Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-07-27

A merchant in a small town, who knows
most OF his customers intimately. during
the last year has had his clerks make a
computation of the average material pur-
chased from his store by the women of
the neighborhood in comparison with ten
years ago. The average was made by
computing the annual purchases Of about
three hundred women and comparing
them. The list includes the following
articles. with the respective yardage Of
materials:
Former Present
yardage. yardaEe.
-Four cotton dresses. 80 yards % yards
Three petticoats. -........ Is yards 10 yards
Five waists. ............. 171a yards 1914 yards
Two cotton skirts II yards syards
Totals .......... 1071s yards 70,s yards
These figures represent the purchases
OF average women in a small town. who
do not indulge In any unnecessary Goth
Ing. but who yet believe in supplying
themselves with the things essential to
their comfort and neatness of appear
ance. But the styles require less cloth,
and in the aggregate this amounts to
millions of dollars. The prices of these
goods are less than a generation ago.
Ginghams and other colored cotton fab
r1c, which in the seventies sold as high
as 17k cents a yard, now may be pur-
chased for cents yard, and the quail
1ty is quite as good. Black sateen which
yard now may be purchased at from 12la
to 10 cents. and the same is true Of
practically all cotton fabrics. including
muslins mad other white goods.
The advance Of price in wooden goods in
many families is more than offset by the
improved manufacture of cotton fabrics
which offer substitutes for most of the
purposes for which wool was formerly
used. Improved machinery, as well as
numerous chemical processes, have been
developed which go far toward making
cotton good substitute for wool ex-
cept in the colder climates. Warm cot
ton fabrics are being used extensively in
some tuberculosis camps and in many
OF the open-air schools which are being
established in different parts of the
country. If lightweight wooden fabric
Is used next to the body the outer gar
n1ents may be OF properly prepared cot
ton without bad results. and the expense
is greatly lowered by the substitute.
i. x
The newer devices constantly being used
in the manufacture Of all kinds of fabrics
materially add
Newer Devices Add to their eco
to Economic Value. nna g tho
latest improvements is making a material
waterproof without adding to its bulk
or weight. The newest waterproof wooden
fabric is without any Objectionable fea-
lures. Its preparation Is based upon the
principles that the fleece upon the back
of the sheep would turn water. This Is
because of the natural oils with which the
wool is impregnated. which are lost or
removed when the wool is cleaned In
fact, so much grease has been taken out
of wool in its cleansing that this grease
has itself become a valuable by-product.
A means has now been devised for re-
placing a certain quantity of this wool
oil In the yarn before it is woven, and the
results are excellent This new wooden
fabric sheds water as perfectly as the ma
tural fleece and at the same time. owing
to the perfection of the chemical proc
esses, there is no free oil noticeable In
the finished cloth. The value of this new
wooden fabric for persons exposed to the
weather easily can be seen.
The substitution of cotton for wool has,
perhaps, q greater economic value than the
as it's wearing qualities are concerned.
The latter substitution, however. would
be less reprehensible if it were done hon
estly, as is the case now in the majority
teresting suit lately has been in progress
in which a we'll known firm Of ladies' cos
tuners was sued because it sold a
coat purporting to be silk, which really
was not silk at all, but was made OF
wood pulp fabric The firm claimed that
the title they gave the silk meant vege-
table silk, and that the coat cost much
less than a garment of pure SILK, and at
the same time was heavier In weight. SO
that there was no fraud. The magistrate,
10 deceDtlye.
that now the manufacturers OF wood
pulp silk are looking for a name under
which their goods may be legally sold In
the meantime. many of them are selling
their products as silk, which accounts Tor
the fact that SO many cheap silks are
upon the market. II they We're sold hon.
estly for what they We're there would be
a real economy. for frequently one wishes
use without wishing to pay the prlce of
pure silk. But when they are sold as
genuine SILK there is fraud, so no DOUBT
in the near future some means Will be de-
vised for preventing it.
One of the newer economies IN the
of silk Is the increased width
which makes it possible to cut out gar
ments to greater advantage. The de-
mand for wide silks to suit the prevail
ing fashions is q hardship to many Of the
smaller silk factories, which have not
the wider looms, and it has resulted in
great quantities of narrow fabric being
thrown upon the market at prices far
below cost. This has given a succession
of genuine bargains to the clever shop
per who knew how to utilize them to adj
vantage.
One drawback to the use of silks re-
Gently has been it's lack of durability and
its tendency to cut. Manufacturers now
claim that they have a new process that
will do away with this trouble. The proc
ess is very simple and produces a more
lustrous effect on the silks. Certain per-
centages Of olive oil soap and sulphonated
castor oils are used for the first boiling