creep back to
reoccupy the positions from which they had been ousted by the bayonets
only a few hours before. It was the German tactics of machine vs. men, a
direful and cruel battle plan to the opposing forces.

Upon the day that the advance of the British definitely stopped, or, in
other words, when General Joffre and Sir John French realized that
further effort against the defenses of the Germans on the ridge beyond
the Aisne would only mean loss of life to no gainful purpose, the
bombardment of Rheims began. The old city had suffered severely during
the German advance upon the Marne. Still, it had not been pillaged, and
when the Germans retreated across the Aisne the old city held much of
its glory unimpaired. Still the flawless beauty of Rheims Cathedral
stood guard over the ancient city.

Then on September 18, 1914, the shelling of the city began and a
bombardment of the most terrific character continued for ten days.
Rheims Cathedral, which the French declared was outside the zone of
direct fire and was used as a hospital with the Red Cross flag flying,
and which the Germans asserted to have been used for a signal station
and to have been surrounded by gun stations, was said to have been
demolished by the German guns. This act created a sensation throughout
the world, for Rheims Cathedral was like a gem from Paradise, regarded
by most art lovers as one of the most beautiful buildings in the world.
Every civilized country was shaken with grief when the news of the
disaster to Rheims Cathedral was published.

The Germans were apparently unmoved by the world's indignation. They
claimed to have acted only from "military necessity," which, according
to the old brutal theory, still regarded by the Huns, knows no law. In
an inspired article written by Major General von Ditfurth, in the
"Hamburger Nachrichten," this latter point is emphasized. He wrote:

"It is of no consequence if all the monuments ever created, all the
pictures ever painted, and all the buildings ever erected by the great
architects of the world were destroyed, if by their destruction we
promote Germany's victory over her enemies.... The commonest, ugliest
stone placed to mark the burial place of a German grenadier is a more
glorious and perfect monument than all the cathedrals in Europe put
together.

"Let neutral peoples and our enemies cease their empty chatter, which is
no better than the twittering of birds. Let them cease their talk about