Christmas Present

The U.S. Army handed civilians a welcome Christmas present last week. Under the needling of the Senate's Mead Committee, the Army declared $400,000,000 of its stocks surplus goods, promised that they would be made available for sale immediately.

Many of the items were of little civilian use: scabbards and bayonets, helmets, etc. But many of them were just what many a businessman wanted: 11,937 trucks, 2,000,000 Army blankets, 500,000 yards of lining for clothes, 3,632 tractors, millions of feet of iron pipe (which builders have been clamoring for), 82,000 flashlights and mountains of...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!