Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-10-05
ST. QUENTIN LOOTED
ON AMAZING SCALE
Cathedral Stripped After Being
Wrecked-Nandalism Car
ried TO Extreme
BY G.. II. PERRIS
Special Cable to Erening Public Ledger
copyright. f5fs, 6y Nciu rork Times Co.
with IN, Trencht Armies. Oct. ~

Already IN my first impressions OF st. K
Quentin have told YOU something Of the
city itself. It's ruined buildings and its soii-
tude. ! have written also Of the efficiency
Of the German atnys booty department.'f
or 81 Quentins once glorious Cathedral and
the havoc made of It by our modern yandnls
| must write in greater detail.
The carcass of the cathedral IL like an
old ruin newly damaged We reached II by
the west entrance, through barrier of cob
blestones and barbed wire. surmounted by
2 notice board reading. "Cerchgang Ver-
boten.' and then We found iree way in by
the south door. The great. square tower,
which. with the high roof. was burned in one
Of the last years fires was Landmark
throughout the countryside and irst-class
German observatory. II shows number
of ShCll-hO.cs.
Cathedral Ruins
The Naultug Of the apse has completely,
and that Of the splendid Gothic nave spring
ing over forty feet high, had partly fallen
in stone and dust were littering the floor.
~ the stained glass windows and Of the
stone and wood work dating back as far as
the twelfth century, only pitiful fragments
remain. Parts of the chapels that survived
the shocks of six centuries that the SPAIN
iards Of queen Elizabeth's day and the Ger
mans of Bismarck's had spared are now
shattered. and frescoes of the choir are open
to the cold autumn Sky.
In the neghborhood Of the Grand Place.
there remains Of the elaborate monument OF
the siege OF 1861, with its surrounding
statuary, only a broken pillar of the facade (.
OF the quaint ard charming fifteenth cent.
tury town-hall, with its gallery of seven
arcades. Its upper baiustrade and wooden
bell tower are intact, but the fne windows
are gone, the roof has fallen in upon the
Renaissance council chamber and the noor
Of the building Is now oncumbered with rub
.iish which is believed TO be mined. In the
rear the street Of the vast building called the
Palace of FerYadues, after the ancient con-
vent and containing the law courts public
library. and large festive hall, appears to
have suffered little, but had no time to
examine 1t closely.
Famous Paintings Taken
The enemy removed from the l.ecuyer mu-
scum eighteen months ago the famous col
lection OF quentin de In Tours pastels which
were for time. exhibited TO German art
lovers az Maubege and may still be on show
there. The large chateau, in renaissance
style which has apparently been gutted by
hre: caught my eye, but it was impossible TO
After hours OF perambuiation, shells began
70 fan near. and we made Off on entering
The town our Allies captured a German au-
tomobile officer with a motor wagon loaded
| with stuff he was about TO carry off. He
will prove useful witness
Near the Grandc place there is a large
| oDlons space, with n central avenue of trees.
presented TO tho town by the great Napoleon
| aud called the Champ Ulysses, II was here.
| in a large private house. that the Kaiser
stayed in one Of his several visits TO st.
| Quentin. The following story of the visit il
| given by the editor Of the chief local news
| paper. long in refuge in Paris. in his paper
| printed for other refugees, the Bulletin de
| L'Asne
| Recompense with Interviews
! Having sent the owners of the house to
| live elsewhere. the Kaiser recompensed NJ.
| and Nine Basqun with occasional inter-
| views. one day. in reply to a remark about
| the horrors Of the war, the Kaiser said:
All, NJ Basquin. there have always been
wars, and there always will be. have
tried arbitration, but after two days I had
to withdraw my representative. No one
could agree n
Another time the Socialists were referraa
| 10. and William II exclaimed but and accord
! ing 70 the narrator he made the movement
/ of a msn who is putting something into his
! pocket
| The Higher Crime
/ Let me make clearer the main point Of
| this first impression Of ST. Quentin: 1t Is
! not one of common vandalism, but of the
| scientific and unceasng development of the
| former German art OF war into new phases
OF what the western conscience has always
! regarded as crime. The original terrorism
| in Belgium and France was a new kind of
| wholesale murder. Prepared and organ
| lied removal and compusion OF civilians
| to labor for their conquerors was a later
| kind of wholesale abduction and enslave-
| ment. Much Of the material damage of st.
! quentin may be explained military
! grounds, and. in any case, there never was
| cathedral built half wonderful as the
most ordinary Of the Of man. But the
| lifting Of every bit of furniture the ma
| chinery. the family treasures and the artistic
heritage of modern community is robbery
on n scale and indeed of a kind that history
has not hitherto known. st. Quentin ID
! only the latest Illustration of this Teuten
| achievement
We had started out at a. m. and were
| not in the liberated town till after p. m
| mention this fact by way of correcting the
! idea to which the continuous diet of official
| bulletins in these days OF steady success may
! give rise-that the army can keep on NOV
| ing rapidly. on the front. on the contrary,
one has the illusion of a perpetual block and
| gigantic interminabe effort which is always
| partially thwartcd. Even in this bright
| frosty weather. and under the best of trafht
mana cement pressure accumulates around
certain points. Everything must give way "a
troops and guns going forward. Next coms
supply columns and ambulances; and very
properly. war correspondents must be con
tent with the tail of the procession.