New Britain herald., 1918-07-10
About NuittiDr

, best of motives. If. however. they were better informed regarding hand knitting they would immediate Iy abandon this line of work, for 1t means serious waste of the coun- try $ resources at a time when it Is of Vital importance that our re- sources should be used with highest possible degree of efficiency, in order : to oefend our nation and civilization itself against the assault of the ruth , less military autocracy of Germany. The reasons why every stitch taken in the hand knitting of wool articles of ali kinds is a stitch too . many are involved in the technical conditions of WOOl-manufaCturing, ;utho there is no reason why any 1hteillgcnt person should not under stand them. Briefly they are as follows:
 l. Wooi clothing is as essential TOT successful military operations as rifles, artillery, and munitions, 1t be- ing estimated that seventy pounds of secured wool per year will be re- qulred for each man in active service, or 35O,000,000 pounds for all army of 100000 mon
 "2. The United States produces an- nuany about i10.000. 900 pounds of secured wool, about one-third of the wool required for the army of 3,oO0,00O mon which eadins public men believe will be nccded to ad- minister to Germany the only argu- ment that PruSsiau autOCraCY reC0g- nl1os, that of superior force. The wool to supply this deficiency must come from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Argentina. These facts make if plain that the wasting of wool means not only the loss of Nalua ble ma teriaI, but what is even more important, the impairment of our ability to transport men munitions and War-suppIics to France to aid our hard-prcst Allies
 ''3, There is no more wasteful use of wool than that involved in hand knitting. First, bcausc the hand knitter uses Worstod yarn made of all new wool, special and expensive wool, spun hN an expensive process, instead of lower priced mixtures of cheaper wool, cotton and shoddy spun by a cheaper process; secondly, because tho garments can not be made uniform in size or weight by hand-knitters: thirdly, because the warn used by hand-knitters is soft, fluffy. and lacking in durability, be- ing suited for the cradle and not the trenches; fOurthly, because of tho imm easura bly, greater economy of labor in power knitting in d factory as compared with manufacturing. Compared on the basis of stitches alone, without regard to the i'm measurably superior quality and condition Of the machinc-made pro- duct one knittor in the mill does in a minute tho work of 7,5O0 hand knitters. and furthermore does what the -lnitter can not do, keeps it up for ten hours a day.
 A. The facts stated above arc enough to show the folly of hand knitting but there is still another count in the indictment. According to the testimony of Maj. M $. Boehm of the Canadian army. nearly all of the articles knit by hand are not needed by soldiers in active service. He told us he had never seen a. soldier in active service wearing a sweater and had not been able to find soldier who had ever seen a, soldier in active service wearing a sweater, that no soldier would wear knit abdominal band, which would be a nest for Vermin: that the only use in the army he had ever seen a knit WriStlet put to was to draw 1t over rifle to keep the dirt out of the working parts, that an old rag would serve the purpose much better and that the English and French helmets made of cloth are far supc- rior to the knit articles. Stockings were the only hand-knit goods, Maj. Boehm said, which were of any use to soldier. and the reasons l had given for not knitting by hand apply to stockings as well as to sweaters and other articles kit by hand from wool, not only for the army, but for civilian use.
 'These statements Of the truth about hand-knitting can be easily verified by any one who will devote little time and attention to the task The memorable logic of this truth is disclosed by recent events. The government has taken possession of all stocks of wool in the country and is in pra ctical control of all the woolcn and worsted mills. Last week at a conference in New York the re- presentative of the government nott- fled the worsted yarn spnners that 95 per cent. of their machinery would he required for government work, aud that no more yarn would be supplied to the Red Cross
 we are facing standard fabrics of cotton. shoddy, and wool mixtures for civilian wear, a. policy already in force in England We are facing 2. ratiOning system for clothing the people The time has come when old clothes on the back of a. man or woman are a badge of honor. Tho rich should he the first to set tho example. |!
 "Everv loyal American should ne eager to adopt drastic methods for saving wool, methods that were en- forced from the very beginning of the war hy tho German government, which according to reliable reports, hnd 50 .OOO cOmpfeto uniforms in