The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1906-08-26

IT. HE tendency TO slipshodness that
marks this era OF hustle" Is re-
spOnsible for the decadenCe Of
several accomplishments that all
earlier generations considered essential
10 a gentlewoman. Our grandmOthers
took great pride In their esquislte
needIework, In their skill in making
delicious cakes. pastry. or dessert, ana
above all. In their ability 10 do up
the best table damask, old family leces'
or the baby's christening robe. Nova
DAYS, being ''speeders' IN all the bust
ness of life. we revel In midyear white
sales for flue handwork, patronize the
deIicatessen and caterer for our com
pany cooking" and have our soiled
clothes railroaded through by the tens
OF thousand a day in the steam
laundries.
Fortunately within the last few years.
coming back into favor with old ma
hogany and other coloria relics. we
are reverting to the useful arts once
more. and the twentieth-eentury giri, by
way OF rounding up her education. is
being taught 10 sew and cook.
While the third accomplishment Of
fine laundering has not yet reached the
proportions Of a fad. 1t is something
every girl and woman should acquire
In these days. when good Iaundresses
are hard 20 find. IL IS we'll for every
woman to be prepared for the emer-
gency that is bound 10 arise sooner or
later.
But" some one says. why distress
ourselves that the older Iaundresses-
especially the old negro ones whose
washes we're always so snowy white and
WrinkIe,C 50. without use OF acids or
bleaching pOwders-are not training
their daughters 90 equal proficiency
There is always the steam laundry"
An Elaborate System.
Yes. there is, and great and inter
esting institution 1t is. with its mani
fold machinery FOR washing clothes by
the hundred dozen az time; its series /
of watts for suCsing. boiling. rinsing. |
and bluing; its centrifugal extractor for |
wringing all the moisture from the /
heaviest garments in an instant; its |
machine 20 disentagle the masses OF /
clothes which the extractor had bumped 1
up like heads of cheese: its great heat
ed rollers through which sheets. table /
clothes. and heavy marseilles spreads are /
passed in rapid succession to come fully |
ironed and perfectly dry into the hands /
Of two young girls who fold them with /
surprising rapidity; it's body ironer. I
small machine through whose heated !
reversible rolls the palmer garments /
aprons, nightgowns, and the like-are
quickly irOned. its still smaller dolly
and handkerchief machine, in which the
former are given the desirable high
gloss OF the damask by putting them
very moist into the hot padded rollers.
its special contrivance for starching /
mems shirt bosoms-a curved board so
regulated that IL may 1T short medium
OF long bOsOms that starch them 20 I
line at the top. leaving the yoEes and
collar bands unstarched and "unscratch-i
able for the comfort Of lOng-sufferfng
ueCks. and its elaborate system OF dfvid- /
ing. checking. cataloguing. and wrap /
ping garments, so that mistaken iden- /
tity In the weekly wash of thousands !
is reduced 10 a minimum. ]
Done Up Like New.
Yes. there is the steam laundry, and I
IL will repay any woman who has never I
visited one 10 do so forthwith, il only
10 see the manifold processes required /
10 launder her husbands or brothers /
linen collar. The collar. being duly /
washed. is passed through a starch roll /
10 a woman who smooths IL dexterOusly
with her hands To even the thick starch.
wipes 1t with a cloth and hangs IL on
a bar that when fun, is carried TO the
drying room. II energies thence hard /
as stone. and is Immediately put
through a dampening machine with
aprons OF light canvas run through /
water In a tank and subject to high
pressure After fifteen or twenty min
utes under high pressure in alright /
boxes. the collar Is ready TO be ironed /
by passing through heated rolls Then /
II goes TO a little machine called an
edge frOner and II II haDnaD - Ia o. If, /