The evening leader. (Tarpon Springs, Fla.) 191?-19??, 1917-02-10
Commander of French Army Does
This Work as MethodicaIIy
as Banker.
HAS LITTLE Time FOR REST
Days Work Begins at Seven in the
Morning and Continues Far Into
the Night, With Little Let
H. Up-Master of Details.
BY LINCOLN EYRE.

the Army of the Mouse since the great
"come back" at Thiaucourt, Douau-
mont and Vaux, have obtained de-
tailed account of the daily life of
General Nivelle, who now has COM
mand of Frances fighting forces. I
am assured that the manner in which
General Nivelle carries out from hour
to hour his colossal task differs but
slightly from that of other army COM
handlers. No matter what may be GO
Ing on in the front lines, the man who
controls thousands of soldiers must
regulate his life as precisely as the
man who runs great business enter
prise in New York.
Thus General Nivelle burns no mid
night Oil-not after midnight, at any
rate. He gets a good six hours sleep
and walks into his office at head
quarters, which is situated in the
municipal building of a village 20 miles
behind the trenches, at +he stroke of
seven, having partaken of the tradi-
tional French "first breakfast" of cof-
fee and milk and bread and butter.
Sitting down in a stiff-backed arm
chair at the big table which he pre-
fers to a desk, the general prepares
to receive the report of his chief of
staff. The room in which he works
has another smaller table, three or
four plain wooden chairs, and a filing
cabinet: nothing more. except maps,
which are everywhere.
There are small scale maps of every
front, large scale maps of the Verdun
zone, maps showing batteries and
maps showing infantry positions !;
maps made from airplane reconnais-
sance and ordinary staff maps, and,
most interesting of all, maps giving
the whereabout of every German unit
belonging to the crown princes army
all the way from Verdun back to the
Rhine.
To Business Right Away.
The chief of staff, briefly saluting
his superior, plungeS laconically into
his typewriter narrative of the
nights doings.
"The X sector was calm, but near
by in Y there was brisk artillery
bombardment. Shells fell thickly on
the - position, but our batteries
shut up the enemy without great
trouble. A patrol of the 'steenth bat
TALON of the 'tieth brigade brought
in seven prisoners, from whom we as
certained that the heavy howitzer To-
Gated by our airplanes in the -
wood was destroyed by three shells
from our No. - battery of 240 mill
limeter guns. We brought down an
airplane at five o'clock this morning
over DOuaumont; the pilot is now be-
ing Intercepted. We have had 326
wounded and 81 dead in that engage
ment at - yesterday. There is an
epidemic of typhoid in the cam
Torment, but only four cases so far.
Judging by the direction of his fire,
the enemy is planning a trench raid on
Hill No. -. The -th division
asks for 10000 75-millimeter shells,
and an increase in the wine rationment
is asked by the til brigade" etc.,
ETC., etc.
An hour is consumed in the reading
of the report, which is constantly in
terrupted by comments and brief in
structions from the general. Then he
sends his dispatches from great gen.
eral headquarters to other headquar-
tiers. He then devotes a scant Is
minutes to his other correspondence
Communication from the minister of
war, from members of the government,
from deputies and senators, from
simple "poilus" who violate the regu-
lations by addressing their 'big boss
direct, and from friends and family.
Meantime the table is loaded down
with the days "dossiers''-bulky rec.
ords dealing with proceedings in court.
martial, recommendations for the
awarding of decorations, special re.
ports on matters concerning the health
or the housing or the feeding or the
transportation of troops-an endless
flood of paper. The general signs his
name until his wrist aches, but it is
numb by the time the last of the docu.
ments has been dealt with.
Telephones Are Kept Busy.
Throughout all this period of sig.
natures there are intermittent spasms
of telephoning. General Nivelle must
speak to General Petain, General de
Castelnau, the chief of the general
.Shstaff, and perhaps General Joffre
Often M. BRAND or other officials are
DESTROYS of word with the general
over the wire. Then there are numer-
Gus up-to-the-minute reports phoned
In by subordinate officers, commanders
. of divisions and brigades, which must
, be heard by General Nivelle himself
/ Besides, there is always the unexpect-
ed to cope with, no matter how sys.
tematized warfare may have become
The five hours to noon passes rap.
idly, and luncheon often finds the gen.