HOUSEHOLD ARTS AT THE WORLD'S FAIR. 809 



machines are no novelty, but one whose good points are actively 

 exhibited by an attendant attracts considerable attention. It can 

 be put on or taken off the tub with wonderful ease, and adjusts 

 itself to any article from the thickness of a handkerchief up to 

 that of a door-mat. A washing machine for domestic use, shown 

 in the Forestry Building, consists of a round, covered tub with a 

 corrugated bottom and having an axle passing through the cover. 

 The axle carries a corrugated disk on the lower end and is turned 

 by a crank at the top. In the Machinery Building a German in- 

 vention may be seen. Its tub is three or four feet high and stands 

 on a low frame. It is worked by pushing a lever back and forth. 

 This action turns the drum containing the clothes, and rotates in 

 the opposite direction a stirrer shaped like a four-legged stool. 

 The " self-heating " washer has a box-shaped tub set on legs. In- 

 side is a washboard hung horizontally from a frame, which is 

 pushed back and forth upon another similar board by a long 

 handle. The tub has a metal bottom to which a flame can be ap- 

 plied by means of a gasolene attachment. This attachment can 

 also be swung out and used for making starch or heating a flat- 

 iron. One of the most creditable of women's inventions to be 

 seen is the well-known " cold-handled sadiron," with a detachable 

 handle. Another woman's invention for the laundry, shown in 

 the Woman's Building, is called a " convertible chair/' and is 

 described as a combination of clothes rack, ironing board, clothes 

 receptacle, and bosom board. Still another is a waist and sleeve 

 pressing board. Plain laundered articles are shown in the exhibit 

 of the London Board Schools, each piece being marked with the 

 name and age of the girl by whom it was done up. The Lette- 

 Verein, of Berlin, also exhibits laundered articles in the Woman's 

 Building. 



One branch of domestic economy which is finely illustrated is 

 the care of children. In the western end of the Children's Build- 

 ing is a large room occupied by the Fitch Creche and Training 

 School for Nursery Maids. It is fitted up with bassinets and cribs 

 of various styles, one crib being suspended from the ceiling, while 

 on the floor is a square inclosure in which a baby may be safely 

 left to creep about without watching. Here a class of girls is 

 learning the proper care of infants under competent instruction, 

 and here mothers may leave their babies to be cared for through 

 the day while they are seeing the fair. The creche is an exhibit 

 of the Kindergarten Society of Buffalo. Let no one imagine that 

 sightseers are allowed to wander at will through the room ; they 

 can only look in through a glass partition. The middle of the 

 Children's Building is occupied by a gymnasium and there is a 

 playground on the roof, each being suitably fitted up. On the 

 second floor are several rooms in which kindergarten, sloyd, and 



