Evening star., 1942-02-07

more, may be also military uses.
Until the war Is over the general
public can expect very little of it
and oil heating will cost more as .
result.
Another striking example from
the Du Pont company Is nylon, a
whole new family Of raw materials.
This is the wen-knowp synthetic
that in the form Of a fiber replaces
silk. It also Is made out Of the basic
constituents Of coal, water and air.
It Is one Of the most recent major
developments. Nylon, again, Is not
silk. In fber form it looks and be-
haves like silk but Is superior to silk
for many of the purposes for which
silk has been used in the past. 1t
is stronger than silk and has more
chemical resistance. Everything
considered, 1t is probably cheaper
than the actual silk from Japan
which today American women would
spurn even If they could get 1t.
Nylon Is best known, Of course,
for its use in women's hosiery and
undergarments. In the past two
years 1t has saved American house
holds millions Of dollars in hosiery
bills because Of its lasting qualities.
The first mems nylon hosiery, by
the way, had also made its appear
ance when the war intervened.
The Du Pont company was making
10000 900 pounds q year Of nylon
yarn when the war started, and a
second 5000, ,000- 0-pound-a-year plant
was getting underway, along with
further expansion plans. This will
not do civilians much good for a
while. A good slice of the nylon
output was commandeered by the
Government Immediately after Pearl
Harbor and now the bulk Of nylon
yarn Is to be used only as Washing
ton directs. The Army has re-
quested that military uses of nylon
not be mentioned. Obviously 1t is
not intended for silk underwear for
lady soldiers.
But a curious turn Of events may
make the Army relent a little on
the nylon situation so that Amer
leans can brush their teeth during
the war.
Ever since the toothbrushing habit
started couple Of generations ago.
it seems, all brushes have been made
from the bristles of Chinese and
Siberian half-wild hogs. Domestic
pigs get too fat to grow good brush
bristles. Peasants actually hold
wild-hog roundups to get bristles to
sell to America. They set out rough
ened posts In the forests against
which the pigs could scratch their
backs and so leave treasure trove.
Nylon Bristles Better.
Along came nylon bristles. They
were about q thousand per cent bet
ter In lasting qualities than pig
bristles. Most Of the best tooth
brushes now are made Of them. Due
to the situation In the Far East it
probably will be impossible to get
any more from the wild hogs.
In one other field-this Is an
optimistic statement after making
out this years income tax return
the general public will continue to
come in contact with nylon. This
is in American paper money, which
is made of a very high-grade paper,
run through with silk threads. The
Treasury has just announced that
in the future nylon threads will be
used. This will result in money
which lasts longer. Money In the
past has used up quite a lot of
silk. And 1t isn't considered quite
right now to have the features Of
Washington. Jefferson and the rest
run through with q Japanese
product.
Somehow the secret leaked out.
It was intended to say nothing about
the plans and catch q few counter
feiters who continued to use silk.