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Brief Contents
Chapter 6 The Challenges of Accounting: Standards, Internal Control, Audits, Fraud, and Ethics 260
Glindex 715
Credits 731
vii
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Contents
What Is the Role of Adjusting Entries, and When Are They How Do You Prepare a Merchandiser’s Financial
Prepared? 104 Statements? 176
Accruing Revenues 105 The Income Statement 176
Accruing Expenses 106 Statement of Retained Earnings 179
Adjusting Deferred Revenues 107 Balance Sheet 179
Adjusting Deferred Expenses 108 SUMMARY 183
How Are Financial Statements Prepared from an Adjusted ACCOUNTING PRACTICE 186
Trial Balance? 113 APPLY YOUR KNOWLEDGE 209
The Adjusted Trial Balance 113 KNOW YOUR BUSINESS 209
Preparing the Financial Statements 115
How Does a Company Prepare for a New Accounting Chapter 5
Period? 117
Completing the Accounting Cycle 117
Inventory 212
Three Closing Entries: Revenues, Expenses, and Dividends 118 Business, Accounting, and You 212
Post-Closing Trial Balance 120 What Inventory Costing Methods Are Allowed? 213
Summary of the Adjusting and Closing Processes 120 Cost Flow versus Physical Flow of Inventory 214
SUMMARY 123 How Are the Four Inventory Costing Methods Applied? 216
ACCOUNTING PRACTICE 125 Inventory Cost Flows 216
APPLY YOUR KNOWLEDGE 154 Specific Identification Method 217
KNOW YOUR BUSINESS 154 First-In, First-Out (FIFO) Method 217
COMPREHENSIVE PROBLEM 157 Last-In, First-Out (LIFO) Method 219
Average Cost Method 220
Chapter 4 Journalizing Inventory Transactions 221
Accounting for a What Effect Do the Different Costing Methods Have on Net
Merchandising Business 159 Income? 222
Business, Accounting, and You 159 What Else Determines How Inventory Is Valued? 224
What Are the Relationships Among Manufacturers, How Is Inventory Reported on a Balance Sheet? 225
Wholesalers, Retailers, and Customers? 160 Inventory Shrinkage 226
How Do Periodic and Perpetual Inventory Systems How Do Inventory Errors Affect Financial Statements? 226
Differ? 160
Is It Possible to Estimate the Value of Inventory If the Inventory
How Do You Account for the Purchase of Inventory? 161 Is Accidentally Destroyed? 228
Cash and Credit Purchases 161
SUMMARY 231
Purchase Discounts 162 ACCOUNTING PRACTICE 233
Purchase Returns and Allowances 164 APPLY YOUR KNOWLEDGE 255
How Do You Account for the Sale of Inventory? 165 KNOW YOUR BUSINESS 256
Cash Sales 165 COMPREHENSIVE PROBLEM 258
Credit Sales 166
Sales Discounts 167
Chapter 6
Sales Returns and Allowances 168
Adjusting Entry to Record Estimated Returns and Allowances 169
The Challenges of Accounting:
Sales Returns 169
Standards, Internal Control, Audits,
Fraud, and Ethics 260
Sales Allowances 170
How Do You Account for Freight Charges and Other Selling Business, Accounting, and You 260
Expenses? 171 What Are the Rules That Govern Accounting? 261
Costs Related to the Receipt of Goods from Suppliers 172 Understandable 261
Costs Related to Delivering Goods to Customers 174 Relevant 261
Other Selling Costs 175 Reliable 261
Contents xi
Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) in the How Are Accounts Receivable Reported on the Balance
United States 262 Sheet? 311
Generally Accepted Accounting Principles Around the How Do You Account for Notes Receivable? 311
World: IFRS 263
Identifying the Maturity Date 312
Differences Between FASB and IFRS 263
Origination of Notes Receivable 313
What Is Internal Control? 265 Computing Interest on a Note 313
Elements of an Internal Control System 265 Accruing Interest Revenue 314
What Is Fraud, and Who Commits It? 268 SUMMARY 318
Management Fraud 268
