_It will be remembered that on the 11th of October a Taube, having
managed to penetrate the zone of Paris, flew over the city, hovered
just above Notre Dame, and dropped several bombs on the cathedral.
Note that this was on Sunday and that at the hour when this Taube
accomplished its disastrous mission there was in Notre Dame a very
great crowd of worshippers. None of them was hurt, but the distinction
was undeniably that of killing unarmed people and mutilating a marvel
of French art._
_Let us now read the first report, signed by M. Harancourt, who was
able to proceed to interesting discoveries on the very day of the
attempt:_
Musee des Thermes et de l'Hotel de Cluny.
Sunday, Oct. 11, 1914.
To the Under Secretary of State for the Fine Arts, Service of Historic
Monuments.
As I reside in the arrondissement of Notre Dame, I got to the
cathedral some moments after the explosion of the bombs. In the
company of a Commissary of Police, of an architect of the city, of a
Canon, and of two Sergeants of the Fire Department, I examined the
damage caused in order to be able to advise the Service of Historical
Monuments immediately if the case should be urgent.
The bomb exploded on the west slope of the roof of the north transept,
a little above the gutter, near the clock. After having pierced the
lead covering it seems to have exploded only after having struck the
transverse beam, whose end is splintered. The explosion, having thus
taken place under the covering, pushed the edges of the tear outward,
making a hole in this covering through which a young person could
pass; six small beams were split round about. The bomb was loaded like
shrapnel, apparently with leaden bullets of different calibres, for
the roof is riddled with circular holes to a distance of twenty meters
from there. The holes are of various diameters, but none of the
bullets could be found. The nearest turret was damaged--several
ornaments were broken from it--the modern clockstand that incases the
big clock was riddled by pieces of shell. The bomb thrown at the apse
and which fell in the garden was not this time a shrapnel bomb, but an
incendiary bomb, which only threw out a sheet of flame. The third
having fallen into the Seine, toward the south side of the porch, it
is difficult to say whether it was a shrapnel bomb or an incendiary.
To sum up, the damage from the artistic point of view is almost nil;
it simply calls for some work by carpenters and roofers.
But the intention to harm the building is evident, and I have thought
that perhaps it would be well to take certain precautions to protect,
if possible, the fine fourteenth century statue of the Virgin that
stands near the pillar, and that it is not impossible perhaps to
transfer it to a safer place.
E. HARANCOURT,
Member of the Commission on Historical Monuments.
_A report from M. Paul Boeswillwald, Inspector General of Historical
Monuments, confirms the first statements:_
Historical Monuments, Cathedral of Paris.
PARIS, Oct. 12, 1914.
The Inspector General of Historical Monuments to the Under Secretary
of State for the Fine Arts.
I have the honor to report that I went this morning to Notre Dame to
examine the damage caused by the bomb thrown yesterday afternoon on to
the cathedral by a German aviator. The bomb struck the lower part of
the west slope of the top of the north transept, tearing the lead,
breaking a piece of the wooden frame, and smashing by its explosion
the crown of the pinnacle which cuts the balustrade at the right of
the flying buttress intermediary in the sexpartite vault of the
transept. Other effects of the explosion were the striking of some
stones and the leads of the dormer window which carries the frame of a
clock, as also some small windows. The fragments of the pinnacle fell
on the roof of the lower slope, where they made a deep imprint on the
lead cover without breaking it through.
The projectile was not an incendiary bomb, since the wood splintered
by it bears no trace of fire.
To resume, the damage is, fortunately, quite unimportant.
The order has been given to set aside all the fragments of stone
belonging to the decoration of the pinnacle, remains of crockets,
ornaments, &c.
(Signed) PAUL BOESWILLWALD.
_With all the friends of civilization and of art, we think that the
question of the slightness of the damage caused by this Taube is not
to be considered at all. But the fact of this Taube having
accomplished such a raid with the sole design of bombarding a
cathedral in a peaceful city, 100 kilometres off from the military
operations--is it not the most patent and evident demonstration of the
kind of Neronian dilettantism which, along with calculation, inspires
the crimes of the barbarians?_