The union Democrat., 1870-10-08
rs.
s,a.sours Ca,h.ara, Clock aad r.,srar,

One of the most lamentable results Of tha
seige of Strasbourg, leaving out the loss of
life. is the injury which the hom Ia rdment has
inflicted upon the noble cathedral and ita
wonderful astronomical clock. The vast ca.
ihed-al which. perhaps, more than any other
thing. has made the name Of Strasbours cele-
brated, is one of the finest Gothic hnildincs
in Europe. II was founded A. D. 504. The
choir was built hy Charemasne, proba-
bly, about A. n. 800, though IL was not com.
pleted until 1880. The material Of which
the cathedral is built is brown stone, very
much resembling our Connecticut Portland
tree stone, so extensively used in Fifth Ave-
rue. IL was obtained from a quarry at Was
scheme, in the valley Of Couronue, n few
miles from Strasbourc. The architect of tha
existing edlhce was Erwin Won Steinhach, Of
Baden. One John IIulis, Of Cologne. was
the architect Of the peerless tower. Its hight
Is 400 feet. surpasses St. Peters's, and IL
about equal to that of the greater part of the
Great Pyramid. The greater part of the en-.
tire structure was DESTROYED hv fire in 1907
and the restored edifce was begun in lOl6.
and completed in 1889. The cathedral IL in
every part richly decorated with SCULPTURES;
ard the western front, rising 10 a hight of
2S9 feet, Is, or was, particularly fine with its
wealth OF statues. ornamental carvings and
bas-rehefs. The Prussian heavy artillery hrs
made. 1t is said, ruin Of part IF the vast
building.
The astronomical clock. the product of
German oloekmaker, in ahont the year 1855,
is u marvel of ingenuity end mechanical skill,
and has No counterpart. II performs not on.
~ the ordinary service Of clock, but exbit-
its the days and months and the years; tina
progress Of the seasons; the signs of the sod,.
NJ md tha ard r IL
heavenly bodies. At each quarter of an hour
an angel comes ont and strikes one stroke on
the bell; at every hour another angel comes
and strikes twice; and at twelve, meridian, .
figure OF Christ appears. accompanied by tho
twelve Arostles all of whom move around
central point and pass in out of sight, Nv
another door. stroke Of twelve heirc civen,
and cock flaps IFS wings and crows. The
clock is enormous in size. Ike everything elsa
connected with the vast cathedral, and is in
visible from the outside street, the spectator
passing through the nave of the cathedral to
see it. 1t has suffered from fire and vio-
lence before the present year. having been
out OF renair and motionless since the revolu-
ton of 1893. until the year 1912. when IL
was repaired Ivy matchmaker of Bas-Rhin.
and has been in operation since. 1t is 10 D.
hoped that this Ingenious piece Of mechanism
has NOT been irreparably injured by the pres
ent hombardment
The loss of the Strasbourg librsry--s vast
collection Of 100000 volumes. including
MANY collections OF rare and curinns monkish
parchmen's--is total and irreparnble. Itcan
never be replaced by any collection hereafter
made. 1t was the slow result of thousand
years; and its destruction nv fire, caused Nv
the Prussian hot shot, Is like the burning nf
the Alexandrian library in this. that Of a
great number of the works destroyed no du-
plicates can ever be obtained