New Britain herald., 1919-07-15
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(By Carolyn Vance BellD N. F.. A. Washington Bureau, 112S-32 Munsey Bldg.
 Washington, D. C.

Peace is signed-and American l
 women are going to have 3,000,0OO |
 new silk dresses.
 There may be a few other causes
 for feminine rejoicing over peace but
 not the least among these is that s.
 000,0 yards of "all silk and a yard
 Wide' cartridge cloth that otherwise
 would have gone up in smoke has
 been salVaged by the war departm
 and will be sold to American women.
 Sack cloth and ashes may be the
 proper mode for German women, but
 American Omen-three million of
 them-are due to be swathed in about
 an average of six yards of silk apiece.
 To the inventive genius of the ord
 nance department, aided by the scien-
 lists of the bureau of standards, Wom-
 en are indebted for the beautiful ma
 terials converted from the cloth in it's
 military state, that will soon be put upon the market.
 The grey, gummy material resem-
 bling burlap, though woven from the purest silk, was used as a casing for prOjeCtiles fired by heavy artillery. It was made into the bags into which the powder and other high explosives used in guns of more than SiX-inch Caliber was placed. Silk is used as cartridge cloth because it has certain advan- tages over other fabrics.
 The signing of the armistiCe found the ordnance department with three l months supply of cartridge cloth on | hand. The silk experts of the depart ment immediately turned their atten- 1 ton to the development of methods l for the conversion of cartridge cloth int I'll l Rajah silk that was in vogue few l seasons ago
 Harsh to the touch, Streaked and full of imDurities-it is processed l into materials that are soft of texture, ] of beautifully blended colors, and a 1 delicate Iuster.
 Many beautiful designs and most of l the new fall colOrs including freedom l and cathedral blues Malaga red and elk brown were used to dye the ma l terial.
 To my eyes the natural tone after all the gum oils and imprOperties had 1 been removed could not have been 1 improved upon. l have no doubt that when men see some of this they will 1 dispute tho womens claim to all of the 1S,000,000 yards and will insist that a few palm beach suits be made up for them. The secretary of Col. Garrison, in charge of diSpOsing of this silk, had enough of this natural toned material presented to her for making into q dress for experimental purposes. "I like the dress ever so much be- cause it is so SerViceabe. "AlthOugh it looks t great deal like natural linen it does not wrinkle like linen. It does not need continual mas Saging to keep it's looks and one can wear it in the morning knowing that by evening one will not have that gen. erally muascd and fussed appear ance."
 Another Interesting experiment was in the WaterprOOfng of the cloth. It can be used after this process for the making of the light weight gossamer raincoats that are such a comfort on | a wet day.
 The lighter weights of the cloth l have been made into kimonos, bath robes and pajamaS of the male as well l as the female persuasion. It wouldn't 1 do to let the mon entirely out of it. l The cloth is offered for sale by the 1 war department and sealed proposals 1 will be received after the 10th of July. l Only lots of 50, ,O00 yards will be sold 1 so that an individual woman could not l order a dress directly from the war l department. Selling to individuals ] was not deemed practical because it 1 was thought that a lone woman could l not extract the gum oil and impuri- | ties from the silk to the best advan- | tage.
 The experiments that the war de-
 partment took the trouble to make
 were made for the purpose of proving l to the silk buyer that the material
 was worth more than that paid for 1 mere scrap material.
 ! The silk will be put upon the mar | ket through the usual channels of 1 trade by the textile WeaVers and pro
 cessors. It ought not to cost Ameri-
 can women as much as the ordinary