ACCOUNTING PRACTICE 320
Employee Embezzlement 269
APPLY YOUR KNOWLEDGE 346
Factors Usually Present When Fraud Is Committed 269
KNOW YOUR BUSINESS 347
What Is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA)? 271 Appendix 7A 349
Audits 271
What Is a Petty Cash Fund? 349
External Auditor Responsibilities 272
Setting Up a Petty Cash Fund 349
What Are the Legal and Ethical Responsibilities
of Accountants? 274 Replenishing the Petty Cash Fund 350
Legal Responsibilities of Accountants 274 Changing the Petty Cash Fund 351
Ethical Responsibilities of Accountants 275 ACCOUNTING PRACTICE 352
SUMMARY 278
Chapter 8
ACCOUNTING PRACTICE 280
APPLY YOUR KNOWLEDGE 287
Long-Term and Other Assets 355
KNOW YOUR BUSINESS 290 Business, Accounting, and You 355
What Are the Different Types of Long-Term Assets? 356
Chapter 7 How Is the Cost of a Fixed Asset Calculated? 356
Cash and Receivables 293 Land and Land Improvements 357
Business, Accounting, and You 293 Buildings 358
What Internal Control Procedures Should Be Used Machinery and Equipment 358
for Cash? 294 Furniture and Fixtures 359
Internal Controls over Cash Receipts 294 Lump-Sum (Basket) Purchase of Assets 359
Internal Control over Cash Payments 295 How Are Fixed Assets Depreciated? 360
Purchase and Payment Processes 295 Measuring Depreciation 361
The Bank Reconciliation 296 Depreciation Methods 362
Preparing a Bank Reconciliation 297 Comparing Depreciation Methods 365
Online Banking 302 Partial-Year Depreciation 366
How Is Cash Reported on a Balance Sheet? 303 Changing the Useful Life of a Depreciable Asset 367
How Do You Account for Receivables? 303 Using Fully Depreciated Assets 368
Types of Receivables 303 How Are Costs of Repairing Fixed Assets Recorded? 369
Internal Control over Accounts Receivable 304 Ordinary Repairs 369
Accounting for Uncollectible Accounts Receivable 304 Extraordinary Repairs 369
The Direct Write-Off Method 304 What Happens When a Fixed Asset Is Disposed? 370
Direct Write-Off Method: Recovering Accounts Previously Written Off 305 How Do You Account for Intangible Assets? 373
The Allowance Method 305 Specific Intangibles 373
Estimating the Amount of Uncollectible Accounts 306 Accounting for Research and Development Costs 375
Writing Off Uncollectible Accounts Under the Allowance Method 309 How Are Natural Resources Accounted For? 375
Allowance Method: Recovering Accounts Previously Written Off 310 What Are Other Assets? 376
xii Contents
How Are Long-Term Assets Reported on the Balance Sheet? 377 How Are Cash Dividends Accounted For? 460
SUMMARY 380 Dividend Dates 460
APPLY YOUR KNOWLEDGE 402 Dividing Dividends between Preferred and Common Shareholders 462
KNOW YOUR BUSINESS 403 Dividends on Cumulative and Noncumulative Preferred Stock 463
How Are Stock Dividends and Stock Splits Accounted
Chapter 9 For? 464
Current Liabilities and Stock Dividends 464
Long-Term Debt 406 Recording Stock Dividends 465
Business, Accounting, and You 406 Stock Splits 467
Stock Dividends and Stock Splits Compared 469
What Are the Differences Among Known, Estimated, and
Contingent Liabilities? 407 How Is Treasury Stock Accounted For? 469
How Do You Account for Current Liabilities of a Treasury Stock Basics 469
Known Amount? 407 Purchase of Treasury Stock 470
Accounts Payable 407 Sale of Treasury Stock 470
Notes Payable 408 How Is Stockholders’ Equity Reported on the Balance
Sales Tax Payable 409 Sheet? 473
Accrued Expenses (Accrued Liabilities) 410 SUMMARY 475
Unearned Revenues 410 ACCOUNTING PRACTICE 477
Current Portion of Long-Term Debt 410 APPLY YOUR KNOWLEDGE 501
How Do You Account for Current Liabilities of an KNOW YOUR BUSINESS 502
Uncertain Amount? 411
