Norwich bulletin., 1915-11-11

cident might compromise the opera ton hopelessly and the rapidity with which we necessarily acted inevita- bly, developed some nervousness. In a very short time. we established a list of 710 canvases that we consider cred it necessary to put into a place of safety. Only 250 pictures were removed from the Museums in 1870 during the siege of Paris; compara- lively our task was far greater. Some experts declared that it was inn possible in view of the mobilization of the greater part of the personnel of the museums, but we were deter mined to make the maximum effort. All the furniture moving houses in Paris were called upon by telephone to send every available moving van immediately and the removal of the pictures and statuary began at once. The Venus de Milo. which weighs three tons, gave us the greatest trou- ble,. after which the most delicate op- erations were the packing and re- moval of the precious objects and furniture of the Gallery of Apollo at the Louvre.
 AS for the Crown diamonds, their removal was a delicate task that Henri Marcel, Director of the Nation al Museums, and myself decided that we could not delegate to anyone. Pro- curing an ordinary leather satchel, we placed the diamCnds in 1t and left for the railroad station at night-fall. The situation was disquieting, for mum Der of reasons. The station was crowded. the streets full of people hurrying out of Paris before the ap- preaching army.
 We dined at the buffet of the rail- road station-very poorly, because the responsibility of the safety of those ed to tiH-i of US that the eyes of ev- cry person in the restaurant were fixed upon that leather bag. and 1t occurred to us what simple mat ter it would be for an ill-designing audacious person to make a consider fusion of the exodus. We succeeded in getting places in the train, crowd ed to overf1owing with panicky pas sengers. When we arrived at our journeys end we were not at the end of our trouble with those famous jewels. It was almost impossible to find a place in which to put them. We had been proceeded, it seemed. by every owner of a pearl necklace in Paris. and all the boxes of the only safe deposit places in the city were already filleL- We finally found an empty drawer in the safe of a branch of a Parisian Bank and it is there the jewels of the Crown have been in safe-keeping ever since, always under the watchful eye of men from the Fine Arts. men detailed by the Bank, and all of them supervised by private detectives.
 The watch over the paintings and objects of art is an even more i'm portant affair. They filled scores of moving vans assembled in a large courtyard where there were formerly shoe shops, locksmiths and small tradespeople of all sorts. who gave up their establishments in order to contribute to the safety of the Ma tional Art Treasures. All the doors leading to the court were sealed up, bars placed on all windows, fire fight ing apparatus installed and constantly day and night. the entire block around this court was patrolled by territor- ials with fixed bayonets.
 Tn addition to the Art Treasures of the Louvre and other Paris Mu- seums, such as tn Luxemburg and Cluny, the chateaux of Fontainebleau and Compiegne were stripped of everything that was movable and the greater part of the art treasures of Arras have also been saved.