From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for Jan. 20, 1916:

• “Lawrence people, who are fairly well dressed as such things go in these days of the high cost of living, are likely to suffer somewhat in their purses and in their self-esteem, according to local clothing merchants. It’s all a result of the war, say the merchants, who conclude from advices they receive from manufacturers that men’s clothing is not only going to rise in price, but deteriorate in quality. Two things will bring about this result. The first is that the supply of German dyes used by the manufacturers is almost gone. The second is that the woolen manufacturers, having their mills busy with war orders, have served notice, some of them, that they can not accept any further orders for spring clothing. The American Woolen Mills, one of the largest manufacturers, refused three months ago to take further orders for clothing. Their mills are busy making uniforms…. The dyes most commonly used in men’s clothing, blue and black, are the hardest to get. While American chemists began experimenting as soon as the war started on substitutes for the European dyes, they have not yet hit on the process of making fast dyes. The result will be, the dealers say, that a man may buy a suit and after walking home in the sunshine be quite unable to recognize his purchase on account of its change in color…. The situation is one, according to the local clothiers, that will hit everybody, and it is one where money won’t do much good. Prices on sweaters and flannel shirts have gone up and this will touch the college boys. Silk shirts and fine neckwear promise to go to undreamed of prices and the man who has been a fastidious dresser will suffer. Even overalls are being quoted at higher prices and black shoestrings that used to cost dealers 40 cents a gross have jumped up to $1.25 on account of the dye that is used in them…. It isn’t merely, however, a rise in price that threatens, but the possibility that many of the staple goods can not be secured at all. Whether it will get to that stage will depend on the duration of the war. ‘Of course people have to have clothes of some sort,’ said one dealer this morning. ‘If it comes to the worst, we will be reduced to wearing natural colors or restricted to the extremely limited range of American dyes that will remain fast. Most of these dyes are not colors usually regarded as suitable for clothing. We shall have, to state it mildly, some queer effects in clothing if conditions which are now threatened become a reality.'”
• “Indication that the persuasive voice of the auto salesman and the bargain day instinct of the American public have been a combination too strong for many Douglas county residents to resist even in bad weather, is shown by the fact that eleven automobile licenses have been issued from the county treasurer’s office since January 1. These licenses are issued at a reduced rate of $2.50, this amount going on the road fund after the state’s fee is subtracted. The state officer have advanced a theory that many automobiles were given as Christmas presents.”
• “The cold weather being experienced in Lawrence is causing many people to change from the use of gas as a fuel to the use of coal for comfort’s sake. In order to prevent danger from fires great care should be taken when this change is made, according to Chief Reinisch of the fire department. ‘The burning of gas dries out the old lime plaster and mortar, allowing it to work out and leave exposed places which will be readily reached by the sparks from the coal,’ says Chief Reinisch. ‘For this reason care should be exercised. I think the time will come when this danger will be entirely done away with by ordinances compelling builders to line all flues with tiling. In this way the fire from defective flues will be impossible.’ The fire chief also warns the people of the city about allowing trash baskets to be placed near the fires and about the careless disposition of hot ashes and cinders.”
• “J. A. Dailey, landlord at the Lawrence house, complained to the police officers this morning that a guest of the house registered as G. R. McCary had left unexpectedly last night, leaving behind him a big unpaid bill, and taking with him an overcoat belonging to Mr. Dailey. The officers were asked to help locate the guest and the overcoat. It is said that McCary also contracted a good-sized bill at a Lawrence store while he was here, and that this also remains unpaid.”
• “The members of the First Presbyterian church who gathered at the church for a supper and business meeting last night saw a ceremony of great interest to them. The church is now free from debt and the last note of indebtedness was burned at the meeting last night. With the freeing of the church from debt, it is the expectation of the members that the work of the church will be carried on with less difficulty than heretofore, and a new era of church activity is anticipated.”