The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-06-18

overseeing a house where the guests
alone number daily from 100 to So0,
and in times of rush will nearly dou-
BILE that number. Then the employees
to be cared for will number up into the
hundreds. The discipline of the work
ers while on duty is very strict. Cham
bernaids and scrub girls go ION watch"
and 'trelieye" each other at certain
hours and everything is done by clock
work Promptly at each morning the
housemaids report to the linen room for
duty and the housekeeper is always
there to say Good n orning" to them
a necessary precaution, if she desires
to have the work begin promptly.
Eighteen bedrooms constitute an aver
age for one maid, but the number va
res according to the size of the rooms.
Work is usually finished about 3 o'clock
and the girls have the time then to do
as they choose until 6, when a number
of them go ION watch until IL p. ms
and one stays until midnight. AS a
girls turn to go on evening watch only
comes about once a week, she is free
most of the time from p. m. until the
next morning.
The parlor maids are promoted cham
bermaids, the best maid getting the
coveted place when there is vacancy.
But, as in other lines of business there
are fewer changes among the higher
priced girls than among the others. The
parlor maid only works six hours day
and gets about SIS month. Board
| and room are included, as in private
families. But as they are step above
the chambermaids, so the latter are
above the paint cleaners. These are the
young girls-the probationers-and they
scrub woodwork all day. The girls who
do the hardest work are the scrub girls
They are in charge of the head cleaner
and are on their knees scrubbing the
marble and mosaic floors for nine hours
| each day Only Poles and Bohemia rs
do this kind of work and they have no
competition. No other nation could
stand the heavy work. They go on
watch at a. m. and remain until 10
a. m. and they are constantly chang
| ing, for, as one housekeeper put it,
"they are always getting married." and
| few reach the age of 25 in the state of
single blessedness. These girls receive
| S14 month, with room and board.
| One of the most important institu-
| tons in a hotel is the laundry and the
amount of washing done is enormous.
| No matter what the guests habits may
| be elsewhere, at the hotel he is paying
| his money, and he wants his money
worth. Resident and transient guests
are alike in this, and as a result an
| average of 800 beds will be furnished
| daily with clean linen and the towels
used are beyond numbering. Besides
| the linen every curtain in the establish
ment is sent to the laundry every two
/ or three weeks and the heavy blankets
on the beds must be frequently washed.
In addition, the laundry for the guests
will often average from 81, 400 to 81, 500
per month. Men. work the washing ma
| chimes, but girls do the rest of the
work, and they have no watch" they
| work until they are through, be it early
or late. The wages paid are also very
| uneven, as the skilled shirt ironers
| make much more than the mangle
girls. With such constant washing the
linen quickly wears out and a number
| of sewing girls are engaged constantly
in making sheets, pillow cases, table
cloths and napkins, and'in darning.
What becomes of the worn out art
icles? The linen room will probably
have from 5000 to 1000 sheets and as
many pillow cases constantly on hand
These are used for rags. Old blankets
come in handy for polishing floors. But
the WORKOUT carpets are a regular
source of revenue. In a first-class no.
tel, where the rooms are large and the
carpets only half worn when discard
ed, there is much that is practically as
good as new. Many people know Of
this and watch for the annual sale OF
old carpets to refurnish their owl
| homes