Estimated Warranty Liability 411
Estimated Refund Liability 412 Chapter 11
How Do You Account for a Contingent Liability? 412 The Statement of Cash Flows 504
How Do You Account for Long-Term Debt? 413 Business, Accounting, and You 504
Notes Payable 413
What Is the Statement of Cash Flows? 505
Bonds Payable 415
How Does a Business Create a Statement of Cash Flows? 507
Lease Liabilities 422
The Logic of How the Statement of Cash Flows Is Prepared 507
How Are Liabilities Reported on the Balance Sheet? 423
Sources and Uses of Cash: Categorizing Changes as Operating, Investing,
SUMMARY 427 or Financing 508
ACCOUNTING PRACTICE 429 Statement of Cash Flows: Two Formats 510
APPLY YOUR KNOWLEDGE 450 How Is the Statement of Cash Flows Prepared Using the
KNOW YOUR BUSINESS 451 Indirect Method? 511
Cash Flows from Operating Activities 513
Chapter 10
Cash Flows from Investing Activities 515
Corporations: Paid-In Capital and Cash Flows from Financing Activities 517
Retained Earnings 454 Net Change in Cash and Cash Balances 519
Business, Accounting, and You 454 Noncash Investing and Financing Activities 519
How Are Corporations Organized? 455 How Is the Statement of Cash Flows Prepared Using the
What Makes Up the Stockholders’ Equity of a Corporation? 456 Direct Method? 522
Stockholders’ Rights 456 Cash Flows from Operating Activities 523
Classes of Stock 457 SUMMARY 529
Par Value, Stated Value, and No-Par Stock 457 ACCOUNTING PRACTICE 531
How Is the Issuance of Stock Recorded? 458 APPLY YOUR KNOWLEDGE 558
Issuing Common Stock 458 KNOW YOUR BUSINESS 559
Issuing Preferred Stock 460 COMPREHENSIVE PROBLEM 561
Contents xiii
Chapter 5 Inventory
• Expanded the use of Bold City Brewery, a real-life successful entrepreneurial venture,
to demonstrate the use and importance of accounting.
• Updated the “Try It!” problem.
• Updated the examples used in “How They Do It: A Look at Business.”
• Updated the Continuing Financial Statement Analysis Problem featuring Dick’s
Sporting Goods using the 2016 annual report.
• Updated end-of-chapter material related to Columbia Sportswear and Under
Armour using the 2016 annual reports.
xviii
xix
Chapter Openers
Bold City Brewery is discussed at the beginning of each chapter in the Business, Accounting, and You
feature. This feature motivates students by tying the business concept directly to the chapter’s accounting
topics and demonstrating the importance and usefulness of the chapter’s topics.
102 Chapter 3
financial statements. These are steps one, two, three, and six of the accounting cycle.
Once again, the accounting cycle looks like this:
CHaPTeR
3
Step One
Recognize,
The Challenges of Accounting: Standards, Internal Control, Audits, Fraud, and Ethics 261
happens if a business does not follow the rules? We’ll consider these questions and
issues in this chapter.
Relevant
Accounting information should be relevant. Think of the thousands of transactions a
business conducts. Now think about trying to give to a business’s stakeholders every detail
of every business transaction; those users would be overloaded with information. For that
reason, accountants must summarize the information and determine what is important
to the user. Accountants try to provide only the information that is important. Accoun-
tants often say the information they provide is material, which is another way of saying
the information they provide is important. In deciding what is relevant, GAAP focuses
on the information that is important to those who provide a company’s financing, both
lenders and stockholders.
A part of relevance is making sure information is computed and disclosed consistently.
