New-York tribune., 1918-12-24

per or the lnter-Allicd Munitions Coun-
c1i' winch had TO do with the purchase
ana Shipment OF war supplies ard artil-
!Iery for the American forces abroad
tie Just came home for the HOLIDAYS
and VIII return in January after a
conference with the Secretary of War.
Mr. Stettnius said the agreements
ana plans worked out by the council
we're exceedingly efficient and saved
ammunition and guns.
we did not know at first" he said
whether it was better to buy our ma
terlal outright abroad or have it man
ufactured IN this country and shipped
TO- France. But we got together and
after giving due consideration to the
shortage of tonnage we found that it
was better and cheaper to ship from
this country the semi manufactured
products and finish them up on the
other side.
This scheme was better than ship
ping the raw material or the com
pletely manufactured product to the
battle front If we had known this
earlier a great amount of money would
have been saved for all the Allied gov
ernments. There was never any short
age of guns or ammunition on the side
of the Allies. We had plenty of guns
and shells on hand when the Germans
decided to quit fighting. I guess they
knew our supply was inexhaustble."
Reconstruction Has Started
Mr.. Stettinius said that France and
England were much better off than
on well with their work Of reconstruc-
ton.
Belgium" he said, "s the nation that
needs help. She was hard hit and needs
much help from America France is
now showing a great spirit of hopeful.
ness and energy that is amazing in a
nation that has suffered so greatly fo1
four years.
Troops on the Cedric brought over
the report that the 18th Division
which has been serving as a replace
| ment organization, is modified at st
Naziere, France, and is awaiting en-
barkation orders for home.
This division is made up of troops
from New Jersey, Maryland and the
District of Columbia The soldier.
said they heard in Liverpool that the
, 27th Division, made up Of men of The
National Guard of New York, was also
being concentrated at St. Nazaire fo,
embarkation homeward
Among the fighters on the Cedri,
was Corporal William Duncanson, O.
c'V Ncol IL vi street, VINO was WITT
Company of the 1O2d Engineers Hi:
left hand was put out of commission
on Oct. IS. when a piece of shrapne
ripped 1t from wrist to finger tips.
He was among the forces that dis
covered German tunnel at Bellicourt
said to have been built by German in
terests before the war and used as {
refuge for German troops.
Smoked Out Germans"
"This tunnel" said Duncanson. was
nearly four miles long, and we'll cam
outiaged. But we got on to it's exist
ence and we lost no time in literally
smoking the Germans out. We threw
IN smoke bombs at the main entrance
and by this smoke that went through
the entire tunnel, we found two other
entrances. These were surrounded
and we drove the enemy out. There
were about 1000 hidden in their bake
shops and Kitchens Some of the fell
lows said they discovered big vats
where they boiled the bodies of the
dead and procured the human fat for
fabrication. purposes, but you can't
prove it by me-
Among the returning wounded
fighters on the Cedric were Harold
Coyne, of Buffalo; Corporal Frank
Ludermann, of Brooklyn; Sergeant j
I. Godson. of Birmingham, Ala; Corp
oral Arthur Nealin, of Brooklyn: r
j. Crawford of this city; and Sergeant
KrauSe, of Syracuse