Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-04-30
By ALEXANDER KAHN

AMY three generations of Joffres can |
I Dbe traced on the registry books OF |
France.
n was on June is. 1919, that the first
IJoffre was entered among the births of the
wear in the sleepy town Of Rivesaltes in
the pyrenean Mountains. He was given
the name of Giles. and as far as his frag-
mentary history can be traced he was the
son of a Spanish refugee who fled his own
country for political reasons This refugee
name is believed to have been Gouffre,
which he transformed into the French form
Of Joffre.
Gouffre or Joffre not prosperous
man, but his industry was known through
Y out the adjacent country where the gem
eral opinion reigned that. he was far too
honest to be successful merchant. When
he died it was his sor, also named Gilies.
4 and born on December 10, 1S22, who sue
ceeded him in the humble establishment
1t Rivesaltes. Like his father. he appar-
f1tly had a very hard struggle for eX-
sA,tence and though the family never knew
comfort 'or prosperity.
\ Giles Joffre the second was the father
Of several daughters. and at one time
Il seemed that the direct family line OF
the Spanish refugee was to come to an
end, when at the age of forty-three there
was born to him son, who was destined
to be the father of the man whom future
history will call the Savior of France.
Soon after the birth of the boy Giles
Joifre's wife died, and the child grew neg.
lected and uncared for but sound was
the kernel of honesty and industry he IN
herited from his grandfather that. instead
OF Joining one of the numerous bands of
and Adventures is that infested
the Pyrenees at that time, no sooner did
he grew old enough TO learn trade
than he applied for work to cooper, and
local winegrowers still have saying about
"a barrel as good as GILES Joffre used to
make"
The dreams Of riches through commerce
seemed to have become extinct I'm the
IosYre family with the advent of this cooper
r.i,,.s Iowrs w,s content to remain a sim
~. I.horer~untu his marriage on the date
"a ,,hich ,oge,ber with the small dowrv
hrought Ia him Inv his wife he came into
,,o.ees.,op 81 tho tipv inheritance left TO
Stn by his mother
An w n'e "
WIN this inohes nc o,ai 'eu out
propretor Vi s"cp @S. y. ~ W. a"u
.ne hoine nc ou'. ioi ni .. 90 80. n,o -
IN tne narrow ,ortuous sureet .hat useu "
was porn on January ~, isoI, ms nrst
cnno' wno was han'e' Joseph Jacques
sATe ~ 1onre anu VINO srew u pe .ne pres
mt Senerahssihe oi '''e rle"oh army
The humble home III the Rue des Relgi-
euses by the side OF the shop. came to har-
Dor In the course of time eleven children
OF which but three--two brothers and
sister, Nine Artus, the widow or a cap
tain OF artillery-remain alive today
The town OF Rivesaltes stands on the
banks of the River Agly about nine miles
from the city OF Perpignan. 1t is town
Of bleak and forbidding aspect with about
5000 inhabitants. The Joffre home row
II. Rue de orsngers is like its neighbors,
humble. plain and inartistic' and its inte-
rior construction is quite primitive COM
pared with the modern dwelling OF an aver
= Wnr<man
AS late as 1885 Giles Joffre continued
70 live in the Rue des Religieuses dwell
ing, and then he was induced to change his
dcmIcile for a more pretentious home on
one of the bouevards of Rivesaltes.
The childhood Of General Joffre differed