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Show FALL OF STATUE ENDS HUN LUCK London. All the world knows the story of the Madonna which was dislodged dis-lodged by German shell -fire from its perch on the tower of the parish church at Albert during the first mad rush of the Huns through France in 1914. The statue did not fall, nor was It greatly damage!, but the base was so shattered that it huug precariously over the main road from Amiens to Bapaume, which passes under the very walls of the beautiful old church. For some reason, when the red tide of war swept westward through Albert, the Hun did not complete .the destruction destruc-tion of the tower, and the statue still maintained its strange poise after the invaders had been rolled back at the battle of the Marne. Days of Great Hope. Those were the days of great hope. France was fighting with skill and determination. de-termination. Britain was steadiiy Increasing In-creasing her small but wonderful army, and the ltnsslans were advancing advanc-ing almost at a gallop through East Prussia. In fact, thert were optimists who thought Germany would sue for peace before Christmas Christmas, 1914! Some hint of the trend of popular popu-lar thought was given by the quaint conceit which grew up in the hearts of the people, namely, that when the Virgin Vir-gin of Albert fell (as fall she must, In the opinion of all who saw the statue) the war would end in a victory for France and her allies. But the war did not end, nor did the statue fall, and the opposing armies settled down to nearly four years of trench warfare. war-fare. The Germans, who certainly never miss a point In their efforts to undermine under-mine their opponents' morale, seized on the legend. Varying It to suit their purpose they spread the story far and wide that when the statue fell France would lose the war. Now, the town of Albert possesses a most patriotic and efficient parish priest. No sooner did the Hun version of the story reach his ears than he sought out a skilled blacksmith. The two ascended the half-ruined tower, surveyed the broken base, and so braced and riveted the statue to Its recumbent position that fall It could not until the tower itself gave way. Hun Again In Albert. So for many a day every British Tommy who marched to the J."ont along the road to Bapaume raised Ms wondering eyes to the Madonna high above his head and few there were of any denomination who failed to find in its strange attitude a species of benign benediction. At last, during those black days of last March and April, the seemingly Impossible happened. hap-pened. The British line bent before the fury of a German assault, tided as it was by long-continued fo;', and the Hun was once again in Albert. When the British retired tbe stalue was still intact, but, whether by accident ac-cident or design is not yet known, the Germans brought down the tower, and with it fell the virgin and child. And here comes the strange part of the story, to which latest development public attention is now directed foi Ihe first time. Hardly a yard farlhei did the German advance progress. From that day onward the green gray hordes were pressed back, slowly at first, but wilh an ever-increasing celerity ce-lerity which finally developed to a rout. In a word the luck of the Huns deserted them when the Virgin of Albert Al-bert was dethroned. From being Ihe truculent conquerors of nearly all Europe Eu-rope they were forced to their knees whining for mercy. The foregolns: facts cannot be gainsaid. Viewed in retrospect tl.ey form one of the most curious anil interesting episodes of the greatest of all wars.. |