The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-03-27
A Regiment aud Il Half of Laun-
dresses.

why has not some champion Of the
rights ~ man aeitatcd the employment Of
laundrcsscs on mon of war; Why has not
some political SKiMroLE improved the
cruel necessity winch in the United States
Navy compela seam,n to wash their own
clothes, to accomplish waste Of the pub
lie moucy 10y creating corps Of washer
women for use on Government vessels
The stock argument Of the good Of the
service" would ahundantly avail. Can n
seaman give his whole mind TO banding.
rec;ing, furiug. and steering can he he
effectively drilled IN gun practice. white
the Wishing OF his shirts and stocking.
and thedrying and smoothing of his hand
keichiefs press on his thought as II coming
DOOM
United states soldiers have laundresses.
why should not United states sailors have
them? To be sure tho miners of the Rocky
Mountains and the Serras wash their own
clothes. But they were ever q pcrvcrsc set
And the Governments surveyors and eX-
porers wash their own shirts and stock
mgs. aud mend their torn garments, when
they should be- running lines and making
typographical notes aud studying the
geology OF the country. We admit their
| lnva;lou. ami view i'll ackno " ledge that they
will continue to lavate until the blessed
epoch of the national laundrcss shall fully
como.
We congratulate the political economists
of our country, aud the constituted pro-
moters Of American military science. that
the washorw oman j. thoroughly grated
into our army as Il Federal institution, and
that she is successfully helping to make
the anomalous machine, exclusive of the
cavalry. utterly useless for every purpose
except To draw pay and rations, consume
clothing, fuel. and forage and adorn polite
society. The United States Army has l,3ld
| lauudrcsses. The generous fellows in the
| War Department who let out the public
| money through the army sluce have au-
| thor zed one washcrwoman 10 every nine
teen enlisted men. They must have done
this after a careful study of the campaigns
Of IfANNIBAI- C.ts\R MARLBoRoUGu, aud
NAPOLEON. The secret Of the successes at
Gamma, Families, Ausierlitz. and Marcnco
must have been the washtub and the mlu-
siou OF one laundress into the courage of
every nineteen soldiers. These 1876 ma
fionll washerwomen are part Of our Won
derful army. draw daily rations, receive
the REGULAR allowances OF quarters and
fuel, and have transportation for them
selves. their babes. and baggage. The mt
tiol If these wa-hcrwomcn cost our tau
payers over $1,000 year. The INSPECTOR
General has reported that the baggage of
four lauudrcs>cs, with their children, eX-
cceds in quantity that Of all the enlisted
men in company. lie has stated the au-
nual expense TO the Government of all Of
them to be about s@0J,000. How droll il is
to pull out Of the War Department reports
the fact that the husbands Of these wash
erwomcn enlisted TO be soldiers on the con-
diuon that their wives were To accompany
them into the army aud receive the resu-
lation allowances TO laundresscsl shades
of the mighty dead who unyieldingly
slaughtered each other Mt Leipsic and Be-
rodino, are you not proud Of our regular
army, ana do you not stretch out your
shndowy arms i'm fraternal longing to the
West Point warriors who rinse the mate
rial Of which their commands are made
out Of wash tubs. and hire women 10 get
men into the ranks and keep them there.
There Is a bowling on the border when
our troops change station, and the supply
Of transportation is insufficient for these
cradles, ana bedding. The rate OF deser-
ton Immediately runs up. In the fiscal year
1874 the descrtious from our little army
amounted to 4.G06 Times were harder
in the fiscal year 1870 and only 252C
of our soldiers thought they could
better their condition by running away
But when these lauudresses are left
r. behind by movement OF the troops
, their husbands almost invaria bly, de
scrt, unless their mates are chronic hal
pullers and termagants, from whom briel
: divorce is refreshment of spirit and resur.
rection Of hope. When German, French,
Russian, or Austrian army corps moves tC
fight, this wailing from wash tubs and
despairing sacrifice of soft soap does not
: thin the ranks nor enervate the march
Those troops wash their own and theil
comrades clothes by details in regular
turn. But they are enlisted to fight. OuT
, soldiers Of the infantry and artillery are
enlisted 10 furnish officers with commands
| Don't lose the distinction.
To recur to the injustice which brushes
the seamcn OF our navy. They should bt
= put on an equal footing with the soldiers
e Of the army. They should have laun
! dresses. On every man-of-war there
Z should be one washerwoman to every
y nineteen sailors. The navy washerwomar
should have n room for herself and som'
y one of her husbands, and place for hel
$ babes, full rations, and daily shore leave
j. We wonder that SUsAN ID. ANTHONY ha
z neglected this right of woman to wash OF
4 men-of-war. Tho example of her sister
L probably washing clothes in the army Ia
e been strangely lost on her. The eXampl,
5. of soldiers imI roved for fighting by havns
- laundhcsses to do their washing and mend
|, ing has glanced away from the gla-so o
II her yrtuous spectaclos. SUSAN, G.ld YOU
g ! irock aud 60 IN for mariue lauuqrcs ses