Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1919-12-11
Guarding the German Boundary.

Few people have any idea OF the
enormous amount Of smuggling that
civilians have carried on since the
British army has occupied the Rhine
land, and Of the extraordinary methods
TO which the Germans have resorted.
It was only by chance that the for
bidden traffic was discovered. One
day a keen sentry at one OF the con-
troll posts on the frontier noticed a
woman Of abnormal proportions walk
ing past his post. The sentry could
| not understand it, and he was not 60
ing to allow the woman 10 pass until
he did, so he prodded her with his f1n-
ger and discovered that the size Of her
body was due to a quantity of butter
concealed under her clothing.
That day war on the smugglers be-
gan. Eventually the traffic was Sc
highly organized that it got quite be-
yond the control Of the existing sys'
TEN, and an inventive brain evolved
the idea OF "Hying column" Of mer
and women searchers to swoop down
Unexpectedly on railway stations, tc
hold Up trains bound for the neutral
zone, and TO search Systematically
every man, woman and child, as vel
as all parts Of the train itself.
In one fortnight more than four
hundred thousand cigarettes and near
ly half a ton of soap were recovered
Women were discovered carrying cof'
fee in specially made corsets and pet
ticoats, which consisted of sack
hanging down in front and one al
either hip; fur coats, boas, and ever
umbrellas and picture frames were
| stuffed with cigarettes. Tins made tc
fit the ventilators in railway carriages
small boxes tackled to the bottoms o
seats, and parcels attached to thf
axle under the train and hidden ir
the coal in the engine were discover
ed. Two ingenious methods adopte
| after dark were to place parcels wrap
ped in black paper on the top Of train:
and tramcars and to hang package
from the compartment doors on tht
side away from the platform. Ever
the false bottom of the bag that {
nurse carried contained one thousanc
cigarettes.
A subaltern in charge Of a searchini
party that boarded an outward-bount
Spa Berlin express train one nigh
happened to notice a piece of soaI
protruding from underneath cush
ion. On pulling the cushion the whol
of il came away, disclosing soap an
numberless coils Of elactic. In an
other part Of the train the officer saw
German dressed in civilian clothe
whom he at once recognized as ma
who had passed through about thre
weeks before in the garb Of Russia
officer. His suspicious we're arouse
and the man was searched; on hir
were found receipts for the elasti,
which had been purchased in Saar
brucken for eighty-ive thousan
marks, and a letter from a firm i
Berlin requesting him to smuggle fiv
thousand pairs Of boots into the cour
try. Needless to say, the smuggle
did not continue his journey that da!
| Curing a Daredevil.
There are touches Of humor, som
of it pretty grim, in The Daredevil {
the Army, by Capt. A. P. Corcoran,
dispatch rider with the British army
whose memory is stored with pleas
ant as we'll as unpleasant incidents c
the war. One man was Tilted while o
leave and returned to the front wish
ing to be killed. Although he too
all sorts of unnecessary risks, he wa
not even wounded; instead,-so TN
heard-of was the fortitude and enter
| prise he displayed his feats reache
the ears Of the general, who recon
mended him for a D. S. o. He got i
and, strangely enough, it restored hi
senses; thereafter, he took the usus
| precautions for preserving his life.
| Again, German attempt
fraternize was cut of in an abrupt an
| amusing manner. All along the lin
there had been at intervals patheti
efforts to bridge the terrible gulf tn;
divided the fighters, and on one occa:
| sion German went so far as to site
his head over the parapet while h
shouted at the top OF his lungs,
have a wife and five children livin
in Boltonw
| "Well, il ye don't put yer bloomil
'ead down, she'll be a widow" cam
the swift, uncompromising response
II