Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1907-10-25
WASHING III FRANCE.
Laundry Work as Fine but Rather
Laborious Art.

Laborious Art.
Consul Robert i. Skinner of Mar
settles writes that large steam laun-
dries are not common in France.
Domestic washing in France is a
fine art, in which the tin boiler, the
corrugated metal board. the rubber roll
wringer and the rotary washing ma
chine have no part. The clothes go
first TO some rural spot, where the
laundress, over hat board, washes
the clothing in clear running water,
pounding it great deal with a wooden
paddle and using plenty of good white
soap.
The clothes are next rinsed and in a
dampened condition returned to the
home OF the laundress, where the Iye
washing takes place in tub, prefer
ably wooden. In the middle of the tub
Is a hole closed with a cloth wound
block, so that the liquid contents may
seep away very slowly. In the bottom
are placed the coarse common articles
and then the finer things. The towels
are placed on top, so that dainty lin
gerie shall be protected. Lastly a spe-
cial coarse linen cloth is put over the
surface and around the edges TO pre-
vent the wood ashes, which are to
be added, from working down into the
articles below.
On top of the coarse linen cloth Is
strewn layer OF choice wood ashes.
In the south OF France they prefer the
ashes OF the olive wood OF the truffie
oak. Oftentimes the laundress adds to
the ashes some roots OF the iris plant
OF other secret aromatic herbs. Now
the difficult work begins. First is pour
ed into the tub, very slowly, some cold
clear water, then an equal quantity OF
tepid water, then warm water and
fnally boiling water until from the
tub arise moist clean doors. II this
operation begins, say, at o'clock, and
II the weeks work is important and
the workwoman very conscientious, so
slowly does she pour the water that Il
Is sometimes IL at night before she
Is through. Then the ashes are remov-
ed, and the water drips through the
bottom OF the tub until the following
morning, when the contents go again
to the riverside, to be a second time
washed with soap, but never twisted
or stretched, In clear cold running wa
ter. Nothing remains after this but
to dry the linen upon bushes, grass or
q clean gravel brook bed, to be finally
sent home white, fresh and sweet
smelling and turned over to another to
iron. A s
In the cities modern progress has In
terfered TO some extent with these
methods. In the shops there are to be
found large galvanized iron tubs which
do not drain from the middle. Into
these are piled the clothes which have
been first cleansed with soap, and on
top OF them are placed the ashes.
Finally cold water Is added, and q
tee IS lighted under the tub, and the
whole mass Is boiled until done. These
metallic tubs are mentioned without
enthusiasm, the best families opposing
them. They are sold in large numbers
nevertheless.
The large city laundries use machin-
cry and provide that luminous, gummy
polish upon collars and cuffs called
"glace Americain," because Americans
do not like ii. In Marseilles there are
many firms operating in this whole
sale manner, particularly for naviga-
ton companies. The washers get n
cents to $1.16 per day and the WON.
en- who run the machines 4S to 81 cents
per day.-Consular Report