The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-04-19
MEN IN THE LAUNDRY.
To n Considerable Extent They Are
Taking the Place of WasherwOmen.

New York Times.
In many of the fashionable New York
houses the family washerwoman has been
superseded by the family washerman. He
goes to family for two or three days each
week, as the case may be, washes and
irons the family linen, and gets well paid
Tor II. This according to the manager of a
new method" laundry on the west side, is
because the washerman can get through
more work in less time than the washer
woman, and also because the men in the
family like the idea of having their shirts
done at home. Then, If there is any fault
to be found with torn buttonholes or with
designs ironed all crooked on a colored
shirt, the grumbling be done on the
premises.
This information was disclosed to a re-
porter by the new method man who had
advertised for perfect ironer of shirts. Z"
1t was specifically stated that mo women
need apply" Several women did, neverthe-
less, only to be sent away. The laundry is
in the heart of the west side boarding.
house district, and it's chief stock in trade
is the custom of men who are willing to
pay or cents more than the average
price in order to get their work done salts
factorily.
Very few women are strong enough to
iron a shirt" he said. "They cannot do it
any more than they can throw straight.
ironing is a very different business now
from what it was in the days of our ia
theirs. The high-grade colored shirt, with
its intricate designs and cuffs attached,
a man who knows his business. A poor
ironer will make the bosoms bulge up near
the collar, get the designs all askew and
make the straight stripes on the bosom
look as crooked as a BARRIERS pole. A great
deal depends on the dampening. Ironers
who are careless about this can never turn
out a dressy-looking shirt.
so far as the washing Is concerned, 1t
does not make any difference whether a
shirt has been worn one day or one week.
Just as much work is required on 1T. 1t is
ONLY who afford To he 1ihara
in their laundry bill who wear shirts with
cuffs attached They may be all right in
climate, particularly in the summer Still.
number of them come in with the week S
wash.
"A good man will iron about eighty high
grade shirts in days work, taking them
they come, white and colored. Some of
them will do this in seven or eight hours,
and others will take nine hours. There
are fast and slow men in this business as
in all others. When the number of shirts
allotted to them is done, their days work
is done. l have known men do one hundred
high-grade shirts in eight hours, but they
were after a record. No shirt ironer could
work steadily at that pace.
Cinnamon? Well, we don't consider them
in our class. But the poorest white man
ironer / ever saw can knock out the best
Chinese ironer. The Chinaman does every
thing in the reverse method of the Amer
lean, and shirt ironing is no exception. He
uses raw starch, and we don't: in fact his
whole system of shirt washing is entirely
different from ours. STILL he has qualities
that seem to please great many persons,
not the least among them being cheapness
1T is quite true that a number of New
York families prefer men to do their home
washing instead of women. But it is also
true that many good shirt ironers are un-
able to handle the lighter garments as well
as women, and that they are glad to gel
back to shop work. Sometimes the family
washerman is hired exclusively by the fam
lily. Others are sent by laundry firms who
do family washing by contract, and who
houses and hotels the old-fashioned family
washboard and tub are altogether things
of the past. They have been replaced by
machinery and steam driers. which mer
can handle better than women