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IN THE COUNTRY OF JOFFRE.
THE GENERAL AND HIS HOME.
In the train "coming from France,'" as
the inhabitants say amusingly (for we are
in the Pyrenees Orientales, the French
Catalan), Rivesaltes strikes the eye, after
the lagoons of this part of the Mediter-
ranean--immense shallow lakes which re-
flect the blue of heaven and give a spe-
cial colour to the country--as a place of
wine casks (writes a special correspondent
of, thel London "Times.") They are ranged
on the platform, they expose their prosper-
ous rotundities on the railway trucks be-
side the young sentry in brown fustian who
is guarding the station-a sign that we
are approaching the frontier. The train,
in fact, is hurrying us on to that other
Catalan which is beyond the Pyrenees, for
here, and at Barcelona, the speech is much
the same: but "la-bas" they have news
papers in the tongue. This corner of
France is characteristic, and its originality
communicates itself to Rivesaltes, rather
Spanish of aspect, with its town hall in
yellow stocco and its square tower pierced
with a gateway. The types in the streets
are darkly Southern. with a touch of the
Moor in the flashing eye-recial reminders
of a distant invasion. But this admixture
of blood has not affected the stanchly
French sentiments of the Rousillon, which
yet possess a certain fierceneess of charac
ter which, they will tell you, is distinctive
lv Catalan.
The local deputy gave me a portrait of
Joffre bearing the inscription, "I am a
Catalan of Roussillor" The Roussillon we
pass on our way to Rivesaltes from Per
pignan, separated by a few kilometres and
served by an electric tramway as well as
by the train. On its reddish clayey soil
grow the Roussillon wine' having in bou
quet and body much of the Spanish. The
district is also famous for its fruit; the
peach-growing area stretches for 20 kilo
metres and there are myriads of apricots
and miles of asparagus; in the Vernet dis
trict are far-stretching orchards of apple
and pear.
The Great Man's Birthplace.
Joifre is the hero of Rivesaltes. His
portrait appears in poster size in shops and
cafes. The local tobacconist makes a cult
of him and shows with pride a Joffre al-
bum, as well as a faded portrait of the
Generalissimo as a schoolboy at the Per-
pignan lycee. You remark, even at this
age, the firmness of feature, the clear,
straight look; the child is father to the
man. Courage, calm, and confidence are
plainly written under the peaked cap of
the college youth. The cult extends to the
house where Joffre was born. It is mod-
est in the extreme and situated in the nar-
row, unpretentious Rue des Orangere.
Women sit in the street, and children play
about their knees. The stranger is wel-
comed and given gracious permisson to
visit the house behind the double doors
and knocker which give it an almost
patrician air. But all is simple within.
The downstairs room is an ante-
chamber without light and merely
containing the stairs. On mounting
them, one discovers the bedroom, kitchen,
and sitting-room close together. The little
bedroom hes its bed in the alcove along
side a small window, looking out upon a
court. It was here that Joffre was born.
Early Days.
In this tiny house Joffre pere was the
proud possessor of 11 children, of whom
three survive. Besides the General there
is an excise official and a married daugh-
ter living at Perpignan. The elder Joffre's
modest circumstances as a working cooper,
possessing a little land--a patch of s-me
an the Roussillop--prevented him from
raising this large family. The future Gene
ral was confided to an uncle, whose inter
est in his young charge was stimulated by
the elementary school's report of his great
ability in mathematics. Thereupon, the
lad entered. -the Polytechnic at Paris,
after a year's preparation (instead of the
habitual two), 12 month, younger than is
usual. Joffre's subsequent career is known
to all. At Rivesaltes the inhabitants are
ready to talk of their illustrious son, of
his goodness of heart, and utter simplicity.
When he is here, they say, pointing to his
country house by the banks of the Atys,
which to-day is lined by young men; future
Joitres perhaps, using for chad and gud
geon, be makes his own purceases in the
market. That is one of the re won hwily`
Joffre is adored. "Ah I he was a wonderful
boy, a phenomenon!" exclaim's an old in
habitant. "He would fight the ,other' lads
in order to be left at peace to work at
his mathematics!"
Joffre's light-coloured complexion and his'
taciturnity made M. Messijny,: when Minis
ter of W~ar, ask questions of, his or-in.
"You are from Lorraine, meos Generalg'
"No!" "Then perhaps you are Flemish or
Norman?"-"Non plus." The Minister
looked puzzled until Joffre said simply, "Jo
suis Catalan." The simple description told
volines. The leader-of the French-army is
not uncommunicative to tho,., :.wheiknow
him, but he Has no gift of cloquence, and
prefers in consequence to remain silent
One of his traits, in a nature blending
kindness with austerity, is his faithfulness
in friendship. I have a charming instance
of it in a distinguished resident of Tous
louse whom thU General visited every Sun.
day at Tours, when he was a captain build
ing forts outside Paris, and the friend was
a private in a Touraine regiment. It is
such qualities which endear the Catalan
captain to his men. When his duties will
allow, he stays awhile and talks to thu
"poiln" about his family.
A young professor wrote about him in
the "Guerre Sociale" an article which gavo
him pleasure, for it terminated with thu
words, "When, after the war, a grateful
nation raises a monument to Joffre, no
French mother need turn away her head
Froii it."____
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