New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-04-30

o the welcome WOrQ lndt Gc0eTdl fcldlil
!. would see US, would see the stray Ameri-
e can correspondent.
The General Comes.
t Since | saw Petain in the little Marie
al Souilly have seen many photographs
5 Of him. but none in any real measure
T. give the true picture Of the defender of
Nerdun He saw US in his office, the bare
/ upstairs room. two years ago the Office OF
, the Mayor of Souilly. Think of the Sc
, lectmen's office in any New England vii
, lage and the picture will be accurate. \
/ bare room, a desk. one chair. telephone,
, nothing on the walls but two maps. one Of
, the military zone. one OF the actual front
and positions of the Nerdun fighting 4
bleak room. barely heated by the most
primitive of stoves From the single win
dow one looked down on the cherries
street along which numbered the caravan
of autos. On the pegs against the wall
hung the Generals hat and coat, weather
stained faded. the clothes of man who
worked in all weathers. or staff officers.
Of uniforms. of color there was just moth
ing; of war there was hardly hint
At the door the commander in chief met
US, shook hands and murmured clearly and
slowly with incsive distinctness, the for
NAL words of French greeting; he spoke
no English. Instantly there was the sug-
gestion of Kitchener. not of Kitchener as
you see him in flesh. but in photographs
the same GOODNESS. decision. The smile
that accompanied the words of welcome
vanished and the face was utterly mo-
tionless expressionless. You saw tall.
broad-shoudered man, with every appear
ance Of physical strength. clear blue eye,
looking straight forward and beyond.
The Interview.
Ny French companion, NJ. lie Roux,
spoke with Petain. He had just come
/ from Joffre and he told an interesting cir
cumstance. Petain listened. He said now
and then yes" or no" Nothing more.
Watching him narrowly you saw that occa-
sionally his eyes twitched little. the sin
gle sign Of fatigue that the long strain of
weeks of responsibility had brought.
1t was hard to believe. looking at this
quiet, calm. silent man, that you were in
the presence of the soldier who had won
the Battle Of Champagne. the man whom
the war had surprised in the last Of his
fifties, a Colonel teacher of war rather
than soldier, professor like Foch.
No one Of Napoleons marshals had
commanded as many men as obeyed this
Frenchman, who was as lacking in the
distinction Of military circumstance as on,
own Grant. Napoleon had won all his
famous victories with far fewer troops
than were directed from the telephone on
the table yonder.
Every impression of modern war that
comes to one actually in touch with it is a
destruction of illusion: this thing is a
thing of mechanism rather than Of brill
lance; perhaps Petain has led regiment,
brigade. or a division to the charge. You
knew instinctively in seeing the man that
you would go or come, as he said. but there
was neither dash nor fire. nothing Of the
suggestion of elan; rather there was the
suggestion of the commander of a great
ocean liner. the man responsible for the
lives, this time of hundreds of thousands
not scores. for the safety of France. not
of ship, but the man of machinery and
the master Of the wisdom Of the tides and
the weather, not the Ney, or the Murat,
not the Napoleon of Aicola. The impress
sion was of a strong man whose life was
life beaten upon by storms; the man on
the bridge 10 keep TO the rather ridicu
lousy inadequate figure, but not by any
chance the man on horseback.
Ny talk. our talk with Petain was the
matter of perhaps five minutes. The time
was consumed by the words of VI. lie
Roux, who spoke very earnestly urging
that more American correspondents be
permitted to visit Verdun. and Petain !
heard him patiently, but said just moth
ing. Once ne had greeted US his face set
tied into that grim expression that never
changed until he smiled his word of good c
wishes as we left. Yet have since found q
| shall mention in moment | have L
remembered those minutes most clearly of {
all of my Verdun experience Just as the r
does not reveal the face of the !
man. the word does not describe the sense o
Of strength of responsibility. that he gives. a
The New Soldier.
In childish sort Of way, exactly as one +
thinks of war AS a matter of dash and
color and motion, one thinks of the French =.
general as the leader Of cavalry charge
or of forlorn hope Of infantry. And the
French soldier of this war has not been ;.
the man of charge or of dash--not that he
has not charged as well as ever in his his
tory. little more bravely. perhaps. for :
machine guns are new and something
,,.orea .bap othar uarS have had What