THE DAMAGE TO REIMS CATHEDRAL

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2311, 19 November 1914, Page 6

THE DAMAGE TO REIMS CATHEDRAL

IRREPARABLE LOSSES

REPORT OF AN ARCHITECT

Mr. Whitney Warren, a well-known New York architect, has just returned to Paris after visiting Reims Cathedral. He was provided'-with, special, facilities by tho French Government in order to report upon tho damage done by tho bombardment. He arrived at Reims at 4.30 on September 25, and, proceeding direct to the cathedral, ho remained there until dark, visiting the monument with.the cure, M. Landrieux, and the Abbe Thinot. Mr. Warren's report proceeds:—, Next day I was again at the cathedral from 7.30 in the morning until 4.30 in the afternoon, visiting it in detail- and endeavouring to realise the damage done. On September 4, when the. Germans first entered Reims, there was. a bombardment of the cathedral by their guns and four shells fell upon it—one on the north transept—but little damage was done. The Germans .themselves _ declared that this was either a mistake or caused by the jealousy ofeomo corps which had not been given precedence in entering the city. The bombardment recommenced on September 14 and 15, after-the Germans had evacuated the city, bub the cathedral was not touched.

On 17 two bombs struck it, one on the apse and the other on the north transept. . The cathedral was.again hit on the. next day, the shell falling'on the southern flying buttresses and on the roof, .killing a gendarme and several wounded Germans. The building was fairly -'■ riddled . with; shell during the entire day on September 19, and about .4 o'clock the soaffolding surrounding the north , tower caught fire.. I'he fire lasted for about an hour, and during that time two further bombs struck the roof, setting: it also on fire. The cure -declares that one of these bombs was incendiary; otherwise it is -difficult; to explain the extraordinary quickness with which the flames : spread through, the roof timbers. ■■.-'■■'■ -'"■"'.■' ,

The fire from the scaffolding descended until it reached tho north door of the main facade, which caught rapidly,' burned through, and communicated the fire to' the straw covering .the floor of the cathedral. This straw had been ordered by the German commander for 3000 wounded which he intended to place in the cathedral, but the.evacuation of the city by the enemy prevented the project from being carried out. When tho 1 French arrived the flag of the Red Cross was hoisted on the north tower, and the German wounded placed m : the cathedral in the: hope that it might be saved. - . The Sculptures. /The, straw, aa I have said, caught ablaze from the/fire originating in tho scaifold, burning through the doors and destroying ~,he line wooden tambours or vestibules surroundiiig these doors in the also calcinating the'extraordinary,'stone sculptures decorating the entire' interior of this western:' wall. These sculptures are' peculiar to Reims, being in high full relief and cut out of the stone itself instead "of being applied. ■, Their loss is irreparable. .AH tho wonderful glass in the nave is absolutely gone; that of the apse still exists, though greatly damaged. .' The'fire on the outside calcinated the greater part' of the facade,' tho north tower, the entire clerestory,. with I,the flying buttresses and -the turret crowning'each of them. This stone, is irretrievably damaged and : flakes off when touched. Consequently, all decorative motif a", wherever 'the flame 1 touched them, are lost. (was saved at the commencement of the fire, and the.tapestries for which' Reims is renowned were fortunately 'removed before-the bombardment. Half the stalls' have been destroyed:, the organ is", intact, and .several crucifixes and pictures in the apse are untouched. If anything remains'of the nionu-' ment it is owing to its etrong construction. The walls and vaults are- t of.-a. robustness which can resist even modern engines of destruction, for even on September 24, when the bombardmentwas resumed, three shells landed oh the cathedral,' but the vaults jesisted -aiid> were not even perforated. Had the' cathedral of. Amiens received. the:same punishment, ■ the vaults, owing to ; " the lightness of construction, , would have given way and the flying : ; buttresses would have crushed in-the walls. Nothing would have remained but a .mass of crumbled stone, with the exception perhaps of ruined towers. ' '''.''' Mr. Warren points out that the monument towers up above the rest of the town and.is an easy object to avoid, if the Germans had .not purposely aimed at it.. The entire quarter of the situated between' it.and the enemy's' lines, is destroyed, including the Episcopal Palace, which contained the archaeological museum, the Episcopal ; chapel, and what , was known as the "Apart-; ment of the Kings'.'.' • The only explanation that can .be offered is the blind rage of the besieging array.