The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1918-03-09

from the enemy by the Anglo French troops.
 We wished him "Bon voyage" and apologized for delaying >him-we are always polite in '"The Search"-and turned to go.
 An able seaman stumbled against a bucket and fell against a brightly painted plough. His cutlass hilt rang, and, turning to see the extent of the damage he was surprised to find that, instead of the dull grey of wrought iron, the plough's material was gleam- ing copper.
 That ship also went to the base, and after relieving her of the copper agri- cultural implements and the tanned hides and leather she, too, became a unit of Britain's mercantile marine, and no longer a blockade-runner.
 The ''Mysterious Beans''
 There was one more who received us very politely and offered the lieu tenant in command of the party of inquisitive bluejackets drink. It was courteously refused, and we then set about our task.
 The papers were quite clean, the general cargo contained nothing that could be considered contraband, and everything seemed to be in order. But that lieutenant had been once deceiv- ed by a pickpocket and confidence trickster who looked like a Baptist deacon, and he was taking no chances. He decided to search the ship thor oughly, and by way of commencement a hapran with tha iTn nf things in her cargo-beans. One bag of beans was opened and tested-teeth are the best things for testing beans but that was quite o. K; the beans were beany enough. But that lieuten- ant wasn't given to trusting even his own eyes. Open another-any one | you like" he said.
 The second bag was opened, and | the lieutenant, stepping forward thrust his hand and arm deep into the heavy mass. Up came a handful the lieutenant's finger sorted them ] over, dropping some back into the | bag. At last he selected one, placed il ] between his teeth. q thought so, he said. Rubber! I had a hunch that these weren't all beans. Back you go to the base where they've more time to attend to you than have. The Ship With 'sNo Cargo''
 Things were going pretty well with 1 us just about that time, for a few days later along came another huge neutral well out of water, with halt her red under-hull showing. She stopped readily enough, and gave us cheery greetings when we went across to inspect her.
 Whats your cargo?" The usua question was asked as the officer ir 1 charge clambered to her high deck The skipper was effusive
 We have no cargo at all," said he We are proceeding homewards 1T | ballast only" The lieutenant wasn't a all impressed; he had seen ships 1T ballast before that turned out to b, carrying heavy 15-inch guns for tht German naval forces; some had car goes of valuable armor plate, trans ferred all across the Atlantic becaus, krupps couldn't turn out half so gooC or tough. So he decided to have look at that gentleman who carried nothing but ballast. But though h, peered into every nook and cranny- under the shippers bunk and into tn Icook's kitchen copper-he could flint nothin. Then from the bottom of hold came a shout
 Here you are, sir" cried a blue jacket. Here's the stuff''
 The lieutenant descended to tn
 hold, there to find a fine stretch o
 sand bailast-as fine a stretch as an
 beach in Britain-with something lik
 a spring bubbling out of it's centre "I strolled over here. fancyin' mysel at the seaside in August, sir,'' ex
 plained the sailorman. And I though it smelt oily. So just dug my cutlas
 deep into it, and that stuff came u
 like spring, and if it isn't oil fue
 well, I never saw the stuff" Exit an
 other neutral without cargo and i
 ballast.
 Metals which cannot be found i f Germany are the most useful article , found in blockade runners, and man
 and various are the means adopte f for concealing them. There was on a ship-a Dutchman-whose cargo wa
 cigars in boxes of hundreds diret
 from Havana. They were quite o. to look at anc smell and the picture Q O1l I4AS bOACS nOAS lIlo 10t11 lI1lnS- u6 . l appeared so good that the searcher |, mouths watered, and one man sto a handful of the smokes" from tt f box. On his way back to the ship l . tried to light it-only to discover tn; : a leaf of tobacco had been wrappe . round an aluminium cylinder whic z, contained tungsten-a metal which, used in making diamond-hard stee . The boat turned around and got son 5 more cigars-also she got the ship.
 In another case double bulkhea,
 had been rigged. and between thes
 as well as inside the hollow ste l. masts of the ship, were some tons '- pure copper in bars. Again a ce e tain vessel was carrying macaroni d packa ges--blue label, white sea d string and everything as it should | 1t Also it was macaroni-there cou n be no doubt of that. It was only t, a dropping of a package that disclos l. the fact that in each bundle three Il four sticks of the foodstuff concea 1T ed thin strips of aluminum-the who Q, ship contained enough to build t ,r framework of a Zeppelin, thous