National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1882-03-11
WASHING AN EDITOR.
GLoRrEs OF A TURKISH BATH.
Tho Manner In which Ono OF Our STAFF Was Par
boiled, KncadcJ, Rasped, SOaped, Scrubbed,
Purified, Renovated, RCsencratod,
Readlustcd, and nedrcsscd.


with a clear eye light STEP and healthy glow In
his counteuance, and feel rcjuvonatcd af(er tho
parboiling and raspng process which have juas
undergone"
II never INDUCED IN the modern application Of
that ancient custom Of purifying ones anatomy"
said our aesthetic reporter, and wish you would
tell me all about It,"
Certainly" replied our representative, lighting
cigar from the last box sent to the office in 40.
knowodgement of fattcrlng personal men
tion" OF the donor, from which one puff" the boz
ofclgars with It's hundred puiis was the sequence,
certainly will, by giving you my experience
this afternoon. You see, 1 visited thu
Capitol yesterday for the first time this
session, and the atmosphere Of statcs-
men, mixed with congressional cold tea, had
lcthargic effect upon my fresh and innocent Or
ganization. In order to relieve myself from the
dizziness and stupidity resulting from too much
of Congress in one day, friend advised mo to
take Il Turkish bath, which he assured me would
bring me out as good as now.' Acting
on the suggestion, l went directly to
the new Turkish bathing establishment, on
q street, opposite the Riggs House, and In
response to tho bell pull a neatly -attred dusky
maiden opened the door, and was shown into
handsomely furnished reception room, with seats
and lounges, and huge register, In which was
politely requested to inscribe my autograph. 1
was then ushered into another large ROOM neatly
carpoed aud furnished with touches and chairs,
and on one side row of dressing apartments,
suitably fitted up, to one of which wis assigned
for the purpose of dlsrobing myself The mascu-
limo attendant in charge by the way, Is not real
Turk, but Is a saddle. colored American citizen OF
tho Fifteenth Amendment After disrobng my
self was provided with clean sheet, with which
to robe my anatomy, and was bid to follow my
dusky attendant"
" How was he dressed2" inquired our aesthetic
reporter.
"In the primitive fashion, with fg-leaf adorn.
mont, first established In the Garden of Eden" re-
Joined our clean looking representative.
"What next?"
"Myguide, philosopher, aud friend then ushered
me into bright and cheerful room, with n tiled
floor, on which strips of carpets were laid on
which to STEP the tiles being too hot for the naked
feet, and u few willow or wooden reclining chairs
completed the outfit. The thermometer ia
this room marked 1909, produced by
constant and steady supply Of hot air,
introduced through registers connecting with tho
furnace. Taking a seat in one of tho chairs, the
hot temperature soon developed its penetrating
influence and the perspiration soon began 10
flow. The sable attendant supplied goblets OF cold
water 10 drink at proper intervals, which induced
a rapid increase In the flow of moisture from my
body"
"How long did you remain in this boilin,
regionT
az stood about thirty minutes of this agreeable
heat, and then entered an adjoining ROOM SINH
larry fitted up, but with n steady temperature OF
1902. This was red hot, and the perspiration
seemed to boil out from every PORE and the SOW
oral glasses of cold water imbibed In the mean
time seemed to stimulate the outer flow In the
most profuse quantities. You can figure up at your
leisure the quantity of moisture thus exuded by
computing the number of outlets for per5plratiou
to flow from the epidermis of the entire body when
1t Is stated that there are seven million pores In
the palm of hand"
" Did the attendant remain with you in these
hot rooms"
ooh, no; but he came in with drinking water
as 1t was needed"
is such sweat bath considered beneficial?
"This free and full perspiration brings out the
impurities of the blood and general system in a
far more effectual manner than results from dos
Ing ones self with medicine, Is the claim made by
hedevoteesof this process of bodily publication"
How long did you remain in this fiery fur
naceT'
"Iendured 1t about fifteen minutes by which
time was one seething mascot persplring human
ity. and my whole body was the color of boiled
lobster"
"What next folio wed %
"The African representative of this Turkish sys-
tenn of stewing the impurities out of an American
citizen then politely informed me that was now
in the proper condition for the shampooing pro-
cess. followed him into an adjoining room of
pleasant, moderate temperature, fitted up with all
the appliances for q ren0vating shampoo. / was
then laid out at full length on marble top bench
and the African Turk, with the broad, rough
palms of his hands, commenced manipulating
my parboiled and perSpiring anatomy In Il most
vigorous manner. 1t seemed at iirstas II he would
remove some of my cutcle as his broad palms
rasped mo from head to foot. and at times he
changed tho manner of manipulating my body,
and seemed TO be kneading me like baker does
cracker dough-"
SIS that what you call shampooing?"
"That Is what call the rasping course, which
scrapes off any of the epldermis that may have be-
oomc overdone in the parboiling process"
us every one subjected to such vigorous treat
ment?"
"Not at all. If you desire IL he will perform his
duties in rs gentle manner as a mother bathes
her BORN but felt that after my seasons ex-
perience rs n Washington newspaper man 1t was
necessary for my body to be entirely purified from
the saturation resulting from so much congress
slonal banqueting, 'cold-tea' lunches, aud bar
room interviews with visiting statesmen. I de-
sired to hs put in proper condition to enjoy the
Lenten season. and told the Turk TO scrub accord
ingly. After thus thoroughly rasping my entire
body, the sable manipulation took in one hand a
huge cake of soap and in the other flesh
brush and went over me again from scalp to
toe'nails in an energetic manner, applying the
soap and brush alternately, until was a sea OF
foam and each individual pore of my whole ex-
ternal system had been soaped and scrubbed.
Then was bid TO rise and the attendant opened
on me from the nozzle Of all immense hose hum
dreds of sprays of tepid water, which rinsed me
thoroughly. The temperature of the water from
the thousand Jets was gradually made cooler, until
the full force was the natural GOODNESS of the
Potomac This WINS decidedly refreshing. Then
was guided to large swimming pool of fresh
Potomac water, some five feet in depth, into which
plunged and sported about like frolcklng por-
posc, From that l was ushered into another
apartment, where the faithful Turkish manipula-
tor dried me off with crash towels and then bare
handed, again rasped my anatomy patting juba
on my epidermls during this process of artistic
manipulation. Then giving me final tussel with
towels of fine linen, the attendant, with genuine
Oriental salaam, pronounced me purified aud regcn
Grated. With my body cool and thoroughly dry, SGT
glowing like the setting sun, was conducted into q
well-ventilated retiring-r room, where rccncd OIL
a couch between clean sheets, the attendant cover
ing me with blankets Of fine wool, and | soon
passed of into a sweet slumber at peace with all
the world and the rest OF mankind. After
a rest and nap forau hour, donned my wardrobe.
feeling entirely reconstructed and more refreshed
and inylgoratcd than for years, and my step Is
as light and elastic and spirits as buoyant as a
school boys At the commencement Of Il summer
vacation"
II should think you would have had an absorb
ing thirst nfler such an exhaustion of moisture
from your systemP quizzingly remarked our Gs-
thetic reporter
There you diagnose me correctly young man
for as l entered the open air experienced sort OF
lime. kiln thirst, and wendell my way directly to
Chamberlln's and absorbed u large goblet of
ha,,arona ttuffh inst anD,ah