The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1916-03-18

NlOh bONtIs IOlholOlCs DllSu- |
- ton and Portsmouth, all war
lanes across the English chan
mel lead to B~oulogne, the .sreat
port for the western entente battle
line, safe behind the long rows of
trenches in the north and made the
principal point for import from Eng
land of vast stores of munitions and
a steady stream of troops, says a bull
letin of the National Geographic So
ciety. Boulogne is a vitality important
point in the line opposing the Ger
In the West; it is the funnel
through which the British empire is
pouring its 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 20 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 di-
vides the town and the improvements
at its 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. 1t has even
been suggested that it was the Portus
titus where julius Caesar assembled
his feet. In modern times, Boulogne
has been the EngliGhman's favorite
way into France, and, before the war,
the passengers from Folkstone to
Boulogne totaled about 900, 900 annual
ly. The transatlantic liners of the
Hamburg-American and the Holland.
American 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 numbered more than 1900.
1t has long been said that Boulogne
is the most English city on the con
tinent, and, before the war was many
months old, the English language and
English ways became the accepted
currency of the place.
In 1904 Napoleon I selected Boulogne
as the starting point for an invasion
OF England. He assembled an army
of $4,000 men and a vast assortment
of wal stores here for this purpose.
The great general was so certain that
genius that he had coins struck with
which to pay his soldiers on the 9th
er side of the channel and inscribed
them "minteC in London" He also
began a column of victory here to
c mmemorate the conquest about to
be realized of his most troublesome
opponent. Marshals Soult, Ney Da-
vcust and Victor were to lead the in
vsders. The harbors of Boulogne
were completely hidden under the
hulks of the many vessels upon v,Lich
the expedition was to be transported
A lotilla 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