The Meeker herald. [volume] (Meeker, Colo.) 1885-current, 1909-06-05
BATTLE OF THE NILE,
Whsss she Boy stosd On TIC
Burning Deck"
cAsAslAacA AND HIS FATE.

Rather and the Tragedy ~ tho
oss,vssd French FtagshIp, ths ossssst.
That was . lucky child who in tho
latter part Of the last century escaped
the ordeal Of standing up before cir
Gle Of relatives and friends outwardiy
enthusiastic and admiring. inwardly
often greatly bored--to repeat those
well known II somewhat inaccurate
lines that tell MS how ''tbe boy stood
on tho burning deck" Whether, nine
times out Of ten. the infant reciter or.
for that matter. any Of the members
Of the applauding family circle could
have given the date and place Of tho
occurrence may be doubtful. The forty
lines Of Mrs. Hemans gave them all
the history that they csaved. and when
the parrot-Iike performance closed with
faithful heart Sentimental maiden
aunt would sigh, liberal uncle be-
stow iargesse to the extent Of half .
crown. and that was all.
II was In 1913 that younS Casab4-
anca, the ten-year-old son Of the cons
modors Of the French AaSship Orient,
stood amid the awful devastation Of
the battle Of the Nile. Bonaparte had
himself sailed in the Ill fated Orient
from Touton in the previous May, TAX
ing with him a good stock Of bur
gnndy and also that famous camp H.
brnry" Of cabinet editions, including
forty volumes Of DaStbh novels, In
which the Bible and the Koran were
classea under the hsad Of politics"
More important still foe those who love
the picturesque details Of history and
great men. he was accompanied by his
then private secretary, Louis Antoine
Fauvelet Dc BourrfenAe, from whose
always entertaining II not Invariably
accurate pen we have q capital &C.
count Of the voyage to Egypt.
Much of the time was passed BY M
poieon lying in his berth while Bour
rienne read to him and IN promoting
discussions on various questions among
the scientific and other distinguished
men who accompanied the expedition.
The flagship carried population Of
more than 1000 souls, and the cry Of
MAN overboariw was not iafreqsent.
On theee oecasions Bonaparts display
ed a side Of his character to which full
Justice II not always done. Bour-
rienne describes hk agitation till res
cue was effected a. extreme. On oas
occasion 4 fnlse alarm was raised dur
ing the darkness Of night, and the sup
posed "maun peovsd to b. the quarter
III bnllcck which had droppsd from
tbs rix9ihg, hut Nappseua rewafded
TIE rsecuers even more literally than
usual, pointing out that their exertion
had been for what they believed hui
man life.
The Meet arrived OF the coast Of Al
RIGA on July /, and here Bourriennc
and his Memoirs" leave tho squadron
to accompany the army and his chief
on land. Brueys, the French admiral,
had during the voyage expressed fore
bodings as to the result Of an encoun-
Ter with the British feet. Nelson.
who sailed from Syracuse on July q,
was confident, but well knew the price
he might be called upon to pay. When
Captain Berry said, ''If We succeed.
what will the world say" Nelson re-
piled: There Is no II in the case. That
we shall succeed is certain. Who msy
live to tell the story Is very differ
ent question" For himself he made
that famous anticipation. "A peerage
or Westminster abbey"
The battle began ut $50 O'Clock, half
an hour before nishtfall. Nelson, on
board the Vanguard, few his colors
In six places lest they should be shot
away. In few minutes after the
ship had gone into action tho crews
Of the nrst six guns were swept away
by the terrible IRE Of the French feet.
and twice again during the eight were
fresh crews called for. The shot
which struck Nelson on the head tore
from his forehead piece of skin
which, falling over his one useful eye,
rendered him for the time being to-
tally blind. Carried to the cockpit, he
insisted on taking his proper turn
among the wounded for the surgeons
attention. Soon after o O'Clock at
night, while no was still below. cry
arose, that the Orient was on FIRE.
Unaiied and unnoticed In the confu-
sion, Nelson made his way up, and
presently from the quarterback his
voice was heard shouting orders that
the boats should be lowered to 20 to
the ass1stance Of the Orient's crew.
The doomed French nasship had but
Just been painted, and quantities Of
oil and inaammable material Uttered
her deck. Brueys. the admiral. was
dead. but Louis Casabianca and his
little son were stili on deck. At 10
O'Clock the ship blew up. There came
a burst Of thunder sound" and, al
though the commodore was not ut the
time lying Unconscious Of his son."
as the poetess has It. for both were
seen clinging TO n floating mast after
the explosion. neither father nor son
was among the seventy members Of
the crow who were saved by the Eng
hsh boats.