FLEET'S WASHING

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1584, 30 October 1912, Page 3

FLEET'S WASHING

THE U.S.S, CO'S GREAT LAUNDRY,

AT EVAN'S DAY. 'I'KN THOUSAND J'IKCKS I'Kll BAY. An idea of tlie inipnrUnco of "washini;" ni nil Hem on lln> Ijnolts of n iiindtirii shipping company may bo Rained by n visit to (he I'liinn Company's new laundry, recently (•iwU-d on (heir reeiaimeil land at Kviins Hay. JJufore building' their own laundry tho Union Company arransod for the washing «r the fleet by lettini; out contracts to liriiK in vnrioiis towns in Australia and in Now Zealand. .Now, the wholo operation j.s lo )>e carried out nl Jiva'n.s Hay. J'lio company, with (heir well-known ihnroiiKliupVs have now completed a splendid laundry. A boat, arriving in Welliiißltm at 8 n.m. can bn ready for sea ngnin with new linen in two or three liours. ' Tho Maori's "Wash." Take, for example, tho Maori. She arrives in Welliiißlun before breakfast. The passengers land, iind the ship's .steward.-) aro left to their work. In about two hours they arc ablo to ulrip tho boat. The chief steward then makes up his list, and telephones it to tho laundry manager, who hands it on to Iho chief packer, hi Jess than an hour tho hags aro packed awaiting to bo taken from tho laundry to tho ship. An exact duplicalo of.the, soiled linen is also sent on from tlio'ship. As soon as tho etowards have finished the packing, a motor lorry'calls at the ship, and in thirteen minutes the. lorry can land 8000 pieces of linen at (lie laumlrv.

tin arrival there the linen i? immediately classified into bins, and from there, truck by truck, it is wheeled to tho washing machines. There nra six rotary machines lilted with automatic reversing gears and an inside cago with hot: and cold water. The, linen is placed in tho cage dry, the machine started, and the wholo process of washing, from cold water soaking, to boiling, rinsing, starching and blueing, is carried through without further handling. From the washing machines the linen is trucked, to one of tho threo "hydros' , which spin tit a velocity of 1400 revolutions per minute, v Tho centrifugal force eniised by such velocity squeezes the linen dry enough lo pass through the mangles. But, before being put through, it is placed in a tumbler. The force with which it ia squeezed out of tho "hydro" leaves tho linen compressed and hard. The action of tho tumble:' takes out the stiffness, an! leaves tlio linen ready for the next process.

Having survived this somewhat energetic process tho linen is v aired. For this purpose there aro two largo airingrooms, into which hot air. is continuously pumped and sucked out, po Hint any dampness is at oneo dealt with.. The big airing-room reminds one of a Turkish bath except that, instead of deck chairs, it is fitted with linen stands. The smaller airing-room. is a network of racks, which may bo pulled out separately, thus giving the wholo the appearance of a large cupboard, standing on its side, with numerous drawers.

Having been .aired, the articles are. neatly folded and sent upstairs in a lift to the packing department. Here they arc again sorted, and classified according to dns3 and quality-. Linen which has to bo mended is passed on to tho machinists. Stained linen is stored for tho .use of cpal and cargo bont.s, whilo worn-out linen is discarded.. Tims, tied in bundles and folded, tho various articles of ship's linen arc shelved, and ready to be packed and sent away to tho boat.

Discarded Linen—£lo,ooo Per Annum. New linen is 'constantly arriving fiom England to replace the discarded piece?. The total value of the amount discarded in one year by tho. Union Co. amounts to .£IO,OOO. _ Until recently most of the discarded linen was.sent to tho paper mills, bjit quantity is pent to the company's works at Port Chalmers to be used by painters and suchlike instead of cotton waste. The usual stock held in tho laundry ready to go away may be roughly valued nt i!10,0(IO, or -about- equal in value to the yearly, "discard." . '.

Altogether 30 persons' are' employed in (ho new. laundry at Evans Bay— io women and 11 men. With this staff, the average output per day. amounts to nearly 10.0 CO pieces of linen, tlio maximum for one week being GO.OOO pieces. Tho Maori, as a rule, semis 2500 pieces to be washed, but in tho busy season she often sends ashoro as many as 4000 pieces. The Maunganni runs from VOOO to 8000 pieces, and even to 10,000 in tho crowded tourist season.

But, in one day, the laundry is capable of doins the washing of any boat in the company's fleet.

Working Conditions in the Laundry. The conditions for the employees seem to be admirable. The building is spacious, well ventilated, and well lighted. In fact, what striker-one most, on entering the premise*, is the total absence of stuffiness and heat generally encountered in similar industries. The women workers have a comfortable room sot aside for them, and each is provided with a small locker and key. In this room they have their midday meal, and aro provided with a steam tea-urn. Attached to the main building is the disinfect in; room. If any suspicious sickness is encountered on board any boat tlra contents of that particular cabin are set asido separately and aro promptly disinfected. The Company's Evans Bay Workshops. Besides tho laundry building there ore two other largo buildings, which, however, tiro not yet fittetl up. They will form the company's workshops and stores,, and are large enough to contain almost ali.fhe fittings required for a new ship. These buildings are divided, on broad lines, as follow.—Tho poirer-hoiiso io contain a suction gag plant, blacksmith department, riveting department, sail-making department, and general ttores.

Headquarters—Where? In no length of time the company will bo able to refit or repair their boats in Kvans Bay. Maybe with such extonsivo works hero the headquarters of the company will in timo be changed from Duneilin to Wellington.

When the*o works are in running order tlicro will be employment for about live hundred men, most of whom will need to ba skilled workmen. The present delay is being caused by tho lack of tho machinery plant to proceed, but when that arrives the work will be gone on with. Lights Wanted, Asked if he had any troublo in procuring femile labour, the manager replied that ho had so far not had any difficulty in that .respect. "The work-," said he, "is not very hard, and they soem keen to stay wilh us. We havo not been going very long, and -we havo had four marriages on tho staff already, and two more couples will be married about Christmas tine."

Rpealaiii! of tho distance which Che girls hail to walk lo imd from work, thi> manager slated Hint he wished that Ihe council would liavc one or two lights nloiiLr tho road, as it was rather Jinrd on Iho girls in winter having to trninp along in tho dark towards Kilbirnie. Asked a, l ) to the average wage of t;lw> girls employed in tho laundry, (ho nitittngor replied that it figrnfcil out at slightly over .£1 nor week. Tho wqrk was not skilled. Tho chief qualities required to do it well were neatness and celerity.