The Tomahawk., 1917-12-20

COucy RACED to the ground,
bombed by the fleeing enemy.
This was the brief, bald
communicate which struck blow to
French hearts second only in force to
| that delivered by the shower Of steel
! rained for two years and half on the
famous cathedral ut Reims, writes
Blanche McN1anus in the Chicago Her
aid.
It was the spring before that sum-
| mer cloudburSt of war. We had opened
! that day for the first reading the "Bal-
| ladies' Franchises" of that eccentric
and celebrated poet of the ''quartier'
Legitimate successor Of him who gave
fame to the lOng-departed Cafe Procope
Paul Fort; opened it, too, at his
adorable musical tribute dedicated to
| this same grand old Chateau dc Coucy.
Built some 600 years ago by a
naughty seigneur by the name of En-
guerrand, third of the line of Coucy,
it was handed down for two centuries.
Then Il royal Louis of the regnng Or
| leans family, who evidently had pref
ty taste in castles, having just built
it's splendid rival, the neighboring
Chateau de Pierrefon1s (alsO in the
zone des armees but not yet liberated),
bought it for 100000 livres tournois,
unit Of reckoning comparable to the
franc of today.
After the usual martial vicissitudes
Of the times Cardinal Richelicu, in the
seventeenth century, gave the taDrlc
| Its first hard knock by ordering it dis
mantled as IL fortress of the time. But
| it's mighty walls resisted well, although
the interior was Quilted. Thereafter Its
debris served as a quarry for all the
| nei ghborhood, and 1t is easy to see that
the solid houses of the little town hud-
ding about the walls were built chiefly
of it's stones. Some sixty years ago
| it entered into the public domain OF
| the French government, who commits
| stoned the great French architect, Vio-
| lett e-le-Duc, master Of modern Gothic,
| to restore it to the extent of CONSOLE
| dating it's stately shell against further
disintegratiOn then, too, it came to be
| officially c1ussed as Il monument his
| torique and remained the most splcn-
did feudal bastilc of all Europe and
Il Joy and q marvel to the eyes OF all
| who came within it's spell.
Everything Within Its Walls.
So much for history. Now for its
! reality, at least up to few months
ago. The Chateau Of Coucy is the
| most perfect example of the self-con-
| tanned mode of existence on earth anu
should make the committing suburban.
ite blush for his wandering life. Every
| thing for the requirements OF the
dwellers within was held also within
| its mighty grip, surrounded by Its four
towering stories Of defenses, taller III
| their ensemble than many cathedral
spfre. First the encircling outer wall.
behind which in the old days lived the
scrfs in their wooden huts, but today
!ncoslng the sleepy little village so
| typical of northern France. There
was rampant promenade, along
which we followed, punctuated with
The thirty-two tours of other days, and
| with but three gateways, one leading
10 LaOn, one to scissors, one 10
| Chauny, all Of them towns which~are
making rapid history at this moment
:lere were gathered the tiny shops,
he markets where provisions were
brought from where they were grown
| II the fields below the walls.
| Next the second ring of walls, sur
! rounded by deep moat opening only
| ut ore massive gateway. We crossed
it's druwbridge, still hung by the rusty
| chains Of other days. These incloscd
| he working parts Of the chateau, an
| orchard and quaint formal garden
In which the family took their airinss.
| Cfrclcd about were the stables, retain
| RS quarters, guardhouses, armorV,
| ,oultry yard, dairy, the falconry, cell
| ATS, storerooms, kitchens and all the
attendant parnph"rnalia necessary to
the care and comfort of the thousands
| of henchmen that rallied about the
| standard Of COucy.
| In the center rose Il chapel the orig
| inal nucleus of the chateau. FOund;l-
| lions and grass plot arc all that
! remnin. The fourth defense was sac
| chateau proper, great quadrangle as
| spacious as most chateauX in their
| ensemble. Each corner was crowned
with a great cylindrical tower more
han a hundred feet in height, their
walls yearly i've yards thick.
Then t:n.~ The final defense, tie