South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1914-10-09
Priest Who LiUed Agonizing
Hour II, Burning Cathedral
Tells Story of Suffering

ing We hurried down There are
holes i'm the ceiling of the nave. as
YOU see. and sparks began 10 fall
through on 10 the great heap OF straw
10 feet high and 20 yards long that
the Germans had piled along the
north aisle We tried TO catch the
sparks In our hands as they fell such
OF the German wounded as were able
90 walk helping as. But the first that
fell on the pile set Il blazing.
There was time 10 think Of nothing
but getting out the wounded They
screamed horribly. We carried many
OF those who could not walk. others
dragged themselves painfully along
10 the side door I'm the north aisle:
those who had only hand and arm
wounds helped their comrades.
we got out all except the -
whose bodies lie here now. When at
last / came out OF the flaming build
ing ] found the whole body Of wound
ed huddled together round the door;
opposite to them was a furiously hos
tile crowd of civilians Of the town and
a number Of soldiers with their rifles
already leveled. / sprang forward.
What are you doing? / cried.
They shall all burn shouted the
soldiers in answer. They shall go
back and burn with the cathedral or
we Will shoot them here
You are madr / exclaimed in re-
ply Think OF what this means. All
the world VIII hear of the crime the
Germans have committed here, and if
YOU shoot these men the world will
know that France has been as crimi-
nal in her turn. Anyhow / said,
YOU shall shoot me first for / will not
move Unwillingly. the soldiers low
cred their rifles and / turned TO the
six German officers who were among
the wounded. VIII YOU obey me and
do everything I tell YOU? I asked.
They said they would. Tell your men
10 do the same. then. I said and I
made them form up In solid body,
those who could walk unaided carry
ing or helping those who could not. I
put myself at the head and We set off
few hundred yards away.
Crowd Attacks wounded.
well. then the crowd, which was
mad with grief and rage, set on us. I
can't describe it. You have never
seen anything so dreadful as that
scene IL was only natural, of course.
Que voulez-vOus2 (W.hat could you
do?) One can't prevent such things
at such an awful moment. They beat
some Of the Germans; some of them
they got down.
4" Can't you help me?' I called to
French officer / caught sight of. You
will never get to the Hotel de Vile
like this he replied. So ] forced my
wounded through the gateway Of a
private house. and we manged to
close the gates after us. They had
been roughly handled, and they stay
ed there a day and a night before we
could move them again"
For the first time for five days the
people of Rheims had come out of
the cellars where they had lived night
and day during the bOmbardment.
How they blinked TO see the strong
sunlight that broke out between the
showers after their long spell of cave
dwellingi They set out for an inspec-
ton of the damage that the shells had
done. II wiz ,ake them a long time
10 see It all. Smoke was still pouring
up from smOuldering heaps Of ruins
barricaded for fear of collapses of the
smashed walls on either side
1000 Hide Underground.
The English resident on whom 7
had paid a subterranean call on sun
morning he had been down to the
payne firm of which ne is a partner
and had insisted that the 1000 refu-
gees who had fed there at the begin
ming of the bombardment should
leave. now that the danger of shells
was over for the time. If he had not
done SO there would almost certainly
had been a bad epidemic i'm town
Imagine 1000 people of all ages