East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1913-12-11
WASH TUB MAY Be
DOOMED ON FARMS
COMMUNITY LAUNDRIES PRO-
POSED IN CONNECTION WITH
COOPERATIVE CREAMERIES.
Minnesota Tries idea and Finds II
Observation-Disclosures May be
Tried on Irrigation Projects-Is aid
to Back to Land MOvement.

The wash tub must go! That in
strument of torture which has filled
the days of the farmers wife with de-
spair and her nights with troubled
dreams is said to be doomed. The
back to the land" movement gets
much Of It's i'm petus from the fact that
better things now obtain In the farm
home than ever before. but no mes
sage more potent for Joy and COM
fort has ever been borne to the rural
regions.
Long years ago the scythe, the era
dle and the fail were relegated to
the junk heap. Today the farmer
| with gasoline or electric power to
drive his machinery and perform the
heavier tasks. with patent mixers,
riding plows. etc. has eliminated much
of the back breaking work on the
| farm. For the farmers wife inven-
tion has done but little. Her chief
abomination Is wash day, and the task
Of keeping the family clothes clean
undoubtedly has been the rock upon
which more than one household has
split. Summer and winter the Mon
day session at the wash tub and Tues
day at the ironing table have taken
their toll of her strength and health.
The monotony of farm life, its never
|: ending round of household duties
and the lack of opportunity for men,
, tai or physical relaxation, have al
had their effect on the country wo'
, man, and through her have reached
down to the children.
It is believed that the conservation
of the strength and health of thu
farm woman will do much towart
l checking the undesirable effluX o
: population from the country to th
e city which Is now generally recog
S nized by farm economists as largel,
D due to the conditions which obtain II
: the farm home.
The cooperative laundry will go
long way toward solving the prob
y lem by relieving the farm home of 1t
: heaviest burden. The practically @
r the idea has been demonstrated be
q yond a doubt in the little town G
If Chatfield in Minnesota where tn
q plan originated. A co-operativ
creamery on much the same lines q
le the creameries on number of tn
"a government irrigation project
throughout the west was In success
full operation, and the superintender
OWNED the idea Of utilizing the sam
ID power to run a washing machine. A
old churn, operated by a belt frol
ID the shaft which runs the creamel
In machinery, did the trick. The mol
~ progressive men in the compar
10 quickly seized upon the idea OF e.
o. tending the work to include the laul
k- dry for the patrons of the plant ar
up to date machinery was installed
a cost Of about $4,000. The gro
receipts for the first 10 months we
n $4,000. The farmers bring the
laundry when they come with Il
m cream, and on their next trip to Il
mn creamery they carry home, ready (
a, use, the weeks wash.
IT, In view Of the success which n
re crowned cooperative enterprises
nd other lines OF the farming indust
or in these irrigated districts. there
n little doubt but that this latest inn
nd walton for better conditions in &
,rt farm home will meet with the a
proval Of the farmers.