The farmer and mechanic., 1915-07-20

Blesses, a society organized TO take
care of the French wounded, has
written for the Herald an interesting
description Of the ruined Cathedral of
Rheims and its surroundings. Mrs.
Mendes is one of the few women who
have been allowed by the French gov
ernment to go to the war area. She
went in her official capacity with a
commission investigating the condi-
ton of the wounded-Soldiers of the
republic.
1T was the end of April writes
Mrs. Mendes, when we approached
Rheims automobiling. The weather
was fine. The hills bore their fruit
trees in blossom, white and perfumed.
The swallows flew twittering through
the air. But 1 was insensible of ma
lures renaissance; L was watching
for the cathedral.
"All at once I saw it, like a martyr
dead on his feet. The tears came to
my eyes, for We had hoped SO much
that it might be spared
"In Paris, while the German army
was approaching Rheims, all sorts of
rumors floated about. Some said:
Precautions have been taken. No
efiicacious bombardment of the edi-
flee can be made Others: The Ger
mans will not dare to touch it. They
will be afraid of arousing the wrath
Of the world Finally the rumor ran
about that there was nothing more to
fear. The United States had taken
the cathedral under it's protection and
the American flag was hofsted upon
its towers. No one stopped to reflect
that this was impossible. We grasped
every straw of hope.
The Martyrcd Basilica.
But now the basilica is before us
"a skeleton, dead. We stand before
o t,a a 49, 70 ,I
step upon sacred cinders. Finally we
enter wandering through the ruins.
Everything is topsy-turvy. Statues,
broken angels, clock towers, gar
goyles. colonades everything is pell-
mell-smashed, melted, burned. One
does not know where to put ones feet
for fear of committing sacrilege. Sud-
denly l utter cry. One more step
and i would have stepped upon the
face of Christ. / become faint and
they had to hold me up.
Il was asked if 1 wished to view the
ruins from above, to see the decapi-
tated angels, the twisted iron of the
roof, all the agonizing details Of de-
struction, but / did not want to see it.
l had suffered enough and l wandered
out of the martyred basilica.
Outside. in the midst of the sacred
ruins, woman was kneeling, clad in
mourning, praying. And l remem-
bered the words Of Rodin: The ca
thedral brings to mind the figure of a
woman praying No, the soul of the
cathedral has not been destroyed by
the effacement of it's beauties
Through the ages to come it will be
the ashes. in her eyes the Immortal
flame Of the soul of France.
Waiting out there I called to mind
the words of the German professor
Jean Joseph Gocrres, published in the
Thienischc Merkur in 1914: Let u!
reduce to ashes this basilica O
Rheims. where Klodovig was crowned
founded. Burn this cathedral
"One hundred years later, Septem
Der 5, 1914, while the German hord,
was near Rheims, the Berliner Blat
said: The western group of ou
armies in France has already passct
the second line Of forts except Rheims
whose royal splendor, dating from tn
time Of the lys, will not fail to crum
bic into dust under the blows of ou
howitzers'
Kaiser's Broken Promise.
Nevertheless, when the German
entered Rheims they did not touch tn
cathedral. The reason is very sim
pie. They thought that their victor
was certain. They never intended sur
rendering Champagne, and the
wanted the glories Of Rheims fo
themselves. The Kaiser proclaime
himself the protector Of the art treas
ures Of France and of Belgium. Whcr
however, on September 12, tn
French, victorious upon the Marn,
re-entered Rheims, it was different
Two days later the German bal
teries opened upon the cathedral, an
the Kaiser no longer was the protet
tor OF the art treasures. From mir
o'clock on the morning of Scptembe
IA. 1914. to the present time, the
have directed their fire upon tf
basilica each shot tanning the flan
of hate they have kindled.
THE Germans have not sought
excuse themselves. Last New Year
Day. in celebrating the glories of IL
Fatherland. one of their poets, r,
dolph HerZog, wrote an ode, "In hon,
Of the destruction of the cathedral
Rheims One of the verses, tran