Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1883-12-10
MINNEAPOLIS. STEAM LAUNDRY.

Established scisA a Capital Of 81 Ia, 1877.
and No,c the oldest. the Largest and the
Nest Prosperous Institution an the City.
Yesterday afternoon GLOBE represent
alive sauntered into the Office .of the Min
neapolis Steam laundry, at 2O9 and 211
Second street south, of which Meagher
Bros, are proprietors, and on expressing a
desire of going through the establishment,
"Jem," the senior number Of the firm,
readily agreed to accompany the GLOBE
man and explain to him the manner of
handling the goods for washing,
from the moment they enter the works
until they are delivered to their owners.
James o. F. Meagher is st. Paul boy,
who formerly folded papers in the GLOBE
Office, and to his own exertions, indomita-
BILE will and strict attention to business is
due the fact that he runs to-day in Min.
neapolis the largest, the completess and
most prosperous steam laundry in the city.
In 1877 he started a small laundry at 26
Second street south, with only $3.50 to in
vest as capital. He pulled off his coat
and went to wash and iron, became a util-
ity man in general, and gave his patrons
such satisfaction that his trade
increased and after the lapse of a year
and half it had grown to such proper
tons that he took his brother az partner in
the business. A year ago he removed to
his present gu arters and since then he has
established several branch Offices in the
city, and is now employing thirty eight
ladies and nine men who work ten hours
per day. He has four delivery wagons
constantly on the streets, one of which is
wash boiler wagon of his own invention
for which he has obtained a patent. This
wagon is an ingenious continuance which
attracted much attention when first
used. But to return to the laundry. The
goods are first delivered at the Office from
which they are taken to a marking room
where each article is marked by four young
ladies, either by numbers, signs or names.
The clothes are put in three piles and are
graded clean, medium and dirty. From
the marking room the articles are sent by
means of dummy to room on the Gee
ond floor, 33x100 feet, and thence to the
washroom where there are five large Cam
bridge washers, each of which is capable
OF washing one hundred and fifty shirts in
one hour and twenty minutes. Here they
are washed and rinsed in the machines.
The principle of washing them is in drop
ping the clothes into the suds. The ineide
cylinder of the washers is perforated to
allow the suds in the clothes to drop
through, and by the revolution of the ma
chine the suds escape from the interior of
the cylinder to the outside of it. The
clothes are then placed in a centrif-
ugal extractor" making eighteen
hundred revolutions per minute.
The extractor is a reyoIy-
ing cup with perforated sides and works
on the principle that the water being heav-
Ter than the lin n forces its way
through the sides of this contrivance,w which
acts as wringer and leaves the clothes
perfectly dry and without the least moist
ure.'
All starched linen is taken from this ma
chine and starched, and the collars and
cuffs are starched In a machine appropri-
eted to these article alone and which is
known as the"collar and cuff starcher.n The
shirts are starched by five young ladies
that work by the piece and earn on an av-
erage So per week. The cuffs and collars
and linen shirts are then "dampened
down" and conveyed to the ironing room,
where they are ironed by ironing machines,
there being two machines for ironing shirts
and two for ironing cuffs.
The collar and cuff and shirt ironing
machines are heated by gas. After the
collars and cuffs are ironed they are
brought to shaping machine" and when
tbs shirts are ironed they are folded by
young ladies and shaped up" The
sheets, pillow cases, slips, socks, towels,
napkins, handkerchiefs, ETC.. CO., are put
into a mangling machine after they leave
the extractor" or ringer and are there
heated by steam. Four little girls are con-
s!antly employedin feeding the "mangler"
which gives to the goods suberb finish