The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-12-29
Mi TARY GENIUS WHO DOESN'T
ASPIRE TO BE A DICTATOR
General Joseph Joffre Most Interesting Personality IN
France. Absolute Ruler of It's Inhabitants-A Kindly
Gentleman.

ness which beSpeakS a atl1re given to
decisive action. He has an d habit
Of Jerking forward, ever so lightly
the left elbow when making a point
in argument, and when that elbow
moves you know further argument is
out Of h question.
His p~hysiognomy Then in repose IS
almost that Of a child. A broad fore
head, eyes which seem sometimes
blue. sometimes hazel, looking
through you as he quietly waits to
hear you out. A strong mouth with
rather large lips overhung with a
bushy mustache now fairly white. A
deep dimple overshadowed by a firm
chin; ears small and lying close to
the head; a %sunburnt complexion still
wonderfully fresh; the whole face sin
gularly free from deep lines for a man
Of his age and strenuous life: white
hair thick over his massive brow:
head: head erect on a short, thickSet
| neck; eyebrows bushy and prominent;
the face almost a perfect oval. The
expression is that Of a man who car
| rieS out everything on the famous
Latin precept, Gentle in manner,
| strong in action"
This sums up the greatest man in
| France. the idol of his people, the
savior OF his country, Gen. Joseph
| Joffre, Commander In Chief of the
French Army.
Last but not least-Joffre turns the
scale at 1S2 pounds-that is. he did
when last weighed, about a year ago,
and the burden of his responsibilities
does not seem to have caused him to
lose flesh.
His muscles are as firm as those
of an athlete; his capacity for physi-
cal exercise is that Of a man twenty
years younger.
Pyy rof1ro ho &c roca~-o1 Io will
sit for hours without speaking and
when he does talk it is in a voice low
and slow Only in the intimacy OF
the modest little hotel in the Rue
Michel-Ange at Passy, where he ha,
lived many years with his wife an6
her three children, the offspring OF
her first and long-ago divorced hus.
band, does he unbend.
"A Man of Tender Sensibilities.
His features express thought rather
than the habit Of command, power
rather than force, will rather thar
wish; but their chief charm, as al
American who has often spoken will
him says, is hat they distinctly tel
you the General is a man Of heart. In
} deed, those who know hin we'll hOl'
: tina to this quality of ear is ind1
7 rectly due the slowness of the militar-
operations in Northern France. Un
: like Emperor William and his mgr
: midon Generals, Joffre shrinks fror
uselessly sacrificing soldiers lives
: hence the defensive and caution
character Of the trench wal he is sti]
f tenaciously and patiently carrying or
j les grignotte" (Tm nibblin
them) he told a recent visitor at head
e quarters, who asked how the cam
pa1gn was getting on. But the tim
f will come-such is the universal be
s lief among army men in France
L III -r.1 ALL -L-sY
e hard; and then, when the psycholog,
cal moment arrives, as it arrived o
h n of the retreat to the Marn,
o when the German forces show thu
n they feel the hopelessness Of the
finest efforts, he will bring up the mi
lion Of French soldiers known to /
in reserve waiting for the emergenc
and order a general, overpowering az
l. vance.
The Joffre home is a happy, ide;
IS one. The Genera adores his wifi
the daughter Of a great artist name
- Penon, once famous as the decorate
= of the palaces of Napoleon Ill, ar
in his time celebrated as an antiQuar
The early life of Nine. Joffre W;
4 passed in a beautiful house in Il
centre Of Paris, where she met socia
~ many of the most eminent peop
OF the day. She is handsome. wi
OF very fair hair of the pale Rubens &C
ie or. Like most Parisiennes, she DIRE
~ ses with excellent taste. but she is n
oI a slave to fashion and nearly alwa
u. is in black, her favorite hue.
In the pretty little villa in Pass
now occupied, the furniture is simp
with some finely painted portraits
in the walls and some rare old Regen
furniture in the drawing room OF S
ajf ION. In contrast. the Generals stu
Az is furnished farely, one may say.
Empire style, with old mahoga
to tables and shelves, the walls lin
no with books and hung with maps,
most all military.
e's The home life is essentially qui
re The Joffres never receive"
'ut The Generals chief physical recl
&c. alton is riding. and when he gets up
ly. start out at five or six in the NOR
lot ing, as he frequently does. all t
M family must get up too. His Q
I'd home pastime is music, which t