How would you feel if you were participating in a sporting event and the other team
decided to change the rules of the game? Accountants would feel the same if different
accounting rules were used each time. Accountants try to provide information that is com-
parable over time and among companies. As we’ll see in Chapter 12, Financial Statement
Analysis, stakeholders need consistent information in order to understand how a company
performs over time and how it compares with competing companies. Accountants use
GAAP to provide consistency. If GAAP changes, accountants explain how the change
110 Chapter 3
xx
of supplies used during the month will become supplies expense. The March 31 adjusting
entry updates the Supplies account and records Supplies Expense for the month:
Rent Expense
Kelly was responsible for all of the bookkeeping functions, plus opening the mail, counting
Materiality Accounting prin- panies will use the• concept of materiality to decide whether to expense supplies when
Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting (Item 9A)
the cash in the registers at the end of the day, and making the daily bank deposit. With theseciple stating that a company must purchased or treat• them
Report as an asset. Registered
of Independent The materiality concept
Public Accounting states
Firm on that
Internal a company
Control over must
combined duties, Kelly found it fairly simple to give himself a “loan.” He removed $3,500 in cashperform strictly proper accounting perform strictly proper accounting
Financial Reporting (Item 9A) for items that have a material effect on the com-
only
from the cash register and replaced it with a $3,500 check from the incoming mail that day. Theonly for items that are significant for
check was from a customer who was paying his or her account in full. Kelly made a jour nal entry
pany’s financial statements. An item is considered to have a material effect when it would
the business’s financial statements; cause someone toRequirements
change a decision; stated differently, a material amount is one large
crediting Accounts Receivable to clear the customer’s account, but rather than debiting Cash, he
debited Inventory. Kelly knew that inventory was not counted and reconciled until year’s end. Thisinformation is significant, or material, enough to make a 1. Who is responsible for the information in the annual report? Who is responsible
difference to a user of the financial statements. So, the materiality con-
would give Kelly plenty of time to repay the “loan” before anyone noticed. when its presentation in the financial for recommending the independent accountants to the board of directors?
statements would cause someone to
cept frees accountants from having to report every account in strict accordance with
2. Who were the independent auditors? Under what standards did they conduct
Requirements change a decision. GAAP, while still reporting
their audit?items
What wasproperly.
their opinion of the audited financial statements?
1. What are the ethical considerations in this case? 3. Who is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over
financial reporting? Is the effectiveness of the internal controls ever reviewed? Do
2. Discuss the primary internal control weakness in this case that could have contrib- Depreciation of long-term assets
you think that internal control procedures are necessary? Why?
uted to Kelly’s actions.
Long-term assets Long-lived, Long-term assets 4. ,Doorthefixed assets,
auditors are
have any assets that
responsibility with last for
respect more
to the than
internal one year.
controls? What Examples
Case 8. You are the controller for Pro Clean Services, a company that provides janitorial services was the auditor’s opinion regarding the management assessment of internal con-
to large commercial customers. The company has been very successful during its first two years
tangible assets such as land, build- include land, buildings, equipment, and furniture. All of these assets, except land, are used
trol effectiveness?
of operations, but to expand its customer base, the company is in need of additional capital to beings, equipment, and furniture used in up over time. As a long-term asset is used up, part of the asset’s cost becomes an expense,
used for equipment purchases. The two brothers who started the business, Adam and Tim Olson,the operation of a business lasting for just as supplies become supplies expense when they are used up. The expensing of a long-
invested their life savings in the business, so they have contacted a local bank about securing amore than a year.
loan for $175,000.
term asset’sIndustry
cost overAnalysis
its useful life is called depreciation. No depreciation is recorded
The bank has asked for a set of financial statements, and Adam, being a businessperson,Depreciation Allocation of the for land because
Purpose: itToishelp
never really used
you understand up. the performance of two companies in the same
and compare
knows that the bank is going to be looking for a growth in earnings each year. Although thecost of a long-term asset to Expense We account
industry.for long-term assets in the same way as prepaid expenses and supplies
company’s earnings have increased, Adam would like the past year to look better than it does now. Find the Columbia Sportswear Company Annual Report located in Appendix A and go to
over its useful life. because they are all assets. The major difference is the amount of time it takes for the asset
Adam stops by your office late in the afternoon on December 31 to find out when the financial the section titled “Design and Evaluation of Internal Control Over Financial Reporting” in Item
statements will be ready. You explain that you still have to close out the end of the year but should to be used up. Prepaid
9A starting expenses
on page 000. Nowand supplies
access the onlineare
2016typically used
Annual Report for within a year,
Under Armour, Inc. whereas
For most
have them ready by the end of the week. Adam tells you he is aware of a major contract Tim is long-term assets remain
instructions on howfunctional for several
to access the report online, seeyears. Suppose
the Industry Analysisthat, on 1March
in Chapter 1, Bold City
. Go to the
working on that it will be signed on January 3 and asks you to delay the closing process a few days
so the new contract can be included in this year’s operating results. You attempt to explain to Adam
Consultingsection in Item 8 on page 55 of the annual report titled “Report of Management on Internal Control
disposes of the
over Financial Reporting.”
