Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1946-08-20
Surplus
Continued From First Page

nicians, merchandiSers and laborers
would be needed if all this material
were to be properly sorted, ap-
praised, priced and sold in individ-
ual units of very small lots. 1t is
very doubtful if the Government
would achieve really greater returns
under such extra costs"
Complimented by Robertson.
Representative Davis, Democrat,
of Tennessee, said he found moth
ing horribly wrong" in the junk
sale, but agreed with Mr.. Slaughter
the use of the bulldozer on a mixed
pile of radios was case of STU
pidity."
The third member of the investi-
eating committee at these hearings,
Representative Robertson, Republi-
can, of North Dakota. congratulated
the Army and it's Macon disposal
officers. Under the circumstances,
I think you are doing wonderfully
we'll" he said
A licensed amateur radio opera
tor told the committee he had
picked up from the junk yard two
BC-375 foreground liaison trans
mitters, that the Army had sold
with other scrap at $12.88 hundred
pounds.
While the radio amateur claimed
the transmitters had a Government
cost of over $4,000, denial came
later from Army spokesman.
Price $1,000 to. $500.
Capt. Lawrence Razete of Wright
Field, who supervises disposal of
electronics materials, declared the
contract price to the Government
for production of the BC-375's
ranged from $1,000 to ST. 500 and
that only the pilot model on this
equipment ever cost more.
Charles A. Seidel, an engineer for
the War Assets Administration, who
was sent here to screen the disable
units from huge piles of radio equip
ment, said he believed the left-overs
could have been sold for a higher
price than the Army got He cited
the Signal Corps as an example,
saying it got an 80 per cent return
on its surpluses. Mr.. Seidel added,
however, some things are expend-
able and that if the junked material
had been sold in IS lots, the return
might not have covered the cost
of necessary paper work.
Mr.. Seidel also reported that the
BC-375 type of transmitter, when
first offered in surplus disposal, had
brought $3.50 unit but the price
later had dropped to as low as $500
400 Return Claimed.
Col. Ben J. Peck, deputy for dis
posal at the Army depot at the
Warner Robins Field, Macon, from
which the big junk sale was made
testified the Government was get
ting back IS to 40 per cent of its
original costs on property disposal
This was an average figure for many
different materials. The return on
radio and radar material was not
listed separately.
The recent charge by Sam Odell,
veteran from Memphis, Tenn, that
he has been given rude, rough and
rugged" treatment when he tried
to buy an auto at WAA sight
sale" at Fort Benning, brought fiat
denials from Georgia WAA officials.
About 5000 veterans from many
States attended the mass sale and
658 of the 700 autos offered were
sold at that time
Odell Arrived Late.
H. L. Kennon, regional WAA direc-
tor, SAID his investigation of the
Odell complaints showed the sales
officials had been both courteous and
fair. The Tennessee veteran, he
said, apparently came to the sale
late and did not understand that
the listing of veterans certificates by
date of their issuance had been "cut
off" as usual at II am.
This cutoff practice was to per-
NIT statesmen time to sort and
handle the certificate cards so the
cars could be sold.
Those who arrived late were listed
below those arriving before the cut
off hour.
Representative Davis, who had
dug into these details, dropped the
subject when Mr.. Kennon reported
that Tennesseeans ranked second
only to Georgians in the number OF
veterans who were able to buy cars
Georgia veterans got ATT and Ten
neSse&ns 720.