When the French came back the straw was gathered together with the
intention of removing it, but on the 17th the French General ordered it
to be re-spread, the flag of the Red Cross hoisted on the north tower
and the German wounded placed there, in the hopes that this might save
the cathedral.
As I have said, on Sept. 19 the straw caught from the fire originating
in the scaffold, burning through the doors and destroying what was known
as the very fine wooden tambours, or vestibules, surrounding these doors
on the inside, and also calcinating the extraordinary stone sculptures
decorating the entire interior of this western wall. These sculptures
were peculiar to Rheims, being in high, full relief and cut out of the
mass of the stone itself instead of being applied. This is one of the
irreparable destructions occasioned.
All the wonderful glass of the nave is absolutely gone; that of the apse
still exists, though greatly damaged.
Decorative Motifs Lost.
The fire on the outside calcinated the greater part of the facade, the
north tower and the entire clerestory, with the flying buttresses and
the turret crowning each of them. This stone, as far as its surface is
concerned, is irreparably damaged and when touched detaches itself;
consequently all decorative motifs wherever the flames reached are lost.
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