The New York herald. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1920-1924, 1920-10-20
/ USELESS GOODS
! SOLD TO ARMY
:: BY 'FAV0RITES'
Persons With Pull Help to
Overflow Warehouses Al
g ready Bullying.
X
NAILS TO DO FOR YEARS
Handkerchicfs Bought De-
spite Disposal in Army
Sales Stores.
- AMAZING PRICES PAID
8
Men Ordering Materials Have
TO Admit Inability to Buy
Them From U. S.
AMAZING PRICES PAID


lying in stock in great quantities, and
which had In many instances been de-
clared surplus, and evidence of grossly
exorbitant payments for materials of
various kinds are revealed in masses
: of receipts and memorandum slips re-
I Government and private contractors
!. IN and about this city.
z In many cases these slips bear the
, names Of large retail stores here
. and show that the Federal Govern
!. ment made huge purchases from those
establishments, paying good re-
tail price for what it got, instead of
obtaining its goods through manufac-
turers. In one instance during last
:, summer more than S1,000,000 appears
to have been invested in an assert
:. ment Of stationery supplies, although
at the time the purchase was made a
great amount of space in army ware
: houses was being taken up by the
same type of stationery supplies, for
which the Government appeared to
& have no use.
. From the nature of some Of the pur-
chases 1t would seem that goods are be-
ing shipped out Of one door OF the army
storehouses as surplus while goods of
the same kind are being carried in
through another door as urgent neces-
Z, stiles.
Z Thus. while anyone can see large
) quantities Of surplus army handker-
z chiefs on sale in the numerous private
" army supply stores which have sprung
up everywhere, the War Department ap-
pears to have purchased 1890 dozen
handkerchiefs from the Automatic Lace
& and Embroidery Company on September
~. 1920 and to have purchased 1880
dozen from the Newark Embroidery
Works one week previously. 1t also
appears to have purchased $4,000 yards
Of flannel from Fl. Kohnstamm & Co. on
June IA. 1920. at S1.21 a yard. and
4,250 yards from the same concern on
July rs. 1920, at s1.65 yard despite
> the fact that large quantities of this
material were being disposed of.
The NEW YORK HERALD has been in
formed that in some instances the Gov
eminent inspectors complained about the
price being paid for the goods and
frankly expressed the opinion that the
Government was being "feeced," and
and that these inspectors were informed
CURLY that the price did not concern
them. and that they would do well to
'mind their own business"
For the most part the inspectors
seemed not only to realize that the Gov
: eminent was being "stung" but to re-
gard this as something to be expected |
They also seemed to feel that the men |
who were reaping the richest harvests |
from the sales were possessed of plenty |
OF influence and backing and that II
would be useless to to complain against
them.
During war days several hundred
thousand housewives" were purcha sed |
by the government from Broadway
concern at 42R cents each. although |
they were not worth half that sum at |
retail, and after being purchased they |
were bundled up in large warehouses.
What has become of these is mystery.
Even the army surplus broker can have
little use for them while he is sur
rounded with opportunities to CLEAN for
tunes In other army stocks.
In those same days the Government |
was buying varnish in large quantities
in two ounce bottles at q rate of S10.S4
a gallon, or many times the rate for
which the varnish could have been pur-
chased If bought by the can. 1t was
paying SLAP each for cotton pillows
which could be bought at retail for 75
cents 1t was buying thousands of
eDOOlS VI ltu tdpc III OAhci eiebS ~ mis-
rot and become unfit for use.
An investigator recently set out to
ascertain the present retail price of
dough scrapers for which the Govern
ment had paid s2.10 dozen, and he
found that they could be purchased in
any 5 and 10 cent store for 10 cents
each. He found that the open top
thimbles for which the War Department
paid $3.50 a gross. were being sold by
10y ~ a. m
$3.50 a gross.
With kegs OF nails OF every size stand
ing in the army supply base in Brook
lyn. the War Department made large
additional purchases in this line on Au-
gust 20, 1920, and on October and IL.
IT bought ESQ metal baking pans from
the Continental Tin and Metal Company
on August 5, 1920. although the closing
down of various posts with the demob-
illzation of the army has left the War
Department supplied with enough cook
ing utensils to last II for years to come.
The fact that large quantities Of fly
paper were being permitted to dry up
and harden in warehouses on Governors
Island and elsewhere did not deter the
War Department from purchasing CTS
cases of this commodity on August 3,
1920. Neither did the possession of a
surplus supply of brooms hinder the pur-
chase Ol oVtVUV nOTe' ~ CuriOdu OIL WHICH
arrived at the army supply base in
Brooklyn on October IL.
In each case where such additional
purchases are made the person through
whom the goods are ordered Is obliged
20 put his signature to n certificate
reading, II hereby certify that upon due
inquiry made IL was found that tho ar
ticles enumerated hereon could not be
purchased from any other branch of the
Government"
The prices paid by the War Depart
ment for many articles are amazing. and
IN many Instances private investigators
have discovered that an Individual pur-
chaser could get better results over the
retail counter than the War Department
seemed able TO get through purchases OF
large quantities.
Among persons whose business il has
been to handle the supplies for the Gov
eminent II has been common gossip re-
garding the manner In which the United
States Government was being gouged.
In the offices of concerns that were do
ing the gouging the situation was the
cause OF much hilarious amusement and |