What Becomes of Old Army Rifles? 



Instead of beating swords and guns into 

 pruning-hooks and ploughshares, the Govern- 

 ment sells them to motion-picture companies 



WHENEVKR 

 the ariii\- 

 and navy 

 officials find that 

 they have on 

 hand a consider- 

 able quantity ot 

 supplies which lor 

 some reason are no 

 longer usable, they 

 condemn the equip- 

 ment, arrange it in 

 various lots, and 

 call for sealed bids. 

 These supplies usu- 

 ally include a great 

 variety of articles 

 ranging from cork- 

 screws to cannons, 

 from siiilors' shirts 

 tosubmarines, from 

 a few hundred mess 

 pans to millions of 

 cartridges — a mis- 

 cellaneous and 

 heterogeneous 

 stock, which only 

 a daring mm would 

 buy and only a 

 genius could utilize. 



Methods of 

 marketing army 

 and na\'y goods are 

 interesting. In the 

 past, military 

 schools have been 

 among the largest 

 consumers; but 

 they must now give 

 first pliice to motion-picture companies. 

 There is practicalh- no end to the usable 

 material which these concerns can find 

 in discarded government military para- 

 phernalia. 



Other kinds of equipment are trans- 

 formed into useful and artistic objects. 

 Coats of arms, hat and cap insignia, 

 and other metal decorations placed 



Swords, guns and bayonets are worked up 

 into a variety of ornamental designs 



on wood plac|ue> 

 make attractive 

 curios. One hun- 

 <lred thousand 

 lielmct eagles have 

 been used in this 

 way. Bullets re- 

 moved from cart- 

 ridges and pro\itietl 

 with proper bases 

 are neat and ser- 

 \iceable paper 

 weights. Short 

 swords, cutlasses, 

 etc., can be utilized 

 as bread and meat 

 knives. Ship lan- 

 terns fitted with 

 elect ric connect i( )ns 

 make artistic hall, 

 porch, and gate 

 lamps. And swords, 

 guns, and ba\onets 

 are worked up into 

 a \ariety ot pieces. 

 The most preten- 

 tious of these are 

 the three-light 

 candelabra, the 

 snioking-stand.and 

 the hall tree illus- 

 trated. The 

 candelabra is made 

 of three bayonets 

 gracefully curled 

 and fastened to- 

 gether at the basi- 

 and fittedat the tup 

 with three candle- 

 brackets. The staff of the smoking-stand 

 is a nickel-plated rifle-barrel, while the 

 base and the ash-tray are made out of 

 belt-clasps. l)uckles, stirrup-cups, and 

 other metal odds and ends all melted 

 together and moldetl into artistic forms. 

 The hall tree is a real work of art. By 

 removing three screws the rifle can be 

 releasetl from the frame to be used again. 



:v) 



