New Britain herald., 1917-10-26
IN THE MAKING OF SOCKS.

Knitting socks and stockings for
soldiers In the trenches Of Europe is
part of the admirable work being
done by the women of the United
States. A characteristic of women Is
generosity Of heart. When a woman
sets her heart on anything and pre-
pares to lavish either her affection or
her skill, there Is but one inevitable
result,-whatever the thing may be it
will be the recipient of whole hearted
effort. So it Is with the socks and
stockings They will be made from
the best of wool, and plenty of it. In
some instances the socks may be even
too thick. This Is pointed out by DR..
Samuel G. Dixon, who is commission
er of health for the state of Pennsyl-
vania. The Doctor is afraid that the
millions of women throughout this
country who are engaged in such
work may be too generous in their
application of wool for socks and
stockings.
This is a strange proposition. in
view of the fact that all along we
have heard of the immense cold
weather the boys In the trenches
must be prepared to face. From re-
ports % previous years many judged
that the stockings and socks could
not contain heavy wool. Yet DR..
Dixon says otherwise, and he is a good
authority. In fact he is one Of the
best authorities lin the country since
he has made a study of this par
he has found that the average per-
son knows little or nothing of the
proper care for the feet. 1t has been
supposed by the majority that the
best way to keep the feet warm in
extremely cold weather is to pile on
as many wooden socks or stockings as
ments could not be too heavily made,
according to the old theory. Hence
the heaviest weight wool has been
purchased by many women who make
socks and stockings for soldiers
It would be a brazen thing for any
mere man to step forward and tell
the host Of women knitters they were
pursuing a wrong course; but the
words Of the Pennsylvania health Off
Ger carry weight even as much weight
as some of the wool used. He points
out that it is wrong to make socks
and stockings from wool that is too
heavy; that to clothe the feet in such
a manner causes copious quantities Of
perspiration; that this perspiration
freezes in extremely cold weather,
making the feet even co1def, and that
the sufferers then put on more socks
to the end that their pitiful condition
Is aggravated. 1t is worth while to
listen to the Doctors own words for
he was a member of the committee
which. helped Commodore Peary's
first expedition reach ARCTIC circles.
Says the Doctor: -
"Our idea of the right thing to do
was to stock the Kite with plenty
of heavy clothing. The result was
that many of the men had frozen feet
and the cause was found to be overly
heavy socks. The same thing oc-
Cured on our relief expedition, as it's
members, Of course, had had no op-
portunity Of learning the experience
Of the first party and profting by it."
Those expeditions have furnish ed
experience from which our soldier
boys should benefit. Knitters now
have before them the advice of q man
who knows just what should be done.
The boys in the trenches, both our
own and the boys from the allied
countries, are not going into climate
as severe as that met by Peary and
his men; but they are nevertheless
going to be exposed to weather that
is worse than what they were used
to at home. Further than that, there
is no steam heat in the trenches
The boys will be out in the open all
the time. If they get their feet wet
they cannot go home to nice coy
room and change their socks and
shoes. They must stand it as best
they can.
Our women who are devoting their
spare time to knitting and making
and good. They will readily see the
point the Pennsylvania physician has
taken. They will, too, not go to the
other extreme,-that of making the
socks and stockings too light. There