The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-06-29
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
INFORM ALTON
BUREAU
FREDERIC J. HASKIN. Director.
Washington. D. G.
USE YOUR OLD CLorHEs.
Washington. D. G.

USE CINyIdEfSs
Washington, D. c., June 25.-The
time has come when the government
must demand of every American man
, and woman the supreme sacrifice.
You have been asked to give your
money to your government: your food
staples, your fueEyour lives. But
now, alas, you are asked to place your
clothes-your nice, queer. extravagant
| upon the altar of your country. No
| more can any American do.
This does not mean that you must
| Immediately revert to the fashions of
| the Garden of Eden. 1t simply means
that you are asked to buy as few new
clothes; to remodel your old clothes
and wear thu, and. If you can't do
that, to cut them down for your chill
dren SO that they, at least, will not
require new ones. The government,
thru the council of national defense,
requests this.
All the expense paraphernalia cher
! ished by feminine America-the
myriad ruffles, the intricate pleats.
the cloth buttons, the ponderous trim
mings; high heels and twelve-inch
shoes and the colored handbags to
| match each frock-will all be men,
cries of the past by next winter. So
| viii many fashionable features cher
| ished by masculine America. Suits
will be as skinny as modesty will per-
init. Coats are to be only thirty
| inches long, based on a size of So, a
| quarter of an inch being allowed for
each size increase. The number and
size of pockets are to be cut down;
all side and back straps and flaps on
| trousers are to be eliminated, and the
| lightweight overcoat of the double
breasted style is to disappear alto
gether. Clothing manufacturers have
promised this.
Clothing manufacturers are making
these retrenchments OF their own ac-
cord, urged by rumors of the appoint
ment of a textile administrator at
| Washington. They have been forced
to realize that business as usual is
an impossibility during time Of war.
Ships, munitions, food and uniforms
! and not superfluous clothes for civil
ians are the needs Of a nation at war,
and the people must save their money
to help the government buy them.
Non essentia1 industries will receive
every possible consideration, but they
must be sef-efacing for the period of
the war.
The presidents limit" army Is
| putting heavy strain upon the ma
, TONS wool resources. Millions of uni
forms must be accumulated as fast as
| possible. Manufacturers estimate that
the civilian population must cut its
i wool consumption 81 per cent, but if
necessary the entire supply of wool
necessary, every loom must be put to
work on military orders. The cotton
supply will also be severely tested. In
Germany they are wearing paper. If
Americans do not wish to endure a
similar inconvenience in the future,
| they must stop all waste in textiles
now.
Up until the present time, so far as
our clothes are concerned, you would
hardly suspect that we were at war.
Wages-especially the wages of skilled
labor-are higher than they have ever
been before, and there is striking evil
dence that a large percentage of these
wages are being spent on clothes.
Women are dressing as extravagantly
as II clothes were the chief concern of
the nation. Thousands of them may
be seen wearing sweaters of brilliant
wooden yarn, when officials in the
quartermaster'S corps at Washington
| are working night and day to avoid
| the necessity of further adulteration
| of wool in the soldiers uniform. When
every loom in the country is needed to
turn out the bare necessities of the
army and the civilian population, and
when every skilled hand is needed in
the manufacture of war materials,
sheer, gossamer fabrics capable of
| withstanding no more than a months
wear, are displayed in department
| stores; different model of ready
made garments hangs on every hook,
and silk parasols of many different
styles, colors and designs may be
found in every department store
moreover, walk into your favorite
| candy store today, and you will find
shelf upon shelf of hollow fire-crack-
| ers, Fourth of July favors, wrapped
in brilliant red silk Here is a giar-
ing example of conspicuous waste
! How can we, a nation at war, afford
| the silk for candy receptacles; how
| can we afford to utilize skilled labor
in the manufacture of such toys?
| These are questions which the gov
I eminent wants Americans to consider
| in spending their incomes. From now
| on, you may believe it or not, shabbi-
| ness combined with neatness is going
to be the fashion. Americans will be
/ asked to wear their patriotism on
| their sleeve, so to speak. And this
time next year, it is predicted, the
deliberately dressed individual will be
snubbed as a Stacker. Mr.. McAdoo,
secretary of the treasury. has already
set the fashion note for next season
by calling upon the American public
| to patch its pants instead of buying
new ones. Patch your pants and be
a patriot" were the words of Mr.
| M :Adoo.
Mr.. Bernard N. Baruch, chairman
| OF the war industries board, seconds
this motion. with further amendment
HI proposes not only that the pants
be patched, but that they be turned
| inside out and made over. 'In the
good old days, it was customary for
boys and even men to take fathers
hand-me-downs, turn 'em inside out,
make new things out of 'em, and save
the money" says Mr.. Baruch. do
that now. Be a patriot and help the
| country
Practically the same advice is now
| being passed on to American women
by the states relations service of the
United States department of agricul-
| ture, which has been valiantly at
| tempting to curb feminine extrava-
gance for the past six months. The
service has issued a bulletin which
| contains some very good suggestions
as to how women may economic on
| clothes. 1t admonishes women to buy