Evening star., 1940-11-21
Of Stars, Men
And Atoms
Notebook Of Science Progress
In Laboratory, Field
And Study
By Thomas r. Henry.

Betty Co-ed's shapely legs with all
their alluring curves-eight models Of
them-hang on a rack in a Department
of Agriculture laboratory.
They are part of the equipment of a
$4,000 experiment to produce sheer
cotton stockings in the face of a threat
ened shortage of silk due to the war in
the Orient and the need of silk fabrics,
and the best of the artificial ones suitable
for hosiery, in national defense indus
tries.
Already Bureau of Home Economics
scientists have gone far toward the
goal of cotton hose which one must
look at with ungentlemanly intensity to
distinguish from the product of the silk
worm. They seek, of course, not only
to insure the loveliness of American
womanhood against any threat Of war
but also TO find new uses for cotton.
Silk stockings are essentially phe-
nomenon Of the past IS years in the
United States, bureau scientists report.
Before 1925, according to a survey by
Rose F. Monachino of the staff, their
production was almost negligible. Most
women had one or two pairs packed
away to wear only on dress-up occasions.
At other times they encased their legs
in cotton and made the best of it-as
their sisters in nearly every other part
of the world still do. In 1919, for ex-
ample, out of 81 00000 pairs of hose sold
about $1,000 900 were cotton and less
than 100000 silk.
About 1925 came the apotheosis of the
feminine leg in America. In 1887, the
last year for which accurate figures are
available, out of 100000 pairs, 41000,-
900 were of silk and only 1000 900 of
cotton. Rayon was never very popular
and the introduction Of new fabrics did
not promise to oust silk for a genera
ton TO come.
Nearly four-fifths of American silk
comes from Japan. China and Italy to-
gether furnish about one-ffth. Already
the imports are dropping of and silk
is vital necessity for such war neces-
sites as parachutes.
The great advantage of silk hose, bu-
reau workers point out, is "sheerness -
a term difficult to define. It is, as one
OF them expressed it, that quality Of
a fabric by which it doesn't show the
weave but does show the curves" Silk
was ideal for 1t. A single silk filament,
as a cocoon is unwrapped, is from 900
to 1000 yards long. The average cotton
fiber is only about an inch long The re-
suit, in a stocking, is a streaky effect
known to the trade as "tWitty.' There
Is certain fuzzinesS which can be
gotten rid OF by singeing. Also, the
weave doesn't mold itself TO the leg SC
neatly.
The longer the cotton fiber the less
obvious the "twittyness' in close weave
The less the "twittyness" the more the
stocking looks like part Of the leg-the
goal of all hosiery makers-rather than
something enclosing the leg. The Bu-
reau Of Home Economics started at the
beginning, with the cotton plant. At
one time Sea Island cotton, grown off
the coast of South Carolina, yielded
ibers 15s inches long This was prac-
tically wiped out by the boil weevil
1t is now being revived on a small scale
in South Georgia and Florida. 1t would
be the best of all hosiery cottons except
that the prospects Of getting fair
supply Of 1t for a long time are dim
The next best bet is Nile cotton, grown
only on the Nile delta in Egypt. 1t has
fbers about IL inches long.
Two years ago an area was selected
in the Salt River valley OF Arizona
where the soil and climatic conditions
seemed very close to those OF Egypt
the land must be irrigated, as the
Egyptian cotton fields are irrigated by
the Nile This has proved fairly success
full to date and the best of the new hose
are made from this cotton.
Hosiery fabric is known as two. three,
four and five thread" depending on its
delicacy The best thus far achieved
with cotton has been close to the five
thread" silk level, although it does not
have quite the same "sheerness,' the
workers say. The inescapable 'tWitty-
ness" is being avoided by various trick
weaves
Just now the bureau scientists are
concentrating on knee-length campus
stockings with which they hope to at
tract the college girl in the next few
months and the coed leg models are
used for the fitting and shaping of these.
They are being fashioned in a variety
of alluring weaves and glamorous colors.
Another objective is hosiery for nurses.
Most hospitals require that white stock
ings be worn. White cotton ones have
been unshapely. White silk ones dis
color on washing. Besides, silk ones
cannot be easily diSinfected and often
must be thrown away after a nurse has
tended a patient with a contagious
disease.
About so nurses at one Washington
hospital were used as the guinea pigs
in this experiment and their reports,
after wearing the Department of Agricul-
ture models for a few weeks, have re-
suited in several changes.
The purpose, Bureau of Home Eco
nomics workers say, is not to produce
a cotton stocking which will compete
with silk when there is enough silk to
go around. But in national emergency
they hold, parachutes may be more
essential than the visibility of leg curves