FIELD-MARSHAL COUNT VON MOLKE.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 6, Issue 1625, 5 March 1884, Page 2

FIELD-MARSHAL COUNT VON MOLKE.

The Berlin correspondent of th° 'Times,' writing of Field-Marshal Coun* von Moltke on the eve of his eighty' fourth birthday, says:—" Before the autumn manajuvrcs, from the middle of August to the middle of September, ho disappears every year from public view,, and even his friends and familiars do not know where ho : is. This time is devotod to travelling, and especially to mountain climbing, in which exercise he usually excels his young companions. Although he has a substitute in the Qartermastergeneral (Count Waldersee), he likes to decide all important matters himself. Essays by officers of the general staff and the opinions of the heads of departments are constantly sent up to him for criticism, and. he writes on the broad margins in a small, clear hand, observations remarkable not only for professional acutcness, but for beauty of style and precision of thought, Ho rises early,, takes a walk in his own grounds at Kreisau, or sometimes, when in Berlin, in the Thiergarten, and then works generally till the hour of his simple dinner. He seldom smokes after that meal, snuff being the form in which he, like Frederick the Great, enjoys tobacco. When he works he always has his snuff box near him. In the afternoon he receives or pays visits. In the evening he like 3« to play whist with bis nephew, Captain TS* von Moltke, and other friends, Even during the French war he was accustomed to play whist when possible and his adjutant, Colonel de Claer, had to provide suitable players. After the Emperor, Eield-inaMhal von Moltke is beyond question the most popular man in Germany."