Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1896-11-26
l.ONDON'S WASHING.
Nearly All Is Done at 5000 Steam and
Electric Laundrles.


Electric Laundrles
The satircal literature of the second
and third quarters of the nineteenth
century is thick with shafts leveled
against three pet grievances of the mid
die class of those years of gracc--name-
~, cold mutton, mothers-in-aw, and
the miseries of washing day. Since that
bcnighted period the chef Of commerce
has discovered at least so ways of spoil
ing wholesome good mutton; mothers
in-law we have still with us--though
not necessarily in the form of nnisances
while the miseries of washing day
have been so far mitigated by machin-
cry as to be reduced to the rank Of a
minor inconvenience. Indeed, washing
day has been banished from all but
comparatively humble homes, and the
Mora fortunate householder sends the
family linen to be treated at a huge
steam laundry, where the heat is pro-
duced by electricity and the elaborate
engines are driven by electricity. Lon
don and the suburbs contain about 5000
laundries of different kinds, with an
invested capital of e6,0OO,0OO to GT,-
100000. The very largest employ from
zoo to 500 hands, representing a turn
over of from $500 to e700 per wock.
These monster laundries, in rrckoring
their expenses and profits, allow so per
cent. for labor, per cent. for fuel and
materials, and AZ per cent. for the cost
OF and deterioration in machinery, rent,
taxes, rates, management and a return
on capital employed. In cities and
large towns the time appears to have
passed forever when n copper in the
back kitchen, washing tub, n cor
rugated board and a few fat irons
we're deemed sufficient stock -in-trnde
for first-class laundress; and the
large laundries, springing up with the
celerity of mushroom growth. declare
that in washing clothes hand labor
cannot compare for cleanliness and
economy of means to an end with ma
chinery. 1t is not, therefore, surpris-
Ing 20 find laundry, engineering and
sanitary exhibition-the fourth of it's
kind-fourishing exceedingly at the
Agricultural hall, Islington.
All the wide floor space is given o, er
10 machinery in motion, ironing ma
chimes, air-propellers, hydro-extroct-
ors, disinfecting, tumbling and separnt-
Ing machines, portable boilers, fans for
ventilating and drying purposes, pres
suro washing machines, improved blow.
ers, gas irons, wash tub ranges, steep
Ing, rinsing and blueing tanks, dry.
ing horses, ironing stoves, smokeless
combustion furnaces, artesihn wells,
and soap and soda, lime, starch end
blue of every aspect, quality and price
Enthusiasts in the hall proudly beast
that there is hardly an engireer OF
chemist of consequence, practicing two
callings in these islands, not engaged
in working out some process or Other
connected with the laundry trade. And
all this invention, talent and enterprise
is essentially of modern growth. tap
pears to have reached maturity withir
the past dozen years or so, necessitated
In the first place, by factory acts, ant
encouraged to its liveliest manifesto
tions by the public health act of 1891
These intelligent custodians Of whirl
ing, hydro-extractors and American
shirt starchers will tell you that wash
ing was never properly done until now
that the old--or, rather, yonng-Pa
risian blanchisseuse was not much bet
ter than bungler, and that the prett,
English laundrymaid of the long ng'
could not be trusted nowadays to prop
erly wash n pocket handkerchief. They
at least, have no belief in the CONT
mental rustic washerwoman dabblint
the family wash in clear and IunniIs
stream. The surroundings may be pic
turesque-the grass green, the poplar
bending to the wind, the upland fni
with patches of sunlight and mcin,
cloud shadows-but, from their cast
iron and revolving band point of view
the result is xecrable.-London Tele
graph.