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Show ORIGIN OF KHAKI EXPLAINER Dun-Colored Cloth 8o Widely Used fori Unlfonns Was Discovered ' by Accident. j Tho dun-colored khnkl so widely; used for uniforms was discovered by mi accident. For many years tho Hrlt-1 Hrlt-1 isli troops in India wore a cotton cloth! of n greenish-brown, but it nlwaysj faded when washed with soap. While tnlklng over this defect with, some Ilrltlsh olllcers, n business man! from England said thnt a fortune-awaited fortune-awaited thu manufacturer of n cottoni drill that would not fade. Ono of; the ofllcers, n young man, took tho hint. When he got home ho employed n; skillful dyer, nnd tho two began a sys-j tcmatlc seurch for an ollvo dye thnt, when used on cotton cloth, would not yield to soap or soda. They spent years in experiments, but without1 suc-cuss, suc-cuss, and had almost begun to give up. hope. One day, however, they found nmong numerous scraps of dyed cloths ono, that retained its color under tho most-sovero most-sovero tests. Tho puzzling part of It, was that this scrap had been taken from a piece of cloth which had gono through tho snmo processes, but which, had failed when tested. For it long lime tho experimenters tried to solve this riddle. The ono bit of cloth men-, tloned was the only pleco that kept Its color ngalnst nil attacks. Finally, by the merest chance, they hit upuii the secret. The dye In which this scrap hall been dipped had re-' malned for Mime time In n metal dish, of u peculiar kind. This metal, In combination com-bination with the chemicals of tho dye, had furnished thu very thing needed. They mado tho experiment with other) pieces; tho dyo held, nnd their fortunes for-tunes were made. I |