The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1920-04-29
SPENDS MILLIONS
ON ARMY OUTFIT
4s,eoo, 90 PIECES OF UNDERWEAR
AND HUNDREDS OF THOUS-
ANDs OF SHOES RESERVED

Washington, April 26.-EVery now
and again there cores to the notice
of the outsider, We ching the records
of expenditures of hundreds OF mil
hons OF dollars for the cost of gov
ernment floating by instances that
stcnd out as il Illuminated of business
methods used by government officials
which, to say the least, are peculiar.
II would seem much of the govern
mcnt business associated with tie pur-
chase of SUPPLIES of all kinds is done
bv officials who are in the mental
state of one waking up on Monday
morning in blissful ignorance # what
oe lad dore ON Saturday night.
There seems to be no casting back
in the sense that inventories OF sup
plies on hand should be measured up
with supplies needed.
The appropriations for horses and
mules are used in every session Oh
Congress as if the life Of The army
horse or mule is limited to one fiscal
year. .
Take, for instance, the matter OF
underwear for soldiers. The war de-
partment has on hand millions of un-
dershirts and drawers. Of summer
undershirts of certain grade there
are in warehouses controlled by the
war department more than 15,Ooo'ooo.
Stacked away with the undershlrts
are between 100000 and 2O,OOO,OOo
pairs of drawers, suitable for wear
in summer.
On March 80, the Quartermaster
General of the army asked fer bids
for a67283 mems undershirts under
Circular No. ZIG. Bids for drawers
about an equal number were asked
for at the same time.
Buying Right Sizes on High friceu
Market.
This demand upon high price mar
ket for underwear against an appar-
entIy unlimited supply on hand
prompted The Evening World CORE
snondent to do alittle investigating.
All the records were thrown open
10 him. He was given an opportu-
n;tv to look over the lists Of supplies
on hand, and he found that the army
owns in fact close to 40,OO0,00O gar
n,ents suitable for underwear In sum-
mer. =,
Rut there were not two months
ago, in all this vast stock, more than
a few thousand >undershirts size "a or
drawers about % inches waistband
,seasure. The bids for 267, ,2sS mems
nndershirts call for size "a garments.
Most of the undershirts on hand
are ofSsize Ss and larger, and the
drawers-millions of pairs Of them
were manufactured, it would appear
for men of Aldermanic girth and ao-
normal length of leg.
1t was explained to the correspon-
dent that during the war, summer un-
derwear was ordered in assorted sizes.
Since the war it has developed that
the average chest measurement OF a
racruit is "a inchs, and his waist
measurement is about % inches. Inc
charts indicate that the recruits are
not so we'll developed as the volun-
teers and drafted soldiers who were
taken in during the war, and that
the men who have been in the regular
army since the close of the war nave
shrunk around the chest and ABDOMEN
We have, according to the hgureS
in the Quartermaster's department
"a perfect "a" army. For year past
the drain upon the "a size underwear
has been terrific. There were no
perfect SO sizes on hand, so men re-
ouirinp shirts measuring S6 inches
around the chest were given 34s' with
the result that the wear and tear was
something terrific. Why the perfect
36's were not given 3S size under
shirts is not explained.
"It can't be done according to reg
ulations", explained the patient Quar-
termaster officer. If a recruit s
measurement call for "a shirt ne
has to have "a shirt. And our con-
tracts specify that the shirts must not
shrink"
q whats to be done with these mil
lions of undershirts and drawers
which are too large for our sylph-ilke
recruits ?" asked the correspondent.
"They are being held in reserve
wss the reply, cor upon being found
useless they will be condemned ano
sold as surplus"
"But why, persisted the CORES