Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-12-26
r. J. DOU0LAe
4 1 \ ~ ~ ( Mounie
i 4
Into the Iiandso

| German beer wagon before the war 40
looked as though he had never arrfve4x
anywhere with more than half Of kh4f
! original load. He grinned all over ~
face when Noodle poked him In the oG12J
| poration and told him that we noS11U
safety razors, soap, lsther brushes. nnf<sf
rors. toothbrushes tooth paste. hot<<'
brushes and combs. He sprang sFnot1II
to attention. shaking all over .1ik1 ~
jellyfish. and said, ia woh1, H&<I
Hauptmann." and went out of the roc1@~ e
| We know that our FIRST shave woo11
be tough proposition, SO a Frenchya10
who had been a Partisan barber bez6f1.
the war was sent for. lie gave us ea11,
| beautiful shave as we lay In bed niI<|i
| we felt much better. He used to shave
the officers for twenty pfennigp-~Stto
cents-and the men for ten pfonnl11,
Not long after, Ludwig reappe1f11.
empty-handed. Our hearts sank, but ~
produced everything we had ordoc0I'
from the depths of his trousers poch1<1
! His tunic hung down In such a rnsnuof
from his enormous waist line that H0'
could have concealed anything from n
toothbrush to baby elephant. We lshr0o1|
later on that this was an Illicit trade
which Ludwig carried on. He sold thiu14
| to us at cost price and we tipped h(11'
regularly lie ran a little blind piI'#
in the cellar. where he sold cognno ~.
'Schnapps.' as he called IL. at hft1o1I
ptennigs Tor a glass about the sise pk 81
thimble' lie could not afford TO loee 8:
customer 20 gladly ran messages Tor -
we were supposed to buy everyfnUf
through the Feldwebel. who added abo1.<
ioo per cent to the price OF all art1cl(3t
II we wanted to buy anything OF si9o ~,
value we were obliged to do 1t thfQU1Il
him otherwise there would be queetlQN4.
raised as TO where we got the money 1l
who. did the buying. ordered q aQlxs1
case later on. 1t was made Of palc4E
and cost me twenty-five marks tb.G4l<t
Owing TO a little carelessness the pf141f
mark--thirteen marks-was not erAo<
| realized then what a burglar the yVIIk3
webel was. 8<3
That first day he went arcuu1S
hospital and collected all the fI1481
from the new arrivals. We hat44N ~
part with IL. but there was no a{11f4'
native. lie was the banker for the 49,
pital and kept all the money belon1lukI
TO the prisoners. Three or four tiSn44 ~
week Frenchman would come aro<44i
with book ruled OF for us 10 9lI(4
Each officer was given the large sum 1<
three marks and each Tommy one nl4s y
IL he had any on deposit downstAirs. AZ
twere not allowed to have more than
In our possession at "a time. OF co>11U0f
we had, but didn't tell every one abo$<
IT, We all had camp and escape IN vi4y
and for that purpose boarded oSE
money. 1t might prove very useful. ~
was all made OF paper with the ex4c1
ton Of the Ave and ten pfennig pie4o4,i
which were Of iron. *
one day the police office got tip tA4f}
the English officers had money. An 0x'
derly came and told lis that utnp4rf
officer was going to search our roo1H{
He went out Of the door for n1lnp!4
We stampeded TO the cupboard, sup4
some of the paper money between
leaves Of books and In other hidll
places--and waited. Presently In ce1@&1
the police corporal and several &
hospital officials. but no officer. II N4k
been a bluff to make us declare ever<t
thing. They asked II we had
than three marks apiece. We admi@1@0.
that we had and opened the drawet1
our lockers for inspection. They rQ