The Red Cloud chief., 1920-09-23

Henry V; the five full size bronze etigies Of King
Henry III, King Edward Ill, King Richard IL,
Queen Anne of Bohemia, Queen Eleanor of Cas-.
tile and the efigy Of William de Valence and two
or three score of stone s%tatuettes In the inches OF
King Henry VS. chantry, which. not having any
structural fastening, were liable by conclusion to
be shaken down and splintered to fragments on
the pavement below the wooden top of the Con-
fessors tomb, made by Abbot Feckenham the pic
ture of King Richard II; the tapestry h~angings,
the banners of the Knights of the Bath and the
old altar frontal.
"(2) A strong protective structure consisting of
balks Of timber and sand bags was erected over
the ConfessOr's tomb. No less than LOO sand
bags were used for this purpose. A similar erec-
ton was raised over the beautiful tomb Of King
Henry III. Sufficiently substantial shields of tim
Der and many sand bags were placed over the
marble effigy Of Queen Philippa. Queen Elizabeth
and Mary Queen Of Scots disappeared from view.
under small mountains of sand bags. The Lady
Margaret received similar attention. And a par
ticularly substantial breast work and covering of
timber I'D sand bags formed a solid protection
for the glorious monument of King Henry VII and
his queen at the east end of Henry Wis chapel.
Nothing could probably have averted the destruc-
ton caused by n direct hit. But what was most
to be feared was the crashing of stone and timber
fragments from the roof.
"(3) The glass was removed from the three
east clerestOry windows and from the west win
dOws of the north aisle Of the nave. Wood Stats
were substituted, which, though much more draf-
ty, were infinitely less costly than plain glass. The
very ancient glass In the Jerusalem chamber was
also removed and put In safety.
"As a matter of fact, the abbey was not
touched by any hostile missile. A harvest OF our
own shrapnel was collected. But the building
passed unframed through all the terrible time of
the raids. A large German bomb fell about 20
yards to the southwest, just grazing the wall Of
the Abbey Choir school and making a huge hole
In the courtyard ut the back. But 1t did not ex-
plode. The damage was triling, and the chOris-
ters, who were being kept during the raid on d
lower floor and were singing merrily under the
barrage, were at the time quite unconscious Of
their extraordinary escape.
Whole Abbey ouivered.
During the raids most of the occupants OF the
official houses repaired for greater security to the
socalled Norman undercroft In the clOisters, a
vast chamber beneath the old monks dOrmitory,
with stout massive Norman columns and a strong
stone-giOined roof. Being DESTROYS rs far as pos
sible to be on the spot in case anything should
happen TO the abbey, we in the deanery used to go
TO the foot Of a little stone staircase leading up TO
the southern of the two western towers. II was
possible thus to be In the building and see the
Waterman and learn what was going on. The
whole abbey seemed to culver while the heavy bar
rage was being fired the windows ratified, and the
roar of the guns seemed in the empty abbey to
produce an extraordinary resonant effect.
"Very careful precautions had been taken
against fire breaking out In the roof. Watchmen
were on guard every night. They were specially
reinforced on the occasions when notice was given
of hostile attack. The water tanks were In good
order; the hydrants and hose pipes were contln-
ually tested; large umb Of buckets were
ready, some filed with sand and some with water.
I dare say, II the emergency had arisen, we could