The San Francisco call., 1909-04-06

carried on a profitable business for
~ many years in San Francisco. A
large number Of business concerns
established sharp competition and this
has led. naturally. to the installa-
tion Of all improved appliances and
the uses Of all conceivable means to
insure satisfactory and the best pos
sibIe results. The proprietors Of white
laundries have proved loyal to the city
They have given employment. regu-
Iarly. 10 thousands OF white men and
women. and the amounts paid in wages
each week amount TO a large sum,
an of which is spent in the support of
other industries. in the building of
homes. and in all channels of trade
tending to encourage and improve the
financial condition of the city. Every
Caucasian nationality is largely repre-
sented in the laundry work of San
Francisco; as proprietors. either as
large companies or as enterprising in
divfauals and also among the ranks Of
the thousands who toll in these IN
stttutions 70 earn their daily bread
In way parallel with the Work
n
of. cleaning which has become at once
q science and an art. Cleaning pro-
,,asses are applicable to SO many sorts
of fabrics and other articles that much
skill and wide general knowledge
along certain lines is Indispensable
The cleaners are as proficient as the
1aund1-vuan The investment OF capital
in both laundries and in the cleaning
ostaflishnents is large in The aggre-
gate Hardly any part Of the city IS
without its laundry and some place
where a cleaning industry IS situated
NeighborhOod convenience is thus
largely subserved. and thereby an ad-
ditfonal in6ucement is afforded 70 the
public~to do business with the white
laundries> and with those who are en-
gagged in cleaning.
AN OCCUPATION OF SKILL
The white employees of the lauadries
are engaged in 2 skilled occupation,
requiring the use of modern machinery
and the exercise Of much care and at
tention, so that the most delicate
fabrics may emerge without harm IN
fine condition. To the average lay
mind the success which IS achieved
in these feats of dexterity are quite
remarkable. The facility with which
work is turned off and the promptness
and thoroughness Of service have made
It so much more desirable TO employ
the laundries that the drUdgery OF
washing and laundrying by hand has
disappeared from nearly all house
holds
The census returns OF the United
states for 1900 showed that San Fran
cisco had. proportiOnately. a much
larger percentage of laundry workers
IN comparison TO the total population
Of the city than any other large
center of population in the United
IT. loo,
The relative merits of skilled workers,
as matter OF course; but the judg
ment of the public in this important
matter is safely and surely indicated
by the volume of business that is con-
tributed 10 any special line. 1t may
he said in passing that laundries do
not employ any more help than is re-
quired: and the showing that San Fran
cisco has more laundry employees per
1000 of population than New York or
Boston. Philadelphia or Pittsburg, Chi
cago or st. Louis. undoubtedly proved
the volume of business that is trans
acted by the laundries in this city.
This is the more remarkable be-
cause San Francisco, on the whole, is
very clean city. TThe volumes Of
smoke and the SCOT incidental TO the
burning of soft coal that characterize
Pittsburg for instance. are absent
The principal fuel used in the manu-
featuring and power plants Of San
Francisco is crude petroleum. the
smoke OF which sscends and is speedily
blown away by the purifying breezes
from the west. Laundrymen would
appear to be. in san Francisco, there
fore. luxury as well as a necessity.
EMPLOY GREAT NUMBERS
NThe JOY that is taken in the contem-
plation of a dainty fabric that has been
artjsticaly laundried. undoubtedly ap-
peals to the feminine mind. which is
prone 10 admiration of the beautiful
and finds delight in articles that adorn
the home or the person. From the man
sions Of the wealthy the finest curtains
costing large sums are confidently con-
f7ded to the care Of the white laundries
and the owners Of such destructible IA
brics fnd no reason TO regret the con-
hdence which they have bestowed in
these slxillful artisans.
In addition to the men and women who
are employed particularly in laundry
ing a small army Of employees earn a
living in clerical capacities connected
with the laundry establishments, as
drivers and stable men, as engineers
and machinists. whereby the total ben
EFT that the white laundries confer
on the public in the general distribu-
tion OF funds is largely augmented. The
exact number Of employees cannot be
easily ascerfained, since no local cen
sus as been taken that deals with the
Industrial statistics of the city and no
federal census has taken place since
the year 1900; but il is safe to say that
there are more laundry employees in
San Francisco now than there were in
the year 1900, and that the relative i'm
.1oefance Of their existence and of the
successful prosecution Of their business
is greater and more significant, from a
nablic point Of view, than II was even