Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-09-06

Uncle Sam is a versatile individual,
but one can scarcely conceive OF the
bewhiskered gentleman engaging in
the occupation Of secondhand furni-
ture dealer. And what is more. he Is
making a success Of 1t.
The venerable chap does not go into
the market and buy second hand ar
ticles as regular" secondhand deal
necessary. for at the time of the sign
ing Of the armistice the government
had on hand several million dollars
worth Of such material. and the PROB
lem arose as to what should be done
with it.
It was decided that if the great
quantity Of furniture. office supplies
and equipment were sold IL wouIo
have glutted the market for the time
being and disorganized the business
of many dealers and manufacturers.
Credit for Suggestion.
To a member Of the general supply
committee in Washington must go
the credit for first recognising the
possibilities Of salvaging the supplies
falling into disuse. He. as chairman OF
the subcommittee on furniture, Wnicn
constituted the bulk of the material:
personally interviewed a number OF
influential government officials, Sc
cured their Endorsement, and on De-
cember g.. 1918, on the recommenda-
tion Of the Secretary of the Treasury.
order directing all government de-
partments and establishments in the
District of Columbia to transfer to
the general supply committee such of
flee material as fell into disuse for re-
issuance to other departments at dis
count from cost price.
All government departments and
establishments in the District of Co
lumbia, as well as the municipal gov
eminent, now are required by law to
obtain needed supplies from the sur
plus stock Of the general supply COM
mittee, if possible. The regulations
prescribing the manner in which the
executive order shall be carried out
ing officer to submit to the general
supply committee copies of reQuisi-
lions and orders, or. in the absence of
these. LIS Of contemplated pur-
chases. The general supply commit
tee indicates on these papers whether
returns them within twenty-four
hours. In this way there is positive
assurance that the surplus will be
used. Where required articles are not
available in the stock of surplus eff
fort is made to obtain such articles
from other government departments
and where this is impossible author
ity is granted by the superintendent
Of supplies to purchase them from
c0mmercial dealers, usually from the
idea Of the number of inquiries re-
cefyed in a day can be gained when
it is understood that the governments
purchases for the fiscal year 1913 were
more than SIS. 00o. 900. this volume of
business being handled by eighty-five
purchasing agents in the District of
Columbia.
This stock of supplies in the gem
eral supply committee warehouses
In East Potomac Park COW
ers almost every conceivable ar
ticle used in an Office and there is
4 sufiicient stock Of supplies to equip
q hospital or modern cafeteria. A
casual survey discloses such articles
as desks, tables, fle cases, chairs,
blankets. sheets, pillowcases. beds.
chinoniers, rugs, dish washing ma
chimes, dishes. glassware. knives and
forks. blue print machines, cameras,
automobiles. typewriters, adding ma
chimes. paper. ink wells and IRE ex-
tinguishers-
The process Of receiving. renovat-
ine1and reissuing this material goes
on Constantly. Trucks which were
originally purchased for the use Of