Evening star., 1943-03-31
Elaborate Lost, Found
System Returns
Soldiers Property
Greet Variety Of Articles
Pours Into Army's
Effects Bureau

By the Associated Press.
KANSAS CITY, March 31.-The
watch was nearly buried in the
beach sand beneath the bodies of
18 soldiers killed in the North
Africa invasion landing.
To which one did it belong?
1t may take the Army months to
answer that question, but it's a
good bet its Effects Bureau will
come up with the information
sooner or later.
The Effects Bureau is the clearing
house for personal belongings of
soldiers, mainly those killed or miss
Ing In action on foreign soil.
Into its half-acre of floor space
on the 1lth floor of building here
is a conglomeration ranging all the
way from the highly guarded Nor
den bomb sight to Neon signs and
baby buggies.
Many Packages Ready.
There's no telling what will show
up among the personal belongings
OF soldier. The man who runs
the place. 1t. Col. J. R. Murphy,
no longer wonders about it.
For one reason. he's too busy
getting those personal belongings
back to the relatives to whom they
should go. More than 10000 neatly
packed boxes and foot trunks are
ready now.
Before the war, commanding Of
flcers handled soldiers belongings
both on foreign soil and in this
country. Now commanding officers
simply take an inventory Of per-
sonal property of those killed or
missing outside continental United
States and send them to the bureau
here.
Effects of soldiers killed in this
country are the problem of a sum-
mary court at posts where they are
stationed. The lone exception where
b commanding officer may intervene
outside Of the United States is
when dead soldier has local debts.
Then he may take enough of his
money to pay them
The Effect Bureau does try to see
that articles forgotten by soldiers
on trains, buses and commercial air.
lines get back to them, and take
care of their personal effects when
they are moved with such rapidity
from camp that they haven't time
to gather them up.
Eventually Sent Along.
Few personal belongings are lost
In the Army. In time Col Murphy
and his staff get them to where they
should go. Sometimes it takes a
week, sometimes six months.
The articles are guarded closely.
Valuables like bonds, stocks and
jewelry are kept in a safety box.
money In bank until sent to
relatives. Until inventoried. every
thing is locked in a steel cage.
Most soldiers, Col. Murphy finds,
carry anywhere from IS to $3.50.
Ordinarily the widow gets first
claim to property unless an admin
lstrator or executor has been named.
After the widow come the son, the
daughter, the father, the mother,
the brother and on down the rela-
tive list in that order.
The Effects Bureau decides no
legal questions of title. Should that
arise 1t is for the State courts.
BillfoIds Most Common.
Col. Murphy automatically re-
moves anything such as lewd pic
lures or literature from a soldiers
personal effects. He sees that the
clothes are laundered. that Gov
eminent property that may be
among the effects gets back to the
Army. If any articles are blood
stained he writes the father sug-
costing he destroy them. Generally
the family agrees.
Every soldier seems to own a
billfold. It's the most common of
all articles arriving at the bureau.
From there on it's purely individual
taste. One soldier might lug an
elephant tusk around with him:
another collection of Army insie-
MAS or reptiles preserved in alco-
hol. Whatever they are thev all
go to the bureau, even liquor and
cigarettes.
About the only thing that hasn't
shown up is livestock. But Col.
Murphy keeps his fingers crossed.