Adams Gets Automatic Washers; Third House to Install Machines

Adams became the third House to complete plans for the installation of automatic washing machines yesterday, when the House Committee signed a contract for two washers and two dryers with the Maytag-Gray Company.

The installation will begin in two weeks, but the machines will not be ready for student use until next fall. They will be placed in a special room in the C-entry basement.

The house committee has agreed to lend the company $180 to help defray installation costs. The company could put up the entire $500 for this expense, but felt if the committee had a financial interest in the project, it would see that the machines were used.

Kirkland House, which has had machines since last fall, has reported "huge success," as has Dunster House, which has had the apparatus since late winter. Adams House Committee chairman Mark Gibson '52 said he expects the machines will clean up.

Anything over $4 a day gross profit on the washers will go toward paying off the $180 loan. If it is not paid off in two years, it will be written off. After that, the committee will get a flat 20 percent of the gross take.

Only Expense is Soap

Although the committee hasn't decided yet what the profits will go for, the only real expense will be for soap. The University will not charge it for use of water or electricity.

To use a washer and a dryer for one nine pound load will cost a student 50 cents. After each day of use, the machines must be delinted and the room cleaned. The members of the committee have decided to split these chores between them to avoid hiring and paying a man for the job.