The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-09-18
CLOTHES ARE SCARCE
THE TOPEKA STATE JOURSAL
INFORMATION BUREAU
By Frederic J. Haskin. Director.
Washington, ID. C.

normal value, silk the same, linen as a
fabric is slowly passing out of exist
ence owing to the chaos IN RUSSIA
which produces so per cent OF the
worlds flax, and wool-weil, IL we
were not an ally, fabric experts tell
us. we would not get any imported
wool at all, and as it is we are getting
little enough.
Indeed, if the war keeps up much
longer it is quite likely we will be wear
ing burlap and jute as people DID our
ing the Civil war. Then wool was
scarce as it is now, and so was cot
ton The south had plenty of cotton
but no factories to make the cloth'
whereas the north had the factories
but no cotton. T day there is also
plenty of cotton, but it is needed as an
explosive. Every time French sew
ty-five" is fired, we are told, it means
one bale of cotton destroyed. They
are shooting our shirts at the Ger
mans.
Moreover, you may know that the
world is really alarmed over fabric
shortage when P>.ris for once in ITS
history as fashion dictator has modelled
womens clothes to their needs, ana
not in spite of them. The Chambre
Syndicate de la Haute Couture OF
Paris recently announced that in or
der to help the government 1t would
cut down the amount of material to
be used in women's clothes this season
Hereafter, they said, no costume made
of wool should exceed -four and one
half meters, rne made of cotton
should exceed five and one-haH
meters, and silk should be used as
much as possible.
DepIore Wearing of Mourning.
In this country the shortage OF
fabrics is referred to as little as pos
sible by American garment makers.
Their supply is large enough for this
year. and they certainly do not an
ticipate bankruptcy at present prices
Their one fear now is that during the
next few years many women Will De
wearing mourning. This they de-
nounce as deplorable ostentation. The
duty of the women is TO keep the
country'S courage ~ by wearing
bright colors, and to make it forget
the horrors of war, which are fortu-
nately 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 tie wearing OF
mourning for the reason that it would
bring about great waste of material
Women who went into morning 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
! ID.
of a year ago have we heard much
| concerning rags, but again they appear
! on the popular horizon. This time you
must save your rags and sell them 70
! the textile industry. For just as old
| paper and rags can be reduced to pulp
| and made over into paper, so can an
! old woolt n sweater or skirt be torn to
| pieces and shredded and made over
| into wooden cloth. The wool obtained
| in this way is known as Shoddy. IL
/ cannot be used alone, but is combined
with new wool when it really makes a
very fair material. OF course, it is
never as fine as materials made from
! new wool and one should not have to
paw as much for it, but in an extremity
it might save US from wearing jute.
Shoddy If the War Continues.
Mr.. H. L. Dewey, fabric expert of
| the department of agriculture believes
that we shall all be wearing rshoddy
cloth" if the war keeps up much long
er. A shoddy industry has long ex-
listed in England. For years Ameri-
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 country
Thus if 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 pro-
| itable use for our old clothes. We
may wear a suit a year, sell it to g
ragman, and the next year buy il
back in the form of an overcoat. Oh
course, we should not have to pay sc
much for the overcoat as we do now
and to insure this there would doubt
less have to be some congressional
legislation on the subject of pure
clothes" But they would be quite
useful and warm and Soft-much bet
ter than jute.
Wearing Last Winters Coats.
If you don't like the idea of ''shoddI
CLOTH there is something else you
can do with your old clothes. You
can clean them or dye them another
color and wear them over again. Fo
the first time in many years lots o
people are getting out their last win
ter's coats and suits to wear again
this season. Usually, they look mucl
worse than you remembered them, blu
it is surprising what can be done will
little ammonia, alcohol or dye.
Women can save great deal il
cleaning and dyeing bills If they viii
only learn to do it themselves. Sup
pose last winters wooden Afternoon
frock has escaped the summer plagu
of moths, but is not clean. Here i
a recipe guaranteed to clean it: TAX
four ounces of soft soap, four ounce
l of honey, the white of an egg, an
5 four tablespoonfuls of gin and mi
them together, adding just enoug
!. water to have it work well with
brush Then lay the dress on a fla
table and scour it well with a sti
I brush, after which rinse it thoroly i
cold water and hang it up to dry. d
not wiring it out, but let it drain to
2 ward the narrowest point. When
3 is still damp, iron with piece c
= muslin laid over it. If a dress or SUI
is only slightly soiled it may be cleane
with a sponge dipped in mixture {
one ounce of sulphuric acid, one ounc
4 of ammonia and one quart of water.
r How to Clean the Spots.
= Grease spots may be removed by tn
use of any number of solvents such q
benzine, petroleum spirit, gasoline
L naphJha, ehloroform, ether and fresh
f ly distilled turpentine spirits. Inas
: much as all of these are extremely ir