The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1914-12-18
General loHne's Headquarters
Are Far From Noise and
Din Of Battle
OFFICERS HARD AT WORK
THROUGH DAY AND NIGHT
Few Come and Go, Vast Bust
ness Being Conducted by
Wires to All Points

General Jofffe's Headquarters. (by
maiito New York, November 800 The
nerve center that moves more than 81
100000 men is in a village school house
seventy miles behind the firing lines.
The rare observer who is permittedito
learn its whereabouts and approach,
finds an absolute contrast between the
tranquility here and the intense action
near the trenches. No cannon, ma
ehine.gun or rife FIRE can be heard here.
The 0mmander.in-chief co-ordinates
his information and arrives at his deci-
sions, not. only far from the disturbance
OF actual conflict, but in the depth Of
the country away from the FIRST and sec
ond line Of reserves, the ineessant move
ment Of motor. transport and the dis
l0cafiona Of civil life. An air. of repose
surrounds the headquarters, but life Is
intense here also; 24-hour day Of
study and acts of Judgment
what young colonels you have
here, remarked the correspondent to
member Of the staff.
Work, Long Hours
y They are the mon Of the future,
he replied. i'Sorhe Of these young col
onels are at their desks at 5 o'clock in
the morning and 20 to their quarters
in pleasant private dwellings, nearly at
ten at night. Theyare relieved by 9th
ers and work goes on throughout the
night.
General Joffre has six subordinate
officers in the six armies into which the
field forces are divided. The six gen.
erals commanding these armies, Pau,
Foch, Dalstein, Franehe ID Esperray,
t'astelnan, Manoury, each with his gen
eral STAFF, are connected. by telegraph
and telephone wires with headquarters
General Joffre often talks over situa-
tions by telephone, receives suggestions
and gives orders which are confirmed
and recorded by telegraph. He Is also
in direct aud frequent communication
with Field Marshal French aud Belgian
headquarters and with Bordeaux and
Paris. ~, N. A5 ...$
: single Sentinel on Guard t
NJ A single sentinel PAGES in front Of
The entrance. Except for a few guards
there are no soldiers in General Johre &
village except the yonngish men on his
staff. picked for their talents from
among The $4,000 officers Of France.
The roads Of approach are watched
BY genaarmes and II Is impossible 70
enter the place except by pass signed
either hy the chief of General Joifrei'
staff OF BY one Of the few persons in
the military administration authorized
to sign such pass.
The headquarters Of commanding
general used to be distinguished by the
orderlies and horses in front and his
rank could be pretty well determined
BY their number. Now IL is the number
OF motoreaTs, Nca
Many Autos at Hand 49,
Some fifteen or twenty lone high.pow
seri runners. arc usually lined up in the
< playground of the school house. There
is no toDting of horns. The cars come
and 60 quietly and swiftly. The repre-
sentative OF the British war Office, Col
onel Yarle- Butler, arrives, or the Rus.
sian military agent, or an officer from
the Immediate front or delegate from
the government, bnt for the most part,
there is little coming and going. The
vast business Is transacted by wire,
The meaning and Significance of 1t all
can only be determined by events re.
mote ftom here. l,5
General Joffre, when he goes TO the
headquarters of one of the armies, has
with him an automobile fitted as az
Office. 1t looks, inside, very much like
the little drawing rooms attached to
steamer cabins. A writing desk lets
down from one end Two divans are
along the sides and there are conve-
nient devices for doclteting the papers.
General Joffre, himself, appears in
grave, calm mood and in vigorous
health.