Pete, Ed says that the snails didn't come into production until late in 1916. They don't start to flow until 1917. I don't know when they locked Tauscher away, but we did not declare war on the Germans until 1917.
As I recall Bender says in his book that German collectors had never seen or heard of the leather carriers. If you have ever tried to remove a TM08 from a leather carrier, you know that they are worthless.
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