The Daily Missoulian., 1912-08-24


from view and most OF those who now
take work In that way have increased
their prices SO that II their work Il
good II cGua's that Of the steam
laundry In price. While some OF these
women bring home beautifully laun-
dcred clothes. there have been known
to be SO many unsanitary conditions
In some Of the homes that many WON.
en- fear to send their clothing to them.
Where one has a good, reliable colored
laundress, however there - usually
| much less worry, because generally she
gives the proper attention to each arti-
Gle and the results are good even
though the conditions under which Il
Is done might not come up to all OF
the modern sanitary standards.
The Chinese laundryman IL not a
competitor for family work in the ma
jorlty of towns, and yet many women
have had more or iess experience
W.T.. him In handling the mems work
Of her household. If the organized
laundrymen have their way. John
Chinaman Is soon to vanish, and IN
some towns they have succeeded In
crowding him out completely. De-
spite their antagonism, however. the
little Chinese laundry is often a scri-
Gus rival. The charges of unsanitary
methods. such as sprinkling the
clothes from the mouth, are not often
10 be found now, for tho Chinaman
Is in touch with the progress of the
times. There are many American
men who still prefer the finish the
Chinaman gives to their line to any.
thing the steam laundry produces.
Some of these Chinese laundrics do
quite elaborate womcn's garments bet
ter and cheaper than the French hand
laundries supposed to exist exclusive
ly for this c'ass OF work. while there
are always n number of the latter es-
Establishments to be found in every
town. their prices put them beyond
! the consideration OF the average
housewife except for some article VI
exceptional value.
The number of families In America
who depend each week upon the steam
laundry Is constantly increasing and
there are several kinds of service
which this establishment renders to
the housewife. One OF these is known
as the wet wash" service. by which
the clothes are taken to the laundry
washed and starched. and brought
l. ne ,esd, I, he hung on the in.
THIS r,nm,es the annoyance If t,c
steam of washing In the hom,. nj.
though II nccessitates the handling Of
wet clothing. This process was quite
popular In many towns few years
ago. but Is losing favor both with the
laundrics and their patrons. The
| trough dry" method Is preferable, by.
| ..,t~l .tA
oughly dried. ready to be dampened
| and ironed and in most cases all Of
the flat work Is ironed. This Is the
service rendered by the laundry to the
majority of Its family customers.
The prices differ lt!le ana may
be by the piece or by the pound.
Generally. tho rough dried articles are
at the rate Of five or six cents per
pound and the flat work by the dozen
or at varying prices. Usually sheets
are three cents. pillow cases and bath
towels two cents and hand towels and
| napkins one cent each. Under any ~
these methods II Is possible to secure
reasonable amount of clean clothing
for the family for weekly expend.-
| ture OF from 75 cents to a dollar and a
half. which is less than laundress
can be hired to come to the house for.
| There Is. of course. with the cheaper
grades of laundries. occasional losses
and exchanges annoying to the house.
wife. but these are less frequent than
formerly.
One OF the first persons to advo-
cate the economy of the use OF the
steam laundry to the average home
was Mrs. S. r. Rorer. the we'll known
| domestic science teacher. Under the
| patronage of several women's clubs,
Mrs Rorer conducted an experiment
In home-making for number OF
months In n small house rented for the
purpose. She demonstrated that all Of
the living expenses for family OF five
| could be provided for the sum OF SIS
week, fair average working mans
income In this experiment, she
demonstrated that IL was really an OK.
| travagance to have the washing done
In the home. even by the housewife
herself. She deduced the idea that the
menace TO the health of the young
children from the dampness of the
washing being done I'm the living room.
as well as the fact that tho work was
so laborious that 1t took from the
mother vitality which could be more
profitab'y expended In other work for
the good of the family, called forth an
expenditure of greater economic value
than the rs cents paid out weekly to
the laundry for bringing the clothes
home rough dried.
Sociological workers among families
In the tenement districts are especial
ly strong In denouncing the practice OF
having the washing done In tho one
or two rooms In which a poor family |
may be compelled to live. For this
reason the establishment of public
laundries Is being advocated. The
women can go to these public laun-
dries with their soiled clothes and for |
a trifling sum. such az a cent or two |
an hour. be provided with convenient |
stationary tubs and sufficient water |
supply. In London such lanndries al
ready have been provided and they |
are under consideration by the de-
partmcnt of public charities In New
York. In Philadelphia, large hall
has been built by the Hebrew Char
table association for the establish
ment OF educational classes for the
poor of their race. especially those who