The Tomahawk. [volume] (White Earth, Becker County, Minn.) 1903-192?, 1916-03-23

TROM Dover, Folkstone, Brigh-
L. ton and Portsmouth, all war
lanes across the English chan
mel lead to Boulogne, the great
port for the western entente battle
line, safe behind the long rows of
principal point for import from Eng
land of vast stores of munitions and
a steady stream of troops, says bull
letin of the National Geographic So
ciety. Boulogne is a vitality important
point in the line opposing the Ger
mans in the West; it is the funnel
through which the British empire is
pouring it's contribution to the ener-
gies expended on the first Of the war
theaters.
The French port, always very Eng
fish and now almost as cosmopolitan
as Paris. lies upon the narrowest
| stretch of the channel % miles south
| west of Calais and only % miles by
sea southeast Of the busy English
harbor of Folkstone. Paris, with
which the city is connected by a bril-
| liant express service over the tracks
Of the Northern railway, lies 157
miles to the south-southeast. Ports
mouth Boulogne is the most direct
line Of communication between the
great British arsenal and the firing
line through Flanders, Artois, Picardy
and Champagne. The River Liano d.
vides the town and the improvements
at it's mouth provide excellent harbors
for the unusual stress Of shipping
that the war has brought about.
Always Closely Related to England:
Boulogne has always had more or
less close relations with England,
friendly and unfriendly. It has even
been suggested that it was the Portus
titus where julius Caesar assembled
his fleet. In modern times, Boulogne
has been the Englishman's favorite
way into France, and, before the war,
the passengers from FolkstOne to
Boulogne tota1ed about 100000 annual
~. The transatlantic liners of the
Hamburg-American and the Holland
American companies also made
Boulogne calling point. English
business interests in France were
largely represented at this port, and
the English colony at the outbreak Of
the war numbered more than 1,500.
It has long been said that Boulogne
is the most English city on the con-
tinent, and, before the war was many
months DID, the English language and
English ways became the accepted
currency of the place.
In 1904 Napoleon selected Boulogne
as the starting point for an invasion
Of England. He assembled an army
| of 10000 men and vast assortment
of war stores here for this purpose.
The great general was so certain that
England was fated to fall before his
genius that he had coins struck with
which to pay his soldiers on the 9th
er side Of the channel and inscribed.
them "minteG in London" He also
began a 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
we're COUIpleLely HluUcH uiiuGA IHC
hulks Of the many vessels upon Which
the expedition was to be transported.
A flotilla of 2,413 craft of all sizes
had been gathered at the port.
NapoIeon's Invasion Failed.
Preparations for the invasion were
admirably made, and the troops wait
ed only for the coming of the protect
ing French war fleets from Antwerp,
Brest, Cadiz and the harbors of the
Mediterranean to convey them to the
island battlefields. 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 de-
cision against England; for the lit
tie corporal, 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 Roulogne, and the vic
tory Of Nelson at Trafalgar, in 1905,
forever shattered Napoleon's hopes
tor the invasion. The column OF VIC