Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-07-16
A HOUSE CLEANING
Takes Three Months to Do It
in a Big Hotel.
CELLAR TO GA RRET
AN ARMY OF CLEANERS AND THE
WAY THEY WORKED.
All Goes On So Quietly That Guests
Know Nothing About
It.

! Fifty thousand dollars in cold cash and
| three months of incessant work by a thou
sand people are required to accomplish the
greatest house cleaning in the world. The
woman who is driven to the verge of ner-
| vous prostration by her semi-annual bout
| with the powers of dust and moths in a
small house or apartment would probably
stand aghast at the task of a hotel man.
| ager who must clean and refurnish his
| hotel. and yet be ready to receive the trav-
eler who may appear at this inopportune
time.
On the 18th day of June every year
at palatial hotel in New York the annual
| inventory of this great hostelry is taken.
| or. more properly speaking. the force be-
| gins to take inventory. How many new
curtains carpets and rugs will be required
How many thousand dollars worth of new
silverware and linen and china must be
purchased? What rooms must have new
furniture? These are q few of the many
questions which confront the management
of such a hotel
The housewife who discovers that one
of her precious spoons has been stolen by
dishonest maid, or some of her finest
dishes have been nicked, sheds a few flu
| tile tears The manager of hotel loses
thousands of dollars every year in silver
ware and table furnishings. which are
house. who carry them of as souvenirs.
| Spoons forks salt shakers, small individ-
ual breakfast castors. tete-a-tete sugar
bowls. creamers. after-dnner coffee cups
and saucers. ali these fall prey to the
/ tourist who thinks 1t Is clever to carry
away hotel souvenirs. and the proprietor
of the hotel has come to regard it an
other avenue of expenditure.
| When the inventory is completed and the
managers of the hotel have given orders
and o. k.'d the specifications, estimates
and contracts of the various tradeSpeople,
their work in the house cleaning is finish
ed. And here lies the difference between
| the housewife and the hotel manager dur
| ing the domestic upheaval The housewife
| tries to run everybody. from the paper
hangers to the man who comes in to black
her stove The hotel manager divides his
house-ceaning force each section of which
! is under head who knows all the details
of his department from the ground up.
Fifteen Acres.
The floor space of this hotel If laid on
common level would cover 6J00OO square
feet, or fifteen acres. Cut the rooms into
a uniform width of ten feet, and running
them side by side they would stretch fif-
teen miles. All OF this floor space. with the
exception of the ball room, must be cover
ed with carpets, rugs, mating, etc
A fashionable hotel must always look
fresh and well-groomed hence carpets can
seldom be made over save they can be
changed from very large room to a small
one, with the faded part of the carpet
taken out. The American public which
can afford to stop at high-priced hotel
has gone luxury mad. and carpets must be
thick and velvety under foot. so there Is
no turning of the economical Ingram The
carpets must be disposed of either by SELL
ing to smaller hotels private parties or
through auction rooms. The repleniShing
of linen costs ten thousand dollars a year,
and as much more is required to purchase
niture and carpets, together with the
wages paid to help, will bring the cost up
to fifty thousand dollars.
The house-cleaning force Is called in
about the middle of June and works until
the middle of September. which presumably
is a slack season for hotels in large cities.
The hotel has its own upholstering. car
penter and mattress shops. Carpets are
sent out to be cleaned, but are re-sewn and
laid by the hotel force. The rooms are
torn UP in sections, so that some parts of
the house are always ready for guests. The
decora tons, papering and oiling OF the
woodwork are done by contract The fur
niture is removed to the cabinetmakers'
shop in the basement. where 1t Is all done
over.
Cleaning and Mending.
The mattresses are recovered or filed.
according to the need, and pillows are treat
ed in the same way. Curtains are taken to
different department, where expert
QarnerS take tnem IN nanu, winch accounts
for the long life of real good lace cur
tain, as. If properly handled. they will
wear several seasons. Tapestry hangings
and oriental rugs are treated the same
way.
In the linen room the new supplies. which
come direct from the looms in Ireland.
are sorted in sizes, marked and dated. One
of the little extravagances is an individual
cake of soap marked Made for you.
Thousands of these cakes are kept on hand.
SO that fresh cake Is found in the dish
by each guest. The silver and china are
largely made to order. that the hotel may
have individuality.
Have Regular Hours.
The servants work like union men at
regular hours. and there is none Of the
hurrying, Iong-hour atmosphere OF the or
binary domestic house-eleaning. The hotel
house-cleaning must move on 80 quietly
that It win not interfere with the comfort
and pleasure of summer tourists who are
stopping at the house. Neither can maids
be taken from their regular work to supple