The evening leader. (Tarpon Springs, Fla.) 191?-19??, 1919-03-06
Mezieres Victim of Hun Ferocity
/ Even Up to Signing of
ArmiStice.
BELLS ARE CARRIED AWAY
After Suffering in 1921 Its First At.
tack Sacred Edifiee Got GermanY
Parthian shot-FuII Of His
toric Interest.
BY M. Liable A. PoULIN.
On the New York Herald1


mans, after having desperately begged
for the armistice, shelled the town of
Mezieres, even, up to the exact mo-
ment OF the beginning of the armistice,
coWardly and without any military
reason whatever. They aimed espe-
cialiy at the monuments, which were
well known to them, as they had oc-
cupied the city for four years.
Among the latter the church is es-
pecially to be mentioned. 1t is fine
Gothic famboyant structure with five
naves, the largest and perhaps The
most beautiful of the country. This
church has had, among other princely
visitors, the honor of celebrating the
marriage ceremony of Charles TX and
Elisabeth Of Austria (157O). We make
bold to assert that 1t was "the last
of the churches shelled." A fact less
known, although not less interesting,
Is that 1t was also "the first of the
churches to be shelled."
Begun In 1899, 1t was % years old
when In 1921 the imperials besieged
'Mezieres, defended by Bayard, the
knight without fear or reproach. His
Itorians relate that shells were en-
ployed for the first time during this
siege. The enemy shelled the town
for exactly a month, from August 81
until September 81, and one part was
entirely destroyed. The monuments
as well as the church were struck by
the projectileS, as is proved by the
archives of the epoch, kept in the de-
pository of the department of Me-
zieres. Several large holes had to be
mended in the roof of the church
steeple as 1.-THE glass frame of the
round of the steeple which had been
broken during the SIEGE"
Many Times Bombarded.
One can notice that the lombard
ments OF this epoch, even compared to
those that the history of after times
was to note, were not-as certain
people might belieye-"games of chill
dren." The church of Mezleres was,
however. to undergo more terrible
ones on three different occasions
Completed with difficulty in 1926.
that is to say, a hundred and twenty
seven years after the laying Of the
foundation stone, it was soon to have
lived the golden age of its life. To
say nothing of the fire which broke
out in its steeple (16S2), neither of the
acts of vandaliS \ of the revolutionists,
let us speak only Of the commandments
which it suffered.
The PruSsians shelled it in 1915. An
inscription on the wall reminds the
reader that it was nearly ruined. 1t
lost it's beautiful stained-glass win
dows of the sixteenth century and the
exterior pinnacles were seriously dam
aged. Several shells penetrated into
the interior causing great deal of
damage.
Hardly had the damage of 1915 been
repaired when a new cloud arose on
the horizon and threatened Mezieres
in 1870. New invasion, new fears and
new ruins for our town on the from
tier.
The 31st of December, 1870, and LIST
of January, 1S71-German Christmas
box-the enemy again shelled Me-
zieres. The church was principally
aimed at and was once more the vic
tim of the shells, which spoiled the
steeple, burst the vaults, broke the
sculptures and stained-glass windows.
INf Loses Peal of Bells.
During nearly forty-seven years
these ruins had been repaired. The
church Of Mezieres had passed the
greater part of this great war without
damage, but in 1917 and 1918 the Ger
mans took away the five beautiful
bells, the most tuneful and the loud
est in the country, and what is worse
broke the organ in order to get down
the bells. But the church itself re-
manned uninjured. 1t would have been
too much luck for our church, the des-
tiny Of which seemed united to all our
national woes. On November 10, less
than twenty-four hours before the ar
mistice, the fury of the retreating en-
envy poured out in the vile lombard
ment of Mezieres, which lasted twen-
ty hours. Among other buildings the
Church of Our Lady was struck. All
the stained-glass windows were either
totally or partly broken, and what is
more important, the fiamboyant null
lions Of many windows were broken.
Tie church was struck by many
bombs, some of which hit the lantern
of the steeple, the tower of the signal
man. Some struck the top, some the
vault, some the interior of the coun-
terfOrts. So ga .E &E#2
Thanks to the armistice, which came
Just in time to- prevent the enemy
from destroying Mezieres totally, the
damage, though considerable, is not
beyond repair. But it is certain, too,
that this bombardment is another
proof of the insincerity and the saw
agery of our enemies, and-a fact
worth noticing-that our church, the
first church to be shelled In history,
was also the. last.