The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1917-11-27
SOUVENIR HUNTERS
nv FRENCH ARMY
The Fever of Collecting Things Is Spread
ing and Trenches and Dugouts
Are Being Cluttered.

Behind British lines in France, Nov. q
Correspondence of Associated Press)
In every battalion at the front there
are number of confirmed souvenir hunt
ers, and sometimes their influence is 81
potent that an epidemic craze for col
lecting spreads through all ranks, and
the main topic of conversation is SOU
venirs in all their varieties.
In every walk of trench life one meets
the man with strong acGuisitiye habits;
in civilian life he might develop his bent
into either finance, art, stamp-collecting
or possibly burglary. In the trenches the
fully developed passion for collecting
souvenirs is often a trial for the collec-
tor, for a collection of any kind sooner
or later demands place to put it in, and
there is no place in knapsack and dugout
life for store of gathered treasures.
The available war souvenirs are sell
dom of much value, but there Is con-
siderable variety of things to choose
from in most battle areas. In the early
DAYS of the war, the German helmets
were valued souvenirs, for the old styled
German helmet was substantial and pic
turesoue. brilliant with heavy metal gar
niture. There were also unusual varia-
tions, like the quaint Bavarian shakos,
while one or two cavalry regiments pro-
vided a rare variety of headgear which
has not been seen on the western front
since the first of the war.
The German helmet of to-day has de-
preciated even more than the German
mark. 1t is no longer even leather, but
a kind of light paper-felt. The metal
spike has given place to one of wood
or composition The solid brass regimen
tai badge is now thin tinsel plaque. The
true collector cares very little for the
modern helmet and has no interest at all
in the little round convict cap which so
many German prisoners wear. II the
German only knew it, a sure passport to
warm and instant favor on surrender is
a decent helmet. 1t attracts immediate
attention and the fortunate owner is
given cigarettes and other marks OF ia
vor by his delighted captor, instead OF
being merely herded to the rear without
ceremony. -
The supply of helmets is seldom ade-
auate to the demand; indeed the market
is only glutted on occasions of big push
or large scale raid. Among lesser
trophies, the ambitinus collector finds
great scope for his activities in the shells |
sent over by the hostile artillery. Fuses |
and nose caps in wonderful variation are !
to be obtained with little pains, and
the collection of these is encouraged by |
the general staff, because the setting of
the fuse may give the correct range of |
suspected battery, and there is other in
formation of useful character to be
gained from the study of these trophies
The French soldiers have specialized
in aluminium rings and iewery made
from the nosecaps of hostile shells, and
quite an ambitious industry has been
developed in this way. The British pre-
fer to work in brass, usually the brass
of empty cartridges and shell cases.
With infinite patience and few tools
they produce what the Frenchman calls
peculiar objects of the mantelpiece."
Little model coal.scuttles with legs
made of bullets, a tiny coal shovel
worked up from a German rife cart
ridge; vases of curious surface nothing
made by indenting the brass of field
gun case; ambitious designs of allied
flags and well-known heroes, made from
ration cases or brass,-these are only a
few of the things which the collector is
offered by his own comrades. There is
no end to the ingenuity and variety of
the work of the soldier craftsman, but
his most familiar work is in inkpots,
and decorative paperweights
made from hand grenades OF the interior
of shrapnel shells.