Salt Lake Tribune | 1918-02-03 | Page 25 | Thievery by Troops Approved by Kaiser

THIEVERY BY TROOPS APPROVED BY KAISER Much Loot Gathered In France and Belgium Is Taken to Berlin for Sale. FRENCH FRONT. Jan. IS. (Correspondence (Corre-spondence of t.e Associated Press.) Official Of-ficial recognition has been givn by the German government to the practice of German troops in France and Beigium of laving their hands on everything they find In the house? and on the farms belonging be-longing to the civilians who have been deuurted from th invaded country to various va-rious parts of Germany to work for thpir conquerors. Tliere has been established in Berlin a '"War Booty office." with depots at 20 fichoeneberser I'fer, to which all such loot may be ffnt for sale. liero connoisseurs may make selections from large quantities of ancient furniture, pictures, fine porcelain, rare tapesmos. jewrlry. clocks and even clothing. Whether Wheth-er tlie price paid goes to the German government gov-ernment or to the oificer or soldier who forwarded the booty is not ascertainable here. In the great shed? of the depot are also displayed for sate farm wagons, ag-rirultural ag-rirultural implements and other mschin-erv mschin-erv and materials of almost every kind collected from the devastated districts nf Belgium and France. Official sales clerks, appointed by the government, are in fharge. but, in spite of advert isemenU of ales. purchasers are not always found and then whole lots of goods are. offered to charitable organizations or patriotic socle t ies. Advertisements are inserted even in newspapers of foreign neut ral countries, cailins attention to the opportnnities offered of-fered at the war booty offhe for obtaining obtain-ing bargains in useful goods and materials mate-rials and in souvenirs of the world war. French steel helmets are one of the most frequent attractions featured, and the government for a fee of 20 marks offers to supply with them a certificate of the authenticity of tho trophy. Even in Germany, however, the public has become skeptical, it is said, as to the origin of many of the war relics offered for sale and th belief is gaining ground that many of them are specially manufactured manu-factured by Krupp.