The sun., 1919-05-18
INHABITANTS OF SEhLlS
GAZE UPON TIE HAVOC
WROUGHT

tude Of such art in France only a small
proportion Of what was Of great value
and interest had even been listed, and
1t Is safe to say that the fourteen de-
partments constituted one of the very
richest sections in all the world in
architectural treasures.
~One Of the first tasks to be UNDER
taken now is that Of listing the
thousands of additional monuments
that shall be taken from the care OF
local authorities and put under the
protection Of the French Government
to be safeguarded against hasty or
thoughtless reconstruction, alteration,
further disintegration and theft. This
work Is now being carried on by the
French Government and one of the
men assisting in the task Is an
American. Kingsley Porter a member
Of the art faculty of Yale University.
1t is estimated the treasures to be pro-
tected and restored number some
I where near 10000"
Rheims Is one Of the most interest,"
Ing problems OF this phase of recon-
struction as will be seen from the fol-
lowing discussion by Major Ford:
For one who used to know Rheims
ydnd studied the Cathedral in the old
days 1t Is a strange experience to go
back now. The Cathedral, which was
always little monotonous in color
and dry and hard in detail, has now
become wonderfully mellow and even
rich in color. There is a fascinating
play OF warm ochre tints and rich
reds and even a suggestion now and
then OF blues and greens in the stone
work due to the calcining of the
stone when the staging, which was up
against the front OF the Cathedral, was
burned in 1914. What with the fire
and constant Smelling since then
many OF the hardest lines have been
rounded off and the formal regularity
that was characteristic of the
Cathedral has been softened into a
!, picturesque variety OF line and form
which makes the Cathedral far more
diving than It was before.
Its Astounding Beauty.
"As one sees 1t at sunset with tho
cold tones Of the lower part merging
into the warm tones OF the upper part
against the sky, or as one sees it by
moonlight with the light playing
through the open interior. the
Cathedral is now a thing ethereal of
astounding beauty, though the won
derful sculptures around the entrance
, are mostly gone and a great deal of
: the sculpture and ornament all over
the Cathedral has suffered irreparable
damage
Il have gone over the plans for re-
storing the Cathedral with NJ. Deneux.
He has already French army engineers
and German prisoners at work clean
ing up the fallen parts of the Cathedral
and sorting out parts of the sculpture
, and moulding. At Rheims now they
exhibit unexploded shells which have
, been taken from the ruins in the in
terror OF the Cathedral. These will
remain at Rheims a permanent memo
nal to German barbarism.
THE first thing to be done toward
the reconstruction and preservation
OF the Cathedral will be the erection
of temporary tar paper roof in place
OF all the destroyed roofing. Under
meath this will be built as soon as
possible a fiat reinforced concrete roof
directly on top OF the vaulting. This
, roof will be visible neither from the
interior nor the outside. Happily Just
before the war NJ. Deneux had finished
complete set OF drawings of the roof
Ing and the old wooden framework OF
the roofing so that II IT is decided later
to restore the roof Just as it was be-
fore 1914. the project can be carried
out exactly. II has not yet been de-
, cided TO do this and 1t is possible that
only the fiat roof will be erected
THE weakened and broken struc-
' tural parts will be restored. The shell
: holes in the vaulting will be filled in.
: The tops of all the walls the pinnacles
and ornamental features that have
) been wearing away from exposure to
: the weather will be protected. The
' main mouldIngs will be restored. But
the sculpture will hardly be touched
= Nearly all will be left as It is, a per-
s manent memorial The precious glass
: will be remounted and the missing
$ pieces will be supplied with good mod
ern limitations. The organ and interior
a furnishings will be restored as they
S were. Within year or a little more
: they will be holding services in
: the greatest memorial cathedral Of
: France"