The New York Times Current History: the European War, February, 1915Various
History
The New York Times Current History: the European War, February, 1915
Various
World War, 1914-1918
I recommend that a sharper control be exercised on the station
platform at Luxemburg, as it is a simple matter to avoid the
only control which is at the ticket gate, by simply not going
out and therefore not having to come in.
The lot of the professional spy will be harder in the future. Meanwhile,
I expect to shake the dust of the German Great Headquarters from my
reportorial feet early tomorrow morning, for pedestrianism is not a safe
pastime in the war zone.
Story of the Man Who Fired on the Rheims Cathedral
II.
WITH THE GERMAN ARMY BEFORE RHEIMS, Dec. 5.--Eating a ham sandwich while
squinting through an artillery telescope at the cathedral and hearing
the man who fired the famous shots tell all about it was the unique
combination I experienced today, and in retrospect the ham sandwich
stands out as the most important feature, for it symbolizes the morale
of the men before Rheims.
The post of observation was in a sometime French fort, now riddled by
French shells, on the crest of a hill affording a fine panoramic view of
the city, and my sightseeing predecessors here had included the Imperial
Chancellor, von Bethmann-Hollweg; Muktar Pasha, the Turkish Ambassador
to Berlin; Major Langhorne, the American Military Attache, and other
celebrities.
Rheims Cathedral was said to be about four miles away, but through the
powerful magnifying telescope (of the scissors type and so contrived
that only its two eyes peered over the breastworks while the observer
was completely hidden from view) it showed up as clearly as Caruso
through an opera glass. The top of one of the two towers had a decidedly
moth-eaten appearance--it looked as if one of the corners had been shot
away, and the roof was evidently gone, but otherwise the exterior of the
cathedral looked--through the telescope--to be in a good state of
preservation and likely to enjoy a ripe old age. No French observer was
seen on the cathedral towers, and I was informed by First Lieut. Wengler
of the Heavy Artillery that none had been since his admonitory shells
had carried their iron warning to climb down. A staff officer of the
---- Division had introduced him to me as "the friend of the Rheims
Cathedral," explaining that it probably wouldn't be standing today but
for him.
[Illustration: VICE ADMIRAL FREDERICK STURDEE,
Commander of the British Squadron Which Destroyed the German Fleet Off
the Falkland Islands.
(_Photo_ (C) _American Press Assn._)]
[Illustration: ADMIRAL SIR JOHN FISHER,
First Sea Lord of the Admiralty, Who Holds the Guardianship of the
English Coast.
(_Photo from Underwood & Underwood._)]
"So you are the vandal?" "the friend of the Rheims Cathedral" was asked.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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