The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-07-17

MS(H ASHINGTON, D. C.. July 1S.-
 WV Special. .)--St. Helena, the
 island whose speciality is the entertainment of deposed mon- archs, has good economic reasons for its reported desjSe to have the Kaiser for prisoner" says bulletin from the National Geographic society's Wash ington headquarters.
 Napoleon was it's most famous and best paying guest though not the only one. Dinizulu, a king, was a more recent exile; sent there after he led rebellion against the British during the Transvaal in 1889. While Napo- leon was at St. Helena. ''profiteering at the expense of the Bonaparte house hold and the numerous members of the garrison sent to guard him, was reduced to fine art by the island citizens.
 "In fact it was the high cost of St. Helena living which created part of the friction between Napoleon and the
 British governor of the island, Sir Hudson Lowe. Instead of living with in the 5000 pounds sterling allowed for maintenance of Bonaparte and the half hundred members of his entourage the bills for year mounted to three times that sum. Upon complaint of the governor, which Napoleon resented the ex-monarch executed bit of play to the galleries by ordering his silver sold and his bed broken up for wood which, when reported in England. created so much criticism of the gover-
 nor, already none too popular. that further remonstrances were not made.
 'Napoleons wants were few. His principal luxury was books; his diver sions chess playing and digging in his garden. Like the former Kaiser, he spent many hours with the Bible. He professed no piety, however, frankly admitting that he was making study of certain Old Testament books to show
 that monarchies had divine sanction, and he also spoke of wanting to write
 a monograph on The Campaigns of
 Noses
 Since St. Helena is some 700 miles from the nearest land, Ascension island, and 1,200 miles from the nearest Afri- can port, the extreme precautions taken by Lowe to prevent the escape of the man who once had ruled half of Flu rope. created considerable amusement. Sir Hudson was greatly disturbed one day to find a newly arrived Corsican priest riding horseback in a coat simi- lar to Napoleon's believing the com patriot involved in a plot to deceive
 the guards. The French commissioner complained that the sight of pass ing dog was enough to induce the gov ernor to plant new sentinel on the spot ;but perhaps the most extreme of l the many amusing stories of Loves solicitude was the occasion of his pro- test against Napoleons planting some | white and green beans. sensing it this combination of colors a subtle allu- sion to the white flag of the Bourbons and the distinctive green uniform of the general.
 Living almost within two rooms and his garden, Napoleon insisted on all the pomp and ceremony possible in such cramped quarters Since his compan- ions necessarily were much in his pres ence his insistence upon their standing sometimes brought them to the point of fainting. None might speak unless spoken to and all became extremely bored with court life in shanty in volving all the burdens. without any | of the splendor or a palace
 At first the exile rode horseback but soon abandoned that rather than
 have an English guard along. His se- clusion is best attested by the fact that | for five of his six years stay he did not exchange a word with the governor and of the three commissioners-Rus- sian, Austrian and sojournins there by the provisions of treaty .tc
 assure themselves of his presence one saw him through telescope once, g second looked into his face for tho first
 time when he was to be buried, and the l third saw him not at all.
 .Napoleons days at St. Helena were
 not wholly devoted to killing time. Ht dictated his voluminous memoirs, ant military commentaries while number | of his associates later added to thest
 diaries, conversations and memoirs ol their own. inaccurate or deliberatel,
 misleading in large part. Now thiI
 activity would be called propaganda
 It was highly effective propaganda, too Though Napoleon's escape was prevent
 ed by vigilance to an absurd degree
 and though the effect of his winning
 personality was guarded against D,
 forbidding visitors to see him. his writ inEs and thoss Of Aonthoion and LA.