Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-12-31

her by mopping It; the dust is fiecked off
furniture, woodwork and walls by woman
with a big buster; Il second porter gathers
up the waste that has been swept into a
pile by a third woman: while the window
cleaner, man, hooks the ends of the thick
leather belt fastened about his waist to
stout iron staples driven in the outside
window casing, and. planting his feet
the sill, nonchalantly. though swiftly, for
he has scores of windows to clean, shines
the plate glass if he were standing upon
terra firma Instead of upon a narrow strip
of wood bundled feet or more up in the
air.
Done in Jiffy.
There's deal of cleaning to be done,
but it's done in jiffy-perhaps in ten. per-
maps fifteen or twenty minutes, according
TO the size of the office A squad of clean
ers, well-trained and disciplined, can put in
apple-pie order in about fifteen minutes a
much Uttered office, with floor surface equal
to that of the average seven-story house,
and think nothing of it.
IN this fashion the janitor's corps of
cleaners snatch chances to work from ,
till 4 o'clock. Then they quit. because
good cleaning cannot be done by electric
light and resume where they left off at
6 o'clock the next morning working in a
mad whirl of dust and debris for three
hours, when the advance guard of tenants
sends them scurrying. but not before every
office has been made fresh and clean for
the days work.
In this short space of five hours they
do great deal more than put the offices
shipshape. The corridors are cleaned and
to clean corridor in a skyscraper is no
small undertaking. Also. the stairs are
rubbed down, generally with kerosene. Ten
flights, twenty, thirty-nO matter how many
all are polished. Also the elevators and
the shafts looked after; man.
perched upon the roof of cage. busting
the shaft as the elevator is gradually low
cred from the top story by runner. And
everywhere outside the offices, as we'll
as inside every square inch of woodwork.
riGlx lie l,,I . arf1f lid 49,
emulation of days dirt and CRIME.
By a Small Force.
To do all this work the janitor employs
a seemingly rdiculously small force. a
twelve or fourteen-story building is cleaned
usually by a dozen women and half as
many porters-generic title for men who
mop floors and stairs. wash windows and
brush walls and ceilings. Each succeed
ing story makes another woman necessary.
and two storier another porter; so that a
building twenty-five stories in height en-
ploys, for strictly cleaning purposes.
thirty-seven persons at the odtside. Three
less than two score to put in order the
equivalent of 125 dwellings, which, when
cleaned, take up a full working days time
of 125 housewives and nearly as many ser
wants., 800 hours against the lS5 spent in
brushing up a twenty-five story "scraper
The cleaning squad constitutes, of course,
the major portion of the skyscraper super
intendent's force, but his resp possibilities do
not end by any means Wnen ne mas Cleaned
the building. The entire physical well be-
ing of the immense pile is delegated to
him and is his ceaSeess care during his
waking and WORKING hours. Hence, he ai-
reefs one or more electricians, from two TO
five painters, a carpenter a plumber; and
has on his pay roll as Waterman. a cher
engineer three to four assistant engineers.
the same number of firemen and from SIX
to fifteen elevator runners and a starter.
Do the electric fixtures in 1,015 need re-
pair? The superintendent makes note of
it, and sends the electrician thither when
he comes from his job in ., 40T. Or a new
tenant has moved in. Note: Wants the
partition changed. Send carpenter 10 639.
Or he observes the paint is wearing off on
the buildings exterior, and the iron work
of the stairway needs resilVerlng. Straight
way the "scraper painter is set to work
on the iron work. while a half dozen men
are engaged to daub hundreds of dollars
worth of paint upon the great walls the
while they dangle high in the air on a
Swaying Scaffold. The superintendent $
tasks are as varied the wants of the
building and its tenants.
Costs Lot.
To keep a skyscraper in frst-class condi-
ton requires an outlay of money that would
have been considered a big fortune in the
eighteenth century. The help in certain
twenty-five story building in New YORK
receives in wages So, GOO a month, or Sf3,-
200 a year an engineer getting Ss5 a month;
a fireman. $50; the electrician, SO; scrub
woman, SIS; porter, $40; an elevator run
ner $40 and so on. On this same sky
scraper $40 worth of cleaning apparatus Is
worn out eysry thirty days-brooms, dust
ers. cloths, mops, buckets. Hundreds or
gallons of paint at SITS, are swallowed up
by woodwork brick walls and ironwork;
and not one of the least expenses Is that
of COAL the monthly bill running all the
way from $1,000 to Sl5co
It's no easy matter to be housecleaner on
a gigantic scale aad physical manager OF
a skyscraper both in one. Let the good
housewife reflect on the skyscraper super
intendent's lot the next time she signs at
the thought of cleaning day. Then, per-
haps, she will not think her lot is cast in
such hard places after all.