(1914)
On the left of the Rue de la République we come to a building which served as the sub-prefect's office and Court of Justice. This building, formerly a hospital, dates from the beginning of the eighteenth century.
The work of the incendiaries is seen by comparing the opposite view with that given below.
All the ruins already pointed out, as well as those that will be seen further on, were made systematically.
RUE DE LA RÉPUBLIQUE
(1914)
COURT OF JUSTICE BEFORE THE WAR
The soldiers to whom this work was assigned arrived in columns; at the sound of an officer's whistle a certain number of men left the ranks and smashed in the doors of the houses and the shop-fronts; then others came who started the fires with grenades and fuses; lastly, the patrols who followed fired incendiary projectiles into those buildings which did not take fire quickly enough.