Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 18, 1920)
PICTURE PRESS QRAVURB SECTION & SOISSONS, ON THE AISNE RIVER, IN NORTHERN FRANCE i rii')ti;r.il) fin 'ii Ainu' M. KMiinlgr. let fuMt. He.) . , ih,. iua!nt Cil in Nrrthvrn I'rsncc About Vv'l.ich There W.u so Much Activity, Is Si'U3teil on the Aisne and Is Noted tor Its Grain Trde aid Haricot Beans. It Is of Ancient Origin, Fortified, and Pefore the War Had a Population of 14.3J4. The Photograph! V.r.v !-: h.-.n: .'ul Cathedral, a Fir.j Example of Mixed Koraaiieq:le and Gothic Architecture of the 12th-13th Centuries. The West Facade, with Its Three Doors and Beautiful Gothic Rose Window, Can Still Be Seen, Although the Church Is Partially in Ruins. It Had i, (:.. S mm!i a Tower 2 '.5 I'eet High. Built iii the Uth Century, I- the Ir.fricr Were Many Beautiful Tapestries and Rubens' "Adoration of the Shepherds," Some Excellent Old Stained Glass and a Fe v Tombs of Historic Interest. The Area All About the Cathedral Is 's-,..' fl, Shewing the Wcrk of the Hur.s. Whosa Aim Always Wii to Destroy the Cathedrals First, if Possihle, When They Began to Shell a Town. It Has Been Said That Many of the French Believe Jhat Providence Protected These Ancient Edifices, However, and Xe;.t I! t :m Absolute Destruction The n:ans Made an Attempt to Take Soifsons in 46, but Were Defeated by Clovis. It Enjoys an Enviable Notoriety for the Number of Sieges It Ha Undergone, the Last, up to the Present War, Being in 1870, When the Germans Entered It After a Bombardment of Four Days. THE RUINED FORT DE DOUAUMONT 3k a Q N i I'll, ii.i-j! l.i.l I-inn .Vnr.r M. I'.i tl' "!-:--. II. M .Kt. M''. 1 , , : ; L V Tt J Ci ! r.inu - VA French Frtresj. Was, in February, 1916, Civetcd by the Germans Not lor Its Worth as a Fortress, for It Was Even at That Time a Shattered Pile of Masunry, but Because It Was the Corner-Stone of the French Defence of Verdun, t t Distance Northeast -if That Famous City, Around Which the Crown Prince Sacrficed 50,000 Men in Vain. On Feb. 23 and 26 the Struggle Around This Point Became Violent, and as a Result the Word Went Out from the General Staff ' . nfire All Oicr the Ciil',zed World That "The Armored Fort of Douaumor.t. the Comer-Stone of the French Defence of Verdun, Has Been Tkeri by a Brandenburg Regiment." That Was a Dark Day in History. The Triumph of the Brandenburg 'owever. for, Sleeping Back Into Action, the Frneh Captured the Village and Enveloped the Bavarians Caught Like Pats in a Trap in the Useless Firt. For the Rest of the Week 'he Tids of Tattle Swept Buck and Forth, with Now the N 'ho French in Possession of This Group of Ru.ns at Douaumont. As Lute as August of That Year the Two Armies We-e Fighting for Possessor of Fortress and Village. This Photograph Was Taken After the French Finally Captured It, and Shows the Terrible Destruction, with the Thousaad of Shell Holes, Many of Them Filled witlj Water. 3
