El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-03-06
A REMINDER OF NAPOLEON
By WELLINGTON HOPE.

= T SEEMS so many years ago since
the news came over the waters
that Napoleon had died at St Hell
ena that it is almost incredible there
should be still living in London an
old man who was a boy Of when
that momentous event took place, and
VINO Tor a quarter OF q century art
erWard was uestned 10 make ms own
home in the island OF Nap0leon.s
exile
Mr. William Gigney. living quietly
IN grudged retirement IN his big
mousse at opurstOWe road, Hackney,
VIII be yS years OF age, ana as ne
SITS IN MS front parlOr, sound IN head
except for a slight nervous trouble,
Wnlcn affects his hanGs, ne unIeIgn-
eddy regrets the considerations of
health which compelled MN to retire
from active business only so recently
as october 9th last when he mad
passed his y4tn year.
There was a romance then in the
Deeh' and always VIII be, and Mr..
Elsney speaks with a glow of enthus-
ldsm OF the days when ne luncned in
the old Jerusalem tavern, in exchange
alley, CornhIll, the first coffee house
IN London, when existed under its
old name, though not the same build
ing right down into the fIrtles. The
Jerusalem was favOrite rendezvous
OF city men, especially those engaged
IN the shipping trade.
It is an atmosphere that suggests
the city IN the uays when the rich
East India house stood just round the
corner from the Bank o. England,
and, when anywhere in the immediate
vicinity, could be seen little tiny shops
ike that OF solomon CHS, the snip
instrument maker in "DOmbey & Son"
That was the London Mr. Gigney
left behind him when, in 1929, at Il
years OF age, he set sail for st Hell
ena- Although he paid several flying
visits to London in the next % years,
he did other transformations OF the
Victorian age had been almost com
pleted.
When I left London" said Mr.. Gig
ney, there were no railway trains.
All our travelling was done Dy stage
coach, and / have jOurneyed in that
way to Cardiff, Manchester and as far
north as Newcastle.
When I went to St Helena first, 1
sailed from GraYeSend in a tiny brig,
and the voyage occupied nearly three
months I sailed on January 1 and
arrived there on March s. my 14th
birthday. Now the voyage can be
done in fortnight and that is BY
slow Hneris 1t is wonderful change.
st. Helena, when 1 knew it first, be-
lOnged to the East India company
the old John cOmpany'-Rnd was an
important cOaling ana provisioning
cape, and the only place in the South
in fact, where ships could be
supplied with provisions, vegetables |
water and coal Many ships and their
crews would have been lost in mid
ocean, II there had not been such an
island just there, for, before the Suez [
canal was opened thousands of ships
called at or passed the island on their |
way to and from the East and Au- /
stralia-
TT was an uneventful and rather [
dull life we led, yet il had its COM /
pensatiOns. We lived in an ideal cli- /
mate, we were never troubled with I
thunderstOrms, earthquakes, fOgs or /
snakes. On the other hand. there was I
no theater, no public library, no mu-
scum. But we had a Masonic lodge /
and I was a brother"
But there was LOngwOod?'
Yes, there was LOngWOOd," Nj /
Gigney replied. Napoleon had been
dean seven years when I first landed /
at St Helena, but the whole island