The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1914-09-06

Of General Jos Jonre, the quiet man
who rends and tears, as the Parisians
say.
But q few months ago, the French
army, under his direction, showed itself
in annual maneuvers and to such credit
that President Poincare and the public
had acclaimed It the perfect organiza-
ton. To this praise the unobtrusive COM
mander had grunted for he was unsat-
isfed. That night he recommended re-
tirement OF FIVE generals who had par
ticipated. TOO fat" was the only COM
ment he made.
! II was in the summer OF 1911 that the
man who attacks" became chief OF the
| general stan OF the French army. Gener-
alissimo. the people call him. With his
| elevation there came, also, a rearrange-
ment and Capitalization OF authority that
modern France had never before known.
The handling OF the forces was taken
from an army board and given into the
hands OF the one man, the chief of the
general stan. II is his to do with as he
may.
tion during which the commander Of
each division OF the army brought forth
his troops and put them through their
PAGES. When he returned to headquar-
tiers he recommended the compulsory re-
tirement Of Ave other OF the men OF first
command. insufficient efficiency was
his comment. There was one OF the mer-
REST service warfares that the army has
ever known, the cry Of favoritism and
politics. But the quiet man at the helm
let his case rest on the two words of
his explanation-and won.
It was but a year ago that Gen. Joffre
headed a commission that went 10 Rus
STA to attend the great army maneuvers
there. These allies have way Of inter
changing observers that they may learn
OF each other and criticise each other.
Gen. Joffre talked mobilization with the
Gar and his officers. The result was the
Inauguration OF a new system on the
part OF the Russians which would get
:he army TO the border in half the
time. The system has since been worked.
incidentally. the Car bestowed upon
the Frenchman the Order OF ST. Andrew.
In 1893 a French lieutenant with a
handful OF men landed from a gunboat
and seized Timbuctoo, that meeting place
OF the camel and the canoe on the edge
Of Sahara. But four white men had
previously visited this wilderness and
these had mostly become food for the
natives. The landing party went the
way OF its predecessors as did Col. T. p.
E. BONNER and 100 men who sought to
svenge them The Man who attacks"
was sent into the wilderness and his
bupJuEdtlOn OF the new COlOny was suCu
that there since has been little OF which
to complain
In the French island OF Madagascar
there is a model harbor inviting the
trade OF the world. Its construction was
an engineering task OF herculean dim
culties. but the governor OF the island
was Jos Jofrre. the quiet man who does
the thing needful Back in the siege OF
Paris in the tragic days Of 1870,
youngster II eighteen commanded a
battery OF artillery. To the last II stood
Grams Of that time pointed with ap-
prevail TO tire work OF Second Lieutenant
Jorrr-
TODAY you Nigh, call upon this man
OF 4 ION out among the steel fortresses
OF the German border. He would see
you informally. talk to YOU courteously.
dismiss you deferentialy. You would
see in him a short. stocky. old man
whose clothes hung illfittingly upon him
a very blond man OF massive head.
heavy features and stubby mustache. He
would not appear to YOU as a dashing
and cavalier figure.
But tomorrow he may be in Germany
at the head OF troop OF cavalry and
his is the reputation OF being the wick
edest rider in all the army. His mill
tary policy is to strike, to act wherever
possible on the offensive. TO be so
efficient and well prepared that blows
delivered will be effective This domi-
rating policy Of the Generalissimo might
have been good tip Of what was likely
to happen on the border. A great
Mathematician. an engineer. a strategist,
u man OF forethought and preparation.
he stands with 100000 men al his back
TO prevent a recurrence of the national
humiliation OF his youth
"TIRPITZ THE ETERNAL"
"Tirpitz the Eternal" they call him In
Berlin. this fork bearded. sailor-states-
man. who has built up from a flock Of
tubs feet of battleships that dares crap
pie with the navies OF the world. Alfred
TirpitZ. son Of the people and an inlander. /
forty-fve years ago came down TO the /
sea as a naval apprentice. Today and for .
fifteen years he is and has been Grand
Admiral Alfred Won TlrpIrz, secretary Of !
state for the imperial navy Of Germany. /
Chsncellors. war ministers. foreign sec .
retaries, have come and gone, but Won {
TlrpitZ has remained His has been a
task dear TO the Kaiser's heart and there .
has been none other capable Of il. II was
,wentv-three years ago that this huge.
iomineering Teuton became chief of staff .
II kiel the headquarters Of the fleet,
having won this post by way of the quar-
,erdeck and by virtue OF personal force.
Here the German ships were built and
here was no cause for pride in those that
lad gone before. The giant sailorman
low became an administrative He con.
'erted the navy yards into models Of ef-
iciency and began the development Of the
ieet into a world-fghting organization.
First came the torpedo hotilla, then the
Jattle cruisers. and finally the Dread \
loughts. Scientific and inventive genius
vas set to work TO devise whatever might
end to German supremacy. Today Won II
rirpitz believes the German guns are SUI
'erior to those OF any other nation and
hat they make II possible for the Ger
nan ships 10 defeat twice their strength
Il certain time. He induced Ger
.fter his own heart Ahame with the
var spirit, brooking no interference, look
ng decades into the future. subtle as 10
means Of reaching those ambitions which
e held in common with his ruler. this
rchitect-in-chief OF the German navy
layed as would Wilhelm himself in the
anne circumstances. OF all the men who
ave surrounded the Kaiser OF lnte years
My Won Tirpitz has dared oppose him.
But this iron man of the ships Is as I'M
fraid in the face of his autocratic chief
s among the men who build his Dread
oughts.
The grand admiral looked two decades
head and saw the need that would face ,
iermany in 1870 II she was to realize
il ambition that she should become a
'orld power. He appreciated the sort
navy that she would need at thar
me il she were to contest the seas
nth such nations as England. He con-
aNv=r l. ,9N - II