Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1917-09-19

WASHINGTON. September l9.-Cot-
ton Is selling at a little moro thnn half
! It's normal value. SILK tho same. linon
as fabric Is slowly passing out OF
existence, owing to the chaos In Rus
sia, which produces 80 per cont o;
tho worlds max. and wool-well. IL we
were not an ally. fabric experts tell
US. we would not get any imported
wool at all. and, as It Is. NO arc get
ting little enough.
Indeed. II tho war keeps up mucn
longer 1t Is quite likely we will be
wearing burlap and jutc. al people did
during the Civil War. Then wool was
scarce as 1t is now. and 80 was cot
ton. The South had plenty OF cotton.
but no factories to make the cloth.
whereas tho North had the factories
but no cotton. To-day there Ia also
plenty OF cotton, but II is needed as
an explosive. Every time French
"T6' Is fired. we are told. 1t means one
bale of cotton destroyed. They are
shooting our shirts at the Germans.
Moreover. you may know that the
world liz really alarmed over fabric
shortage when Paris for once In it's
history as fashion dictator has molde ed
womcns clothes to their needs, and
not In spite OF them. The Chamors
Syndicate do la Haute Couture, or
Paris. recently announced that, in or
der to help the government. 1t would
cut down the amount Of material to be
used in womcn's clothes this season.
Hereafter. they said. no costume made
of wool should exceed four and one
should exceed Ave and one-halr me-
tiers. and silk should DO used as mucn
az possible.
supply for This Year.
In this country the shortage OF FAB
RIGS is referred to as little as pos
sble by American garment makers.
Their supply IL large enough for this
year. and they certainly DO not anti
cipate bankruptcy at present prices.
Their one fear now Is that during the
next few years many women VIII be
nounce as deplorable ostentation. The
duty OF tho women is to keep the coun-
try's courage up by wearing bright
colors. and to mako 1t forget tho hor-
rors of war. which are fortunately some
distance away from us. they assert.
Besides which. it would be very dis
nstrous to business. What would hap
pen to all the colored stock. and the
now American dye business?
others condemn the wearing OF
mourning for the reason that II would
bring about a great waste OF material.
Women who went into mourning
would have to discard their colored
clothes. or pack them away to be
eaten by moths, and thus many more
yards OF wool would be taken from the
market.
Meantime. the price OF rags has gone
up. Not since the paper scarcity of
n year ago have We heard much con-
corning rags. but again they appear on
the popular horizon. This time you
must save your rags and sell them to
the textile Industry. For just as old
~ ha
and mnde over into paper. SO can an
old wooden sweater or skirt be torn
to pieces and shredded and made over
into wooden cloth. Tho wool obtained
In this way is known AS 'shoddy." II
cannot be used alone. but Is combined
with new wool when II really make.
a very fair material. or course. Il
is never as fne as materials made en-
tirely from new wool. and one should
not have to pay as much for II. but In
an extremity II might save us from
wearing jute.
H. l., Dewey. fabric expert OF the
Department. OF Agriculture. believes
cloth" II the war keeps up mucn
longer A shoddy industry has long
existed in England. For years Amcri-
can rags have been collected and ship
ped to that country whose factories
turned them into shoddy cloth, which.
In turn, is shipped back to this coun-
try.
Thus IL the manufacture of shoddy
Is undertaken to any great extent In
this country as a result OF the wool
shortage. we may at last find q profit
able use for our old clothes. We may
wear a suit year. sell II to rag
man. and the next year buy It back in
the form of an overcoat. or course.
we should not have to pay SO much
70 dn nd