Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-05-02


he reigned of the pcstilential marshes tina
infected the air causing a tremendous NOR
tality among the natives and the French sol
diers.
HIS WORK IN THE EAST
If his immediate superiors took but it'll
| notice of his efforts. probably looking upoi
| him as only small cog in the govern
| | mental wheel that was endeavoring to MAKE
| of Indo-China n prosperous French colony
if his work forms now but forgotten
chapter in the history of French colonies
there Is one town in lndo-China which still
remembers Jofrrc and his work. and tina
boasts OF n wide avenue of few houses and
no pavements, which bears the proud in
cription-Boulevard Joffre.
This town Is Nletri ana Captain Joffre
spent several months there. working, think
inE, planning and always preparing. though
unconsciousy for the task that was 10 he
come his in 1914.
In 1866 Netr was but frontier post,
erected at the junction of two small rivers
Pirates made continuous attacks upon the
Inhabitants and those of the latter who
escaped death at the hands Of the bandits
were being ruthcssly decimated by disease.
A mounted company of the Foreign Le-
gion and a troop Of sappers formed its de-
Tending and attacking force and Captain
Joffre was at the head of the latter.
1t was at Nietri that Joffrc performed a
task which under other circumstances and
|
| nCicnt to gain for him fame and recogn-
| tion When he came. Nietri was a plague
| besct town when he left Netr might have
| been village transplantcd from the French
| Riviera to the tropics.
| Even today an Annamite mother lulling
| her baby to sleep may be heard mutter.
! ing something about the man of the eye
! brows," and hardly any one of the white
| residents overhearinE her would suspect
| that she refers to no one else but captain,
| now Generali lissimo Joffre.
| He certainly left his imprint upon Nietri,
and the natives with the aptitude of saw
| ages. noticed the popularity of the enor-
| nous eyebrows and named this white chief
| "the man of the eyebrows" Since General
| Joffre has come TO occupy the center of the
worlds stage. the Annamite appelatiOn "Y
en- Ong Daumat," in French "L'homme aux
sourcls," has been spread to the four cor
nerS of the earth.
Not even the tropical climate the lone
illness of the evenings in what to every white
man must have been the wilderness Of de-
spair failed to change Captain Joffrc's men
talty or his behavior toward his fellow
men.
He lived alone out of choice whenever
free from duty, he buried himself in papers
and books he worked necessarily and never
appeared tired. Then now his capacity
for work knew no bounds.
This captain was solidly built Pyren-
can. calm and clear-headed. with a firm
walk and hard blue eye" says contem-
porary of his in Indo-China. He seldom
smiled, he spoke still more rarely, and he
never punished except in an extreme case,
but then ii was hard punishment. The
natives feared him because of his silence ;
they loved him because of his justice"
This picture of Joffre of twenty-nine |
years ago may serve as picture of him
today. Justice in the eyes of Joffre meant |
and means, before everything else, con- |
scientiousness in performing given task.
Although helping to pave the way for the |
French domination in the Far East. Captain |
Joffres life at that time did not abound in |
adventures. The glory of a daring exploit, |
the joy Of dashng attack. are not the |
lot of soldier whose energies and ability |
are devoted to building fortiflcations and |
digging trenches. Still Joffres life was far |
from being monotonous.
Were General Joffre a man of industrial |
pursuits, instead of soldier he would have |
no doubt been the father of a labor-saving |
system, for all his efforts. from the very |
beginning of his career, have been dom |
mated not only by the desire to bring TO |
bear upon the work in hand scientific per-
fection, but also by the intention to do II !
at the smallest expenditure Of physical !
force.
When Joffre left Indo-China in 1888, he |
was still a captain, and no one thought |
he himself probably least Of ALL that he |
was in the future TO write some of the |
most important pages in the history of |
France.
But men like Joffre do not pass un-
noticed. Though he himself had not lifted |
"A finger to make his ability known, he |
nevertheless acquired the reputation of be-
ing one of the best military engineers in
the army. and of one who loved his pro-
fession TO degree which made him,
SDpakiDp la
Joffre's arrival in France was not hailed
by cheering multitudes. He came TO Paris
reported himself as ready for new service
and was attached to the staff of the general
commanding the engineering branch of the
French army.
AFTER the activity Of his life in Formosa
ana lndo-China, the enforced comparative
idleness of Office work would have hung
heaHlIy upon the hands of any other man |
put Jonre. To Joffre il was but another |
opportunity to perfect his knowledge, and
he worked at the tasks assigned him as
aruehtly as he worked upon the fortifca-
lions OF Hanoi, Kelong and Vietri.
Perhaps because his superiors were son,s-
what Ill at ease in the presence of this Tin e.
TESS conmandant; perhaps because il was
reailzed that office work was not the field
Ior him a short time afterward he is found
a. an officer on active service with the
Firth Infantry Regiment.
~ ""Ni" NC an Impossible task to trace |
ms lie IN that period Whether Jofrre
-hought or the ungratefulness of his coun-
Try or not is never to be known: but that
he made as efficient an officer in his new
sphere as in the old, of that there is no
doubt. " ''
HIS ONE ROMANCE
one year after his arrival in France. Can
laih Jonre was named commandant, and
As such ne continued to be employed in |
me work OF fortifying France against n
Iuture invasion by an enemy but this
.ime ne was attached to a railway regiment.
, position that gave him the opportunity
,or the study of the railroad system Of
france a study which probably accounts
or the marvellous mobilization results
war. - ''
Thirteen years had Captain Joffre TO wait
oefore getting his fourth stripe. His life
was busy one every minute of these years
'ut many other things happened also, among
hem his marriage in 1884 to Mile Marie
year after. o
The marriage was happy one. Captain
!onre had pleasant bass yoice--Cenerai