The Daily Missoulian., 1912-07-27

| provemehts II making maternal
waterproof. without adding to It's
bulk or weight The old-fashioned
rubber coated cloths were unsatisfac-
tory In many ways. The newest
waterproof woplen fabric Ii without
any Objectionable features. Its prep
aration IL based upon the principles
that the fleece upon the back Of the
sheep would turn water. This Ii be-
cause Of the natural oils, with which
the wool is impregnated which are,
lost or removed when the wool Is
cleaned In fact. 30 much grease has
been fken out of wool In Its cleans
Ing that this grease has itself be-.
come valuable by-product. A means
has now been devised for replacing
certain quantity of this wool oil in
the yarn before It Ii woven, and the
results are excellent. This new
woolen fabric sheds water as per-
fectly az the natural fleece and at the
same time, owing to the perfectiof,
of the chemical processes, 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 substitution OF wood pulp
for silk SO far as its wearing quail
ties are concerned. The latter substi-
tuition. however, would be less rep
rehensible II II were done honestly as
Is the case now In the majority Of
wool and cotton productions. An in
teresting suit lately has been In
[ progress In which a well-known firm
| OF ladies'. costumers were sued because
| they 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 vegetable silk and that
the coat cost much less than q gar
ment OF pure silk, and at the same
time was heavier In weight. NO that
there was no fraud. The magistrate
however. held that II was deceptive.
so that now the manufacturers OF
wood pulp silk are looking for
name under which their. goods may
be legally sold. In the meantime
many Of them are selling their prod
ucts as silk which accounts for the
fact that so many cheap silks are
upon the market. II they were sold
honestly for what they were, there
would be real economy for frequent
ly one wishes to secure silken effects
Tor temporary use without wishing to
pay the price Of pure silk. But when
they are sold as genuine silk, there
Is fraud, 80 no doubt In the near fu-
ture some means will be devised for
preventing 1t.
one OF the newer economies In the
manufacture Of silk Is the Increased
width which makes II possible to cut
out garments to greater advantage.
The demand for wide silks to suit the
prevailing fashions Is q handicap to
many OF the smaller silk factories
which have not the wider looms and
1t has resulted In great quantities OF
narrow fabric being thrown upon the
market at prices far below cost. This
has given q succession OF genuine
bargains to the clever shopper who
knew how to utilize them to ad-
vantage.
| One drawback to the use OF silks
recently has been Its lack OF durabIl-
ity and Its tendency to cut. Manu-
factursrs now claim that they have a
new process that will do away with
this trouble. The process Is very
simple and produces a more lustrous
effect on the silks. Certain percent
ages OF olive oil soap and sulphon-
ated castor oil are used for the first
boiling off SO thin layer OF oily SUBJ
stance remains. which keeps the II
bers from being affected In opera
tions OF dyeing. bleaching. printing,
ETC.. and makes the finished fabric
pure fibroine.
There Is no doubt but that the pres
ent tight styles OF dress, though eco
nomical for the woman who buys the
fabrics for making her clothes, are
imposing great hardships upon GER
tain classes OF people who earn their
living making dress goods. The may
or OF ROubaix, in. France, says f1at
the railing off OF the demand for SILK
mas robbed 10000 men and women OF
their employment. causing falling
Off In wages OF from $3.OO0,O 900 to
100000. From 20 to Is per cent of
| p~SFsS HsO AsVu kU0 0DluUlUK
trades and about so per cent from the
weavers. They have issued an appeal
saying. We work now only two days
week and in this way a family can
barely earn enough to keep from
starving. It is time that the ladies
gave up their hobble skirts"
Since the United States buys more
silk than any other nation this appeal
seems to come directly to American
women. although 1t may be consid-
cred that the decrease in the importa-
ton OF silk from France Is not en-
tirely due to the iessened quantity
required by the hobble skirt. It Is
partly due to the increased manufac-
ture OF American silks and the i'm.
proved machinery constantly being
erected In this country.
l That the narrow skirt Is bound to
80 no one will deny for a minute. and
II the pannier fashions. which certain
Paris modistes are. now trying to
} bring forward, should obtain favor