The Kinsley graphic. [volume] (Kinsley, Kan.) 1890-1940, 1903-05-22
WASHING DONE BIZ MEN.
wealthy New York Families Employ
Them in Preference to Women
for Laundry Work.

| In many of the fashionable New
fork houses the family washerwo-
man has been superseded by the fam
| lily 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
for 1t This, according to the mar
ager OF new method" laundry on
the West side, is because the washer
man can get through more work in
less time than the washerwoman, 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 can be
done on the premises.
| This information was disclosed to
q reporter of the New York Times by
the new method man who had adj
vertised' for perfect ironer of
shirts 1t was specifically stated
that mo women need apply" Sever
al women did, nevertheless, only to
be sent away. The laundry is in the
heart of the West side boarding house
, district, and its chief stock in trade
! is the custom of men who are willing
to pay two or three cents more than
the average price in order to get
their work done satisfactorily
Every few women are strong
enough to iron a shirt he said.
They cannot do it any more than
they can throw straight. Their
| shoulders are not built for it, Shirt
ironing is very different business
now from what it was in the days OF
our fathers. The high-grade colored
| shirt, with it's intricate designs and
! cuffs attached, must be handled not
| only by man, but by 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 barber
| pole. A great deal depends on the
| dampening. Ironers who are care
| less about this can never turn out a
dressy-looking shirt.
$50 far as the washing is concerned,
| it does not make any difference
whether a shirt has been worn one
| day or one week. Just as much work
| is required on it. 1t is only men who
can afford to be very liberal in their
/ laundry bill who wear shirts with
cuffs attached. They may be all right
in England, but they are not suitable
| to the. climate, particularly in the
| summer. Still, number of them
! come in with the weeks wash.
ga good man will iron about SO
high-grade shirts in a days work.
taking them as 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 theft
days work is done. 1 have known
men to do 100 high-grade shirts III
eight hours, but they were after a
record. No shirt ironer could work
steadily at that pace.
"Chinamen? Well, we don't consid.
| er them in our class. But the poorest
white man ironer I eyer saw can
| knock out the best Chinese ironer.
| The Chinaman does everything in the
reverse method of the American, 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
a great many persons, not the least
among them being cheapness.
cit is quite true that number OF
New York families prefer men to dc
their home washing instead of wo.
men. But it is also true that many
good shirt ironers are unable to han
die the lighter garments as well as
women, and that they are glad to get
back to shop work. Sometimes the
family washerman is hired exclusive.
ly by the family. Others are sent by
laundry firms who do family washing
by contract, and who prefer men to
women. But in large private houses
and hotels the old-fashioned family
dashboard and tub are altogether
things of the past. They have been
replaced by machinery and steam
driers, which men can handle better
I