SURPLUS ARMY STORES

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 63, 8 December 1920, Page 7

SURPLUS ARMY STORES

A BIG RUSH OF BUSINESS ABOUT £30,000 WORTH SOLD IN WELLINGTON Since December 1 the Wellington nub- » .".as the Artillery Hall in Buckle Street, to .participate in the "bargain rush • for surplus military storos, and business has been steady'for the whole of the week, during which anproximately ,£30,000 has been taken. The prices asked for tho goods aro reasonable, and evory day there are enough people within the hall to keep a.staff n?t ut M meu vel ' v actively emploved. The very large number of men who are employed has beeh the subject of comment, and in order to investigate, a member of The Domikiox staff visited tho depot yesterday and was shown overv courtesy by the officers and their assistants. The staff engaged certainly seemed an overpowering one, and 'its cost piiist have an effect on the net result of tho sale, but it appeared that the number employed was the outcome of' an elaborate aretem which went, to considerable lengths to militate against dishonesty or mistakes. The reporter was informed that economically the sale to the public was not sound, as the Department could have sold the whole lot bv tender over and over again at good prices, and so avoided all ' trouble, but the Government decided that the people who paid for tho goods should have the benefit of what was left over. In order to give them that chance an ordered system had to be worked out'. A sample room—containing about 40 lines of goods, from blankets to "bluchers," and from kit bags to "balaclavas"—was arranged, and after these were inspected and well fingered, people noted what thev intended to buy, and . they took their place in the queue in tho Garrison Hall, to bo admitted in twos and threes to the Artillery Hall adjoining, where tho salesmen and checkers operated. Salesmen attended to tho orders and made out dockets. Having done so, others came forward to check over the figures in the dockets, jeceive the money, pay it to tho cashier in charge of the. cash register, and return with the change to the purchasers, with receipted dockets,. the dui pjicates of which wero ploced on a spike file. Thereupon tho purchaser could cither take up his goods and emit, or leave an address for them to be sent forward in due course. That, however, was only the lesser half of the system. Tho other half related ' to dealing with postal orders for goods ..oni alt parts of"tnc country. As ' the result of tho advertisements in tho papers (giving prices) orders arrived by the hundred by each mail. They wero passed over to a staff of girls, who arranged them in type-written schedules, in triplicate, each order being _ given a specific number, whilst the cash, cheques, postal notes and money orders were handed over to u cashier. As the schedules were completed, they were handed over to a separate staff, who scleoted the goods, parcelled them up (enclosing a docket with the original order), weighed them, numbered them with a "stick-back," and handed them over to the parcel post officials. The latter, after checking the postage, packed tho parcels into huso sacks for dispersal to the purchasers in the country. Not onlv did the docket . show what the parcel contained, but where lines ordered could • not be supplied, the fact was noted, the deduction made from the total forwarded, and an intimation given that the differencewould bo refunded.

The sales have boon so successful elsewhoro that it is understood that some little confusion has arisen. An officer left Wellington yesterday to help straighten things out in other places. Thanks to good management the sale has been well conducted in Wellington, under Captain Bell, group area officer, and Lieutenant Shearme, arid though the staffs have been kept hard at it until 10 o'clock oaoh night, the work has not interfered in any Kay with the drill mta. To-day i» the last day of the sale to the public.