equipment that was purchased previously and purchases new
that you cannot do that, but you can tell he is not listening to you. Adam interrupts by saying, “I equipment for $15,600 cash. (The accounting treatment of asset disposals is covered in
don’t know why you accountants get so worked up over a few days. Let me just say that it would Requirement
be in your best interest to include this contract in the current year’s operating results.” Adam leaves
1. Compare the two annual reports as they relate to their disclosure of internal con-
your office in a hurry, and you hear him mutter under his breath as he turns the corner, “That
trol procedures and the system of internal control.
accountant—who does he think he is trying to tell me how to run my business?”
Requirements
1. What are the accounting issues related to Adam’s request? Small-Business Analysis
2. What is the ethical issue involved in this case? Purpose: To help you understand the importance of cash flows in the operation of a small
3. What would be the appropriate course of action for you to take? business.
You own a business, like the Millers of the Bold City Brewery. You’re having a tough time
figuring out why your actual cash is always coming up less than the amount the general ledger
Know Your Business says should be there. You would hate to think that any of your employees would be stealing from
you, because they have all been with you since you opened the business five years ago. But maybe
Financial Analysis it’s time to do a little investigative work. After all, cash is the lifeblood of the business, and if it’s
being misappropriated, you need to find out fast!
Purpose: To help familiarize you with the financial reporting of a real company in order to fur-
You think back over some of your recent observations and some of the conversations you’ve
ther your understanding of the chapter material you are learning.
overheard. One startling conclusion is staring you in the face: Julie’s been a good employee, but
The annual report of Columbia Sportswear in Appendix A contains much more information
lately she’s been bragging about her wild weekends and some of the gambling casinos she’s
than what is reported in the financial statements and related footnotes. In this case, you will explore
been going to. Julie never used to be like that. You overheard one of her fellow employees ask
other information presented in the annual report in order to determine the responsibilities of both
her where she’s getting all this money, and she said that her husband just got a really good
management and the independent auditors as they relate to annual report content. In addition,
raise at his job and they’re celebrating. Then just last week, Julie drove to work in a new sports
you will investigate the respective roles of both management and the auditors in the company’s
car, and again you overheard her tell someone about the great deal her brother-in-law got for
internal control system.
her on this car.
Refer to the Columbia Sportswear Annual Report in Appendix A. You will need to find and
Julie is in charge of accounts payable, billing, and collections. Because your office is so small,
then read the following reports:
you always felt like these jobs could be done more efficiently by the same person. You also remem-
• Management’s Report on the Consolidated Financial Statements (Item 8) ber that Julie’s uncle is one of your vendors, and there was that situation last year where you dis-
• Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm on Consolidated Financial covered a double billing from her uncle’s company. When you brought it to Julie’s attention, she
Statements (Item 8) immediately admitted her error and took care of it.
2
The numbers used to demonstrate how a microbrewery operates are representative of the microbrew-
ing industry. However, the numbers used do not reflect the actual operations of the Bold City Brewery. Adjusting and Closing Entries 117
MyLab is the teaching and learning platform that empowers you to reach every student. By combining trusted author content
reassure Susan by explaining that the company is undertaking a new advertising campaign that
will result in a significant improvement in the company’s income in the following year. Susan is
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xxiv Preface
Supplements available to
instructors at www
.pearsonhighered.com/kemp Features of the Supplement
Solutions Manual Contains solutions to all end-of-chapter questions, including short exercises, exercises, and problems.
