptions, and have written thousands of reports such as: ‘‘It is my regular prescription for itching,”” ‘‘Resinol has produced brilliant results,”’ and ‘‘The result it gave was marvelous in one of the worst cases of eczema,’’ doesn’t it make you say to yourself, ‘‘that’s the right kind of treatment for sy skin-trouble?"’ Resinol is sold by all druggists. ( L15Ten- WE'LL ALL BeaT T EUTA HERE- HE'S SOT THE FEUER To PLAY H— L TonnGHT-— HE'S A WIDOW His FoLees HAVE GONE Thass GooD WE'LL LEAVE THE Poor FisH FLAT — AN' NO \ PLACE T N HES A REG'LAR \'GosH Dprn IT FOR TonigHT S i For TH Luva MiKE - LES BeaT T JOE — HE'LL WANTA HIS FAMILY oFF FOR THE SUMMER,