The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1916-02-24
THE CITY OF souLoeNE

From Dover, FolkStone, Brighton,
and Portsmouth, all war lines across
the English channel lead to Boulogne,
the great port for the western En-
tente battle line, safe behind the long
rows of trenches in the north and
made the principal point for import
from England of vast stores of NUM-
tions and a steady stream of troops
begins a primer just prepared by the
National Geographical Society. which
describes the haTbor to which the war
has brought it's most brisk import
business. "Poulogne is a vitality i'm
portant point in the line opposing the
Germans in the west; il is the funnel
through which the British Empire is
pouring its contribution to the ener-
gies expended on the first of the war
theatres
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 har-
Dor of Folkstone. Paris, with which
the city is connected by a brilliant
express service over the tracks of the
Northern Railway, lies 157 miles i'll
the south southeast. Portsmouth, ou-
logne is the most direct line Of com.
between the great British
arsena! and the firing line through
Flanders. Artois, Picardy and Cham
payne. The River Liano divides the
town. and the improvements at its
mouth provide excellent harbors for
the unusual STREET of shipping that the
war has brought about.
"Boulogne has always had more or
less close relations with England,
and unfriendly. 1t has even
been suggested that it was the Portus
titus where Julius Caesar assembled
his fleet In olern times, BOulOgnC
has been the Englishman's favOrite
way into France and, before the war,
the passengers from FOlkstO1e to
Boulogne totaled about 100000 annu-
ally The transatlantic liners of the
Hamburg American and the Holland .
American companies. also male BOu-
'Cgne a calling point. English bust
ness interests in France we're lsrgely
al this port, and the Eng
ish business interests in Frence were
largely repre-ented at this 0Ort, and
The English colony is the most Eng.
ish city on the continent. and, before
he war was many months old, the
English language and English ways
became the accepted currency of the
liace.
I'm 1904. Napoleon | selected Rou-
ogne as the starting point for an in
,asion of England. He assembled an
army of 10000 men and vast assert
neDt of war stores here for this pur-
Jose The invincible general was so
,ertain that England was fated to fail
before his geniu3 that he had coins
struck with which to pay his soldiers
N the other side of the channel and
Inscribed them 'minted in London
lie also began column of victory here
o comTorata the conquest about to
,e realized of his most troublesome
opponent Marshals Soult, Ney. Da-
'oust and victor were to lead the in
'aders. The harbors of BouIogne were
hidden under the hulks of
he vessels. upon which the expedi-
ion was to be transported. A flotilla
# 2413 craft of all skies had been
altered at the port.
Preparations for the invasion were
dmirab.y made. and the troops waited
My for the coming of the protect
re French fleets from Antwerp, Brest
'adiz, and the harbors of the Mediter-
anean to convey them to the island
The units of these fleets
ad been in the course OF construction
or several years for the express pur-
ose OF aiding in the decision against
England: for the Little Corporal, will
ing TO divide the world with Alexanl
er of Russia, knew from the beginning
hat his interests and those of Britain
ould never be reconciled. The French
eets never assembled at Boulogne,
nd thu Victory of Nelson at Trafal-
ar in 1905. forever shattered Napol-
on's hopes for the invasion.