ON THE FRENCH FRONT.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 223, 3 November 1916, Page 6 (Supplement)

ON THE FRENCH FRONT.

AT R HELMS. By GEORGE HiVTCHISON. (Specially Commissioned by the Ota?o Daily Tunes.

In contrast to \erdun, the comparativo peace of Klicims and its neighbourhood is significant of tne absorbing character of the battle* on tin Meuse and on the Somme to the south Mid north < f this old time city and its Gothic shrine. War has bee 1 there, and the elements remain m miles of trendies, become so improve J as to be presentable, but still lined with telephone wires and live wiris communicating with the barbed entanglements. The luxuriousness of the flowers roofs in colour the narrow.'- trenches, and between the outer lines on either side the deep red ot tne poppies shrouds the ground over which torrents of blood have been shed. This .s the land of Champagne m name and produce, and, as if by n common truce, the harvest of the year is likely to be gathered in with security and success within range of the German guns. It may ba reassuring to connoisseurs to know that the vintage of 19i6 will probably lot be bss than an average, and that its bouquet will not be less rare, than some that an considered of the choicest. As to tin multitudes the world over v. ho solace themselves with the wine of the fashionable name, the fate of the grape crop of the Champagne district in particular will make little difference. The more < rdmary vintages ol Fiance :u-.-likely to be'undiminished. The deep hilars of Uheinis also, it may be nicnr:cn<*d. ha\o not x-en appreciably ul ■ ted by the levi: s mad.' by the G?. 1 - m ins during their occupation of th * eitv- a forbearance which may to some extent be explained by the coi.-s : deraV.o trade interests that wealthy German linns are reputed to have had in the trade if the district. The crops wen looking well in July, and tlu husbandmen were unconcernedly hoeing and binding with the sound of cannon in their ears The hnng was chiefly an artillery drel, confined to attempts it. searching our the hidden site, of rivil batteries, whicli here were favoured by verdure of every tnt to mask them from prying eyes unlike th- painf-il efforts at concealment near Verdun, where the remains of splintered tree trunks and scraps of withered foliage were the best deceptions available in s land where every yeeil or tei der tiling had ceased to live.

Isut while the grapes wore ripening to tke tune of howitzers in the neighbourhood of t'.io cathedral city, the op posing but hidden forces were on the "qui vivo." day and n ; ght, with rifle at rest in the niches of tli > pa rape s and sniper-holes, and guns tiained on every imaginable gun site in the opposite lines.

But the "poilu" wearies of life, and eagerly welcomes any luv.i < to the ennui of mounting guard an 1 listening to the artillery. So it hap-

pens occasionally that incite! theretoprobably by the raids t'-nt t'\ "Tommies'' had been n . i u:. ; . in : rther to at certain po i r .in:, i : use whenever they m'.Jii i. and ■•• ta'ilished w!i< :v •'.■■•■ ■..hid ilated and di *r ..,r•-«£. :,■••■ ' • hi tore the inu:.J<rd excursion opening of the most unobtrusive kind would be arranged through their own barbed-wire entanglements ready for tlw surprises that would convince the Botches th it all was not well with them. Then, at the expectant hour, with oberver at post collected up with eve-y part of the hist line trench and the communications to the rear, the cfosen fp v would sally forth, and, creeping steadily through the wild field Dowers m front, would approm h the entanglements of the enemy, cut them swiftly and bomb and i'.vade the t'tilth the? bad marked out for the visit. Than would blaze forth the crescendo of fire, wild and aimless from all quarters of the surprised enemy lines, star shel'?, Hares, rockets, and the guns tiring at a venture to make horrid. The v:sit was not intended to bo l.ore than brief. A few Germans bombed or bayoneted, a rev trophL-s captured, and tlu daring !; nd wou'd be back with on. l or two casualties, to set the theme of many narratives untii the next time.

fho hate" of the Germm has ben expended, but i:ot exhaust? j. on tha Archicpiscopal city. Most ,-f it is .n ruins, ;,nd except for those concern-J m the deep-seated Imrne vaults and a lew cafes and estaminct shoos and emporiums, the is deserted by th 7 80,000 of a population before the* wa/. The cathedral is, of course, the chnt object of interest—an ed:fiee described by the highest authority on mediaeval architecture as ■'perhaps the most, beautiful structure produ.-l in the Middle Ages." It may be satisfacto v to know that structurally .'in buildup itself is not seriously tiamaj cd. T'u hie from the incendiary Gorman shells set alight ihe old peaked wo&Pen roof, which was totally consumed, withon*. however, injuring to any serious degree the massive groined ninei gttne root. The burst/ng shells and scattering shrapnel and the resulting conflagrations which destroyed the ptllic buildings to one side of the cathedral and the archbishop's palace on the other, defaced and mutilated much t:f the ri -'i cahviiigs and lavish sculpture, an.l chipped many of th • 530 statues thai adorn the main front, while the splinters made havoc of the three rose windows over the recessed porta's between tho two main towers. About half if the centre, and largest window remain* with only slight damage, an i German science may be expected to be equal to devising glass to replace coloura'j.y the thirteenth century tints that aro supposed tofhave become a lost secret What may never be replaced in anything like its former unique magnificence is the portion of the archbishop « palace which communicated with tin cathedral itself and was tho chamber where tho kings oi France held liign festival after the ceremony ot coronation.

All the more valuable paintings, in finding studies by Tintoreti) and Titian, and all tho reiiquiries had been removed to places of safety before fcha scourge of war fell on Rhc'ms. The equestrian statue of .loan d'Arc, in th> square fronting the cathedral, is reverently pointed to as having nriaculously escaped all damage amid the fires and rains of shells that marred so muah around. A scar or two on the figure of the horse alone indicates the inferno that raged around this representatio 1 of the heroine of France—recently eh vated to saintskip,—as protecting through the recent and more devastating strife the shrin? o[ Royalty that :.« so closely associated with her'greatest acliievenient—the crowning in th© cathedral of the French monarch whose fall she so narrowly averted. What measure of condemnation shall history, in its dispassionate reviewoor' r events, pass upon the Germans ft>.their vandalism at Rbeims? The Germans shrewdly guessed—if they had not, which was likely enougi, positive information—that the French were using for observation purposes the towers, whihe stand 267 ft. above the surrounding country and dominate it in the direction of the hght : ng for 3(! miles: and they sav they stelled the adjoining builidngs to intimate their disapproval. It would scarcely have been bv noeident that the Cathedral was hit the many times it was. It was the ono onspicuous object in the c-itv. The French deny thai they used the towers for any purpose, but the Umptatio-: to do so must have been very great, for there is no other such vr.Maga posv ■>v:thin miles.

It is something of consolation to know that this structure, dating from 1212 and associated with much that is interesting in history and art, mav scon be restored to something like <U former stateliness and beauty. Already part of the transept has ken refurnished for the devotions of the are'ibishop; and the neighbouring churcn-s have been in part restored to perm>. of service being held. Shrnes ha 73 been set up and candles lit, for there are always women to pray; and here, as elsewhere throughout the. fair lani of France, confidence in her future and the welfare of her people is being restored.