Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 8.djvu/693

 THE RUSKIN CO-OPERATIVE COLONY 673

or seventeen days, each week by means of the laundry. Against these seventeen days are to be charged the steam used in running the laundry, depreciation of plant, etc. The steam was furnished from the sawmill boiler, and but little of it was required ; and the machinery was obtained cheaply ; there was therefore very little to be subtracted from these seventeen days per week so little that it can be disregarded. Another point to be noted in this connection is that the twenty women who could not work also had their washing done by the colony free of charge, and that expense was saved to them,.

The common dining-room was quite a time-saving device. There were four cooks, each of whom worked about seven hours per day, a total of twenty-eight hours. The paring and pre- paring of vegetables were done by women. Some twelve were employed, averaging about three hours each per day, or thirty- six hours all told. There were some thirty-five waiters, who also washed the dishes. Each worked approximately four hours per day, deducting the time they consumed in eating their meals, or 140 hours per day for all. Two hours of labor were required to sweep the dining-room per day. Two bakers were employed to bake the bread, nine hours per day, or eight- een hours for both. The manager devoted all his time to the work, and this was nine hours per day. Recapitulating, we have:

Paring, etc. - - 36 hours.

Cooking - 28 "

Waiting - - 140 "

Sweeping - 2 "

Baking - - 18 "

Managing - 9 "

Total - - - 233 "

Let us compare this with the work the women would be required to do if each family did its own cooking. The work of purchasing, preparing, cooking and serving food, washing dishes, sweeping the dining-room and kitchen, baking, etc., in each family would be something like nine hours per day on the average. Nine hours per day for seventy families would be 630