The times., 1898-10-23
BLUE MON cay CURE.
Steam Lnundries Have vanquished
the Horrors of Washing.

the hOrTOrs OF wubnlnK.
Several big concerns do the bulk of
each great city's work, these being divid-
ed into trough dry" fiat work. and COL
lar and cuff laundries. The fiat work
requires entire factory buildings with
hundreds of employees. Their work is col
lected principally from hotels, steam
ships saloons. and restaurants by wagon
loads, and in many places is finished up
at the rate of 1000 pieces day. A
steamships tablecloths sheets, towels,
etc. are frequently received and delivered
clean within two or three hours time I'm
proved machinery has revolutionized this
work, and 1t is now done on wholesale
basis. for. whereas twelve years ago Is
cents was charged for one sheet, a hum
dred are now washed and ironed in these
establishments for 10 cents, or 100 towels
for 40 cents.
The rough dry" laundries collect gen.
eral household work from hundreds of
small laundries and agencies around
town. This central business has so de-
veloped that only the collars and cuffs are
accepted by some. as there is more profit
in them and smaller machinery required.
Twenty-Five thousand shirts is not an un-
common weeks work for great rough
dry" laundries, and this means at least
ments with each shirt
Since the first steam laundry was start
ed in 1858 the Patent Office has been be-
sieged with thousands of labor wing de-
vices for all branches of laundry work
Electricity is largely employed in the
most recent of these. and, in fact laun-
dries are now using 1t for their motive
power and in heating irons, etc. One of
the leading machinists in the trade states
that as soon as its success is understood
electricity will be used exclusively in
some of the works, for running the ma
chinery. heating the dryrooms. mangle
rollers. the irons, cooking stoves-even for
bleaching. as well as lighting and heat
ing the buildings.
There are. too, some wonderful ma
chimes in use which are kept from the
public eye, and others that are expected
to work wonders when put into operation.
One Of these is a combination Of ironing
machines in which a rough shirt is auto
matically ironed, the bands and bosom
polished, and the shirt folded up ready for
delivery. Another man claims to have a
machine which will wash, dry, starch.
and iron pieces without any rehandling.
As result of Yankee ingenuity in this
line, our laundry machinery is being used
In all parts of the world
Notwithstanding the improved ma
chimes already used. 1t may surprise
many to know that our collars and cuffs
are handled twenty times in the improved
laundry Gor cents). shirts fifteen times.
and other articles proportionateiy less.
A brief description of the workings of a
rough dry plant will explain this point
From the collecting wagons the work
is piled up before a clerk for entry
after which a private, symbolic mark is
put on each agency's work. A sorter
next distributes the various articles.
quantities of which are conveyed to the
washing machines The latest models
wash as many as say 800 shirts at once.
The work is put in divisions of the inner
perforated cylindrical roller. which. con-
nected with the driving pulley is auto
matically rolled around, first one way.
then the other, the suds being forced
through the clothes as they continually
fall Twenty minutes suffices to cleanse
them. when the suds is run of and clean
water substituted for rinsing
From the washers the dripping clothes
are packed in so-called centrifical
''wringers." These are shaped like large
tubs, their sides are full of small holes
and they are fitted into iron stands of the
same shape. but larger. The clothes are
packed in. covered over and the power
turned on. revolving the inner tub a
times a minute. The rapidity of move
ment forces the water to the sides,
through the holes. to a wastepipe. and
in twelve minutes they are effectually
squeezed dry. with buttons. trimmings,
etc, intact. Ten thousand pieces a day
can be wrung out by each one of these
machines, which were invented and used
originally for extracting sirup from
sugar.
AS the clothes are somewhat entwined
when taken out, they are next put into
shake-out machines. These are simply
clean cylinders turned by power, In which
they roll until each piece is free, thus
preventing hand shaking and pulling
pieces apart.
The clothes are now hung on clean bars
and pushed into narrow closets extending
in rows, steam-heated to about 200 de-
grees. where they dry in from fifteen to
twenty minutes. They are hung so that
they may be removed by the armfull.
Starching. which comes next. is also done
by machines of various types. The shirt