Waterbury evening Democrat., 1903-05-16
MEN DO THE WASHING
They Are Preferred to Women in
 Rich New York Families.
Acknowledged to Be Much superlox to Women Ironers-AS High aSOne Hundred Shirts Done
 in Eight Hours.

Tn many of the fashionable New York houses the family washerwo- man has been superseded by the fam fly washerman. He goes to a family for two or three days each week, as the case may be, washes and irons the family linen, and gets we'll paid for it. This, according to the man. 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 theidea of having their shirts done at home. Then, if there is any fault to be found with. torn buttonholes or colored shirt, the grumbling can be done on the premises.
 This information was disclosed to a reporter of the New York Times by the new method" man who had ad- vertised for @ perfect ironer of shirts" It 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.
 "Very few women are strong enough to iron 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 igh-grade colored shirt, with its intricate designs and cuffs attached, must be handled not only by man, but by 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 barber's pole A great deal depends on the dampening. Ironers who are care less about this can never turn out a dressy-looking shirt.
 "So far as the washingis 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. It 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.
 NA cpn07 roon uiI1 3r0y, al high h-grade shirts in a days work, taking them as they come, white and colored. Some of them will do this Tn 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 day's work is done. I have known men to do 100 high-grade shirts in eight hours, but they were after record. No shirt ironer could work steadily at that pace.
 "Chinamen? We'll, we don't consid- CT them in our class. But the poorest white man ironer I ever saw can knock out the best Chinese ironer. The Chinaman does everything in the
 
 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.
 Ut is quite true that number of New York families prefer men to do their home washing instead of wo- men. But it is also true that many good shirt ironers are unable to ham, dle the lighter garments as we'll 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 washboard and tub are altogether things of the past. They have been replaced by machinery and steam differs, which men can handle better than women"