, 1885-04-29
IN A BIG LAUNDRY.
WASHING AND IRONING DONE EN-
TlRELY BY MACHINERY.
Great Building. Given Up to the business
The Faonities TO Withstand a
Rush-TaIks with a Manager
system

New York Times.l
Like everything else, washing and ironing
hove developed into "A business OF consider
able size and Importance. The washer
woman nowadays has to compete with ma
chinsry and steam power. The washtub be-
comes a huge revolving drum, the wringing
machine n centrifugal dryer, the clothes line
In the backyard Il frame in a drying box,
and the ~flAtiron IN iron roller six feet in
length In buildings rising story upon story
I'M entire floor Is devoted to each branch Of
the work. The bundles are gathered by
covered wagons, and hundreds OF women
and girls are employed in the various
branches A days stock OF linen in a big
hotel can DO wa.hed, dried, and ironed in
six hours Every week day is wash day in
u big laundry, and in the middle OF the
summer season work is carried on during
half of Sunday. In a big laundry on the
west side OF town the managers office is as
comfortable and neatly furnished rs that of
a wholesale dry goods merchant Tho man
ager is a man OF business, having dealings
with hotel proprietors and the agents of
steamship and steamboat lines and palace
car companies. The plant cost more than
$4,000 and the concern Is under -the control
OF a stock company. It has facilities for
turning out 1900 pieces OF linen in a day.
The company has built IA tall, deep, we'll
Lighted, and well ventilated building of
brick with stone trimmings One 100-horse
power engine and two 200-horse power boil
ers furnish the power and the steam and hot
water.
"A lnundry is the poorest place in the
world to show the use of money the man
ager remarked in the course Of n general
talk about tho business. "More than $780,
900 in hard money have been spent in this
laundry, but If | should take a business man
through here and tell him what it cost he
would not believe me. The cost OF the steam
pipes that are out OF sight in boxes was inn
mense, and wood was not a small item. We
must AVE the best OF dried lumber for the
drying boxes. Then come the washing ma
chimes and ironing machines. OF course we
are not working up to our limit all the time,
but we must be ready for a rush any day in
summer We do the work of city hotels,
ocean steamships, river and sound steam
boat, and the Pullman Palace Car com
pany. Our biggest job lately was the linen
Of the sleeping cars that took 10 and brought
from Washington the Inauguration crowd.
With trains going out every two hours we
had to be lively in order to furnish a stock
OF clean linsn- Besides using our own
wagons we had to hirs wagons to collect and
deliver the bundles. We do a little piece
work, but we don't cater to that trade.
Doing up now linen is another distinct
branch Of tho business and we do nothing
with that Some laundries do that and
nothing more and they have built up a fine
business with furnishing houses. There are
other big laundries that have only piece
work They get the collars, cuffs and shirts
supposed by many persons to be sent TO
Troy. Tn Troy laundry that you sec on
the sign boards OF furnishing and some dry
goods stores Is really in New York. Years
ago collars and cuffs were sent TO Troy.
Several large manufactures Of collars and
cuffs are there, and when it used to cost rs
cents a dozen to have collars and cuffs
washed and ironed here they got the work
because they could do it cheaper. But that
work is done here now.
In the rear of the office, half Of the floor
was given 10 the receiving and delivering OF
bundles, and the rest to washing machines.
On the floor were piles of dirty linen, some
comparatively clean and others Extensively
dirty. They were collected in big canvas
bags marked with the name of the hotel or
steamship. The linen is assorted and piled
according 10 the degree of uncleanliness.
The dirtiest piles come from the kitchens.
Each collection is washed, dried, and ironed
separately, and each assortment Is washed
separately, a special washing machine tax
ing the dirtiest. Along the sides of the
room were big wooden iron-strapped drums
reaching nearly to the ceiling, with lines of
iron pipes on top and underneath. In the
AAAAo1A0 VI wv NoA0 mann
washing machines, and back of them
were three centrifugal driers revolving at
the rate of 800 times a minute. In
the big drums are two revolving cylinder
with arms that work in opposite directions.
Soap is bought In casks by the 100 pounds,
and when ready for use is melted and in q
condition to be Immediately taken up by the
water. Through openings in the big drums
pieces OF linen are thrown as a farmer
throws hay. One set of arms catches them
and throws them about When they fall
another set catches them and shakes them
About $50 sheets or / 900 napkins and towels
can be washed In each drum. For the
dirtiest linen special soap and sal soda are
used. The pieces tumble about and the dirt
falls out and is carried away through pipes.
In the smaller washing machines the pieces
are thrown into a cylinder of perforated
iron that turns a few times one way and then
reverses. The revolutions must be AZ a GER
tain speed to insure thorough washing.
When washed tho pieces are packed in tho
upright centrifugal drying machines, from
the sides to the axle. When the machines
are in motion the water files out and the
clothes gradually shrink away from the con-
tire and pack themselves solidly against the
sides. The machines can be run up TO 1000
revolutions a minute. but it is not considered
necessary. The pieces are not thoroughly
dried in the machines, but sufficiently 50 10
be handled. They are sent up in elevators
20 the drying boxes. The floor Of the wash
room is as wet as the deck OF a ship, and the
plank have TO be laid and calked like those
Of a ship. In the stories above are fifteen
ironing machines, with rollers from five TO
six feet in length, heated by steam and gas
In the drying boxes the heat is so great that
pieces OF linen are dried in eight minutes
The pieces are put on long frames, that are
run through the boxes, and by the time one
end OF a frame is reached the pieces on the
other end are ready to be taken of.
Conclusion does the washing the man
ager explained. There must be some fall
to clothes 10 knock the dirt out 1t cannot
10 thrown out by centrifugal force and it
cannot be beaten out The constant tum-
bling about Is the only sure method. Ironing
is the longest part OF the work, because each
piece has to DO handled separately. Collars,
cuffs. and all plain pieces are ironed by ma
chinery, but shirts are ironed by hand.
There are some men who iron shirts but
most OF them are graduates of state prison
IL is easy enough to keep track Of all the
pieces by having a system. We give an en-.
tire floor to the work for tho Pullman COM
pany, and by making q separate job Of each
lot that comes from a hotel or a steamship
We know where we stand. We charge so
much for 100 pieces for a big lot and every
bundle that comes in this morning goes out
- morrow morning"