The sun., 1914-09-21
REIMS CATHEDRAL
is A BLAZING RUIN
Co,Ltmscd from First Poo'.

Continued from First Pd0'.
chairs were d,voured by the le1png
flames tha, scprchod the cracked walls.
Twenty of the German wounded
who had been carried into the cathe-
dral on Thursday and the presence Of
whom justified the Use Of the Red
Cross flag over the cathedral certainly
would have been burned alive by the
deyilish efforts of their own count rymen
il several French army doctors with
hearers at their own risk had not ear
ried them out Of the church by one Of
the side doors.
There Il grim scene Was only pre-
vented hy tn" courage Of the priests.
\ crowd of about 2oO citizens who had
taken the risk or shells Zee come out
ana watch the terrible spectacle raised
q howl Of passion as the Germans APP
pcared through the transept door.
XIII them" the citizens shouted
Some soldiers in the crowd deliberately
levelled their rifles at the German
wounded Lut the Abbc Andrcux. "A
gentle hammered little priest spraug
forward hetweon the wounded mon and
the levelled rifles.
Don't fire. h" shouted YOU would
make yourselves as guilty as they are.
This rcproach was enough Amid
fierce hooting and angry cries the Ger
mans were carried to the shelter of Nh"
museum.
\ despatch from Bordeaux to the
/ Times says:
I The hombariment of Reims mas sue
: ceeded in what was apparently It, object
/ the cathedral Is in flames. The bonn
/ bardment Of the cathedral was cuH-
/ jcmned I'm advance by tho FrdHkfUrt,r
| Zcitunp. which said on september :.
"'Lst MS respe". the Frcncn CATH
drals. particularly that at Ro!mS, which
| IL one Of tho finest in the world. Since
the Middle Ages It has been especially
dear to Germans, az BomDerg drew from
I, inspiration for many of his figures.
We regard these grand churches with
vcncratlon ana shall respect them a.
our forcfa:hcrs did in ls7o.'
"The German artillery nred on tho
cathedral with wanton dciibcration.
The crime served no military purpose
whatever. II cannot have been due to
the chances of war. the cathedral being
perfectly visible from the northern
heights to the German gunncrs, who
could easily have spared it.
France has made n protest to tho
neutral Governments against this cdi-
ton de luxe of lsouvain.
"A committee has been appointed
under NJ Mo,larj, former Minister to
Luxemhurg, 10 investigate German
atrocities"
A Paris despatch to the Daiiy Er-
press says the wonderful old stained
glass windows Of the Reims cathedral
were shattered by the first shots The
historic buildings in the neiGhborhood
of the cathedral were destroyed before
the building itself began to suffer,
The correSuonden, SAYS the cathedral
was fy ing the Rcd Cross nag for there
were 500 German prisoners in the cham
col ~ these $50 suffered further
wounds from German shells. -Four
hundred inhabitants Of the city were
killed by the bombardment. Much Of
Relms is IN flames and the entire popu-
ldtion Is fleeing 10 the south.
The bombardment, which began on
FRIDAY, continued throughout saturday
Bordcau 4 SpatCh to the Ddiil
Ners dnd LcddCr says the cathedral is
now heap of ruins. There Is bitter
Indignation in Bordeaux, the corro-
. spondcnt says, over the destruction .!
the famous building. Several other
iamofs monuments were destroyed by