The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-05-23
RHEIMS EDIFICE
rent BY SHELLS
LIKELY TO FALL
Cracked Walls of the Fam
GUS Cathedral Bullying;
Roof Full of Holes.
(By Wythe Williams)

warren, VINO was invited by the
French government to make a new
report on the condition of the cathe-
dral in view or the recent terrific
bombardment. This is the third time
that the American architect has been
called upon to give his professional
study to the systematic destruction of
the building.
In as much as entrance is now bar
red to every one on account of the
danger of falling debris, was espec-
tally included in the official permit
by General Nivelle. For three hours
we wandered undistunbed and unac-
companied through the magnificent
ruin, taking dozens OF photographs,
Mr.. Warren making minute compar-
isons of the present condition with
that of the time Of his last visit six
months ago. In summing up his find
ings, he said:
The cathedral is now in grave dan
ger of total destruction. In the re-
cent bombardment seven of the flying
buttresses were shot away, so that the
| walls, particularly those OF the tran
| sept, are SO weak that just one chance
shot would bring all that portion Of
the building tumbHng down. The
walls are full of cracks, and are real
| ly just hanging together, depending
only on the thin iron supports insert
ed through them. Considering the
entire cathedral, would say that
1 probably three such chance shots or
possibly half a dozen would raze it to
the ground.
with the loss of the flying but
| tresses the pressure of the other sup
ports has become so great against
| the other walls that they are buIg1ng
out. New cracks are appearing con-
stantly, SO that the vicinity Of the
cathedral is very unsafe. 1t could be
4 saved if no more shells hit it'll don't
mean it could be restored It is too
bodily smashed ever to be restored,
except in spots. What mean is it
could be preserved as it isEa won
| derful and inspiring ruin, quite as
magnificent in its way as the Roman
Coliseum No matter what further
destruction occurs 1t seem to me it
should be kept simply as a ruin to
let the whole world see throughout
all time what savages the Germans
really are. Even to preserve it would
be difficult task, but nowadays 1t is
possible to preserve almost anything,
and I believe temporary support
could be installed, both inside and
outside the walls, that would prevent
them from falling until they could be
sufficiently strengthened and again
made intact However, the Germans
are probably able to prevent the
building being saved, as they seem
intent on its total destruction.
/ Hauts Reliefs Half Intact
t-Since I was here the last time ]
should says its condition Is over sc
per cent. worse. The whole exterior
4 is now too badly SCARED for any mod
4 IL ~
it. The magnificent hauts relief OF
the fourteenth century that covered
one entire interior end wall are BY
some miracle still half intact They
are the most. unique treasure Of the
cathedral There is nothing like their
any place else in the world, but alas,
they cannot be removed as they are
| carved out Of the cathedral itself.
am glad to see the authorities arr
now building a thick brick wall cover
ing them, but inasmuch as the Ger
mans have lately been sending shell.
of $50 millimeters into the building
it will be more than a miracle If the.
escape.
"Of course, it is simple to see that
the German statement that the ca
thedra1 has been shelled because i
Is used as an observation post is onl,
another of their lies. The cathedra
towers are about eighty meters high
and you can count about sixteel
French observation balloons here
abouts that are at least 500 meter
high. What good would the towe
be as an observatory? Also the Ger
mans cannot truthfully charge the,
are firing at the cathedral to destro,
French batteries because you cal
easily determine and so can they tina
there is no French battery within
mile of it. Also they lie when the.
say that the shells hitting the cathe
dral have been accidental and tina
they didn't really mean to hit it be
cause as you can also easily see whei
approaching Rheims in the distanc
the cathedral looms above the tow
, as big as an elephant in backyard
No the Germans are ruthlessly de
!, stroying this great work Of art be
) cause they are what they are-that i
, T to say, because they are Germans
+ tjust Germans-there is no name t.
! | call any one that could be worse.
The interior condition Of the cathe
!, dral is now SO bad it is impossible t
! keep the rubbish cleared, as was tn
case up to a month ago, when visitor
were constantly taken there. The
there was only one. hole in the root
!. but now there lis a succession of grea
holes and assures joining them, s.
that the floor is in places five fee
3 deep with crumbled masonry. Tn
4 high altar has totally disappeared an
t the priceless stained glass of the win
dows has now all gone.
1.-The greatest miracle of all is tina
: the building has resisted destructio
Q so long," Mr.. Warren explained. 81
lis only the great thickness of tn
walls and the stone arches of tn
roof that have saved it from fallin
long ago.
During the period Of the war pre-
ceding the great allied offensive i
April it is estimated that about 80,
900 shells fell on the city and church
:. but during the spite bombardment
n that followed the offensive 1900
: shells of all sizes were rained on tn
o place during period of eight days
|, and even yesterday while we wer
there the destruction was still goin
o on, shells constantly falling in al
: parts of the city. We had ampl
D proof of the size of the shells DELHI
erately hurled ct the cathedral whe
d in the midst of a pile of crumple
d masonry under the transept we cam
upon an unexploded shell of $50 mil
limeters.
= Much Chaunnague Stored I'm