Created by Jeffrey Waybright
Instructor’s Resource Course Content
Manual – Introduction to the Instructor’s Resource Manual with a list of resources and a roadmap to help navigate
Created by Stephanie Swaim, Dallas MyLab Accounting
County Community College District – Instructor tips for teaching courses in multiple formats: traditional, hybrid, or online
– “First Day of Class” student handout that includes tips for success in the course as well as an additional
document that shows students how to register and log on to MyLab Accounting
– Sample syllabi for 10- and 16-week courses
Chapter Content
– Chapter overview and teaching outline that includes a brief synopsis and overview of each chapter
– List of learning objectives from the text
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certain items within the chapter
– Student chapter summary handout to assist students in taking notes on the chapter
– Assignment grid that outlines all end-of-chapter exercises, problems, and cases; the topic of a particular
exercise, problem, or case; estimated completion time; level of difficulty; and availability in General Ledger
or Excel templates
– Ten-minute quizzes that quickly assess students’ understanding of the chapter material
Test Bank Includes more than 1,500 questions; both objective-based questions and computational problems are avail-
able. Algorithmic test bank is available in MyLab Accounting.
Created by Lauren Psomostithis,
Algorithmic test bank is available in MyLab Accounting. Most computational questions are formulated
North Seattle College
with an algorithm so that the same question is available with unique values. This offers instructors a greater
pool of questions to pull from, and will help ensure each student has a different test.
All questions include the following annotations:
• Difficulty level (1 for straight recall, 2 for some analysis, 3 for complex analysis)
• Type (Multiple-choice, true/false, short-answer, essay)
• Learning objective
• AACSB learning standard (Ethical Understanding and Reasoning; Analytical Thinking Skills; Information
Technology; Diverse and Multicultural Work; Reflective Thinking; Application of Knowledge)
Computerized TestGen TestGen allows instructors to:
• Customize, save, and generate classroom tests
• Edit, add, or delete questions from the Test Item Files
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and spade assigned to disinterment duty after some bombardment
did not dig deep enough here. But the captain does not wish to
understand and hurries us along to the next street.
A CRUMBLING CIVILISATION
In the ghastly stillness of this city that was once Rheims, at last
there is a sound of life. Down the Rue de la Paix, the street of peace,
an army supply-wagon clatters past us. And you have no idea how
pleasant can be the sound even of noise.
Then across the way appears a milk-woman, pushing her cart with
four tin cans and jingling a little bell. There are a few people, it
seems, still left, employés in the champagne industry, who cling to
their homes even though they must live in the cellar. Now the
devastation increases and the houses begin to be mere rubbish
heaps of brick and mortar as we approach the Place de la
Cathédrale.
At length we stand before the famous Cathedral of Rheims itself. I
know of no more impressive place to be in the closing days of the
year 1916 than here at the front of the terrible world war.
In this edifice is symbolised all that civilisation of ours that
culminated in the Twentieth Century, now to be razed to the ground.
For lo, these seven hundred years, even as the two great towers
above us have lifted the infinite beauty of their architectural lace-
work against the blue-domed sky, some thirty generations of the
human soul have sent their aspirations heavenward on the incense
of prayer. Over these very stones beneath our feet, king after king of
France has walked, to receive the crown of Charlemagne and to be
anointed before this altar from “le sainte ampouli.” And now here to-
day is history in no dead and musty pages but in the making, white-
hot from the anvil of the hour! Only a little over a mile away are the
German guns that from day to day shower the shell-fire of their
destruction on the city. This spot upon which we stand is their
particular objective point of attack. Hear! There is a rumbling
detonation. We wait hushed for an instant. But the sound is not
repeated. You see, already there have been some 30,000 shells
poured on Rheims. Twelve hundred fell in one day only. At any
moment there may be more.
“If the bombardment should begin,” we had been instructed at
Maison de la Presse, “you would rush for the nearest cellar.” I think
we all have listening ears. Every little while there is certainly
repeated that desultory firing on the front.
But nothing is dropping on us. And reassured, we turn to examine
the great shell hole in the pavement not five yards distant. The
Archbishop’s Palace, immediately adjoining the church, is flat on the
ground in ruins. The cathedral itself is slowly being wrecked. But in
the public square directly before it, look here! See Joan of Arc on her
horse triumphantly facing the future! In her hand she is waving the
bright flag of France. Amid the débris of the great war piling up about
her, the famous statue stands absolutely untouched. Here at the very
storm centre of the attack on civilisation, with the hell-fire of the
enemy falling in a rain of thousands of shells about her, she seems
as secure, as safe under God’s heaven as when the people passed
daily before her to prayer. Shall we not call it a miracle?
