Evening star., 1944-07-23
Bv ELWIN STOUFFER,
Sto- c off rorraSrnpJar

StaA S~dAA wi lNSppllutI-l
BALTIMORE, July 22-Approxi-
mately 1000 packages, containing
every kind of fighting front souve-
Mrs from live snakes to machine
guns, pass daily through the Balti-
more Customs House
Customs officials call some of them
headaches, but most of them get
through even when officials don't
know exactly what they are
There appear to be no rules about
souvenirs. A soldier from Seattle,
stationed in the South Seas, will
send home A Coconut. Another will
go to great lengths to pack the
remnants of japanese rifle butt
The stream Of packages affords an
excellent chart of the area covered
by the war however.
The packages came from England
and Ireland, first beginning with
Irish linens. tablecloths and British
woolens. Immediately after the
invasion of North Africa there came
a flow of hand fooled moroccan
feathers. perfumes and silver fill
greed jeWelry. From Egypt came
semiprecious stones, colognes, nov
city jeWelry and Arab costumes.
The armies moved north into
Sicily and Italy. and bedspreads,
glassware, porcelain ware. statuary
and Women's stockings and lace
panties began to arrive
Every Zone Represented.
On enc large table in the customs
Office of the Baltimore Post Office
objects that represented almost
every battle zone of the war had
been laid out for Inspection
There were embroideries. CASH
meres, carved worries and woods
from India. There were koala bear
toys, sheepskins, kangaroo mats
and wood specimens from Australia
The South Sea islands contributed
perhaps the oddest assortment It
included grass skirts mot supposed
to be shipped without first being
sterlllzed), woven bags and a dozer
gadgets that not even the customs
officials could figure out a use for
These were mostly items that
members of the armed forces
bought. The souvenirs that come
in the greatest quantity, however
are those the soldiers did not buy
They are the trophies of the bat
tie fields. Captured machine guns
and rifles, knives and helmets. They
are the dozens of odd pieces of en-
envy equipment that GI Joe car
pick up in the zone of action.
George w. Hill, a deputy co.lecto,
of customs for the Baltimore office
and a veteran of 35 years in Gov.
eminent service. pointed to the mass
of souvenirs.
It's amazing" he said. "Yo,
have to work with this stuff to know
what big business souvenir-send.
Ing is in war
In the last war the field of opera
tlons was comparatively limited
Then souvenirs chiefly consisted OF
captured enemy equipment and
women's stockings and lingerie
picked up in various parts of Eu-
rope.
Live Snake in Package.
Now you don't know what to ex-
pect. One day an employe was
opening package and spied long
black object coiled in the bottom
When that snake raised its head
and looked that man in the eve he
gave a shrek that still echoes
around here.
Only the other day we cot a
snake skin here that measured over
30 feet in length. 1t didn't have a
mead nor tail on it and I've often
wondered how long it might have
been when it was crawling around. =
Mr.. Hill described the law which
allows the sending home of souve-
Mrs as follows:
Members of the armed forces
not including civilians, Red Gross
workers, USO personnel and wal
correspondents, stationed overseas
may send bona fide gifts home up tc
The value of $50 on which there will
be no customs charge. This is ir
accordance with Public Law 7Oe
passed since Pearl Harbor."
He said the only limit on the kind
of souvenirs selected appeared to be
the restrictions of the customs and
postal laws. Beside the $50 customs
limit the postal authorities set a
limit of 10 pounds on each package
and size of 100 inches, length and
sirth combined
"Of course, you have to use your
own judgment about weapons" he
said I'VE know of course that some
of these machine guns must have
cost the enemy lots more than $50
but We figure that if the military
authorities considered them not
worth retaining they have lost all of
their practical value"
Firearms Cause Most Grief.
According to military regulations,
the sender of souvenirs must first
secure permission of one of his