Douglas County sentinel. (Douglasville, Douglas County, Ga.) 190?-current, January 12, 1917, Image 3

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utlen Gone Wrong. I>t ou, fnlen. whlekeM cevn'ry, and It can make Its nay any iMd or DOUGLAS COUNTY SENTINEL, DOUGLASVILL6, GEORGIA HAS GREATEST RECORD OF ANY LEADER IN WAR Genera! Joffre Will Rank in His tory With the Ablest of Soldiers. MAN IN HIS PLACE Hero of the Battle of the Marne 1$ Succeeded by General Nivelle, but His Great Talents Will Still Be at Service of Allies as War Council Head. Paris.—General Joffre has been su perseded. The active command of the French armies ill the Held has been placed in the hands of a younger man, General Nivelle, the hero of Verdun. General Joffre has been made head of the allied war council. Unprejudiced observers ugree he bus today the great est military record of any of the lead ers In the present war. He will rank ii\, history with Nupoleon I, Hannibal, Caesar and George Washington. He won the battle of the Marne, where defeat would have meant com plete German success in the conflict. He won it twice—first, by directing French preparations in the critical years, 1911 to 1914, and, second, by leading the armies of the Republic in that fateful month of September, 1914, on the field of battle. Joffre lias commanded the armies of a warring nation longer than any other man in this war. Hindenburg’s victo ries in the two battles of East Prussia Involved smaller numbers of men and smaTter responsibilities by far than those which the idol of the French peo ple lias borne through more than two years of heart-wracking strife. The Old Man of the Lakes follows von Falkenlmyn and von Moltke as supreme military leader—under the kaiser—of Germany. Who knows how long he will last? In the British land forces Sir Douglas Haig has superseded French; in Russia the Grand Duke Nicholas has given place to the czar, and General Alexioff sharing highest command; in Austria-Hungary the leadership has shifted and finally been given almost entirely into alien hands; while Italy’s troops, although** always under General Count Cadorna, have not been fighting so long as those of the other great powers. Age His Only Fault. The slowing-up of the battle of the Somme without a distinguished allied success, has been a great disappoint ment to France. But few Frenchmen blame Joffre for this. Criticism of him has to find comfort in the fact that lie is old, that he fought in the Franco- Prussian war, and that his driving force theoretically should he exceeded by that of a younger man. He is one of a group of groat French leaders who got their earlier training in the 1870-71 struggle with Germany. The others of the group Include the one-armed hero, General Pau. and General Foch, who has been In direct command of the Somme op erations. The present war has brought to the fore certain younger officers. Men who were only coloneis or less when the struggle commenced are now com manding army groups. Purls politi cians of the intriguing sort have been demanding for some time that the old er lenders step aside and let the young sters show what they can do. But nothing that may happen can dim the great glory of Joffre. It Is safe to say that a vote by either the soldiers or the civilians of France would continue him in the post he lias held since 1911. In that year the archaic French mili tary organization started toward re form. The army was to have Its first real commander in chief in many years. Cabinet, army leaders and the people alike united In the demand that this position go to General Pau. But Pau, the patriot, standing In a great council, declined the honor. Pointing to Joffre. he said: ‘‘There stands the only possible man.” So Joffre was selected, because Pau wanted him as his superior. The choice was a disappointment to the public, to whom Joffre was little known. In many ways Joffre Is more Ger man than Parisian. Sober, simple in habits, Industrious, rising at five and going to bed at ten, and making no great public appearance, ho was not the figure to strike the French imag ination at first view. Strong for Efficiency. His career had already been marked by several acts of gallantry, hut it was as an efficiency man, an engineer, a systematizer and organizer, who was not too proud to learn from the kais er’s great general sfuff, that ho had Impressed Pau and Civstelnau and oth ers, who now hecuine his immediate Instruments In regenerating the French army. Joffre is not the Frenchman of Paris, but the hard-working peasant type which made France great. He was bom in RlveraglUs, in the East Pyre- bees, and loves today to talk the Cata lan dialect with hU old friends there. He was the third oljleven children— race suicide, one t** deduct The tradldojabr w coopers, and ienf had had 1 iome Spanish bbx> in sweet-tempered. He was even looked down upon by certain masculine spir its in school—this boy who was to be come the man of Iron and direct fif teen million soldiers. At fifteen he astounded his parents and friends by announcing he intend ed to compete for the Polytechnic school in Paris, the great training place for artillery officers. He