Laces, or very thin muslin embroidery, will be worn this summer; cambric, whether plain or embroidered, being seen only in morning-dress. We speak to those who "dress for dinner." There is a new style of lace, the Maltese, which is very heavy and apparently durable, somewhat resembling Honiton, at about half its cost. It is very pretty for caps, as seen in our design for the month. Heavy laces are still in vogue; Valenciennes and the still more delicate and lady-like Mechlin have given place to them. There is an Irish point occasionally to be met with, the most durable of all, being of the purest linen thread. Collars, or chemisettes, and undersleeves are worn to match. Nothing is more untidy—save soiled muslins—than to see cambric sleeves and a rich lace collar, or muslin sleeves and English flouncing for a chemisette. Better to have both of plain cambric or linen.
WASHING MADE EASY.
THE truthfulness of the "Washing-Day" song, with its disagreeable effects on the spirits and temper, has never been questioned or doubted. For ourselves, our spirits fall with the first rising of steam from the kitchen, and only reach a natural temperature when the clothes are neatly folded in the ironing-basket. If any of our club sympathize with us, they will rejoice that a better day is at hand, and consider the invention described below as full of the deepest interest to our sex as housekeepers. The one thus commented on is in use in the St. Nicholas Hotel, New York:—
"A strong wooden cylinder, four feet diameter, and four and a half feet long, is mounted on a frame, so as to be driven by a band on one end of the shaft. This shaft is hollow, with pipes so connected with it that hot or cold water, or steam, can be introduced at the option of the person in charge. The cylinder being half full of water, a door at one end is opened, and 300 to 500 pieces of clothing are thrown in, with a suitable quantity of soap, and an alkaline fluid which assists in dissolving the dirt and bleaching the fabric, so that clothes, after being washed in this manner, increase in whiteness without having the texture injured.
"When the cylinder is changed, it is put in motion by a small steam-engine, and made to revolve slowly, first one way a few revolutions, and then the other, by which the clothes are thrown from side to side, in and out, and through the water. During this operation the steam is let in through a double-mouthed pipe—somewhat of this shape, X—which has one mouth in and one mouth out of water; the steam entering the water through the immersed end, and escaping through the other, by which means it is made to pass through the clothes, completely cleansing them in fifteen or twenty minutes. The steam is now cut off, and the hot water drawn through the waste pipe, and then cold water introduced, which rinses the articles in a few more turns of the cylinder. They are now suffered to drain until the operator is ready to take them out, when they are put into the drying-machine, which runs like a millstone, and its operation may be understood by supposing that millstone to be a shallow tub, with wire network sides, against which the clothes being placed, it is put in rapid motion; the air, passing in a strong current into the top and bottom of the tub, and out of the sides, carries all the moisture with it into the outside case, from whence it runs away. The length of time requisite to dry the clothes depends upon the rapidity of the revolving tub. If it should run 3,000 revolutions a minute, five to seven minutes would be quite sufficient. When there is not sufficient steam to run the dryer with that speed, it requires double that. In washing and drying, there is nothing to injure the fabric. Ladies' caps and laces are put up in netting bags, and are not rubbed by hand or machine to chafe or tear them in the least, but are cleansed most perfectly.
"It can readily be imagined what a long line of wash-tubs would be required to wash 5,000 pieces a day, and what a big clothes-yard to dry them in; while here the work is done by four persons, who only occupy part of a basement-room, the other part being occupied by the mangle, and ironing and folding-tables. Adjoining are the airing-frames, which are hung with clothes, and then shoved into a room steam-pipe heated, when they are completely dried in a few minutes.
"Small Family Machines.—Almost the first thought, after witnessing the operation of this machine, was, can washing be done upon the same principle in small families? To our inquiries upon this point, we have received the following satisfactory information:—
"For common family use, hand-machines are made to cost from $40 to $50, with which a woman can wash fifty pieces at a time, and complete 500 in a day without laboring severely. For the purpose of washing, without driving the machinery by steam, a very small boiler will be sufficient. It is not necessary to have a head of water, as that can be found in the cylinder, which can be turned by horse or any other convenient power. The plan of cleansing clothes by steam is not a new one; but it is contended by the inventor that his process is an improvement upon all heretofore applied to that purpose."