The Alaska daily empire., 1914-08-21
COMMANDERS IN
 EUROPEAN WAR
een. sIr John D. 2. Freneh.

Sir John Denton Plnkstone French, Chief of Stan of the Army of Great Britain has won the distinction of of flee which he now enjoys by series of achievements which make an en- viable record. He is now sixty-two years of age. In 1866 he entered the Royal Navy and did not go into the Army until 1874 at which time he served in the Nineteenth Hussars in the Sudan Campaign, later command ing that regiment. In 1897 he was promoted to the rank of Major General in command of. the cavalry division in Natal. In 1900 he was made Lieu tenant General in command of the cavalry division in South Africa.
 General French conducted the ac- tiyities of the British near Colesburg in 1899 and 1900 and was in command of the cavalry operations which end ed in the relief of the city of Kimber- ly. now famous for It's diamond mines. Then under Lord Roberts, in command of the cavalry division, he led the campaign which resulted in the cap ture of Blomenfontaine and Pretoria. As a reward for the excellence of his service in the African campaigns he was promoted to the rank of Major General and appointed to the com mand of the First Army Corps at Adershot, and from that rank to his present position as Chief of Stan of the army of Great Britain.
 Gen. Sukhomllnoff.
 General Sukhomlinoff, Russia's Min ister of War, unlike most of his pre- decessors in the War department, is Slav and Russian Nationalist, He was at one time the military governor of Kieff. Until called to begin the task of reorganization of the Russian army as Minister of War, his entire attention was given to the strategic problems of the western frontiers of Russia. Taking no part in either the Chinese or Japanese conflicts, his chief campaign activity was in con nection with the Turkish war, in which he fought brilliantly under Gen. Dragomiroff, as Lieutenant, and whom he succeeded as commander in the southwestern frontier.
 Gen. Sukhomlinofr has never been we'll known in Court circles. but he reached the capital with the reputa- tion of being "the most clever organ izer the ablest strategist, and the most brilliant commander of the entire army" as the one man above all his contemporaries selected to play prob ably the most important role in any war drama ever staged in Austria and Germany.
 He is by profession a cavalryman, and Berlin, Vienna, and Paris unite in proclaiming him the most remark. able cavalry leader in Europe.
 Gen. Won Moltke.
 General Helmuth von Moltke, chief of the general stan of the German army is a nephew of the great Field. marshal von Moltke and "rejoices in the Christian name of Julius." Paral. leling his uncle's wide reputation for taciturnity the nephew and successor as Chief of Stan Is famed for never smiling. Not merely deep gloom, but actually profound misery is his habit. ual expression, and 1t Is said that the Kaiser frequently refers to him as Der traurige Julius." in other words Gloomy Julius." However, 1t must be admitted that he has perhaps some justification for this trait, for 1t is a we'll known fact that Emperor Will fam is no easy man to please in mili. tary matters, and the General prob. ably known we'll the fact that he has not met with the entire approval of his master in that connection. Never theless he has contrived to keep his office for upwards of seven years. though several persons in position to know more or less about the situ. ation have attributed his tenure to the lack of better man to fill the place. He has been, until the present strug- gle began, an almost continual subject of imperial criticism.
 Gen. Joseph Joffre.
 General Joseph Joifre, commander in chief of the army of France, is per. haps one of the most popular men in his country today. He is frequently called Iron willed Joffre," and among the army men it is common saying that if General Joffre has once made up his mind nothing can force him to change it. He is a small man, as was that other commander in chief of Frances army in the fearful hour of the French revolution, sixty.two years of age, with an unusually massive head, fair haired. and wears a heavy dropping moustache. He has the repu- tation of being an excellent horseman.
 While on duty in Madagascar Gen. eral Joffre constructed the harbor of Diego Suarez, the principal one on the island, and it was there he receiy. ed his training as an engineer. The plans for the French army were drawn up last April by General Jofre and their execution has estab. hshed beyond question his fitness for