Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1919-08-26

TO the end of the war, there were a
dozen who returned without some
German or French articles. \
French soldiers and French civilians
were Quick to learn of this weakness
OF Americans for souvenirs. and they
managed to secure them in great
abundance to sell to the boys at big
profit. The tradesmen had German
(. guns and bullets and clothing and
shoes and in fact articles Of every
description which they offered for
sale and the doushboys were eager to
buy anything made in, Germany"
German money greatly deprecated
on the financial market long before the
end of the war; although the Ameri-
can souvenir hunters boosted it up all
! that they could and many Frenchmen
and even German prisoners made a
good thing out of selling German coins
to the American lads for several times
their value.
German Buttons.
Absence OF buttons from the uni
forms OF German prisoners confined In
various sections sof France in which
was stationed from time to time was
quite conspicuous. 1t happened this
way: Americans would capture big
bunch of German prisoners. Many
times before they fed NAem they would
cut the buttons of their uniforms and
send the buttons back to TIM states as
souvenirs to relatives and frfepds.
The other. day was talking~to a
certain York county young lady who
was wearing a hatpin. the knob OF
which was a button off a German
military uniform. -
She told me that a young friend Of
hers, a lieutenant who lives IN another
state had a hand to hand encounter
with German officer during the
fierce fighting on the Somme. The
-hsssSs.sasted long and wased ftHiousiy
until finally her "looey" shot the Ger
man officer dead and just for greens
cut a few buttons Off the dead Huns
coat, one Of which he sent to her and
she had it made into a hatpin.
I took her story in all seriousness and
listened to her glowing account OF her
hero's adventure and his victory with
the utmost respect, although I didn't
believe a word of it, since 1 had known
friends of mine to buy German but
tons for two francs a piece and
cheaper and spend twelve hours over
the composition of letter which they
sent some doll back here in the states,
and In which letter they told how they
had cut the buttons off the coat of
some German soldier whom they had
slain in mighty conflict.
'Is the friend who sent you the
button a first lieutenant or second
lieutenant?" I politely inquired.
\ why think he is second leuten-
ant" she replied. 81 am not real sure
Is there a difference in lieutenants
she inquired
"Yes, ma'am," there rs a difference
: in lieutenants," I said.
And then she laughed a happy little
laugh and said "he is a very brave
lieutenant, don't you think. And he
is so thoughtful to send me the
button"
The conversation ended there; but
could not help wondering what non
com or buck private that lieut. bought
the button from
But all that Is a depression. Most
of the souvenirs except buttons con-
sisted of articles Of war captured from
Germans in their fight. You see after
the ferries started to running towards
home, they dropped every thing they
could, including guns, canteens. hel.
NETS, ammunition, surplus clothes and
all. Millions of dollars worth of this
2 property was discarded and thrown
into rivers and creeks along the roads
In the woods-just anywhere the nec-
essity for less weight and more speed
appealed stronger to the fleeing SOL
diers Allied troops following. stopped
to pick up some of these articles, es-
pecially the Americans-for souvenirs
Among other things / sent home q
German helmet picked up out Of the
Rhine river. I didn't pick ii up my
self / never got into Germany. But
voy up into Germany brought back 9
whole automobile truck load of he'll
NETS and other accoutrements Of the
Germans. He sold them like hot
rl ernAdly rot fOf
his enterprise. -
Rings From Coins.
French souvenirs were almost as
much in demand as German tokens
Notable among these souvenirs was
the French two-franc piece. The
American lads wanted them to make
silver rings. The coin is slightly
smaller than our fifty cent piece. BY
beating them down with a hammer
they may be fashioned into very
beautiful ring. Thousands. perhaps
hundreds of thousands of these coins
were made into rings and sent homt
and brought home by the American
soldiers.
Indeed the supply of French two
Z franc pieces disappeared at such
rapid rate because Of their conversion
into rings that the problem was ont
which caused much embarrassment t
the French government, which seri
ously considered the idea Of discontinue
Ing minting any more Of the coins.
German prisoners made big none!
fashioning toys, etc., out Of bits o
wood and iron which they sold to tn
American souvenir fiends.
/ know an American second lieu
tenant who purchased German pisto
from an American soldier who found
on a battlefield. The lieutenant pail