New-York tribune., 1919-04-28


war, excepting for the needs Of tho
army and in reworking cast off garments, or
in devising substitutes. But under the COM
pulsory service law Of Germany the en-
ployes of the various firms simply moved
over into munitions making or Joined the
coors. The people from Crefsld and Bocum
moved almost en- masse to Essen and Dussel-
dorf, while many came up from Saxony to
the Rhine regions. To-day these great in
dustries are stagnant, their people are living
on unemployment allowances and there are
none Of the old products to be bought in
Germany. Many Of the mills have worked
on part time, say with 10 per cent Of their
former forces, on the fabrication Of substi-
tutes for wool and cotton, and an additional
few put in dozen or so machines to take
on light munitions work, but on the whole
the wheels Of the textile industry simply
stopped and the machinery was laid up for
the duration Of the war.
Now they are ready again to begin with
their former stats, waiting for workout
they cannot start until the raw materials
arrive. They know that they will have to
pay high wages, but most Of the owners with
whom l talked were not afraid Of wages, as
they think that wages in England and
America have gone higher than the German,
and that the old ratios will continue--that
all prices everywhere will simply be marked
up.
Plants in Good Condition
The plants have not suffered from disuse,
for they have been most carefully preserved,
and they have advantage over the rest
Of Germany in that their betting is not worn
out. Chemnitz and Saxony generally could,
for instance, start within twcnty-four hours
of the receipt Of cotton. And they seem
fairly confident Of the future, especially if
Russia can be settled Their labor troubles
have not been serious, because their labor
has largely been away on munitions and is
glad to get home and at least near their
former jobs again.
The collaboration between the paper and
the textile industries is one Of the most in
teresting developments of the war, and an
examination of what can be done With paper,
combinations Of paper and cotton, nettes
and the Typha latifoia, which is just ths
ordinary swamp plume, is astonishing. We
have been accustomed to take the paper
clothing as but poor war substitute for
the real article, and such the first efforts
undoubtedly were. But the progress has
been exceedingly rapid. have seen paper
working blouse that could not be distin-
guished from cloth and which had been
washed twenty-four times without apparent
harm-and the German machine washing
without soap is a test for any garment.
In the beginning ordinary paper was used;
it was made into rolls which were Of paper
tape about quarter of inch wide, and
then these tapes twisted on a special
machine until they took on a threadlike
appearance. In such state they were
woven. The result was rough. Then they
started treating the paper with various
chemicals and experimenting with the COM
position of the pulp, until now, by some
secret process, they have pulp from which
the paper yarn can be directly produced with
out the intermediate sheet process. The cloth
made from it is soft, and, especially when
mixed with little cotton, is very strong.
1t is waterproof and does not crinkle after
a wetting, the way that ordinary paper does.
The feeling is very much like that Of linen.
Promising Paper Substitutes
The difficulty at present is that good
quality paper cloth costs about a marks
yHrd, but the makers think that they can
reduce the price to such extent that a
combined cotton and paper cloth can be pro-
duced which will be cheaper than all cotton
AID wear as we'll or better They have not
yet produced this cloth.
Whether this further development will
come or not it is certain that great market
can be made for paper curtains and other
hangIngs and for temporary tablecloths, and
it is hoped to gain considerable amount Of
trade in the Orient. Only an expert can dis
tinguish the best paper fabrics from cotton
or linen, and the field open for substitution
is very large.
More important perhaps than the paper
weaving is the cloth made from nettles. The
long stem Of the nettlc is treated with
chemicals and then separated into fine
strands, which are spun into yarn. The re-
sulting cloth is yellow, something like un-
blcached linen, which it much resembles, and !
is very strong and durable. In fact, have
been told that it is a stronger fabric than
can be made from linen, cotton or WOOL but !
that may be merely the enthusiasm of the
orlginators. But certainly the specimens
winch have seen are very thin, strong and
tough and present excellent appearance
The cloth became so popular that soon the
supply of nettles was exhausted and now the
agricultural experts are turning to the culti-
vatlon OF the nettlc as a staple product, in
the hope of reducing the cotton imports or
to have refuge If Germany finds trouble in
importing cotton. mixture of cotton and
nettle yarn can hardly be told from linen.
NettIes and Cnt-faiLs
The process is expensive as yet, but it is
thought that the costs can be greatly re-
duced; a yard of nettle cloth will fetch 10
marks and is hard to obtain at that. The
cat-tail (Typha latifolia) is not grass that
one would select to make cloth from, but it,
too, has been turned to use and it's manu-