This clears the weapon of hot gases and any residue from the inflamed powder bags.
No raw silk is produced in America, and, of course, war in the Pacific makes importation impossible. About 90 per cent. of the silk that was imported from Japan prior to the war was utilized to make women's stockings; and these are still our highest potential source for silk reclamation. Approximately fifteen pairs of stockings provide sufficient material to make one average sized powder bag.
Nylon likewise is a vital war material and its function in national defense is nearly as important as that of silk. Something like 90% of all nylon produced prior to Pearl Harbor went into stockings. By a method of reclamation it is possible to reduce the nylon in stockings to a state that permits both reworking and reconverting it at a considerable saving of time over the process of making new nylon as a product of chemistry.
The strength, lightness, elasticity, durability, and adaptability of nylon fits it for many essential wartime services. It serves, for instance, to make parachutes and parts such as tapes, shroud lines, harness webbing, belting etc.