The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1918-11-08
Unbelievable Vandalism Commit
ted in Chateau Thierry.
DESPERATE need OF FATS
Remove Every Candle and Even the
Bits Of Partially Burned Candles
From Churches Before Evacuation
Whenever They Could Not Carry
vestments Away They FouIed Them
In an ~UnspeakabIe Manner.

Proof that Germany Is more desper
ately In need of fats than ever before
was gathered in Chateau-Thierry when
the French cure in charge of st. Gre
pins church In that quaint little city
returned to the ruins Of his parish a
few days ago.
Before the Germans abandoned the
place to the storming Yanks they re-
moved every candle and even the bits
Of partially burned candles from the
church, and, In addition, took the cam
dies which the nuns used in the Hotel
Dieu, their little hospital there. The
cure says the Huns must have secured
about 400 pounds of candles in the two
religious edifices.
In addition to stealing all the can
dies, the Huns stole the sacred vessels
from the church and chapel, took away
the bronze candlesticks which had been
there for years, and y cut the leath-
err from the interior of the big pipe or
gan and carried that away. The pipes
Of the organ were twisted so that the
instrument was rendered useless, and
the vestments of the cure and his as
sistant were fouled by Ludendorff's
hordes.
Fat Shortage Acute.
In the presence of Rev. Father James
Horton, principal of the Marist college.
Of Atlanta, Ca, who is now q volunteer
chaplain with the Knights of Columbus,
German prisoners recently stated that
they had been given orders to collect
every bit of fat they could to be sent
back to Germany. The prisoners admit
ted that the shortage there was more
acute than 1t had ever been.
Father Horton, through the Knights
Of Columbus, supplied the French cure
with candles, sacred vessels and vest
ments for his church and the nuns
chapel, SO that services could be held
In those places for the French who
have returned to the ruins Of their
homes In Chateau-T hierry.
AS an expression of his gratitude to
the knights of Columbus the cure gave
Father Horton the honor of saying the
1rst mass held I'm the church since the
Germans were forced out of the city.
Hundreds of American soldiers sta
toned there crowded In the old and
battered church last Sunday, and aft.
ter Father Horton finished the mass
the cure delivered a special sermon In
English, In which he hailed the Ameri.
can soldiers as the saviors of France.
Churches Deseerated.
II have visited several other church
es In the sector from which the Ger.
mans were recently driven by the al
lies, and ! have found that the Huns
have desecrated all of them. In one
church they appear to have deliberately
broken a number of beautiful stained
glass windows which had escaped In
spite of the bombardment. Whenever
they could not carry vestments away
they were fouled In an unspeakable
manner and they even planted bombs
In the interior of a pipe organ in one
small church, evidently in the hopes
OF killing some Of the people when they
returned to their parish" said Father
Horton.
The Knights Of Columbus are aiding
many OF the French cures In restoring
the ruins of their churches and the
cures are reciprocating by turning
over the buildings to the X. OF @
chaplains to hold masses for thu
American soldiers In the field.