WHY Nor surront rt?
In the early part of last year the feclof Shanghai was considerably aroused a graphic report which Dr. Macleod prepared for the Municipal Council drawing attention 10 the filthy conditions under whic most of the laundry work in Shanghai was carried on. The danger of the state of things thus set forth was generally recognised, but the difficulty was to find a remedy. The Mun Council, knowing that appeals to the washermen to mend thei dirty would be fruitless, decided to erect a model laundry, and lease it on strit conditions to" Chinese washerman, leaving the public to show by the extent of their support whether they wished their clothing to be washd under wholesome conditions. But, somehow, the experiment of the Muni-ipal Council has not met with the encouragement it deserves. The model laundry, which is "run" by 4 man named Seou Kok, and is built on the Rifle Range Road, Hongkew, is able to cope with more work than it now has, whilst within a short distance the washing of foreigners' clothes goes on just in the old ditty way in the pestilential ponds or the outskirts of the Settlement—Obviously it is a we of out of sight out of mind, so that it would, perhaps, he a gool idea for a committee of ladies to be conducted to the locality, and shown under what circumstances the hous: hold linen is washed and ironed. Ar presentative of this paper had that exper ence the other day. First of all a laundry on the north side of the Rifle Range Rowl was visited. In the small room of one of the cottages, with the family bedding stacked up amongst the washing, ironing was going on busily, whilst outside a coolie was 1 clothes in some dirty kongs filled he adjacent creek, covered with a semi-frozen scum of shockingly offensive character. Not many yards away more washing was going on in " pond, which, earlier that morning had apparently been relieved of its coating of ice for the neighbouring ice-house. A few hundred yards of n large pond presented quite a lively appearance. A number of men were pounding " lot of clothing upon large paving stones, varied by an occasional pinto the muddy water. The source of the latter was alarmingly suspicious—by means ofa sluice it was let in from the creek on the other side of a path, And thatercek? Tt was crowded, and especially round the inlet, by about as filthy and disease-breeding a collection of beggar boats as could he imagined. After seeing the dirty arrangements at this pond the only cause for wonder is that the foreigners who have their clothes immersed in it do not suffer some terrible skin scourge. Then the Municipal laundry was visited. Here only Waterworks water is used, and clean-Jines and order were conspicu"us. In the wash-house convenient troughs have been erected, the floor being cement, and well drained. Near at hand was the ironing room—a picture of neatness. Every little detail seems to have been studied, though the plice is but small, the coolies' rooms where they put their clothing, ete., being apart from the rest. If after all this trouble on the part of the Municipal Council foreigners continue to send their washing to be dealt with in the foul ponds, and dirty cottages of Hongkew, they will only have themselves. for h encouraging to blame disease.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.