Omaha daily bee., 1883-08-08
COLOGNE CATHEDRAL.
A RamblG Through Acres Of ATChi-
tGCtlrG,..ThG Work OF Six
Centuries,
In the shadows of the Medieval
Church-Evcn Chicago
AwcstriCkcn.
san Francisco Chronicle.

aWCStflCkCn.
san Francisco Chronicle.
COLOGNE, June II, 1883.
As one steps into the rude wooder
doorway and pushes open the green haiz,
door which occupies the lower part of the
grand portal of the cathedral he i~nvolun
tarily snatchos off his hat, overpowcrcd
by the vague, ill-dcfincd feeling of awe
which takes possession of him on tn,
sudden transition from the bright sun.
light, warm air and dustinoss of the open
street to the dim light streaming in
through the mammoth stained-glas,
windows, the cool atmosphere and almost
ascetic cleanliness of that vast ston,
interior. And as he steps forward from
tho door, pccring through the semi.
darkness and straining his eyes to pierce
the mysterious gloom which half-rcveals
and half-conceal the high altar, with its
glitteringparaphcrnalia foithc impressive
service of the Catholic Church, dwarfcd
by the distance which separates it from
him, he mechanically rises MS tip-toc,
and steals gingerly forward, as if it would
be the rankcst kind of sacrilege t,
make any but the most r%cverentlal
sounds and send its echoes reverbcrating
among those gigantic pillars and along
the lofty, grained roof, whose dusky
shadow, 200 feet above his head, seen
to peer down upon the intruder as if tc
question his motives in entering this
grandest of German buildings. And SC
completely is one under the spell of the
majesty and grandeur of the place that
ever the approach of the shaven-crowncd,
serge-robed and sandal-footed monk,
whose duty it is to present with his left
hand a card printed in German, English
and French-to suit the linguistic ac.
complishments of all possible visitors
politely requesting a mite or two for the
building fund of the church, while with
his right hand he suggestively holds out
a battered silver platter to receive the
said mite or two-even this little circum,
stance, which to the European traveller
is so common that he trembles in every
limb whenever a stranger approaches
him with a suggestive or inquiring look
in his eyes, does not disturb him; but,
under the influence Of the spell, he pull,
out his purse and parts with some of
his hard-earned lucre, feeling more than
repaid by the low bow and muttered
thanks of the monk.
SERVICE IN HI CATHEDRAL.
But while one is inside the building all
homogeneous monks-he is simply over.
awed by the vastness of the structure in
which he finds himself. In front, above
and on both sides of him, stretching
away, it seems to him, almost to in
tinity, stand the gray-brown stone pill,
lars, roof and walls. Nearly at the other
end of the 400 feet which separate the
front and rear of the building he sees in
the half light the %diminutive altar, with
priests and aColytes crawling about it like
the pigmies one sees throughth reversed
opera glass. And from the recesses OF
the organ loft comes the mingled har.
mony of instrument and choir, subdued
by the distance and mellowed by the i'm.
mense space it fills. Between him and
the altar are the rough wooded pews fol
the worshipers. And, though there are
seats for many hundreds, the space oc.
cupied seems but a dot upon that ex
panse of floor, and the heads of thekneel
ing suppliants, dimly seen above the
backs of the seats, appear like black
points against the dim, golden glories OF
the distant altar. The informing OF
the officiating priest as he chants
the litany in his nasal, high pitched voice,
comes stealing down the long vista OF col.
umns and loses its unmeaning% strangeness
of Latin during the journey. And the
pa,nnpcau Of tla rAnnrnnntinn fln hn,.b
baritones of the men, the unmusical altos
of the women and the shrill treble of the
children-blend themselves and become
almost musical, the more inharmonious
sounds being rubbed off, so to speak, by
friction on pillar, post and plaster. In
and out of the chapels at the sides, hidden
at times by the huge, round columns
which support the roof and again becom,
ing visible through some avenue between
them, one catches glimpses of brightly
dressed women and white-robed priests
offering their prayers at the altar of the
chapel of the Three Kings, or the Virgin,
or some other one of the seven to whom
a chapel is especially dedicated-the
while the parti-colored light, streaming
in through the gorgeous windows, throw.
ing its kaleidoscope of blue and gold and
green and yell.w upon them, adds u new
charm to the mingled white of the robes
of the priests and the more lively colors
worn. by the female worshipers.
SIX CENTURIES IN BUILDING.
Although the cornerstone of this great
building was laid with great religious Ger.
emory and rejoicing in the year 1248, it
is not yet finished and from present indi-
cations it will not be fully completed fol
many years to come, For, though at first
glance it appears that amy form OF work
upon it would be a worthless and useless
expenditure of time and money, there are
numerous wofkmen employed about it.
And because the building is SO vast, one
does not realize what a small army OF
stOne-cutters, masOns and the like there
are under and on its roof, until he has
taken note of how many he finds slowed
away, chisel and mallet in hand, working
out with painstaking care the delicate
tracery of some friese or capital, or laying
courses of masonry on the already dizzy
heights of the roof and spires. The clink
Of the chisel salutes ones ears in the dark
corners and in the open places, High
above the floor, suspended like spiders tC
their threads, are workers, hewing out
the designs drawn by men dead these
hundreds Of years. Kneeling around the
bases Of the pillars are swarthy-skinned
dark-eyed Italians, patiently putting
what seem to be the finishing touches t.
u,,,,1y Iaprn Ine,r, r,l,,,l,,g sac, -.