February 20, 2017
This is “Our Past
Is Present” from the Geary County Historical Society.
The biggest sale
in the history of Fort Riley and one of the largest ever ordered by the War
Department, took place on February 23, 1922. The entire facilities at Camp
Funston, which was the largest training center during WW I, was to be sold for
salvage. There was a 64 page catalog published by Samuel L. Winternitz and
Company of Chicago, which contained the items to be sold. The Winternitz
Company was to be the auctioneer for the sale. The items for sale included
general supplies, clothing, motors and vehicles, leather and harness, machinery
and engineering supplies.
Prospective buyers
were required to have a paddle number before the sale began and all bidders
were to be recognized by their number during the auction. The numbers were obtained
from the clerk after the prospective bidder deposited $200.00. If no purchase
was made, the deposit was returned at the end of the sale.
Twenty percent of
all bids were to be paid in cash or certified check at the time of the sale and
the balance was required within ten days. No delivery was permitted until all
goods were paid in full. Some of the articles up for bid were 11,250 shaving
brushes; 14,042 toothbrushes; 80,000 undershirts and 66,000 cans of meat. The
sale was expected to attract buyers from all over the country.
By 1925 even the
frame buildings completed with plumbing and heating fixtures had been sold and
demolished from scrap to contractors and entrepreneurs, which left nothing but a
barren flat where 80,000 “doughboys” had lived and trained.
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