Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-08-04

IARI OE \ OF. I1lE 1 l. Rtt Ok NJ
Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.
LONDON, July 20. 1900.
Not long ago a celebrated French woman
who had been exploring the mysteries of
the Sahara reported that she had discov-
cred highly civilized Arab tribe, in which
the men not only tended the babies, but did
all the family washing, while the women
made the laws. And she brought back
photographs to prove 1t
Maybe that Arab tribe was forerunner
of a state of things for who think
We are most civilized, for it has been dis
covered in London, quite by accident. that
boys make better -vasherwomen than their
mothers and sisters. The discovery arose
from the effort Of a Church Army officer
over here to keep lot of young scallywags
out of mischief
The Church Army. which is only just be-
ginning tn be extended to the United
States. is great institution over here,
marching under the banner of the Church
of England and reaching the same class OF
people. in pretty much the same way that
the Salvation Army does. You might call
them rivals in d friendly fashion. one of
this army's lines of activity is to enlist bad
boys they come out OF JailS, WOrkl houses
ana such places. Keep tnsfn Tor tilflc, pro-
vide them with board and lodging, While
an attempt is being made to improve their
characters. and then get them into good
positions. The ages Of these boys range
from twelve to nineteen. Some OF them
are typical hard cases" and many are
first offenders. And with all Of them the
army does great things.
The Church Army has 1o2 homes, all
told where 1t keeps for time the men,
women and children it rescues from crime
and misery. In most of the homes set
apart for boys the youths were formerly
put to work cutting kindling wood or other
work of that sort. but the supply OF boys
presently exceeded the demand for the
work they were doing, and then 1t was that
the officer in charge of them nit upon the
laundry idea.
Made "OId Women of.
The women who formerly did all the
washing for the homes did 1t badly, AFTER
the manner Of London washerwomen, as
every visiting American Will wrathiully
testify They were slow, too, and putting
a garment into the wash was like putting
money into a lottery. You might get it
back with a lot of other things that didn't
b.Inng to YOU but the chances were in
favor of your never seeing 1t again Inc
officer figured out that as boys liked TO
dabble in water they might take to laundry
work rather better than one would sup
pose So he engaged a la0ndryman, set up
an assortment of tubs, manages, ironing
boards and boilers in one of the homes sit
uated on I.atimer road, and tried 1t on.
That was in last August, and the results
have proved rather surprising
Most of the boys, when first introduced to
the tubs. wringers and ironing boards,
grumbled a lot about being made old wo-
men Of" as they put it, but the Idea APP
pealed to them more on the whole than
slicinS hardwood into chips They regard
ed the work as a huge joke at first, and
spent most of their time splashing each
other literally, but before they knew 1t
they began to take real interest in doing
their work well. and really were fairly ex-
pert by the time the Church Army found
them Situa ions elsewhere.
OF course, the boys don't do fine work,
such as womens clothes and dainty things.
They don't bother with Women's clothes at
all. That is yet done by the women in the
female homes" whom the boys have to
certain extent, superseded. The boys most
" contne their efforts to rough work but
they can do up their linen and
those of the men and boys in the other
homes. That they are capable Of still
higher things or would quickly become so,
is proved by the cases of two or three boys,
who. through exceptional circumstances,
have been made assistant superintend
ents." and have thereby been enabled to
remain in the laundry for ten or twelve
months instead of the customary three.
In that time they have made so much
progress that not only are they to be trust
ed with the finest Of linen and dress"
shirts, but they have even aspired to lace
urains, and done them without flaw.
Captain Winson, the man in charge,
was questioned on the subject.
II am now sure that boys can do laundry
work better than women he said. 1T
stands to reason. In laundry work you
need strength. Watch a woman who is
ironing and see how she bears down on the
board She knows that the harder she
presses. the better. Take wrinSing. The
great difference between some laundries
and others is the amount of water their
people wiring out of, or leave in, the clothes.
A lusty boy Of seventeen or eighteen can
develop twice as much strength in his
wrist as a woman, and, having to wear
shirts and collars himself, he's apt to treat
them more respectfully. And, after all,
why not English laundrymen well as
Chinese?"
What the Boys Say.
Afterward I talked with one Of the boys.
He said: Give time at this lay and
I'll knock out any woman in the business,
shirts and all. 1 know how to look out
for buttonholes. do In his time this
excellent young man had looked OUT for
pocket books other than his own.
The home is rather small at present
Enlistment for the South African service
has been so great for a long time that
boys of any kind are scarce in London
just now. But though it is not a year
yet since the boy washerwomen' expert
ment was begun, already over seventy
boys have been trained as laundrymen
Most of them. feeling that the work makes
them appear rather foolish. don't consider
II seriously as a future profession but the
tendency to keep at 1t permanently is
growing steadily.
Their Fame Grows.
And, although they do no outside work
at ALL the fame of these youthful and
masculine "washerwomen" is growing
steadily. A few weeks ago the army ad-
vertised for still more boys to do laundry
work, and a that time Punch was in
spired to publish a cartoon upon the stu
alton. The latest development Is the re-
quest by prominent London laundry for
the services of several of the boys as soon
as they are ready to leave the home and
at least two of the boys who are now
there have definitely decided to cast their
lot in the washtub.
It's rare case in which even the mos
dissolute boy doesn't come out of the home
better citizen than when he went in