THE DEAD LOOTED.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 30 October 1924, Page 5

THE DEAD LOOTED.

GHOULS IN FRANCE. SHOCKING SCANDAL. INQUIRY ORDERED. BY CABLE—PRESS ASSOCIATION—COPYRIGHT. Received Oct. 30, 11.45 a.m; PARIS. Oct. 29. A scandalous state of affairs is revealed in the war zone. As a return to the agricultural use of the soil on battlefields such as Ghemin des Dames and Iraonne was impossible, the Government leased to contractors the right to search. the battlefields for metal. The lessees employed hundreds of workmen of all nationalities, including Poles. Portuguese, Arabs, and Chinese, to seek buried steel, iron, and copper. The search revealed the skeletons of English, French, Italian, and German bodies, which were carelessly thrown aside, after everything of value* had been taken. , The searchers were paid in accordance with the amount of metal they found. Thus two Arabs found several tons of shell cases, for which they received ten thousand francs. The Arabs spent the ten thousand francs within a day gambling in cabarets. The Government pays a premium of two francs for each, body discovered, but this was too little to prevent , the ghouls from looting the dead. A searching inquiry was ordered and already several arrests have been made.