REPOBT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, !'»--». 119 



nor the oil wore objectionable in the explosive charge, since both 

 were entirely consumed in the flush, and left no ash. 



' The silk cartridge cloth was considered so essential that, during 

 the Avar with Germany, no less than sixty mills were engaged in 

 manufacturing it according to specifications furnished by the War 



[ Department. It was made in eleven principal grades and furnished 

 in five different weights for guns of differing calibre. At the sign- 



I ing of the Armistice in November, L918, the Department of Ordnance 

 had on hand a large amount of silk cartridge cloth. After reserving 



\ a sufficient amount for the regular needs of the army, approximately 

 11,000,000 yards were declared surplus and available for salvage. 

 As a textile fabric for ordinary commercial use. the silk cartridge 



1 cloth presented a very unattractive appearance, since it was all 

 w - woven in the raw " and of plain weaves: for the principal require- 

 ments which the War Department had demanded of the manufac- 

 turers was a high tensile .strength and proof at a glance that the 

 fabric was all silk. In spite of extensive advertising by the Salvage 

 Board, the manufacturers and dry goods trade of the country turned 

 down the 11,000,000 yards of surplus material as undesirable for 

 commercial use, the highest price offered being twelve and one-half 

 ceuts a yard, about one-fifth of what it had cost the Government. 



In order to demonstrate the worth of silk cartridge cloth and the 

 practicability of its use for other than military purposes, it was 

 decided that samples of this material would be processed and finished 

 according to methods used in the manufacture of regular commercial 

 fabrics. These consisted in " boiling off v the natural gum and added 

 oil from the fabric, and subjecting the cloth to bleaching, dyeing, 

 printing, napping and other processes. These experiments resulted 

 in a beautiful fabric suitable for men's and women's wearing apparel, 

 millinery, draperies, upholstery, and other uses, and in consequence 

 thereof the dry goods trade and the public were soon convinced that 

 silk cartridge cloth was a desirable as well as an attractive fabric, 

 possessing a durability which rendered it invaluable when consider- 

 ing its wearing qualities. The carrying out of these experiments 

 by the authority of the Judge Advocate General of the Army resulted 

 in the Salvage Board disposing of the entire Surplus of silk cartridge 

 cloth to a. commercial firm, whereby the Government was guaranteed 

 the return of the cost price and in addition 50 per cent of the net 

 proceeds resulting from its sale to the public. 



The series of samples transferred to the Museum by the Salvage 

 Board shows not only various grades and weights of the unfinished 

 cartridge cloth as used by the Department of Ordnance for military 

 purposes, but examples of the results obtained in the finishing experi- 

 ments which demonstrated its use for ordinary textile purposes. 



