The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1917-12-30
ARMY CLOTH RAG
DEAL IS KILLED
EXCESSIVE PROFITS WOULD HAVE
BEEN MADE BY TWO CON.
TRACTS CANCELLED.
LOOKS LIKE GRAFT
Two Members Of Committee on Supplies
Of Committee of National Defense Are
Involved and Have Been Called Re
fore Senate Inquisitors 10 Explain.

Washington. Dec 29.-The senate
war inquiry committee today investi.
gated further the cancelled scrap uni
form cloth picking contracts let BY the
committee on supplies Of the committee
of national defense to the Base Sorting
company of New York. and under which
it was testified the company could have
made excessive profits aggregating sew
eral hundred thousand dollars annually.
Charles Eisenman. vice-chairman OF
the committee which approved the con.
tracts. and Samuel Kaplan. another OF
the committee. whose brother. II was
developed. is financially interested in
the company, will be summoned to ties.
tify. it was announced. in a further in
quiry the committee proposes to make.
II was further developed today that
Kaplan's brother Is treasurer Of the
company, owning a Connecticut woolen
mill commandeered by the government.
Kaplan and EhenlnAn Protest.
Quartermaster General Sharpe testi-
fled that when the war department can
cellets the contracts last Thursday both
Eisenman and Kaplan protested. The
government. he explained, will take over
the work.
In concluding today his testimony re-
sartiings clothing ana other army sup
plies. General Sharpe placed response
bility for delay in securing supplies
of wool for army clothing on the coun-
Gil of national defense. The councils
committee. which had taken over the
question of wool supplies. the general
said. recommended use of shoddy ma
terial in making uniforms, and delayed
accepting raw wool offered last April
at current prices by Boston dealers. No
large purchases were made until Sep
tember, after prices had risen greatly,
he said. Senator Weeks told the COM
mittee he was reliably informed that a
loss of $3.50 200, 900 to the government
resulted.
At Camp Bowie.
Replying to testimony yesterday of
commanders of Camps Bowie, Texas
and Doniphan. Oklahoma, that over
crowding of tents and lack of winter
clothing caused deaths of many men in
recent disease epidemics, General Sharpe
said the authorities knew tents would
be short for the men suddenly called
into service, but that supplies now are
ample to reduce the tent quota from
twelve to five men, as recommended by
Surgeon General Gorgas.
Regarding lack of motor trucks for
training men at the cantonments Cen
eral Sharpe said. the departments pot
icy not his own, is that trucks shall
not be supplied until the men go abroad.
Rolling kitchens and many other We
hicles, he also said. will not be fur.
nished until then. under present plans.
members voiced dissatisfac-
ton with the splans. which they con-
tended will prevent men from being
trained.
Questioned on Cloth Contracts.
Questioned on the cloth scrap con-
tracts. General Sharpe said he estimated
that the contract given TO the sorting
at six cents a pound would
net the company 100000 annually. Cap
tain A. f. Pereless, who investigated
the contract. estimated the profits at
$500 900 yearly and also told of another
given the company for sorting
old rejected and discarded army CLOTH
ing. Captain Pereless estimated that
this contract, also cancelled! would
yield very much more" profits-s250.-
900 a year for blankets alone.
That Charles Kaplan's brother Ira A.