Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-09-13
j. s. MAY ASK
RED CROSS TO
SELL SUPPLIES
Millions of Dollars Worth of
Silks Available; Steel
Firm Overcharges

Washington, Sept. 13. - Plans to
have the Government establish, with
the aid of the Red Cross, a great
mail-order business. to sell direct to
the consumers hundreds of millions
of dollars worth of textiles and
other merchandise in the Army sur
plus, were submitted yesterday by
T. ]. O'Neill, of Hanover, Pa, expert
textile adviser to the war claims
board. to the House subcommittee
on ordnance, of which Representa-
tive Graham is chairman.
Mr.. O'Neill, who is in the ord
nance department, said he had the
cordial approval of his CHIEF, GEN
eral Marshall, and of other oflcers
as we'll as of the director of sales.
Red Cross officials. while asserting
that merchandising was outside the
natural work of the organization
were willing to cooperate in order
to relieve the suffering occasioned
by the high cost of living If they
could be assured they would not an
tagonize great numbers of whole
salers and retailers who may be con-
tributors to their institution. MIR.
ONeill is now engaged in trying to
, induce the Chamber of Commerce
of the United States, on behalf of the
merchants of the country, to ask
| the Red Cross to render this aid.
Mr.. O'Neill, who has been silk
manufacturer for thirty years and IS
president of the O'Neill Silk Com
pany, of Hanover, Pa, said the ord
nance department has on hand H.
OOO, 900 yards of pure silk cartridge
cloth, which can be treated, dyed
I and printed ut slight cost and so
made into dress goods, or which can
be used for suits similar to ponSee
! or palm beach by merely boiling, ut
u cost of ten cents a yard. The aver
age cost of this silk to the Govern
mcnt was eighty cents square yard.
The ordnance department adver-
tised for bids. The lowest received
was four cents, and the highest
| twenty-siX cents yard.
Believed Combination Formed
"It seemed to me they had formed
q combination against u.s." said the
witness. Il was told that some
manufacturers had advised others to
, hammer the price, but we rejected
all their bids. The very next day
we had an offer of forty cents from
Samuel Eisman & Co., but l laughed
at them. We now have an offer of
seventy-two cents a square yard for
the entire lot, from Mr.. Bloom, gem
eral salesmanager of the Bush Sales
Company. If he puts up the required
bond of 100000, he probably will
get the lot"
IF the ordnance department had
not had the benefit of expert advice
L suppose they would have let that
silk go for twenty-siX cents?" in
quired Representative Jeffries, who
was examining the witness.
sJTheu Iynpld hoVa LOT for
twelve and one-half cents" was the
reply. THAT was the best bid they
got the first time they advertised it,
SO If we sell it for seventy-two cents
the saving to the Government will
be slightly over $6,500,000."
The Jones & Laughlin Steel Com
pany, of Pittsburgh, with the aid OF
connivance of the war claims board,
collected claim virtually $35O,OOO
greater than they were entitled to
according to the sworn testimony of
Major G. B. Frankfurter, expert ad-
wiser of the war claims board, be-
fore the subcommittee.
Major Frankfurter testified that
he had called the attention of the
war claims board to the excessive
amount of the award made by the
zone claims board at Pittsburgh and
read to the committee his report
pointing out in what respects the
claim was excessive.
The Jones & Laughlin Company
received by the award of the war
claims board $3,675,0 900 for the con-
struction of coke ovens which were
not completed at the time of the
armistice, and which Major Frank
furter described as looking "as if
they were just started" when he saw
them two months before the armi-
ctica