The weekly messenger. [volume] (St. Martinsville [i.e. St. Martinville] La.) 1886-1948, 1888-07-07
A MOORISH BATH.
The Luxury and Heat of a Gen.
nine Oriental Addition.
r;,et Roasted and then Knead-
cd By Crinning Attendants.

turkish or Moorish bath.
If you go, you go to perspire, and to
zoe everybody and everything around
YOU pcrspirc. After undressing and de-
hosting your watch and valuables with
The proprietor, 60 to the hot room and
stretch yourself upon raised platform
IN the centre OF the tepidarium, built Of
LARGO slabs of marble over an oven in
which raging fire is eager to roast you.
When YOU are roasted on ore side
turn over and try another
corner of your altar to find cool spot.
Then lie on the stone floor, and let your
trimming attendant crack your bones,
pull your joints and twist your neck,
and knead you with his hands and walk
over YOU with his knees; then let him
roll off your old skin, and with evident
nride lay before you long strings of your
worthless hide, dozen of them in row,
then you begin to realize that you have
had one bath onco In your lifetime that
has been of some genuine use to your
human existence. Pumice stone for
the soles of your feet, and strong soap,
or wisps of hemp or similar fibre, help
to take off your second skin, but you
keep on your third to so home with by
fixing it up with bucket or two OF
cold water Then, to keep what re-
mains of you together, and to
prevent your third skin from
trying to get away, your attend
ant wraps you in towels as big as sheets
and your head in turban, and perches
Won on high wooden sandals to keep
YOUR feet out of the water, for the
pavement is also perspiring freely;
small rivers flow in every direction. In
this becoming garb like man buried
BY mistake in the catacombs, you come
forth and lie down with the other mis-
taken corpses and help them TO drink
tea and perspire once more, and throw
another mantle-of smokc-about you
with long pipe. Then you are fit for
nothing; lie still and let the world wag
as it will. The hours set apart for men
at the baths are from seven o'clock in
the evening until n Don, thus furnishing
them with good sleeping quarters for
the night.
The baths are the great places OF
rendezvous for The Arab women, who
spend an afternoon there frequently
their hours being from noon till seven),
and they certainly deserve this much OF
social intercourse. They are seen with
their children in the streets going tc
the bath, accompanied by gorgeous
negrcss carrying bronze vessel filed
with necessary articles and other bas'
kets aad bundles con tanning q complete
change of linen, also several strings Of
orange blossoms Orange flower water
is not to be forgotten. for it enters ex
tensively into their luxuries as a drink
with their meals and as perfume
For the latter purpose a bot
tic of brass, silver or gold, Will
long neck and pepper-box termination
is used, with which they sprinkle guest
at home and friends at the bath as wei
as themselves. The baths, again, 'tak'
in washing" especially of heavy wooiel
burnooses, haiks, blankets, etc, which
the attendants and the moutcho
young boy-scrvant, whose name IS evi
IDENTIFY of Spanish origin) wash wit
their feet and plenty of soap and waite
on the marble pavement in the no
room. These articles are hung, VIII
the bath towels and other linen, to DIR
on the terraces. To make q stu iy unde
the drippings of such al "atire laundr
may be looked pom as
feat, aside f." the fac
that the moutch, / afraid to ieav
me within reach " ,Lch valuable we
linen. With >, .ur fumigations tn
yellow burnooscs, arranged like tent
over the smoke, are bleached. Thi
operation is equal to thousand match
es burning unwelcomc incense undo
the artists nose. The bath attendant
arc apparently wonderfully constitute
to avoid rheumatism and pneumoni;
they 90 in and out OF the heated roo
for hours together with only tow
round their body, but they do cate
cold all the same Harper's Mag
zine