he sixty-hour limit
on seven days of the week without any interference on the part of the
government. Nor is there any authority that can force hospitals and hotel
keepers to guard their machinery.

"While the hospitals did not, as a rule, exceed legal hours, were
excellent as a rule in point of sanitation, and paid better wages than
the commercial laundries to all but the more skilled workers, the
machinery was adequately guarded in only one of the eight hospital
laundries where I worked.

"In some, the belt that transfers the power was left unscreened, to the
danger of passing workers. In others the mangle guard was insufficient.
In all the hospitals I heard of casualties. Fingers had been mashed. A
hand had been mashed. An arm had been dragged out. Unguarded machinery
was, of course, a striking inconsistency, more inexcusable in the
hospitals than in hotels or in commercial laundries. For hospitals are
not engaged in a gainful pursuit, regardless of all humanitarian
considerations. On the contrary, they are not only avowedly philanthropic
in aim, but are carried on solely in the cause of health.

"The living-in system prevails in the hospitals, and wages are paid
partly in board and lodging. The laundry workers share the dormitories
and dining rooms of the other hospital employees. The dormitories were
in every case furnished with comfortable beds, and chiffonniers or
bureaus and adequate closet space were provided. Miss Hopkins and I did
not sleep in, but had our beds assigned us, and used our dormitory rights
merely for a cloak room. Here we lingered after hours to gossip, and here
we often retired at noon to stretch out for a few minutes' relaxation of
our aching muscles. The dormitories varied in size. Each hospital had
several large and several small ones. In most cases these dormitories
were on upper floors. In one they occupied the basement. Here, however, a
wide sunken alley skirted the house wall and gave the windows a fairly
good access to the air.

"In all but two hospitals the food was excellent and the meals decently
served. There were eggs and milk in abundance. The soups were delicious,
the meats of fair quality and well cooked. There were plenty of
vegetables, and the desserts were appetizing. We sat, as a rule, at long
tables accommodating from ten to twenty. Sometimes we had table-cloths
and napkins; sometimes a white oil-cloth sufficed. We were waited on by
maids.

"In most of the hospitals t