The Washington herald., 1914-01-11

All that lovely winter playground of
Europe was then only lonely and ster-
lie stretch of the Mediterranean coast.
There was yet no Grand Corniche drive,
winding its wondrous way about the
brow Of the Maritime Alps. and THE
Path of Napoleon" was but a rough and
narrow lane over the rocks by the
waters edge. Along that rough shore
trail he sped past ventimille. past the
palms of Bordighera. past the sleeps of
San Reno. past Vado and its superb
prospect of the shore clear to the har-
Dor of Genoa thirty miles away.
''The Lions Paw
Arrived at Savona he found an army of
ground and many of them without bay
onets, confronted by a well set-up enemy
with 5000 soldiers. TIL" government at
Paris was not paying its troops even
their miserable wage of cents a day, or
providing their extremely light rations.
which were supposed to consist of bread
and soup, with a swallow of brandy and
a tumbler Of wine at night
The new commander, without means to
feed, or clothe. or equip them properly
for campaign, sought at once to dis
tract the Thoughts of the men from their
wretched condition by promising them
the spoils Of victory /, a ringing procla-
nation. which disclosed the ''lion's paw"
that SOM one has said marked all his
messages to his troops:
Soldiers: You are naked, badly fed:
the government owes you much; it can
give You nothing. Your long suffering.
the courage you show among these crags
are splendid. but they bring you no glory.
not ray is -eIected upon you.
Il wish to lead you into the most fer
tile plain. IL the world! Rich provinces,
great towns will be in your power; there
you will find honor. glory and riches!
Soldiers Of Italy, ca you be found
lacking in honor. courage, or constancyT'
From Nice to Genoa there rises long
range with its head in the |
clouds and its feet in the surf Of the !
Mediterranean. This is the wall of Italy. |
In all that wall there are only four or |
five gates, one of which opens at Savona. |
But Napoleon fooled .he enemy by noisily |
demanding from the government Of Genoa |
a free highway throLgl another pass |
twenty miles to the east.
Beaulieu, the seventy-one-year-old Aus
trian commander, was as delighted as /
the French generals were disgruntled |
when the republic sent a boy to whip a |
man like himself who had been a war
rior for fifty years, and he assured the
King of Sardinia that he would make
quick work Of the youth.
81 won't take or my Shoes" the old
general boasted. until / get to Lyons
which is more than half way to Paris!
When he heard of Napoleon's demand
on Genoa he fiattered himself he saw
though the young mans scheme as clear
ly as through the rungs OF ladder. He
was trying to steal around him. and the
veteran commander at once began to
move his main force toward the east to
head on the French,
His First Battle.
Then Napoleon shot his main force like
a bolt at the center of the allied armies.
Riding out of savonia at midnight, he
climbed twelve miles in the shadows Of a
deep ravine, the towering crags of the
Lgurian Alps rising above him. crowned
BY church steeples and ancient villages,
each refuge OF civilization in the dark
ages when the corsairs of the Saracens
we're the terror of the shore.
Armies n Less Thal . Year"-Mr. Me