Hello George,
Thanks for taking the time to reply. I have a follow-up question; hope I do not seem to be a pest...
I believe Tauscher was arrested in early April 1916 in some plot to try to blow-up a canal...I have read that all his assets and office records were seized at that time but that he did get to burn/destroy many records (importantly the names of all the German agents he was "running" in the USA), prior to his arrest and resultant conviction and deportation (...in 1918, I think...).
Assuming his warehouse inventories were seized and frozen by the US government in early 1916, is it possible that these 74 TM-08's and their leather carriers were seized in 1916 ?...and subsequently sold at aucion in 1921.
If leather carriers were in this seized/frozen inventory, does this not indicate that leather carriers could have been made as late as the first part of 1916 (prior to Tauscher's arrest) or possibly in 1915 or earlier...?
Please do not misunderstand; I am not trying to argue that leather carriers were German military issue. I am just testing whether some leather carriers could have been ordered/made up in the 1915-1916 time frame for a different market...and maybe the few leather ones that have been reported with 1915 date stamps might be "real"...(???)
Just some speculation on my part...
Regards,
Pete... <img border="0" alt="[typing]" title="" src="graemlins/yltype.gif" />