Evening star., 1918-08-16
:AM|ENS, DEAD CITY,
j j IS SCOM|NG TOL|FE
Mass Sung in Notre Dame
!: Cathedral, Left Standing
. by Germans.
FLAGS AT ALTAR

~ tie Associated Press
with THE BRITISH ARMY IN
FRANCE. Aueu-. l5.-AmIens. which
has been the dad city of ricardy'
Since Its population of about 10000.
Including 10000 refugees. fled before
.~he crest of the German offensive last
xprlng is coming to life again.
noThe menace OF the invader has gone.
fer the invader himself has been
chased back toward the Somme. and
low some OF the peaceful residents
who had been refugees for months are
creeping back Today street after
q rect throushCu. the city was en-
Grely deserted. but here and there the
inevitable little old woman who
-Nould not leave her howe would come
II her bomb or Smell splinsered door
gay AZ hG-Se-drawn or meter tsi.icie
shattered through the Ihoroughfares.
Mass at Not-e Dame.
THE vehicles carried men, sometimes
6hicers and soldiers. of Great Britain.
France or the United States. ard
sometimes civilians who have lived
sor years In the now shadow OF a
ETY.. Ga their way to mass In the
great cathedral of Notre Dame. which.
tespite the damage from German guns
Ind bombs. retains the title or the
most beautiful in all France.
a. The service was to celebrate the
6eliyerance of the city from the Ger
mans, and thanks, were given to the
ellied arms which accomplished the
Gelivery.
= But the group gathered In the
ga edral itself showed that Amlens
was coming back to life. for in add
lion to the khaki and the horizon blue
of the wounded British and French
soldiers there was quite sprinking
of the darker shades of civilian
clothes. Most Of those wearing the
latter had returned to the city since
the enemy was thrown back.
- Allied Flags About Altar.
Before the altar. surrounding with
Yed. white and blue flags of Great
Britain. France and the United States.
and with the assistance of a choir
Formed of French soldiers. mass was
celebrated. From the pulpit a PRIEST
sloquently told his hearers. sitting
among sandbags and debris. the his
tory of the cathedral
The voices of the cho-isters. accom-
panied by the soft strains of the or
gans and the violins played by the
soldiers, carried not only through the
cathedral, but well into the streets of
-the MANNED city through the open
window spaces and holes torn in the
walls BY explosives hurled by the
Germans.
The glass broken here dated back to
the fourteenth century. Fortunately
much of the glass had been removed
from the windows in time to save u.
The same is true of the wonderful
statues. the famous bronze figures OF
bishops dating back to the thirteenth
century and the large number Of
priceless paintings and interior deco
rations.
Only one OF the famou. paintings
was damaged. That was cut across
the center by debris sent flying
through the cathedral when Ger
man shell came bursting through the
Clipped the columns of the edifice
and also the old marble group of the
Holy Family which for some rea son
had not been removed.
Signs Of Hun Havoc.
In the city itself tho houses every
where show signs of the German
bombardment. Some windows are
without glass Some houses are mere
ly marked by shell contact, while
others bear great. gaping holes in
their sides. through which are reveal
ed the interiors. in some of which the
covers are still on the tables. pictures
on the walls, and curtains Tapping in
the breeze. At still other places there
are oddly shaped chunks of masonry.
splintered wood and furniture heaped
in piles. Those scenes indicate where
the German aviators or gunners found
marks for their missiles.
In one of the principal streets of
the city an old wagon. with one of
Its wheels OF. lies turned up side
ways on the sidewalk which a little
farther on is piled high with square
blocks of stone from a demolished
house. The pigeons, of which there
used to be SO many. have gone 1t
seems that they evacuated the she'll
torn place at the same time that the
entire population left it.
Amiens is still the dead city Of PI-
cardy" and the emptiness of its shops,
buildings. dwellings. streets and mar
kets had a depressing effect. But
Amiens is coming to life again. That
was evident at mass in the cathedral
fndav