The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1918-04-23
RHEIMS,REDUCED TO
ASHES AFTER Three
.YEARS.OF SMELLING
City, Has Been Made Target Of
Hun Gunnefs Almost Daily
For Thirty eight Months
vANDALs AT LENGTH
ACHIEVE FELL PURPOSE
More Than Hundred Thousand
Shells Sent Into Heart Of
City In Single Week


PARIS, April 20.--( Atsocia'el Press)
Rheims. q tcrget for the German gun
ners since. almost the beginning Of the
war has been in flames FOR the past
week and is now only heap of ashes
and hot debris
For the past waek the bombartlment
by the Huns has been OF great violence
and il is estimated that in the perioi
Of seven days the enemy has dropped
more than hundreh thousnnd shells
'rto what wastonce the heart of bcnu
tiful city - "a =. aFFt~a - a.
Avatots have recently reported that
the flames OF the hurninq city could be
zen moro than sixty miles away. e
Hun Purpose Achieved -'@.~ e.. ..' ,
'BombatdInent Of q single city which
has lasted FOR more than three years
has resulted in its destruction together
With that Of one OF the most important
md beautiful architectural monuments
the world has known--the Cathedral Of
Rheims In some days thousands OF
shells have been thrown into the city
with attendant destruction.
The first shelling Of the city was he
gun September 4. 1914. while German
officers were stfll in control Of the city,
for the Germans occupied Rheims for
ton days and abandoned il, were not
driven put Since then shells have NOT
fallen every day. hut the bombardment
has been such as To be PROPERLY called
continuous. Calm davs would he iHtpr.
spersed between days Of intense artiA
lcFy activity. For several months in
1915 this was the case and the calm
days actually outnumbered the days Of
violence a. @.
Conditions crow Worse /
Since then things have gone from bad
10 worse. Decenber. 1915. was a COM
paratiyely cnlm month; only few days
with bomkartiih eTts. aud These with but
a minor fall Of shells Janunrv. 1917
orened with utter calm. Shells fell on
January Q. and 4 few on the three sue.
"eeding days Events became more un'
certain eas itIU,h went on: there were
DAVIS of bombRrhmeRt and days of no
bOmharHment.h No one could tell what
would .lhRpreT next. On February 9
he bomba~dnhsnt started in with some
1sjIv roguiaHtv; but since March I,
1917 tbere2 AVE hcen barely half a
dozen dars ~ which Rheims has not
been subjected -t6'a bombardment.
she'ling Continuous .,.I. I. s.
The siege hid assumed h new eharac.
ter The HON bardmfnt ~ 1917 wac al
most contiBn0hs. Rheims was fairly
drenched with shells. They wee no
lohget to he rou"ted by twos. threesl
twenties. ffties. but by hundredS and
THOUSANDS, On the two DAYS Of April q
and NO less than s7S5 shells wrr"
counted. On April ~ the number for
Eighty fires were noted in Rheims from
shells between April 7 and April IS.
The beautiful Hotel de Vile took fire
on May and burned for two DAYS. II
WIS estimated that $1,000 shells fell
between May II and IS, and the tota'
FOR all months Of 1917 reached gigantic
figures. =
Record OF Horror i'
July, fal7, was dreadful month
Twelve hundred sh<ils fell on july p
1880 on July u, more than 1000 on
July IL, from $500 70 Z 900 on July Il
800 on July IL. and 2.537 on July IA
MY II was relatively calm. with r12a
Skells. Then renewal On the 18th ot
$40 shells. droppinr to so on the, 10th
rising slightly to 40 on the goth and
then amounting TO more than 900 on the
91st. OF these 30 frll between 7 and
o'clock in the morning. 30 from $3.50 I'd
II a. m, 700 from ! to 3 p. M. and zoe
after II o'clock at night---a typical day
Of the great b6mbardmeht of Rheims
The history Of the unfortunate city
from that time on 10 the end. the past
@eek. has been simply repetition OF
the chronicle of the days that went be
fore. Now the fell Vandal purpose has
Ihnnr, fnlI,r nnh;nSnd