The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-07-29
TOWEL SUPPLY NAV sCOLDS.
Gives the once Girl Some About Information
the Extent Of the B~asiness.

Tho young man whose person was swathed
IN an impenetrable bandase composed Of
mulutudinous towels stuck one hand out Of
his linen prison and shook q sample OF his COL
lection ieroely toward the young woman sit
ting before the typewriting machine. DO
you know what II Is on this towel2" he asked.
The young woman looked sharply at the
multi -colored stains that had broken out like
a virulent rash on the saffron surface OF the
towel In question. 1t looks like ink she
hazarded.
And that's what It is said the man. Red
fink. black ink. blue ink. green Ink. How'd
1t get there?"
The young woman squirmed uneasily. MY
goodness" she said. How should l known
I didn't put II there"
The man ceased to wave his war flag and
held aloft a clean towel as a sign OF truce. I'm
glad to hear that, he said. Il thought mebbe
you did know. ! thought mebbe you put It
there yourself, You girls seem 20 think towels
are made Just for s~training Ink and such things.
My, oh. my, the uses that ofioe towels are
put to. Bootblscks use them to polish shoes.
scrub women take them for foorcloths and
dustrags. and you girls use them for blot
ters, spon9es, machine rags and general utility
purposes. Sometimes one OF you will try to
wrigsle out when accused Of the mischief
you've done. but It's no use TO ornwfish TO me.
can tell the guilty one every pop. Its fun.
when cornered. Why. there was a Young
woman up on the sixth floor Of this building
who ran out of work the other day. and what
did she do but dabble the office towels around
IN a puddle OF purple Ink for a pastime.. When
] came around on my collecting tour ! asked
her about IT, And what do you suppose she
she had had the nosebleed and had used all
those towels to wtpe her nose on. Wouldn't
that jar your You ought TO have heard mo
taste. Holy smokel'. said l. You've got
the funniest oolored blood l ever saw And
It's Il wonder TO me- said j. that YOU didn't
much blood as this at one time The sirl
had backbone and wouldn't own up. but |
knew all those purple spots were ink just as
IF you girls knew the FIRST thing ABOUT the
towel supply business. the man went on In. an
aggrieved tone. you would be more careful.
you a few statistics as a moral guidance. The
towels npM : mart Material rGi ' that. s'S With orainar g'0 usage sass
an Office towel is subjected 20, Is worn into
tatters In three months, Somehow. shoe poll
ish and ink will eat holes right through the
5000 towels a month that means 100000 in
three months. Now, II you girls would be reas-
onably careful, those .2i0,o0 towels would last
a year. easily, but with your reckless, %extrava-
giant ways, we have to lay in n new stock iour
times n year, which brings the figure close up
20 l,OOO,OO towels that We have 10 make every
twelve months. And that, mind you. Is the
number handled by one firm. alone. When
you multiply that by the dozen or more other
concerns In the same business, you have Z total
Of at least II. 600. 900 towels that are destroyed
every year by the indiscrimlnats and even
criminal use OF ink and shoe backing. Some
times I think you girls must be In league with
the linen mills and that YOU get n rake-or for
running towels so. they can get a chance
to sell us towel folks i2,o0o,o0o yards Of goods
each year instead of 3,oOO.0OO yards, which No
could get along with II YOU girls were not so
destructive and would do the right thing by us. .
The girl at the type-writing machine turned
pale.
"Oh, dear" she said, Il had no idea that the
tic proportions. | feel for all the world like a
thief Or a murderer. III fwniah my own tow,