Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1918-11-14
which we overlooked the river and
the city.
Malicious Destruction.

the city.
Malicious Destruction.
The towering cathedral steeple had
offered gunner's mark which had
not been overlooked. The spire of the
Hotel de Vile also had been shot and
the weathercock hung at half-mast. In
the square about the city hall the
houses had been shelled to ruin. A
radiator stood out in midair from one
of them. On the second story wall
of another hung large portrait of a
girl. Bombs and shells had torn their
way through roofs and afterward
when / walked through the city streets
I realized that the work Of destruction
had been completed by malicious
hands. Furniture had been smashed
and thrown into yards and streets, pic
lures had been ripped from frames,
and even kitchen utensils had been
thrown out to rust.
A large part of the loot of the city
was recovered when the Germans
were hurriedly forced out, and nurse
in an American Red Cross hospital
which followed the allied troops into
Chateau-Thierry told me Of seeing
great sacks filled with gold and silver
cups, candlesticks, tableware and or
naments of every description which
had been stored there in the hospital
and left in the retreat. The hospital,
originally for French civilians, has
changed hands five times and was I'M
such state of unspeakable filth when
the Americans took it over from the
sBoches that it took ten days to clean
| it out
| Up back of the hospital are the
grounds Of the ancient chateau for
which the city was named. They once
belonged to the duke of Thierry, who.
was one of the famous seigneurs Of
/ the early eighth century. I climbed
through subterranean passages there
which were built by his vassals that
he might escape to the other side Of
the Marine whenever his enemies
pressed him too closely, but which
recently have been used by Boches as
protection during air raids from
French planes. The openings are par
| TALLY filled up now SO that they no
longer afford passage under the river,
but they offer adequate protection
against bombs. There are deep built
wine cellars with thousands of bottles
which the Germans carried up there
and emptied. And there are old stone
mortars that the inhabitants claim
date back to the battle Of Crecy, with
empty cartridges from Boche guns ly-
ing beside them.
A city Of desolation is Chateau
Thierry, but city whose wounds al
ready are beginning to heal. It es-
capped total destruction because since
the German troops were on one side
Of the river and the allied troops on
the other the artillery on both sides
was prevented from direct operation ;
and so civilians are coming back. The
newspaper proprietor Of the place.
having found that only one side Of his
house had been torn off, is inhabiting
the other side and preparing to turn
out news for those who are returning,
Every scrap of cloth and linen In his
house was carried off and much of the
furniture destroyed, but he found the
silver which he buried in his back
yard before he fled with his wife, and
his wife has found a Job cooking for
American military police who are sta
toned there.
A millinery shop has opened up and
: there is another little store of mo,
tions," where perfumes and nail polish
are on sale. Fruit stands and cheese
shops. butcher stores and postcard
vendors are operating at full blast on
street corners or in drafty rooms that
open on the streets, guiltless Of pro.
lection Of glass or even windows OF
doors in many cases. The more habi
! table houses have been cleaned out
and are being used as headquarters
for the military officials.