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Show DEMOLISHED DY THE FLOODS. UJuh Water ut Prague Causes the Kuln of famous ltrhlc. The groat Roods which have recently created havoc iu central Europe threaten tho demolition of tho famous Karls-brucke, Karls-brucke, or Charles bridge, which spans the Moldau at Prague. Tho history of 1 KjQQijgJ : ftw lJrtW ' r$ii THE CHRT,KS BMW.K FXTRANrR TOWER. the Karlshrucke is largely involved in the history of tho capital of Bohemia during tho past five centuries. Its foundation foun-dation was laid by Charles IV in 1357, but the bridge was not completed until 1507, when it was regarded as a triumph of the engineering skill of the time. The fine old tower at tha entrance is a splendid splen-did specimen of golhic architecture. On the buttresses are many statues and groups of figures. The oldest of these is a largo stone crucifix, with images im-ages of the Virgin Mary aud St. John, which was built with money wrung from the Jews. Another odd group shows suffering souls in purgatory, and was erected in commemoration of tho dreadful dread-ful visitation of the plaguo. The old bridge was the scene of many bloody conflicts, and for ten years the heads of twelve of Bohemia's Protestant noblemen noble-men swung in iron cages from the tower. Three of the sixteen arches of the Karlshrucke Karls-hrucke were swept away by the swollen river in September last, and another collapsed col-lapsed early in May, rendering tha total destruction of tho bridge inevitable. |