Norwich bulletin., 1916-01-19

which the city Is connected by bril- liant express service over the tracks of the Northern Railway, lies 157 miles in the south-southeast. Portsmouth
 Boulogne is the most direct line of communication between the great Bri- tish arsenal and the firing line through Flanders, Artois, Picardy and Cham pagne. The River Liano divides the town, and the Improvements at its mouth provide excellent harbors for the unusual stress of shipping that the war has brought about.
 'Boulogne has always had more or less close relations with England, friendly and unfriendly. It has even been suggested that it was the Portus Itius where Julius Caesar assembled has been the Englishman's favorite way into France, and, before the war, the passengers from Folkstone to Boulogne total about 100000 annually. The transatlantic liners of the Ham burg-American and the Holland-Amer- ican companies, also, made Boulogne a calling point. English business inter ests in France were largely represent ed at this port, and the English col ony at the outbreak of the war num- bered more than 1,500. It has long been said that Boulogne is the most English city on the continent, and, be- fore the war was many months old, the English language and English ways became the accepted currency of the place.
 'Tn 1904, Napoleon I selected Bou- logne as the starting point for an in- vasion of England. He assembled an army of 1900 men and vast assort- ment 0f war-stores here for this pur- pose. The invincibie general was so certain that England was fated to fall before his genius that he had coins struck with which to pay his soldier on the other side of the Channel and inscribed them 'minted in London He also, began column of victory here to commemorate the conquest about to be realized of his most troublesome opponent Marshals Soult, Ney, Da- youst and Victor were to lead the in- vaders- The harbors of Boulogne were completely hiden under the hulks of the many vessels, upon which the expedition was to be transported. A hotilla of 2413 craft of all sizes had been gathered at the port.
 Preparations for the invasion were admirably made, and the troops wait ed only for the coming of the pro- tecting French fleets from Antwerp, Brest, Cadiz, and the harbors of the Mediterranean to convey them to the island battlefelds. The units of these fleets had been in the course of con struction for several years for the ex- press purpose of aiding in the decision against England; Tor the Little Cor poral. willing to divide the world with Alexander of Russia, knew from the beginning that his interests and those of Britain could never be reconciled. The French fleets never assembled at Boulogne, and the victory of Nelson at Trafalgar, in 1905, forever shattered Napoleon's hopes for the invasion. The column of victory, however, was finish ed in 1841, and it is crowned by a fine statue of the Emperor
 "Boulogne was an important com harbor before the present war. It ranked fourth among the seaports of France, after Marseille, Le Harve, and Bordeaux. It imported 5ute, wool skins, thread, coal, timber, iron and steel for the factories of highly indus trial northern France; and 1t exported woven goods, skins, motor-cars, for age, cement, and wines. It, also, as- sembled the fancy vegetables and fine table fruits for the London hotels for export. The average annual value of it's exports was $50, ,000, 900, and that of its imports $30,000,000. It was the first fishing port of France, receiving and preparing great quantities of her ring and mackerel. A large propor-