The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-02-15

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 The rapid and virtually secret sale c government supplies at Perryville, Md brought the state affairs in the vet erans' bureau dramatically to the at tention of President Harding. Until tn period of that episode, Colonel Forbe had acted as his own liason officer be tween his department and the Whit House; President Harding saw affair Tn that most expensive branch of tn, government with the eyes of it's direc tor. Now, others brought him informa tlon from quite a different point O view. This sale did not begin until No vember, 1922; by the end of tha month. Colonel Forbes was under fir, from the biggest gun in the government
 Ever since the Armistice, excess ant leftover hospital supplies of the army eral depots. Three of these were east of the Mississippi; South Chicago , Chillicothe, Ohio, and Perryville, Md The town last named is only few miles from Washington. The South Chicago depot does not come into this story. Early in Colonel Forbes admin istration, most of the supplies at Chil icothe were sold off. This sale fol lowed approved government procedure The goods were inventoried and ar ranged in panels or lots, for which the government agents received open bids.
 Rolls-Royce In Sight
 And still, when the investigators of the Senate were preparing their case, they found one curious piece of evi- dence on the Chillicothe transactions letter which came into their Eands quite accidentally. A young man named Tripp, sent ont in partial charge of the Chillicothe sale, was writing to his friend, Black, chief clerk of the vet erans' bureau. (This is not James W. Black, the St. Louis contractor men tioned in previous articles). The Jet ter hints at an irregular atmosphere. The final sentence-"Let me know when Forbes is going to sell by sealed proposals, then's when I get a Rolls Royce, ,"-seemed to the Senate com mittee more than limiting. However, the Chillicothe stores have passed onto the ultimate consumer that transaction is past successful investigation.
 General OIsyan, who conducted the case for the Senate in subsequent in- yaStigatiess, .bas estimated that the supplies (. eerryville worth be- tween ,'2,Uttr, ,000 and $3,O0O,O0O. Ger taiuiy. thay ooSt our government all of t'' higher suu.. Everyone admits that t,.. .'asrHe;''' supplies included dam -sl- J. .t-; ie goods and junk bandages, which had begun to rot, stained or reconstructed" sheets, used mattresses, rubber-soled shoes which would deteriorate with age. But the balance of evidence seems to indicat te that most of the goods were new, and in the original packages.
 How Material Was Stored
 The storekeepers at Perryville had made rough classification. In gen. eral way, the junk" was stored in old army cantonments. Some of those had leaky roofs. Repairing that was only a matter of some tar paper or some duck from the stores themselves. The brand new materials were stored in tile constructed buildings. One of these stood on a bad site; in wet weather, the water ran in on the floor. Taking count of that, the storekeepers used it only for heavy machinery and other comparatively imperishable materials At the time of the Perryville sale, it was virtually empty.
 As early as the spring of 1922, the matter of the Perryville supplies oc cupied the attention of Director Forbes According to the testimony before the Senate committee, he discussed the dis posal of the alcohol and narcotics or hand with Witnesses Mortimer anG Williams. However, no narcotic anC alcoholic supplies were sold in subse Quent transaction.
 Veterans Bureau Committee
 The Perryville affair now becomes en tangled in the machinery of government The veterans bureau had planning committee, which sat from time tt time discussing the affairs of the de pertinent. On September 9, a motion was made-by whom not stated-tha inventories of supplies in depots be be gun immediately; and that unit b' set up to segregate surplus stores. The committee carried the motion unanimously. Later in September, Di rector Forbes suggested in report { sale of surplus stores at Perryville On October s, Lieutenant-C Commander Charles R. OLeary, attached since May to the veterans bureau as liaisoI officer, was placed in charge of thu supply department.
 No one attempted to execute tht planning committees resolution literal ly. Forbes and his friends testified al the Senate inquiry that full inven tory would have taken three months In the archives of the bureau at Perry Vtlle lay the army and navy invoice: issued at the time the goods were ship ped. But these were manifestly hay concerning the condition of the prop erty. However, the bureau prepared a some time in this period list of sur plus material As submitted later. thi appears to have included mostly thu funk" in the old cantonments. noted only two thousand odd sheets condition not stated Let the reade keep his eye on this item. The histor. of the Perryville transaction, as brough out by the Senate investigators, migh appropriately be entitled, "The StOr! of the Eighty-four Thousand Sheets
 Then events happened with singular rapidity, considering that this was 1 government bureau. The days betweei November 10 and November 15 arr filled with action.
 Boston Dealer On Scene
 On the 10th, Director Forbes called Commander O'Leary into his office and introduced Mir. N. Thompson O Boston. Again enters the confusion 0 names. He is not the St. Louis con tractor, Thompson, mentioned in pre- vious installments, but the president 0 the Thompson-Ke,ly company, Boston which dealt in second hand army ant navy supplies. Present also was MT Foster, formerly captain in the army but by now agent in government pur chases for Thompson-Kelly. MT Thompson is interested in the Perry vile supplies said Forbes. He al rected Commander O'Leary to proceed at once with the arrangements. Thes' were someH hat complex. By an earlier K z, s,raafnestfi So pef cent of tue Surplu: