HOW KHAKI WAS DISCOVERED.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 1307, 6 October 1914, Page 4

HOW KHAKI WAS DISCOVERED.

FORTUNE FOR A LIEUTENANT.

Khaki, the colour which will render our troops so difficult to see, was discovered by a happy accident. The British troops in India wore a cotton uniform which, when it was new, was khaki in colour, but after a visit to the laundary was indescribable. A Manchester business man discussing this defect, remarked casually that a fortune awaited the man who could find a khakf dye that neither sun, soap, nor soda would fade. A young officer heard the remark, hired a skilful native dyer, and began the search. Years passed in fruitless experiments till one day, turning over a heap of rags, relics of their failures, they chanced upon one piece which was still khaki, though the laundry had worked its will. But it had received no '•pe dal treatment, so far as they knew, except that it had fallen iui.o a metal dish. That was the sepret, The metal of the dish and ibe chemicals in the dye had combined to produce that fadeless ~uaki colour which makes our soldiers invisible and turned the lieutenant into a millionaire. — From “ The Office Window,” Tondon Daily Chronicle.