The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1903-07-01
WASHING FOR OCEAN LINERS.
1t Is Work That Calls for High-Powe8
Laundry Machinery and Must Be
Quickly Done.


Handling the wash" for ocean
liners, dining and sleeping cars and
restaurants has now become a dis
tlnctive branch of modern laundry
work, and calls for high power ma
ohinery, expensive washing equipment,
and perfect organization, saws the
New York Times. From the old-fash-
Toned round tub, the fluted dashboard,
the wringer, and the force of hui
man arm and the fatiron, to the re.
volving washer, the centrifugal water
extractor, and the steam-driven man
gle, is a long step, and though the
former are still in use, they are really
the weapons of a civilization that ex-
listed when the world moved slower
than we of the present day are won't
to travel. In this connection one may
point to the Chinaman, who. because
he has not kept pace with modern ideas
and improvements, is gradually losing
his identity as the laundryman, of the
people, and must ultimately be driven,
from the washtub to other fields of
activity.
The modern laundry has reduced the
washing Of clothes and household
linen to an exact science, and while
one may question its reliability as re-
CARDS the handling of delicate fab
RIGS, 1T is marvellous time-saver, and
this very feature is the one which ap-
peals to the average American. 1t is
not difficult to imagine how the "wash"
OF the household can be "done up"
quickly, but when it comes to hand
ling the numerous pieces used by the
1000 people who compose the crew of
the passengers of an ocean greyhound,
the subject gains interest. The proc
ess. though simple, is the result Of
much study.
When transatlantic liner, with, say,
1000 people on board, reaches port, the
"wash" quickly follows the passengers
ashore. Its size depends upon the
number of passengers it carried, and
the length of the voyage. It may range
from 5000 to $4,000 pieces, consisting
mainly of sheets, table cloths, napkins,
towels, etc. This, to use laundry
~.
matters little to the laundryman. His
first move is to sort the pieces-the
counting is done when they are tied
into bundles to be returned.
The separate lots are put into wash
ers holding solution of soap and wa
ter and bluing, heated by live steam.
The washer is large stationary cylin-
der, containing a smaller perforated
cylinder, which revolves first to the
right and then to the left stated num-
Der of times, so that the linen is tossed
from side to side, and receives the ben
EFT or all the water that is forced
through the perforations. After the
washing is completed, the pieces are
placed in the extractor, and then by
centrifugal force nearly every drop Of
moisture is whirled out of them. Thd
operation consumes about Is minutes,
and then they are ready for the man
gle, or, in other words, ready to be
ironed-the final process.
The bed of the mangle is a steel
steam-heated chamber, over which re-
volve several rollers. covered with
''SSA o1N ai OoosAdC JdChCl Ol CANVAS,
which is waxed to prevent the fabrics
from sticking to the machine and be-
coming wrinkled or torn The table.
cloths, or towels, as the case may be,
are fed into one side of the machine,
travel under the rollers, and then are
carried to the under side of the bed
on sheet, which, when the edge of the
bed is reached, drops them into an
other sheet for conveyance to the
women folders on the opposite side to
which they originally started. In
cases where starch must be used, the
fabrics are placed in dry air cham
Der, and afterwards dampened before
they are fed to the mangles.
Some pieces can be washed, wrung,
and ironed in 80 minutes, while others
take one and half hours The wash"
from an ocean liner is usually returned
within "a hours, but when necessity
arises the work can be finished in less
than third of that time. Some of
the laundries handling steamship and
railroad work have weekly capacity
of 100000 pieces, and the business has
become SO well systematized that hard
~ one piece is lost or misplaced, and
few require a second cleansing.