Semi-weekly herald., 1915-07-26

which age required had just been fin
ished ON Cloth hall before the war
began. The people paid for this in
their civic pride and let other civic
improvements wait. For the Cloth
The old frescoes on its walls told
the city's early history. II meant
TO Ypres quite as much in its way
as Westminster Abbey to London,
or Faneuil hall in Boston. Every man
or woman horn in Ypres had been
brought up to tell the time of day by
the raised gilt figures on the old
golden clock face.
Horror Exhausted.
BY February the peoples sense of
horror was exhausted. Destruction
of things sacred to them had become
routing. When they heard another
explosion and word was passed to
them that the Germans had scored
another hit they went around to the
Grande place TO see if the turrets and
the gilt clock face We're still unharm-
ed. And they said: "The Cloth hall
f-4;n he rAsiarad." These sinh-
born Flemish who would not let shell
fire drive them away from their old
town.
The next time the Associated press
correspondent went to Ypres there
was not single house left on the
Grande place that resembled a house
any more than a rubber bag with the
gas out resembles ballon. In the
second battle of Ypres when the Ger
mans had another try at the cathed
raj the sensation of their attack with
asphyxiating gas overshadowed what
they did with their guns Hereto
fore their practice on Ypres had been
comparatively teasing playfulness.
This time they went at the job of
destruction Systematically; jumping
from one place on the checkerboard
refugees; wholesale death for men in
billits in town and destruction aud
delay for supplies and munitions COM
ing through the streets. This was
excellent theory which did not work
out in practice. The British were not
billiting troops to any extent in Ypres
and you could count the number of
army wagons nit on the fingers of
one hand. One shell in the British
trenches accomplished more than ten
into Ypres. The main result was
that the homes and offices and cafes
Of $4,000 people were destroyed.
42-Centimeters Used.
The 42-centimeter (l7-inch mortar)
had Its part in the work. When al
l7-ireh shell struck a house the re-
mains Of the building not distributed
on the pavement were in an enlarged
cellar Debris in the streets still re-
mains where il fell There is no pur-
pose in cleaning it up in an uninhab
tied town. Paving stones are scat.
to another they smashed Ypres sec
ton by section.
As they meant to take the town
this seemed poor policy for they would
find no roofs for shelter wheL they
moved in. But their object was con
fustion for British reinforcement ;
hurrying up along roads crowded with
tered about from the 17-inch shell
! which struck in the center Of the
Grande place and made "a crater about
fifteen feet across and ten feet deep
This two thousand pounds Of steel
and powder did not kill anyobdy so
far as could be learned. 1t would not
take paving gang long to make re-
pairs. Another which could have
brought down a cathedral tower dug a
still larger crater in the soft earth
of the cathedral grounds Big shells,
or little shells, they do not count un-
less they hit. On the principle that
| lightning never strikes twice in the
same place probably the safest cover
you could find in case Of another
bombardment Of Ypres would be to
sit in the bottom Of one OF these
craters. Another bombardment would
seem a. bootless ~ failing last years