Indiana daily times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1914-1922, 1921-03-14
FOUR SOURCES FROM
WHICH FABRICS COME.


In other words. all that we wear-our
frocks and frock coats. our neckties and
stocks and Iaces and frills and furbelows
comes from only these four sources,
that were discovered far back when the
race was young.
Our wool supply is obtained chiefly
from the pelage Of sheep, while small
quantity IS also obtained from the hair
Of certain goats cashmere and mohair,
for example, as well as from the hair
OF camels. The earliest cloth makers
tapped the same sources for their wool.
All Of our raw silk IS provided for US
By obiging caterpillars. which secrete
the substance in their glands and spin It
into cocoOns or cases in which they make
their change from worm to moth. And
the Mougollans had the silk worms well
trained for this purpose centuries ago.
Cotton, obtained from the seed pod Of
the cotton plant, was also well under
stood by the ancients, while early his
tory records the use Of rich linens made
from flax.
In recent years but two other sources
have been added to these four American
manufacturers have succeeded in produc
: Ing rough textiles, such n burlap, from
the jute plant. and American chemists,
after much Pronunciation, have been
able to produce artificial silk
Then the Germans began their expert
ments with various plants. These COM
menced really some years before the
war, and the first successful vegetable
/ fabrics were brought to this country as
early as 1914 But It was the war, which
| for the time being eliminated the four big
textile staples from the market, that gave
them their chance.
. Ia n ~ HuTnau
Of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, the
new vegetable fiber industry was "es-
tablished at Fuerstenberg, Germany, in
1912. During the first year In which the
plant was operated It couHred It's activi-
ties merely TO the manufacture and sale
/ IF fbers the raw product.
In 1913 spinning machinery was set
up. and since then the spinning of yarn
from these fbers has been carried on
on an ever-increasiug scale. In the eight
years Of its existence the products Of this
concern have covered a wide range of
vegetable fibers. including China grass,
Australian seaweed, jute, old jute rags
and shoG ly worsted yarn. A number of
others were worked up during the war
and extensively used in the textile in
dustry. Some Of these fbers were aban-
doned after the war, owing to the fact
that the supply in Germany was not
sufficient to warrant their permanent use.
CLOTH MADE
| FROM GRASS.
THE vegetable fiber derived from China
grass is known as solidonia 1t is similar
to ramie, which is known and used in
the United States. The German Fiber
Company, by means of a special process,
produces n long, fine, soft and curly
fiber. 1t looks very much like wool and
mixes readily with that product, thus
opening a wide field for its use in the
wooden industry. Solidonia gained a wide
use on account Of shortage of wool during
the war. AS substitute for linen, sol
idOnia has been used in Germany for the
manufacture Of table linen Of BEAUTY
and strength. 1t has also been used for
machine betting. Hosiery mills and I'M
derwear mills have produced from it
stockings which are difficult to tear; I'M
! shrinkable underwear and sporting jack
cts of fine quality and strength.
THE German wooden mills have also
! manufactured an army cloth which, COM
posed Of 70 per cent wool and % per
cent solidonia surpasses, it is asserted,
in tensile strength any pure wool cloth.
Women's clothing and mems clothing of
/ half solidonia and half wool or shoddy
/ cloth is likewise proving highly success
| full.
Another fiber from which has been
/ obtained splendid results" the bureaus
report continues, "is the fiber known as
| posidonia-also a vegetable product. 1t
| is derived from seaweed dredged in Aus
| tralia and washed in sweet water.
Brought to Germany, the fiber is sug
jected to a chemical treatment to soften
it and make it resilient, the original fbel
being stiff and harsh.
1.-THE staple Of this fiber is declared to
be equal to a medium staple wool and it
is spun on the worsted and wooden sys-
! TEN. The fiber is characterized by an
elasticity and springiness and the cloth,
which is made out Of pure posidonia APP
pears to show scarcely any creases.
Posidonia Is expected to fill a particu-
Iarly large demand in the carpet in
dustry.
1.-The chief way in which Juts Is en-
ployed in the United States lie IN the
form Of cheap lining and burlap. This
German company has accomplished some
unusual results with jute. BY a special
process of chemical treatment, a long,
fine fiber has been produced, which can
be spun into a pure fabric or mixed
with wool. From the old jute rage the
company also makes good grade Of