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Show Removal of Soldier Dead Forbidden by France; Word of Advice Given Relatives By SPEARMAN LEWIS. (Chicago Tribune Cable, Copyrights ARIS, Oct. 6. A woodcraft sman's P intuition brought William S. Benson Ben-son all the way from Brooklyn, Wis., to France to dig up the body of his only boy, Walter, who fell In the Aigonne battle of Blancmont ridge. j Benson was curious to know what kind j of a box his fine, big boy was burled -In. , Tie has lived up in the Wisconsin woods j all bis life and he knows something about the staying dualities of wood. Benson sailed for the states today on the Savoie without his boy's body. He's a much older man than he was when he , landed six weeks ao. His shoulders sag i beneath their sixty-seven years; his steps are more faltering: his eyes are red with a father's tears. But he feels a lot better bet-ter In his heart, for Walter now sleeps In a cypress casket. "T found him In a basswood box about so thick." said Benson in Pnris. indicating indicat-ing with the tip oi his little finger. "It's about the thickness of what we use at home for light packing boxes. "of course. I know the governmen: did: the best It could with what it had, but that don": keep my boy dry. liass'woou" t t;. won't stand the pressure of six feet of earth or moisture. It's curling up already. al-ready. I bought the best casket I could uT, Paris, and I took it ofit mvself, while guards stood around to make sure wc didn't snatch the body." Benson's case was the subject of a direct di-rect appeal to President Polncare In the Interest of the fathers and mothers who continue unsuccessfully to flock to France to get the bodies of their boys despUe the edict that the bodies will be unobtainable for three years, I personally negotiated through Poincare's genersl secretary. Columns could be written of the diplomatic correspondence between the two nations, some of which I've seen, hut here's a digest: France is unprepared to let her own civilians claim their sohlier dead. Tt Is undersiood that 6O0.0O0 French are burled in the Verdun sector alone. The American Ameri-can graves registration bureau Is planning to circularize the parents of the American Ameri-can dead for written instructions and desires de-sires for the permanent disposal of bodies. The French at present fear a wholesale removal of the Americans will rrea te French unrest. The removal of any body is strictly forbidden and cemeteries are guarded. It is the same story for every aching heart. No Individ ual can heat tiie game until the United States and French gov-srivmenls gov-srivmenls break the deadlock. |