, a more or less hectic correspondence with a _mademoiselle
tres charmante_ in a not far distant town. That in itself would be
harmless enough if he had sent his letters through the regular military
channels--that is, submitted them to his own company officers to be
censored. But dreading the "kidding" he might receive at the hands of
his platoon commander--which he needn't have dreaded at all, for
American officers are gentlemen and gentlemen respect confidence--he had
been using the French postal service for his intimate and clandestine
lovemaking. That, as everyone knows or ought to know, is strictly
forbidden but the young man being "wise," thought he could put one over
on the army. Result: That much dreaded bogey-man, the Base Censor knew
just how many crosses he had made at the bottom of his note to Mlle. X.

But he needn't have worried a bit, for the bogey-man isn't a likely
rival of any one. In fact, he isn't a man at all, but a System--just as
impersonal as if he wrote his name, "Base Censor, Inc." Also, he is
pretty well-nigh fool-proof and puncture-proof--which again removes him
from consideration as "a human."

Remembers No Secrets

All delusions to the contrary, the censorship, though it learns an awful
lot, doesn't care a tinker's hoot about nine-tenths of the stuff it
learns. It isn't concerned with Private Jones's morals, with Corporal
Brown's unpaid grocery bills, with Sergeant Smith's mother-in-law, with
Lieutenant Johnson's fraternity symbols. It is, however, actively
concerned in keeping out of correspondence all matters relating to the
location and movement of troops, all items which pieced together might
furnish the common enemy with information which would be valuable to him
in the conduct of his nefarious enterprises.

In addition to keeping such damaging information out of soldiers' and
officers' correspondence, the base censorship is lying in wait for
everything and anything in the mail line which the senders hope to slip
through uncensored. It regularly goes over a large proportion of the
mail which has already been vised by company officers. It sifts through
all mail for the army from neutral countries; and finally it censors all
letters in foreign languages, written by men in the A. E. F.--letters
which company officers are forbidden to O. K.

In the exercise of this last-named function lies perhaps the greatest
task allotted to the base censorship. Our army is pr