INGENUITY AND LUXURY 



quite the same wholesale rates as the cutting-machine, 

 but at the same time it was much faster than any 

 hand-methods. By the older method buttonholes 

 could be cut in a hundred coats in about three hours 

 and a half; but by the new machine this time was 

 reduced to less than twenty minutes. 



One of the slower processes in garment-making is 

 that of sponging and shrinking the cloth. For centuries 

 this has been done by the use of the sponge and flat- 

 iron, the time required by an average workman to 

 shrink a coat being about fifteen minutes. At the pres- 

 ent time the shrinking is done by the steam-sponging- 

 machine with which an average workman can shrink 

 a coat in something less than two minutes, with less 

 exertion than that expended in the older process. 



A somewhat similar device in the form of gas or 

 electric flat-irons is now replacing the old-fashioned 

 iron heated on the familiar octagonal soft-coal stove. 

 The first step in this direction was the flat-iron heated 

 by means of charcoal a miniature stove in itself. 

 But such flat-irons were not entirely satisfactory, from 

 the facts that the temperature could not be controlled 

 and that they required close watching. But by using 

 gas or electricity in place of charcoal, an iron was in- 

 vented that would remain at any desired temperature for 

 an indefinite length of time. From a hygienic stand- 

 point this was one of the most beneficial innovations 

 in the workshops. By the older method the air of the 

 shop was vitiated in the winter time by stoves, while 

 in the summer time the same shops were heated to 

 suffocation. With the gas or electric flat-iron only 



