The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1923-05-27

Jean, the cheesemonger, was no un-
familiar sight to our soldiers bill
leted in the French towns in our
training area to the west of Bor-
deaux. Bowed over from his years
of back breaking toll, with snow
white hair and scraggly beard, his
clear blue eyes, peering out Ion I'M
der shaggy white eyebrows, always
smiled the welcome his lack of Eng
lish forbade expression in words.
Dressed in his faded out blue denim
smock and nondescript trousers. with
his faithful old pipe always in his
mouth, he logged along the roads
selling his wares wherever he could.
His little two wheeled cart drawn
by a diminutive donkey as old and
gray as himself and Jean seated on
the thil1, his feet encased in rough
wooden sabots dangling down till
they just cleared the ground as he
passed along-the outfit was pic
turesque.
The order modifying the French
regiments, in 1914, changed the cur
rent of life for many of the French
people, but to none of them was the
change of greater import than to the
family of Jean Boudin. With the
help his wife and three sons. Jean
had been able to male the third. that
is all but the asst payment on their
little farm where he dreamed of re-
firing from hard work and passing
his decliing years in the peaceful
quietness of the country life. The
boys were old enough to carry on the
farm. They had all served their
time in the army, so there was no
reason Thy Jean should no sit in
the sun and dream to his hearts
content. The mobilization orders
changed everything. for the three
boys were called to the colors. At
the first battle of the Marne two of
them were killed. The youngest, Gas
ton. blinded by a high explosive shell.
was sent home to pass the rest of
his days in darkness. His pension
of only a frame a day was scarcely
enough to keep body and soul to-
gether; Jean was forced to work.
Jean made heroic struggle to
keep the farm; but age and the other
odds WEI too great and it finally
had to be sold. With the small
amount of money he received. after
providing as much as possible for
CASTOR, Jean purchased the little old
donkey and cart; and laying in a
stock of cheese, he started out, hop
ing to earn enough to keep his family
together by supplying the local cafes,
stores and our troops. Scrupu1osl,
clean was his cheese each kind wrap
ped in a clean white cloth and each
in its own willow basket, while over
all was another CLOTH Always cheer
full and never complaining of the
hard fate that had forced him out on
the roads to earn Il living at this
time of life, Jean had not am enemy
in the world. Jogging along the
various roads, he even was allowed
to enter the training camps, while
our generous soldiers, knowing of
Jeans struggle, admired his pluck
and perseverance and let many an
extra franc find its way into his
pockets.
Jean was slowly but surely win
ming his unequal fight when on the
morning of June 20. Il detail of
American soldiers, under the cons
mand of their captain, were passing
along one of the side roads leading
to the training field when they found
Jeans donkey, still hitched to the
cart, nibbling grass along the side OF
the road. Fearing the old man had
fallen out and hurt himself, the men
scattered to search the various paths
and roads near by in an endeaVor to
find Jean. About Il mile from where
his donkey was feeding, poor Jeans
body was found-his pockets rifled
and his head battered in. Covering
up the body with blanket and post
ing guards to keep the curious from
destroying any possible clues that
there might be, the captain went to
telephone and notified our office.
With three of our men. l jumped
into the motor car and with all speed
we drove to the scene of the crime.
Everything was exactly as it had
been when the body was found.
Nothing had been disturbed. Conse-
quently we could make careful
search of the place. Three hours of
painstaking examination brought out
little that could help us. Jean S
body by the side of the road; a rock
about the size of cocanut all COW
cred with blood, which evidently had
been the weapon used; and baske t
of cheese, with the covering cloth
gone--that was all.
The French police took charge of
Jeans body, promising to hold it for
a few days until our preliminary ex-
animation was completed, while we
took the rock and the basket of
| cheese to our office. An attempt to
find finger prints on the rock proved
a failure, so we turned our attention
to the basket Of cheese. Under the
magnifying glass we found a we'll
formed thumb print where a thumb
if to see if it was hard. We i'm
mediately had the finger prints of
Jean taken and compare with a
photograph copy of the finger print
found on the piece of cheese. The
comparison showed that the inn
preston had not been made by Jean.
Every soldier who was induct ed
into the army had his finger prints
taken and all these were placed on
file in Washington. While, of course,
we were not certain that the print o.,
the cheese had been made by the
murderer, nevertheless, we could not
afford to overlook even the slightest
. oh a nf in
/ print photograph to Washington with
a request that it be identified, if pos
sible. Mails We're slow and the troops
in the training areas were continual
~ moving in and out; SO if we were
ever to apprehend the criminal it