The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-07-08

Es$ stevedores. Time after time we
 would arrest men for stealing, anG although conviction meant the coal pile, the stealing went merrlly on
 It was not only the negroes who stole
 by any means; we caught a white of i ficer stealing cigars and selling
 them; but even the punishment meted
 out to him did not deter the petty thieves. This new loss, however
 was an entirely different matter Individual soldiers might take small articles, but now ten bags Of flour
 were gone, to say nothing about
 other such bulk supplies, and such losses could mean only one thing an organized raid.
 The German people were not the l only ones who suffered from the lack of flour sugar, fats, and to- bacco. Even in France the need of these articles was acute; a person who could secure any of them was assured of a ready market, mark ct where high prices were the rule and no questions asked as to where their supplies came from; and no amount of questioning would bring the pur- chasers to divulge where they got such things.
 The checking system first de- manded our attention. Honest mis- takes before now had sent us off on a "wildgoose chase" and before we wanted to be sure the thieves really existed.
 If it was just difference of opinion between two sets of check CTS, each jealous Lf it's accuracy, we wanted to know 1t. We could not capture imaginary thieves.
 It was a difficult task, this check ing up the checkers. It meant put ting some of our men on the docks and others at the supply depots; and there they were when a substantial loss from one of the cars during the time we were double checking showed that we were not On a wild goose chase this time; real band of crooks was at work.
 Having proved to our own satis- faction that the stealing actually was going on somewhere between Bassens and the rail-heads, our next move was to ascertain whether the losses were occurring on trains man ned by Americans or by French. A weeks record of all cars in the trains handled by both American and French crews showed that the SteallnS aiWayS occurred on the trains handled by the French.
 Compared with American freight trains. the French trains are joke. Slowly they wander across France, stopping whenever and wherever the crew may desire. The only energetic thing ever noted about a French freight train is the locomotive whistle; that is always blowing. Al most anything seems to serve as an excuse to open the whistle, and the nights are often made hideous by those blasts. Instead of a caboose for the train crew, the men are forced to ride in little coops built on the ends of the cars.
 Covering these freight trains was hazardous undertaking for our men whC were detailed to shadow the train crews. It was impossible to hide on top of the cars. A man who tried that would be quickly knocked off by the low bridges or tunnels. And. owing to the fact that our men were forced to remain hidden in the little cubby-holes, keeping clear as best they could of those being used by the Frenchmen, the checking up of all these crews was a long and tedious job.
 While some of our men were cov- ering the shipments on the train, others were searching through Bor- deaux, trying to locate, if possible, the receiving end of the system; for by this time we were thoroughly convinced that supplies were being systematically stolen. Our efforts along this line had not met with the success we had hoped for. Conse- quently 1t was with a sigh of relief that, one night I encountered the first promising clue l had seen in the case.
 l had dined with French friend at one of the hotels. Knowing my friends liking for a good smoke, I had planned to bring him cigars from box I had just received from the states; but when, after dinner, l reached in my pocket for them, I found that I had left them In my room. Full well I knew that as a general thing French cigars were both poor and expensive. But I did not want to disappoint my friend, so I decided tC try to get one from the hotel. Calling tho head waiter, explained my predicament and asked if he would get us some good cigars. Although a frequent patron of this hotel, l was surprised at the reply.
 "Yes, Major" said the man; q can give you real American cigar. In fact, you may have choice of sew eral brands, not only of cigars, but also of cigarettes, If you wish" And he named over several well known brands that were legitimately for sale only in our quRrtermaster de- partment canteens.
 Determined to find out how much of a stock he had. inquired whether he would be willing to sell 8 box.
 "Of course I would" he replied Ut would take time. but tomorrow you can have them. Ordinarily we sell these only to our French pa irons; but you are different and We want to please you"
 So I placed my order for box.
 After finishing our smoke, my