New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-06-24
THE CITP'S FREE BATHS.
HOW THE SMALL BOYS REVEL, IN THEN.
"REPEArgRs" AT THE BATTERY AND ELSEWHERE
TWO NEW RArHs THIS VIZ, p

'REPEATERS" AT THE BATTERY AND ELSEWHERE
Two NEW BATHS THIS YER
There fs nothing superstitious about tn small boy
and numerous youngsters here will be deligA ted learn
that the city will have thirteen FREQ bah4 houses this
summer, two than last year. One new bath HOUSE,
will be placed n the East River between Dover and
Pike sts, and the other in the East River aso near
Ffftfeth-st. The former is expected to ready foo
use In few days, and the latter In couple>o of weeks
Tho other baths are at tho Battery Duane, HoratIo,
Twenty seventh and FoPy-sxth sts North Rt Stan.
ton, Corears, Nineteenth Thirty seventh OneIhundreds
andtweh, and ODe-hundyed and thirty tn sts,
East River The baths equitabIy distribute cd, but
the distance between them is vastly resting
question to the small boys Generally all that e asks
for is plenty Of dust and dirt, when he plans to be-
come water rat glowing sun is also consid ered
as an essential But given the dust and dat and
two baths, within reasonable distance of each sther
any cnerprising gamn Will guarantee get at least
four good swms day, In spite of tho twenty minutes
rule.
Perhaps he starts at the Battery The water the e ID
better than at the other baths and crowd Is g er
ally larger, and that gives better chance to au old
detection Take the glorious opening day examu le
The cold weather had postponed the opening of no
baths and therc was small multitude around 81, al
bath by 80 A stout, jolly Irishman appear,
about O'Clock at the door Of the bath, and in,.
medately retreated In dlsmay. Tho crowd surged as
him, the small boys slipped through his legs, tho bin
boys hustled him, and the In the growled like
breakers. The fat sent for two policemen and
when superintendent Tom' Foley and tho watchmau
were ready the first batch Of fifty broke loose and
poured into the place like barrel of peas The ro-l
naming $50 crowded into line and waited their turn
Street boys not troubled with unnecessary coth-
ing, and in about seconds tho sixty small desss
ngroo were deserted and the water dotted with
small black heads, II cocoanut tree had been
shaken the 90x30 ncosure The wuter was
churned into foam quickly that, besides the blach
heads could only occasional streas Of yellow
But the man with a rattan sounded the gong and
ordered the crowd out in twenty minutes, and soon
all were out the second detachment poured IN In
the meantime the first to ont stroied to the var
side and sat down. There they covered their heads
with dust and in twcnty minutes their mothers would
not have known them and how could the fat man b
expected to recognize them. He didn't He only
grlnned when that question was asked. Tic simply
extended HIS tremendous paw and grabbed every bow
~ the pose whom he suspected OF trying TO "sneak
second swim. II the registered low degree Of
temperature or II the gils blue,o that boy Wa
bounced" But there other boys ready to tain
his place, and before the day was over the fat man
nvountarily rang chestnut bell on himself as Ia
where do all desc boys come from aud hs
r.ust have felt that he weighed about a ton as his
days work closed.
Other keepers were enjoying the same pleasure
After the Battery bath had been worked the
bounced gamns got their nasal thermometers In
normal condition and changed tho betrayfng blue
'oor OF the eils" to healthy red by a stroll to the
Duanc-st bath. With a little patience and some dns
aud dirt two more baths were obtained. The numbos
of swms is practically limited by the distances betwoen
The ba'hs, and with bobtail andy, what will tho
small boy not risk for swiml
Last year 3,0Oo000 people bathed themselves ia
these free baths. So Superintendent w. G. Dor
scp, OF the Bureau Of Repairs and supplies estimates
some baths were patronixed during the hot spells By
5000 or 1000 people dag. The attendants not
Allowed to receive gratuity but . matter Of fset
he baths arc used by people who could not afford one.
rhe baths to them the greatest possible blessing
Ind tho number of bathcs this year Will be larger than
Usual.
There has been a change In tho management az the
baths this year. Men and boys have different days.
fhe baths open to women Mondays, Wednesdaya
nd Fridays the rest Of the week and boys who
AN come az early as q m and stay laae 6
,. m.
When dew is falling. can the earth b ssid 70 n
tefno In huaH