Photo of a photo

Modesto Montoto (1875-1950) and his wife sold agricultural supplies in Asturias and he toured his territory in a motorcycle and sidecar. In his sidecar he carried an old plate camera, and he took photos of what he saw. 
The main photo is by Montoto and shows women washing their laundry in the river. Extras add context. 
1. shows one of the plaques spread around Villamayor, where he lived and had his business; and behind it to the right, his family home. 
2. shows the photo with text, and 
3. Shows the text, which I´ll translate here.

The Washerwomen.
For Modesto Montoto, to depict daily life was a constant in his works. Close to his family house was the river of the mill of Carúa, along which he immortalised the many women who washed clothes, their own or other people´s, in its water. 
Villamayor did not have a washroom in working order until 1919. It was when it came financed by the returned emigrant Rafaael Fabian y Fabian, who made his fortune in Puerto Rico. 
The washrooms were social centres, mainly for women, in which they exchanged all kinds of news. Montoto in one of his works referred to them as "the place of lies", or as the place where you "got a made-to-measure suit", with regard to the gossip that often flowed like ndust in these places. 
I´m afraid I can´t explain either of those two statements.