The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-12-31
From the Christian Monitor.

CCRUB women whose nocturnal
labors prepare the public Railways
~ of city buildings for each new day
may soon be relegated to the past, for
an ingenious machine has been invented
which is said to do the work much more
quickly and more thoroughly, and II Is
already being introduced in great otilce
| buildings.
Passing of the scrub women will mark
uut one more addition to the procession
of picturesque vocational types that nave
decorated the communities of other years
and offered SO much material for writer's
of the Dickens school. The rosy-cheeked
rol,icling cabman, with his coats of many
colors and his wonderfully constructed
steeds, has given way before the advance
of the taximeter cab and the motor ous
The lamp lighters, with their stuoby lad
de1s and their cleaning torches, no longer
herald the coming of night from corner
to corner through the streets. And now
| the familiar woman behind the scrub
bing brush is to be replaced In her turn
| bv a collection of wheels and cogs.
| The operator of the new machine has
only IN attach long wire to the nearest
| electric light socket and turn button
ane a mysterious cluster OF whiriing
brushes and humming motors begins 10
work vigorously, drawing at Will from
hidden supplies of soap and water. In
quarter of the time usually taken the
| eoor is rubbed. scrubbed and frightened,
snd the residue of dirty water has been
removed.
! So gradually and by so many paths has
invention applied itself to the problems
| of the big office buildings that the public
little appreciates the great changes be-
ing introduced for it's convenience. Such
little things as pneumatic door cheeks
! that quietly close the opened door De-
| hind the visitor, mail chutes that 90
away with the necessity of descending a
! dozen or so floors to reach the mail box
and electric window ventilators that VIII
bring in the outdoor air and force out
the inside air at touch of the button are
accepted as common, everyday details.
| But inventors have nsver ceased to ply
their trade nor architects to look for in
novations. and an office building built in
latest mode may be supplied with in
!
fountains that require no cup or glass to
steel wall cabinets supplying the office
tenant with an almost endless paper
towel that he may use, tear off and throw
away at will.
! Elevators with their hurrying traffic
any many stops have offered good
many opportunities for improvements
and the modern elevator is designed to
care for it's passengers assduously One
4 of the latest types, on lighted dial where
1t is located at any given moment, shows
tiny light by the entrance when stop
pins so that people cannot fail to see
whether 1t is a little below or little
above the building floor, and 1t is sup
piled with elaborate shock absorbers, VI
bration reducers and brake cushions.
The quick opening and shutting of ele-
yator doors always has been somewhat
of a problem to engineers, and at pres
ent there are a number of devices on the
market for automatic action. BY means
OF these, when the car approaches a
floor. the operator can press on foot
| nc dal and the doors will open automatical-
| ly. to close again of their own accord
as the car leaves. These doors also can
be supplied with an electric switch so
that the car cannot be started until the
| door is shut again.
Two matters in nsparticular have always
presented difficulties to office building
! superintendents. One is the cleaning of
the windows and the other is the quick
/ disposal of waste paper The amount of
waste paper that comes from a COM
munity of 500 or more busy offices is very
large, elevator load after elevator load
being lowered to tlte basement every
night Much of this is loosely packed,
very bulky and demands more room than
is convenient in a basement we'll filled
with machinery and supplies Moreover,
| IL is difficult to handle in carrying it out
to the city refuse carts.
To meet this situation q waste paper
| balng press has been invented. 1t occu-
pies little space and IS easily operated
by hand. The waste paper is crammed
in at the top. small crank is spun Wig
orously for minute or two, and heavy
jaws crush the mass of rubbish into a
compact. wire bound bale that is readily
stored and as readily sold for cash.
To do away, in large buildings. with the
necessity of window washers standing on
the outside sill at all seasons of the year
to perform their weekly duty, novel
form of window framing is now being in