Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1917-09-18
ASHINGTON, d. c., September 14.-Cot-
ton is selling at a little more than half its

wv ton is selling at little more than half its
normal value, silk the same, linen as
fabric is slowly passing out of existence owing to
the chaos in Russia, which produces 80 per cent
of the Norld's flax and wool-well, if we were not
an ally, fabric experts tell us, would not get
any imported wool az ALL and as it is we are get
ting little enough.
Indeed if the war keeps up much longer it
is quite likely we will be wearing burlap and jute
as people did during the Civil war. Then wool
Was scarce as it is now, and was cotton. The
south had plenty of cotton but factories to make
the CLOTH whereas the north had the factories but
no cotton. Today there is plenty of cotton, but
it is needed as an explosive. Every time a French
'seventy-five' is fired told, it means one
bale OF cotton destroyed. They shooting our
shirts at the Germans.
Moreover you may know that the world is real
ly alarmed over fabric shortage when Paris for
once in its history fashion dictator has nodded
womens clothes to their needs and not in spite
of them The Chambre Syndicate de la Haute Cou-
ture of Paris recently announced that in order to
help the government it would cut down the amount
of material to be used in womens clothes this
season. Hereafter, they said, no costume made of
wool should exceed four and one-half meters, none
made of cotton should exceed five and one-half
meters, and silk should be used much as pos
sibe.
In this country the shortage of fabrics is
ferred to as little possible by American garment
makers. Their supply is large enough for this
year, and they certainly do not anticipate bank
ruptcy at present prices. Their one fear now Is
that during the next few years many women will
be wearing mourning. This they denounce as de-
plorable ostentation. The duty Of the women is
to keep the countrys courage up by wearing bright
colOrs. and Ia make it forget the horrors OF the
war which are fortunately some distance away
from us, they assert. Besides which, it would be
very disastrous to business. What would happen
to all the colored stock, and the new American dye
business?
Others condemn the wearing of mourn ms for
the reason that it would bring about a waste OF
material. Women who went into mourning would
have to discard their colored clothes, pack them
away to be eaten by the 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 year ago have we
heard much concerning rags, but again they ap-
pear the popular horizon. This time you must
your rags and sell them to the textile In
dustry. For just old paper and rags can be
reduced to pulp and made over into paper, so can
an old wooden sweater skirt be torn to pieces
and shredded and made over Into wooden CLOTH
The wool obtained in this way is known as "shod-
dy." 1t cannot be used alone, but is combined
with wool when it really makes very fair ma
terial. Of course, it is fine materials
made entirely from new wool, and one should not
have to pay much for it, but in an extremity
it might save us from wearing jute.
Mr.. H. L. Dewey, fabric expert of the depart
ment of agriculture, believes that shall all be
wearing 'shoddy cloth" If the war keeps up much
longer. A shoddy industry has long existed in
England. For years American rags have been col
lected ard shipped to that country whose factories
trrred them into shoddy cloth, which in turn is
shipped back to this country.
Thus If the manufacture of shoddy is under
taken to any great extent in this country
suit of the wool shortage, may at last find
profitable use for old clothes. We may wear
a suit year, sell it to a ragman, and the next
year buy it back in the form of an overcoat. or
course, we should not have to pay much for
the overcoat as do now, and to insure this
there would doubtless have to be some congress
sonal legislation on the subject of pure clothes.
But they would be quite useful and warm and
soft-much better than jute.
If you don't like the idea of "shoddy CLOTH"