passed fourteenth in his eutrauee examina tions among 132. and would have stood much higher had his German not been rather weak on points of grammar, a failing of his in which tlie French people now take a certuin delight. Before lie could finish his course the Frahco-Prussian war began and Joffre became a sub-lieutenant in a Paris fort. Here he got little chance to distinguish liimseif, hut the hor rors of the siege left a great impres sion on his mind aud heightened his patriotism. Directly after the conclusion of peace he was employed in reconstruct ing the Paris fortifications. His work so pleased Marshal McMahon when he cuine to Inspect it that he made the lieutenant a captain on the spot. First Came Into Fame. In 188.'» he went to Indo-China, where he built the defenses of Huut- Tonkin. He constructed a railroad in Senegal and the defenses of Diego- Suarez in Madagascar. In 1887 he became a professor of fortifications in the army school at Fontainebleau, and afterward he was director of engineering for the minis try. As an army corps commander at Lille and Amiens he gained intimate knowledge of the couutry where fighting is now going on. Almost his only blast of fame came in 1893. He was commander of a na tive column in Africa. Colonel Bon nier, who commanded the main line, hud encountered disaster. Thirteen of his officers and Bonnier himself had been killed. Joffre had been ordered to ascend the left bank of the Niger from Segu to Tinibuctoo and take pos session of the land which still re mained independent of France. He went about the expedition in his usual methodical fashion, studying the country and its method of warfare, and after Bonnier’s death he made a inarch of 500 inilete under great diffi culties and planted the tricolor over Tlmbuctoo for the first time. When in 1914 the great call came Joffre was a member of the higher council of war, a body of 11 men, from whom the commander in chief in time of war would he selected. He was known as “Joffre the Monk,” partly be cause of the decency of his private life and partly because of his abstem ious dally regime. He could do only one thing better than work, It Is said, and that wus sleep. The uight fol lowing the disheartening reverse at Charleroi he slumbered for a few hours as peacefully as a baby. He has no nerves. Joffre, Millerand. minister of war, and Poincare, premier and later presi dent, were the triumvirate which cre ated the France that stopped Germany at the Mu rue. The first tiling Joffre did as com mander in chief was to stop civilian spying on army officers to discover whether they attended mass. The sec ond was to dismiss five of the show iest generals In the French urmy—be cause they betrayed incompetence in maneuvers. Mads Many Reforms. His reforms were almost countless. He specialized in tlie new departments —telephones, telegraphs, automobiles and airplanes—and brought his army to a technical efficiency second to non*. He had a large part in bringing about the three-year army service law, by which France raised her standing army from 485,000 to 600,000 men, and so had enough to meet the onslaught of Germany’s 820,000. Then came the great war, the story of which is fresh in every mind. Jof fre had seen it coining, and with the English field marshal, Roberts, had warned against it. His brain and per sonality stood the test of actual strug gle as well as it had met the problems of preparedness. He found time from his work in the field to meet and van quish the iufamous peace cabal of Cull- luux. Following the battle of the Murni his power increased, rather than di minished. In Junuury, 191G, it was announced that the government had decided to Interfere with military op erations in no way from that time forth. The commander in chief was supreme. A further honor and responsibility came to him after the great council of all tlie allies, when supreme mili tary direction was resolved upon and placed in Joffre’s hands. Since then lie has directed the masses of tin* czar as well as the new armies of Great Britain. Only on the sea, where the British hold sway, was the direc tion of the war out of his hands. At the age of sixty-four—he was born January 12, 1852—he may well look back on his life work with as much satisfaction as Kitchener and face whatever changes fate may have in store for him with equanimity. IN A WOMEN’S MEDICAL COLLEGE CLINIC GERMAN “TANKS" OUTRUN CAVALRY Are Faster and Harder to De stroy Than the British Monster. PLAYS HAVOC WITH INFANTRY Machine Guns Can Be Operated in Almost Any Direction Through Narrow Slits—One Machine Kills 300 Men. At General von Falkenhayn’s Head quarters in Rouinauia.