"The first establishment to which I went was known as a model laundry. It
was large and well ventilated and had a dry floor. These sanitary
conditions may be said to be fairly typical. In only one laundry did I
find a girl who was compelled to stand in a wet place, though water
overflowed sometimes into the girls' quarters from the wash-rooms, where
the men worked. In some of these wash-rooms the water is at times
ankle-deep, a condition due only to bad drainage, as other wash-rooms are
absolutely dry. Whatever the condition of the work-rooms, the women's
dressing-rooms frequently had insanitary plumbing, and were verminous and
unhealthful. In one laundry the water supply was contaminated, smelling
and tasting offensively when it came from the faucet, and worse after it
had passed through the cooler. The women here at first kept bottles of
soda-water. Some old women had beer. But on a series of hot days, with
hours from half past seven to twelve, and from one till any time up to
ten at night, 10 cents' worth of beer or soda-water a day did not go far
to alleviate thirst, and soon drank a big hole in a wage of $5 a week. A
complaint was sent to the Board of Health. After nearly three weeks, the
Board of Health replied that the complaint must be sent to the Water
Department.
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