The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-12-17
THE TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
APPROXIMATIONS BUREAU
By FREDERIC j. HAsKIN, Director.
Washington. ID. c.
BUYING AND USE.

by the largest buyer in the world-the
United States government. WITH the
government buying in hundred mil
lion-dollar lots, the responsibility OF
the bureau as a testing laboratory is
heavy. The experts of the bureau
have a few tips on the buying and use
of materials to lay before the average
citizen. They are worth hearkenlhS
to. for they come from the hlghest
scientific skill turned on the problem
of how to get the most out of your
money
One of the principal materials of
modern warfare is rubber, that unique
vegetable mystery of a thousand uses,
pra ctically the only thing on earth
that will stretch and return shape
1t is also one of the principal materials
of peace, and almost every family
could effect a considerable annual
economy by the wise purchasing and
care of rubber goods.
The suburban dweller, for example,
usually buys a garden hose two or
three times as often as is really neces-
sary The average life of a hose in
actual practice is seldom more than
one season, while with reasonable care
in the purchase and use, the rubber
experts say that a hose should last
three or four years. A fairly good
quality of hose should be bought in
the first place, and it should not be
cut and SCARED, for such superficial
cuts quickly deepen and spread Hence
it should not be dragged over gravel
and cinders. but lifted and carried.
Above all, it should not be left lying
in the sun. Heat is the deadly enemy
of all rubber goods.
At temperature of 100 degrees,
rubber articles that would ordinarily
last for ten years, are destroyed IN
three weeks. A pile of rubber bands
left lying on a office desk where the
sun strikes them will be worthless in
three months, while if kept in cool,
dark drawer they would last six years
This fact suggests at once the proper
care of rubber articles of clothing.
Rubber overshoes are only worn few
times a year, and they would last
practically indefinitely if they were
carefully used. Left lying behind the
stove in school or a radiator in the
office quickly takes the life out of
them. A rubber coat hung near
| fireplace, or tossed over a radiator
to dry, is started on the road to dis
! Indignation.
One peculiar quality of rubber that
is worth remembering is the fact that
! oil quickly ruins it. The rubber alb
serbs the oil, and the resulting COM
pound is soft and without tensile
strength. This quality of rubber is of
particular Importance to the owner
! of an automobile, for oil on the tires
and inner tubes will rot them.
! Like overShoeS, ordinary leather
shoes should never be dried with heat,
say the experts at the bureau. They
should know, for the testing of the
millions of pairs of army and navy
shoes is in their hands. Leather has
a curious quality of rotting inside, if
it is wet and then dried near a radia-
tor or stove. This may result in no
apparent change in the outer thick
nesses, and yet the sole within may
be practically spoiled.
Proper use and care of shoes all
over the United States would result
in a great national saving. over 500
million dollars year is the sum of
| the American boot and shoe bill. To
make shoes last as long as possible.
| the bureau recommends the alternate
wearing of at least two pair. Two
pair of shoes worn alternately are
! said to outwear three pair each of
which is worn continuously until worn
out. The use of shoe-trees is recon-
mended. The pair not in use should
be left in a moderately cool place,
where there is a free circulation of
air.
The proper polishing of shoes is a
necessary measure of economy, as
without dressing the leather becomes
| brittle and dry. Any commercial shoe
polish is designed as a preventative
for shoes to be worn in the country,
| on rough hikes hunting trips, and
similar occasions. in treatment with
neats-foot or castor oil, but this re-
suits in catching so much dust that
it is not desirable for dress shoes. The
| time-hallowed practice of the western
prospector-before Mr.. Hoover's day
of pouring the morning bacon grease
hot over his boots, belongs in this
| class A shoe soled with chrome
| leather is more waterproof than an
| oak-tanned SOLE A good way to water
proof the soles of shoes is to apply
several coats of linseed oil, allowing
each coat to dry before the next is
applied. This should never be ap-
piled to the uppers, because it is
likely to crack the leather. To water
proof the uppers, greasing with tallow
is effective, though hardly practicable
in the case of shoes intended for CITY
wear. thick coat of pasty shoe
polish has somewhat the same effect
but shoes that are intended for wet
weather should be selected with this
purpose in mind. They should be
tanned leather. Such shoes have the
defects of their qualities, for the lack
of ventilation makes them less COM
Portable than more coarsely grained
leather.
In the matter of price, the experts
say that quality increases with in
creased price, up to the point where
the added expense stands for specially
skilled labor. as in the case of made
to-order shoes. Within reasonable
limits, however, quality is usually pro-
portionate to price. so that they rec
ommend buying a moderate-priced
shoe. So many artificial and irnita.
ton feathers are on the market, be-
yond the power of any but the ex-
pert to detect, that the bureau recon-
mends the purchase of trade-marked
goods of known quality, backed by a
guarantee, whenever possible. This
applies to rubber goods even more
imam TO leather, for artificial and re-
claimed rubbers resemble the fresh
: product very closely. For some uses
they are perfectly adequate while for
, others they are not
Most OF the tests used at the bu-
reau On textiles intended for army
blankets or clnt hirrr q = - 4..l-.-i