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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



other things that the Swiss must have, 

 she extorts her own terms. Germany re- 

 cently compelled certain Swiss banks, un- 

 officially, to take a part of a war loan, for 

 example, and the Swiss food reserves are 

 continually tapped by her. 



It would be impracticable for Switzer- 

 land to turn over to Germany the foods 

 she receives from the Allies, but Swiss 

 cheese is about the scarcest thing in 

 Switzerland. The Allies appreciate the 

 position in which Switzerland is placed 

 and have tried to be as generous as pos- 

 sible. Most of her food-stuffs come from 

 France and Great Britain today. 



I am not in a position to go more deeply 

 into the course of the diplomatic negotia- 

 tions which the Purchasing Board en- 

 tered upon. But the American railroads 

 in France will be set in part upon 25,000 

 ties bought in Switzerland, while 20,000 

 sleek Spanish mules have braved their 

 way across the mountains to enter Uncle 

 Sam's service. Contracts have been let 

 to Swiss manufacturers to make certain 

 things for the Americans, too, and there 

 a further dalliance with diplomacy was 

 needed. 



The raw material must be furnished 

 the Swiss, for they did not have it. That 

 was agreed to. Then Germany became 

 aware of the arrangement. Germany 

 furnishes a greater part of the coal to 

 Switzerland. The mere suggestion that 

 an ounce of her coal should be used to 

 fire boilers to make steam to run lathes to 

 shape shells — or other things — for the 

 wholly to be looked-down-upon Ameri- 

 cans sent the Wilhelmstrasse into a trem- 

 ble. So the Purchasing Board had to 

 arrange that coal should be furnished 

 these manufacturers. 



RAILROAD CARS LOST AND FOUND 



Railroad cars were found here and 

 there. One would not think that so con- 

 spicuous an article as a railroad car could 

 be lost, but they have assuredly been 

 found. The explanation is that France 

 has had no men to spare for repairing 

 cars, except wmen the repairs were vitally 

 necessary. Little by little, derelicts have 

 been cast away in railroad backwaters. 

 They still had the outward aspect of cars, 



and there were wheels under them, but 

 that was about all that could be said. The 

 American scouts, prying into all stray 

 corners, found them, and workmen were 

 found — some of them belong to American 

 engineer regiments — and the cars were 

 made over again. Every car that could 

 be put on wheels in France meant a sav- 

 ing of precious tonnage over the ocean. 

 Then a discovery that might be called sen- 

 sational was reported to the Board. 



"Did you know," a scout asked, "that 

 there are 800 unused Belgian locomotives 

 in France?" 



ALL THAT WAS LEFT OF BELGIUM 



The tale of the locomotives is a tag 

 to the tragic story of Belgium. When 

 the Germans invaded that little State, the 

 dazed people saved what they could. 

 Most of the rolling stock was lost, but 

 the Belgians managed to run 1,900 en- 

 gines over the border into the safe land 

 of France. The needs of France and 

 England were paramount in those days, 

 and 1,100 engines were turned over to the 

 armies for service. Naturally enough, 

 only the best were taken. The 800 that 

 were left were rusted and shabby, but 

 they were precious in the eyes of their 

 Belgian owners. 



"They are all we have left," they said, 

 "all that is left to us of Belgium." 



Once more the purchasing officer be- 

 came a diplomat. The Belgians had been 

 ruled by sentiment. For the moment 

 they were not thinking of the practical 

 side of the question. The 800 old en- 

 gines were a symbol in their eyes. They 

 were useless as they were. Weeds were 

 growing through their fire-boxes. Many 

 had been sacked of spare parts that better 

 engines might be rebuilt. They were in- 

 credibly and pathetically decrepit, but 

 they were all that was left of Belgium. 



"We're trying to help you, you know," 

 said the purchasing officer. "Let's all pull 

 together." 



So he got the engines. Before they 

 could be made useful they must be re- 

 built. Belgian workmen were availa- 

 ble for the rebuilding, and there are no 

 better workmen in Europe ; but they were 

 empty-handed. The Purchasing Board's 

 scouts patiently ransacked France and 



