Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1922-03-23
How the Nations Wash Their Clothes.

AMY OF tie Wa5nIng machine In the
modern American home. In Italy and
Sardinia you may greet your linen be-
ing washed in public troughS along the
streets, and in Normandy your clothes
arc dipped in flowing streams, placed
on rocks, and pounded with paddles IN
I'll you haze visions OF your Iiidc pearl
Button floating back 10 tine mo!lusk-
NncH-c tHcy came SAYS a bulletin o.
the National Geographic Society from
itS Washington, ID. G, headquarters
"The round little Dutch woman's
wash-tub is to be found almost any
where yOu turn. Along the canals, al
the water troughs and boat landings
the roly-poiy, Pink-cheeked mother
washes the pink and blue clothes OF
her Adolph and Wlhelmna in these
stationary dish-pans and wash-tubs of
hers.
There is only one blue Monday
year in Abyssina and then the wom-
en- don't do the work. Both tine wom-
en- and men wear robe of cotton
draped about them, the former over
sort of night-gown and the latter
over loose trousers. On the eve
of ST. John the men do the small fam
/ lily wash for the year. They dig hole
in the ground by the side of stream
and spread a piece of leather over tho
bottom of it. They put the clothes in
sprinkle them with powder made
| from fruit resembling the Corinthian
grape, and fill the hole with water.
Then they tread back and forth upon
the clothes for an hour or so working
UP white foam which the powder has
generated. The wet garments, which
are said to be as white as snow, are
rinsed in the flowing stream.
"ln some remote parts of Switzer-
land wash-day comes but twice 2
year. The Alpine peasant women is
too busy working the crops and tend
| ing the cattle in the summer to do
the washing, and in the winter it is
too cold, so she does it in bulk in the
spring and fall. She takes her turn for
several days among the other womer
Of the neighborhood at the community
tub, which is filled with water piped
down from a glacier. Nearby big cop
per kettles are sizzling over fires built
on the ground in order that she NAV
have hot water to help loosen the dirt.
which, in most cases, is thoroughly
ground into the garments. They do
not rub the clothes but, after soaping
throw them against an inclined board
"ln parts of Germany the same sys-
tenn is practiced. Long lines of boats
may be seen coming down the stream
looking for suitable spot where the
semi-yearly accumulation of soiled
clothes may be made wearable again
There is usually at the top of the
houses of these people an aired loft in
which the clothes are stored pending
the coming of waSh-day and where
lines are hung to dry them when thr
deed is done.
AT intervals along the banks O!
rivers and streams in France one NAV
see the peasant women washing thci-
clothes on stones, and beating then
with wooden paddles. In Paris alonf
the Seine there are 'bateaux lavoirs
or large covered boats where the wash.
erwomen go to do their work. In the
city streets there are everywhere the
'iavois publiques' which are private es.
adjustments where, for small sum
housewives can use the tubs, the ho
water, the wringer, and the dryinf
room. veritable army of washerwo
men camps out along the River Paillon
at Nice, and having learned that the
visitors to the resort require thei,
clothes to be white, they use stron,
soaps and acids, and pound them with
stones.
Italy seems to have its washing OIL,
everywhere. Intimate garments greet
the visitor on the roadways and along
the streams and some of the cities al.
ways have the appearance of being dec.
GRATED for gala occasion.
THE Norwegians follow the same
plan that the Germans use of letting
the clothes accumulate for months in
air lofts and then have siege at the
job. But they distinguish themselves
when it comes to the ironing. Thew
use a long box on rollers filled with
stones, and by placing one woman at
on end Of board and one at the