E. HARANCOURT,
Member of the Commission on Historical Monuments.
A report from M. Paul Boeswillwald, Inspector General of Historical Monuments, confirms the first statements:
Historical Monuments, Cathedral of Paris.
PARIS, Oct. 12, 1914.
The Inspector General of Historical Monuments to the Under Secretary of State for the Fine Arts.
I have the honor to report that I went this morning to Notre Dame to examine the damage caused by the bomb thrown yesterday afternoon on to the cathedral by a German aviator. The bomb struck the lower part of the west slope of the top of the north transept, tearing the lead, breaking a piece of the wooden frame, and smashing by its explosion the crown of the pinnacle which cuts the balustrade at the right of the flying buttress intermediary in the sexpartite vault of the transept. Other effects of the explosion were the striking of some stones and the leads of the dormer window which carries the frame of a clock, as also some small windows. The fragments of the pinnacle fell on the roof of the lower slope, where they made a deep imprint on the lead cover without breaking it through.
The projectile was not an incendiary bomb, since the wood splintered by it bears no trace of fire.
To resume, the damage is, fortunately, quite unimportant.
The order has been given to set aside all the fragments of stone belonging to the decoration of the pinnacle, remains of crockets, ornaments, &c.
(Signed) PAUL BOESWILLWALD.