New Britain herald., 1916-02-01

Washington, D. C., Feb. 1.-"From
 Dover, Folkstone, Brighton and Ports
 mouth, all war-lanes across the Eng fish channel lead to Boulogne, the great port for the western entente bat l tie line, safe behind the long rows of l trenches in the north and made the principal point for import from Eng l land of vast stores of munitions and | a steady stream of troops,' begins a l primer just prepared by the Nation | al Geographic society, which describes | the harbor to which the war has brought it's most brisk import husi- ness. "Boulogne Is a vitally import | ant 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, twenty-two
 miles southwest Of Calais, and only
 twenty eight miles by sea southeast of
 the busy English harbor of Folkstone.
 Paris, with which the city is connect
 ed by brilliant express service over
 
 '157 miles in the south south east.
 Portsmouth Boulogne is the most d1- rect line of communication between the great British arsenal and the fir ing line through Flanders, Artois, Picardy and Champagne. The River Liano divides the town, and the i'm rrovements at it's mouth provide ex- cellent harbors for the unusual stress of ha hrO1pht 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 Titus where Julius Caesar assembled his fleet. In modern times, Boulogne has been the Englishmans favorite way into France, and, before the war, the passengers from Folkstone to Boulosne totaled about 300,000 an nually. The transatlantic liners of the Hamburg American and the Hol- land Am erican companies, also, made Boulogne a calling point. English business interests in France were largely represented at this port, and the English colony at the outbreak of the war mum mbered more than 1,500. It has long been said that Boulogne is the most English city on the continent and, before the war was many months old, the English language and English ways became the accepted currency of the place.
 'Tn 1894, Napoleon I selected Boul- ogne as the starting point for an in vasion of England. He assembled an army of 1S0,000 men and a vast as sortment of war-stores here for this purpose. The invincibe general was ] so certain that England was fated to ! fall before his genius that he had coins | struck with which to pay his soldiers l on the other side of the channel and | inscribed them 'minted in London l He, also, began a column of victory l here to commemorate the conquest l about to be realized of his most ! troublesome opponent. Marshal Soult, l Ney, Davoust and Victor were to lead | the invaders. The harbors of Boul- l ogne were completely hidden under l the hull<s of the many vessels, upon | which the expedition was to be trans ported. A flotilla of 2413 craft of all | sizes had been gathered at the port.
 Preparations for the invasion were l made, and the troops wait l