AN IMPROVED WASHING MACHINE.

Otago Witness, Issue 1340, 4 August 1877, Page 19

AN IMPROVED WASHING MACHINE.

'Great as the- domestic labour difficulty is at home, it is probably greater by far in the Australian colonies. There what I clearly foresaw would happen; 1 some years ago, has now come fully to pass. Every contingent of labourers and domestic serirehtih—to say nothing of other classes — - have rapidly become/ so to speak, masters and mistresses, and consequently there is tt vast* amount of domestic work to be got Plough' 'and no 1 one virtually to do it. Hence an extraordinary demand has lately sprung up for all kinds of laboursaving; appliances, and these have, in fact, become mere necessaries to many colonists. I have of late, as my readers know, turned my attention a good deal in this direction, but cannot say that I had encountered a washing machine' in every respect really worthy the confidence not only of the home but of the colonial purchaser. Last month, 1 however, my attention was particularly directed to the Imperial Rotary Washing Machines manufactured by Mr. George 1 Lloyd, of Edmund- Street, Birmingbam, and I think, therefore* in these times, when labour-saving machinery of every description is eagerly sought for, it will not be out of place to give a description of an interesting trial of a washing; ■wringing, and' -mangling machine combined, th» invention of Mr. G. Lloyd, 17 Edmund Street, Birmingham : — " The machine; which presents a very neat and compact appearance, consists of an octagonal shaped box, flattened at the sides, ismade of pitch pine and highly varnished, is lined with zinc plates and fitted on very neat but strong iron legs. The drum or cage in which the clothes are placed is made of strong galvanised wire, and is made to rotate by a small flywheel acting upon two cogwheels. The structure is surmounted by a pair of rollers 6k inches in diameter, working between two strong iron uprights by means of a fly and two cogwheels, the pressure on the rollers being given by a solid indiarubber spring acting upon a double lever, and is regulated by simply turning two flynuts. This indiarubber spring supplies a desideratum long felt, as it gives, when buttons or hard substances are passed through the rollers -in*the act of- wringing or mangling the clothes. The articles experimented upon consisted of workmen's slops (the original colour of which could not be ascertained), very dirty • aprons, and equally dirty •towels, also several other articles of a very grimy description. These articles were placed in a tub of water,, and after remaining- about five minutes were taken out, wrung, and very slightly soaped ; they were then shaken out and placed in the cage, and two pailsfnl of hot water, to which a little soda had been added, wore poured into the machine, which was then closed and the drum caused to rotate moderately quick through the water, thus causing the clothes to fall over each other and constantly presenting a fresh surface to the water, thus cleansing them by the action of the water alone ; the whole working so freely that a child, eight yean of age, could work it with ease.

After the clothes had been subjected to this process from six to eight minutes they were taken out of the cage and passed between the rollers, when, to our astonishment, not only were the articles beautifully washed but were wrung so well that half an hour's exposure to the air would thoroughly dry them. The trial of the mangle was most satisfactory — the articles having a smoothness and gloss not to be obtained by any ordinary mangle. The whole experiment was considered most satisfactory, the articles not even having gone through the process of, rinsing and yet being cleaner than articles of this description usually are when washed by hand and boiled and mangled. This machine would be a great boon to the colonies, where manual labour is so expensive, and also on account of its great saving in soap, &c. Mr. Lloyd was warmly congratulated upon the highly efficient state to which he had brought his invention : one gentleman predicting that it would, ere long, take its place in most houses along with its fellow labour-saving article, the sewing machine." — " Australasian" in the London Australian and N.Z. Gazette.