—One of the most interesting features of the Rou manian campaign, from u German standpoint, has been the spectacular work of the new arino. ed automobiles evolved soon after the advent of the British “tanks” on the Somme front, but which tin* developments in Bou- tnania have shown to he a vast im provement in efficiency over the Brit ish machines. Even in the brief tests it hus had since the Germans crossed the moun tains into the Roumanian plains tlie new German armored car has shown itself an efficient auxiliary to the cav alry in patrol work, as it frequently can inflict infinitely more damage than a whole squadron, and is far more dif ficult to destroy than the English ma chine. Its achievements so fur In clude an attack on Roumanian inf untry in which 300 Roumanians were killed. Like a Motor Truck. The cars are 25 feet in length, with wheels a foot wide uud incased in solid rubber. They carry a crew of ten men, including the nmchlue-gun operators, the chauffeur and one sub stitute and one officer. The machine guns cun be operated in almost any direction through nar row slits. At one end, under the cus tomary hood, Is a 100-horse-power mo tor, and at the other end. under a sim ilar hood, is 4he gasoline tunk. Each man in the crew is an expert me chanic and chauffeur, so if a bullet hursts through t‘ •» slit through which the operator looks in driving there are others ready and competent to take the injured man’s place. The automobile engine Is both air and water-cooled. The enr shell Is impervious to machine gun and rifle fire. When no opponent Is In sight the top of the turret can be opened so that a map can get his sLoulders out and make (Ascrvatloos. the ttufet Is closed periscopes permit ENROLL FRENCH WOMEN Paris.—A woman’s committee presided over by Mine. Routroux, wife of the celebrated philoso pher, has been organized to en roll woman volunteers in the service of the country. It Is ap pealing to all women to Inscribe their names, with a statement of their aptitudes and tlie time they will he able to devote to work in different categories when their services may he needed. Enrolling offices will be opened soon and a comprehensive effort will he made to enlist all the women of France in the service of the nation. taken for Russians, because the Ger- mans were not supposed to have arm ored cars. Just as the crew was being enthusi astically greeted three Roumanian lo comotive drivers tried to get their en gines away, but tlie automobile was too swift for them. The machine raced ahead, the crew destroyed a por tion of the track and the automobile received the engines with a withering fire, which forced their surrender after they hail been disabled. On the return to the village the crew was again greeted by the population, hut this time-with whi(b flags of sur render. Routs Roumanian Infantry. On another occasion an automobile encountered a force of Roumanian In fantry and opened fire before the troops could seek shelter. The Rou manians fled after 60 seconds of firing from the car, leaving 300 dead and 50 wounded. The great usefulness of the auto mobiles has been most apparent In Roumnnin, where the character of the warfare makes It possible to slip be hind the opponent’s lines. On a re cent exploit of this kind the com mander worked his way to the rear of a body of Roumanian infantry which wns intrenching, and almost before the Roumanians were aware of the car’s presence it had swept the trenches with machine gun tire and driven the defenders out in disorder. None of the German automobiles of this type used in Roumnnin has as yet been disabled or destroyed by oppo nents. The bullets thus far encoun tered have hardly dented the shells of the machine. The chief advantage of the new auto mobile, In contrast with the British machine, Is that It can run at an aver age speed of 25 miles an hour, ns con trasted with the snail-like pece of the entente cars. Us speed frequently en Women students of the Women’s Medical college of l’ennsylvanla witnessing an operation by / flMlen 8U;geous| the clinic of the institution. Everyone in this operating room is a woman and there is no suggestion alfniutneis pari of any-of the audience. SERBIANS MOURNING AT GRAVE OF A COMRADE Two Serbians, members of the army that is fighting to regain their country, mourning rude killed in battle. MRS. SKEFFINGTON AND SON Irs. F. Shechy Irish editor v trial by the Brit during the re keffington, widow of io was shot without di military officials rebellion in Ireland, and her seven-year-old son. en, photographed in New York Mrs. Skeffington says she has come to America to tell of her husband’s “murder.” Blotter Shortage Imminent. Insurance companies find it neces sary to retrench on their supplies of various kinds, owing to tlie Increased cost of paper stock. In most cases prices have doubled. Companies are cautioning economy and saving in every possiblo way so far ns literature is con cerned. Many companies that have been liberal with blotters and calendars are cutting down their supply materially. Some companies are not getting out any calendars this year, others are re ducing their usual number and some have discontinued getting out large blotters which n«£cost about 10 cents apiece. Where are found to be nonproductive theNfe supply of calen dars and blotters m being decreased materially. Paper Is such an Item to day that economy in its use is neces sary.—Western Underwriter. WAITING FOR HIS DEAD British official photograph showing a pathetic seefl| front. A handsome horse, the mount of a British oft edge of a dugout, where the British olttcer has good unfamiliar hand will lend him away from the scene of FRENCH HOSPITAL IN TH