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(39)
The smaller laundries are usually carried on in
private houses and are totally unfitted for such
purposes. The stove for heating is located in the
middle of the Ironing room and is surrounded by
women employed.
In a number of instances the temperature of the
Ironing room was taken and was found to be most
excessive, the heat from the stove being supplemented
by the Solar heat and ranging from 90 to 118 degrees.
In this latter instance the stove was red hot and the
heat almost insufferable.
The statute calls for a reasonable temperature to
be maintained in a Laundry, but gives no definition
of what might be considered reasonable, it is therefore
difficult to discriminate.
In premises built for the business of a laundry
special provisions are made for the effectual ventilation
of Workrooms, but in the private houses improvised for
the purpose the means of ventilation require structural
alteration in a number of instances.
In taking the dimensions of workrooms four
cases of overcrowding were found to exist.
In one instance five women were engaged
washing in a room having only sufficient air space for
two.
In many cases the periodical Limewashing has
not been observed.