The evening leader., 1919-01-02
FALL OF STATUE
ENDS hun LUCK
Quaint Legend of Albert Madon-
ma, Distorted by Germans,
Has Sequel.
TRICK OF PARISH PRIEST
When Virgin of Albert Was Dethrcned
the Huns From Being Truculent
conquerors Were Forced to
Knees in Submission.

LOndon.-All the world knows the
story of the Madonna which was dis
lodged by German shell fire from it's
perch ON the tower of the parish
church at Albert during the first mad
rush of the Huns through France in
1914. The statue did not fall, nor was
it greatly damaged, but the base was
so shattered that it hung precariously
over the main road from AmiGns to
Bapaume, which passes under the
very walls of the beautiful old church.
For some reason, when the red tide of
war swept westward through Albert,
the Hun did not complete the destruc-
tion of the tower, and the statue still
maintained it's strange poise after the
invaders had been rolled back at the
battle Of the Marne.
Days of Great Hope.
Those were the days of great hope.
France was fighting with skill and de-
termination. Britain was steadily in
creasing her small but wonderful
army, and the Russians were advanc-
ing almost at "a gallop through East
Prussia. In fact, there were optimists
who thought Germany would sue for
peaces before Observation-Disclosures,
1914! Some hint Of the trend of popu-
lar thought was given by the quaint
conceit which grew up in the hearts of
the people, namely, that when the Vir-
gin of Albert fell (as fall she must, in
the opinion of all who saw the Statue)
the war would end in a victory for
France and her allies. But the war
did not end nor did the statue fall,
and the opposing armies settled down
to nearly four years of trench war;
fare, with the odds greatly in favor
of the Hun, and success constantly at
tending his efforts and those of his ILL
Omened helpers, the Turks.
The Germans, who certainly never
miss a point in their efforts to under
mine their opponents morale, seized
on the legend. Varying it to suit their
purpose they spread the story far and
wide that when the statue fell France
would lose the war. Now, the town of
Albert possesses a most patriotic and
efficient parish priest. No sooner did
the Hun version of the story reach
his ears than he sought out a skilled
blacksmith. The two ascended the
haif-ruined tower surveyed the broken
base, and so braced and riveted the
statue to it's recumbent position that
fall it could not until the tower itself
gave way.
Hun Again in Albert.
So for many a day every British
Tommy who marched to the front
along the road to Bapaume raised his
wondering eyes to the Madonna high
above his head and few there were
of any denomination who failed to
find in its strange attitude a species
of benign benediction. At last, during
those black days Of last March and
April the seemingly impossible hap
pened. The British line bent before
the fury of a German assault, aided
as it was by long-continued fog, and
the Hun was once again in Albert.
When the British retired the statue
was still intact, but, whether by ac-
cident or design is not yet known, the
Germans brought down the tower, and
with it fell the virgin and child. And
here comes the strange part of the
story, to which latest development
public attention is now directed for
the first time. Hardly a yard farther
did the German advance progress.
From that day onward the green
gray hordes were pressed back, slowly
at first, but with an ever-increasing ce-
lerity which finally developed to a
rOut.
In word the luck of the Huns
deserted them when the Virgin of AL
bert was dethroned. From being the
truculent conquerors of nearly all Eu-
rope they were forced. to their knees
whining for mercy. The foregoing
facts cannot be gainsaid. Viewed in
retrospect they form one of the most
curious and interesting episodes of
the greatest of all wars.