Eighty shells fell here in one day alone--killing only one cow," he
added, with a plaintive note of reminiscence. He pointed to three big
holes in the ground close by and all within a circle of ten yards'
radius, where three French shells had dropped in quick succession, as
further evidence of how well they had got the range.
"The fellow continued 'on the job' quite shamelessly until the 18th," he
went on, "when I aimed two shots at the cathedral, and only two. No more
were needed to dislodge him. One from a 15-centimeter howitzer struck
the top of the 'observation tower,' the other, from a 21-centimeter
mortar, hit the roof and set it on fire. I used both howitzers and
mortars so as to let the French know that we could shoot well with both
kinds. I wanted to dislodge the observer with the least possible damage
to the fine old cathedral, and the result shows that it is possible to
shoot just as accurately with heavy artillery as with field artillery.
The French also had a battery planted about 100 yards from the
cathedral. It isn't there any more," he added laconically.
A few turns of the screw brought a row of trees marking a boulevard into
the field of vision. "There is a French battery there at the present
time," he said.
"How do you know?" For I saw trees but no guns.
"Aeroplanes," "the friend of the Cathedral" explained. Another turn of
the screw brought a church steeple into view.
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