The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-05-05

! through Corsica, / found a large clar
of Casabiancas. It is a family thai
stands high in the history and govern
ment of the island. l found them tt
be of the same blood as my youthful
| hero. And from some of them learned
| the boys history.
| His name was Giacomo Jocante Casa.
| blanca. He was born in 17I9, in YES
| corato, Corsica. His father, Louis dc
| Casa blanca, was at once brave officer
| and profound politician. Capt. Casa.
| blanca was very young which he en-
tered the navy; he was speedily distin-
| guished for remarka BILE bravery, and
| his reputation was so high in Corsica
| that when the French revolution broke
| out he was chosen as a deputy from
| Corsica to the national convention at
| Paris.
There he supported several measures
| proposed by the directory for the or
| ganization of the French navy, and was
sent to the northern coast as inspector
of the channel When his services there
were finished, he re-entered the navy,
was made commander of the frigate
Orient-a part of the expedition sent to
subiugate Egypt. 1t was under the or
ders of Admiral Brueys The captain $
son Giacomo boy of nineteen, sailed
with him as midshipman.
The squadron sailed on May 10, 1898,
and the Orient, which was the flagship
of the squadron, ''had the appeara nee
of a populous town from which women
were excluded: this floating city was
inha bited by two thousand individu-
ais" The ship not only carried the adj
miral, but the commander Of the expe-
dition, Napoleon Bonaparte, who passed
the greater part of the time in his ca bin
lying on bed which, swinging on a
kind of castor, alleviated the severity
of sea sickness. from which he fire.
quently suffered when the ship rolled. {"
Before a month ohad elapsed, the
army Of Egypt had landed; Bonaparte
was with them, and had left with Adj
miral Brueys full power to direct the
movements of the navy. Those move
ments ended most disastrously. Lord
Nelson, the commander of the British
fleet, attacked the French fleet near
A boukir, in what is known as the Bat
tie of the Nile, and with such effect
that Napoleon, when he learned the
disaster, exclaimed: "Unfortunate Bru-
eys, what have you done."
Admiral Brueys never knew of Napo-
Icons censure. He was killed early in
the fight; and Capt. Casa blanca. on the
quarterback of the Orient, fell, danger
ously wounded
notwithstanding the losses, the bat
tie, we are told, continued to grow hot
ter and hotter; three English ships sent
enormous broadsides against the ORR
ent, but the tri-colored flag f1oated al
ways, nailed to the mast by the hardy
sailors.
But flames were devouring the cord
age, masts and the decks of the Orient;
all hope of saving the ship was aban-
doned; but still the crew kept up the
heavy firing on the enemy. only to be
chased by the flame from one post to
another, flying from battery to battery,
fighting still. At last, when it was i'm
possible to use the guns longer, the
captain gave the men orders to try to
save themselves by the portfolios.
AS for him, neither the certainty OF
death nor the supplications of his son.
who was standing at his side on the
blazing poop, could make him quit his
post he would not leave the ship; he
would die with honor
But his son-it is sad to die at nine
teen. Capt. Casa blanca tries to force the
young Giacomo to reach the boat which
the English had launched to save the
noble remnant of the Orient's defend
erS.
1t is useless. The child is of the blood
of heroes; he presses against his fathers
bleeding breast: he supports his sink
ing form, and together, with their eyes
fixed upon the flag above, which, rent
with shot, still floats at the masthead,
father and son 60 down and are swal-
lowed up by the waters.
For nearly century the eight
French ships, with their commanders.
Brueys, Casabianca, Dupetit-Thouars,
Thevenard, and three thousand brave
bay of Abukir, their elected sepulcher,
our youthful hero clasped in his IA
theirs arms. But it was the father
who babe him go, not stay. Not long
ago an English ship was chartered ''for
the salvage of the objects of value that
were on the Orient and other French
vessels that went to the bottom at the
battle of the Nile" The announce
ment that the Egyptian government
had accorded company the right to
raise the vessels met with an indig-
nant protest from the French press.
Notwithstanding the protests, how
ever, the work of ''pillage" went on.
and the sunken warships were ex-
plored. Cases of ammunition were
found with sabers, church ornaments,
and a magnificent sword which some
the brave Capt. sabianca, and for
which a Partisan collector offered
twenty-five hundred francs But the
en- terpriSe was not successful; the
returns were insufficient; the
wreckage was abandoned and
once again the three thousand braves,
with the admiral, the captain and
young Giacomo. hold undisputed pos
session of their watery sepulc her. To-
day the boy hero is held as a hero in
deed by hundreds OF thousands of boys
and girls 10 whom Mrs Hemans' verses
are familiar. and the French govern
ment has just given to one OF its new
war boats the honored name of Casa
blanca. Henry Bacon, in Wide Awake.
Courage of Indian Elephants.
They will submit day after dav TO
\. II, FL nd l..asSaI II, 1,l,oi;