GOOD PRICES AT SALE OF ARMY CLOTHING

Grey River Argus, 11 May 1948, Page 2

GOOD PRICES AT SALE OF ARMY CLOTHING

For manv people who went to the sale of surplus Army clothing at Greymouth yesterday morning in an endeavour to hunt for “bargains” there was a surprise in store. Women acting on behalf of husbands, sons, and others who could not attend, raised many of the prices, and it was a surprise to many that men’s battledress trousers were sold for 23s a pair. The general opinion had been that these would go for 8s to 12s. A woman was responsible for the raising of the price from fl to 23s for this tine. However, a ready sale was met and many of the articles were handed out. American drill trousers sold for 10s after the first bid. and this was satisfactory from the point of view of the buyers. There was a concerted effort by a large section of the crowd to keep prices in the bargain levels, but bidders at various parts of the hall took the prices higher in face of voiced disapproval from others. Battledress tunics wore not sold when the bidding failed to rise above 10s. These had started at Is and rising to 5s when protests and cries of “Be sensible”, accompanied by general pandemonium broke out. As he tossed the tunic he was offering to one side the auctioneer remarked to one section of the assemblage, “There is no reserve, but they are wortii more than that”. , , . , Another section of the sale which aroused protest from the buyers was that in which Army great coats sold tor 30s. One bargain seeker started the bidding at 2s, but by leaps and bounds, mainly from women, the price went to 30s. / . ~ Other items offereci were W.A.A.C. drill frocks (2s); W.A.A.C. garberdine (7s 6d); woollen jerseys (2s) and riding breeches (10s).