“See,” says the captain, his head reverently uncovered, his eyes
shining, “our Maid of Orleans. No German shall ever harm her!” And
since the war began, it is true, no German ever has. Not a statue of
the famous girl-warrior anywhere in France has been so much as
scratched by the enemy. Her name was the password on the day of
the Battle of the Marne and there are those who think it was the
shadowy figure of a girl on a horse that led the troops to that victory.
Oh, though cathedrals may crumble and cities be laid waste and
fields be devastated, some time again it shall be well with the world.
For the faith of the people of France in Joan of Arc shall never pass
away.
That we realize, as we look on the rapt face of the captain who
leads us now within the great church itself, where for three years all
prayers have ceased. The marvellous stained glass from the
thirteenth century, which made the religious light of the beautiful
windows, now hangs literally in tatters like torn bed-quilts blowing in
the wind. That great jagged hole in the roof was torn by a shell at the
last bombardment. There are fissures in the side walls. The rain
comes in, and the birds. Doves light there on the transept rail. Amid
the rubbish of broken saints with which the floor is littered, there yet
stands here and there a sorrowful statue hung with the garland of
faded flowers reminiscent of some far-off fête day. And Requiescat in
pace, you may read the legend cut in the stone of the eastern wall
above the tomb of some Christian Father.
In the nearby Rue du Cardinal de Lorraine, in a garden saying his
rosary, walks an old man in a red cap, one of the few remaining
residents who will not leave the city. He is the venerable Mgr. Lucon,
Cardinal of Rheims. Always he is praying, praying to God to spare
the cathedral. And God does not. “I do not understand. I suppose
that He in His wisdom must have some purpose in permitting the
church to be destroyed,” says the Cardinal of Rheims. “I do not
understand,” he always adds humbly.
“One may not understand,” repeats the captain. And he takes us to
luncheon at the Lion d’Or, the little inn where the wife of the
proprietor still stays to serve any “mission of the French
gouvernement.” Then he shows us the famous champagne cellars of
the Etablissement Pommery. Here one hundred feet below the
ground, in the chalk caves built a thousand years ago by the
Romans, are twelve miles of subterranean passageways with
thirteen million bottles of the most celebrated champagne in the
making.
The superintendent pours out his choicest brand: “Vive la France
and the Allies,” he says, lifting his glass. He talks more English than
the captain can. He is telling us of when the Germans entered
Rheims. “Four officers,” he says, “came riding ahead of the army.
And I met them by chance just as they arrived in the market place of
Rheims.”
“What did you do?” asks the New York correspondent of the
London Daily Mail. “I wept,” says the Frenchman, simply and
impressively. “Gentlemen,” he adds solemnly and sadly, “I hope you
may never meet some day four conquering Chinamen riding up
Broadway.”
I find myself catching my breath suddenly at that. And I am glad
when the captain hums a gay little French tune and holds out his
glass a second time: “Give us again ‘Vive la France.’”
The sun is dipping red in the west when we turn to leave Rheims
and Joan of Arc bravely flying the French flag before its crumbling
cathedral. There is the rumble of guns once more at the front. Then
the winter dusk rapidly envelops the road along which we are
speeding. It is the same road to Epernay. But now it is alive with
traffic. Under the protecting cover of the soft darkness, all sorts of
vehicles are passing. The headlights of our car flash on a continuous
procession of motor lorries, munition-wagons, army supply-wagons,
tractors, and peasants’ carts carrying produce to market. So we
arrive at Epernay for a lunch of red wine and war bread at the little
station. By ten o’clock we are safely within the walls of Paris. We
have escaped bombardment!
It is two days later before the French official communiqué in the
daily papers begins again recording: “At Rheims toward six o’clock
last night, after a violent attack with trench mortars, the Germans
twice stormed our advance posts. But these two attempts completely
failed under our machine-gun fire and grenade bombing.”