The herald., 1898-02-06
MYSTERIES or TflE STEAM LAUNDRY
How Your Clothes Are Washed-The Complicated Processes
Of Machinery and Hand

curved board to iron and polish the
bosoms.
STARCHING SHIRTS
But the shirts before they are ready
for these various machines must be put
through the starching process, which
takes one pair of hands and a machine
for that especial purpose. Then the
bosom is spread out on a board and
massaged by another pair of hands un-
til the various layers of cloth are fiat
and smooth. Then it is subjected to the
drying process again, and after that
dampened before it is ready for ironing.
After it has been put through all the
machines mentioned, all of which are
run by different girls, the bosom has
been polished, the little ornamental
! flaps in front have been loosened from
the rest of the bosom with an iron paper
! cutter, and hand machine has punched
the dried starch out of the stud hole or
holes, a small hand iron is applied to
| finish the shirt at the neck and press it
! down on either side of the bosom, and at
| last it goes to the table where girl puts
| in the small studs that hold the two
sides of the neck band together, folds
| the whole thing and pastes around it
the paper strap made for the purpose.
COLLARS AND CUFFS
The treatment of collars and cuffs is
almost as elaborate. They are separate
ly massaged while still wet with starch;
again dried, then dampened and passed
through the ironing machine, then
through another, to give them the curve
of neck and wrist. Wherever they are
turned over a dampened line is drawn
| 70
machine presses them down and into
shape. Each one of these treatments is
administered by a different sirl whose
hands are kept flying all day long.
Even as the hannels are kept things
apart down stairs, so are they in the
realm above Machinery is not used
with them, but good buxom women WELD
| the hand iron over their PROSTATE forms
| and they comprise every known make
and size and style from the respectable
union suit of materfamlias to the be-
ribboned and re-ribbed apology for
warmth that belongs to Mile Societe.
Then the socks and stockings! all COL
| ors, all sizes, and-Sad to relate-all
conditions of servitude are brisllly pat
ted and pulled into shape; yawning
chasms of holes are deftly drawn to-
gether, ironed fiat and the abrasions
folded inside out of sight and stacked
away.
Infants clothes and lingerie are also
manipulated without the help of ma
chimes. A large force of women, flat
irons of different weights and boards Of
varying sizes are the combination which
reduce the most refractory and elabor-
ate concoction to smooth and spotless
perfection.
IRON EGGS"
The modern sleeve demanded a spe-
cial invention, and got it in the shape
of an egg. Every well equipped laun-
dry now has a nest of eggs, some as big
as those of the ostrich, others as small
as a hens egg. The former are used for
) women's sleeves, the latter for those in
babies dresses. These eggs fit on the
top of a vertical standard through which
: runs the gas pipe and the jet being light
ed inside the hollow metal egg produces
a hot iron over which the sleeve is
dropped and drawn this way and that,
until every gather has been pressed,
every inch of the surface smoothed.
Children's sun bonnets, chefs caps and
babies hoods are all ironed by this
means. Verify, indeed, is necessity the
mother of invention even to use for
iron eggs.
MEMBERS
There is one thing more that every
self-respecting laundry has in it's rep
ertoire and that is mending table. Ma
chimes that will darn as we'll as sew,
needles and thread, buttons, tape, and
: patience, all these are brought constant
ly into use by the women that have ev-
: low nrat Dfr nj tanr Il
of raggedness thrust at them from one
direction or another during every day.
And they draw the line at nothing-but
, stockings.As long as there is anything
to sew to, these good women mend.
BRAINS AND MUSCLE
So it goes. All day long, every day
| but Sunday, from so to so girls and wom-
en- work in each of these seven or eight
, steam laundries here, doing all
but the heaviest work, standing
for the most part, using theil
brains as we'll as their muscles
| for 1t is anything but an easy matter to
manipulate the multifarious articles of
clothing through the intricacies of the
5 various machines.
; And after one has watched the process
a number of times in the various laun-
QrleS anu mas Deen impressed with the
| effort each individual worker is making
s to do her best and again With the care
, which has been taken in perfecting the
I machinery that the least possible dam
age may be done to the clothes, one is
t inclined to the opinion that perhaps af-
ter all there are other things more try
I ing to ones purse and ones temper than
: the under-rated and over-abused steam
, laundry.
! EVA MITCHELL COOK.