Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1888-04-27
Bath Rooms for the Nations Law aIahsEa

Washington Star: The bath accom-
modations of the house are a luxury
that bings to the mind of back country
constituents fairy visions of oFienta1
grandeur. Away down IN the depths
of the capitol, down still yet below che
the basement, the marble tanks of tenn
pered water into which the members
plunge are located. When the elevator
bumps against the bottom and can go
down no further there are three steps
with a brass rail on each side, and then
You are in little square room almost
as warm as a steam bakery. A door
leads into a short passage between the
heavy foundations. Here the air is
warmer than in the room. Suddenly
it turns at right angles into another
short passage, where the Thermometer
registers still higher. Another turn
and another thermOmetric Jump, and
there are the bath rooms The plural
applies to the big walnut cabinets with
blind doors which stand in a row along
the wall. There are nine of these, and
in each is a large tank or bath tub
which can be filled with hot or cold or
tepid water in a very few minutes.
! These are in a narrow L-shaped room,
which is presided over by a big colored
man and his assistant. The cabinets
or baths are about the size of an Ordi-
nary hotel bed room, and the tubs are
big enough for the largest sized states
man to wallOw about in with ease and
comfort. Tom Reed, and Barnes of
/ 4, -. a
any other members, but the even can
roll over and founder about In one of
the marble tanks with as much ease az
they could perform the same evOlutions
! anywhere.
Some of the tubs are simply iron,
nicely painted, but the newer ones are
made of marble, and each looks like
great sarcOphagus. Three ordinary
men might get In one of them without
much crOwding. The marble sides are
! as slippery as glass and as warm as the
flesh that touches them. Thermome-
ters are hung in each bath and on the.
walls in the passage. The temperature
is kept always the same, and a member
might promenade for three hours in
nothing but his epidermis without dan
ger of cold. 1t was here that Mr.. Rea-
gan struggled with a tight undeTshirt
on the occasion of his famous bath
while the vote on the Morrison bill was
being taken.
The temperature is just at point
where the least exertiOn would bring on s
a IprOfuse PerspiratiOn, and but little
rubbing in the bath is sufficient e
bring a rudy glow. Members come
up In the elevator from these regions
with the hair curling about their tenn
pies and their cheeks as pink as a
baby's.
Some of the older members take a
bath as the last step in their prepare
tiOn for making a speech. They write
the speech, commit it to memory, take
a bath, and then deliver it. If q
member has the rheumatism or a cold,
or for any other reason feels the neces-
sity Of being parbOiled, there is a Rus
sian steam bath at the end Of the bath
room to which he resorts. 1t is a little,
close room, furnished with a wooden
bench and coil of steam pipes that
cover the walls of the compartment
When the door shuts there can't much
heat get out, and the thermometer nat
urally runs up into the big cOmbina-
tions. A member lies on the bench,
the door is shut, and the steam is
turned on. He is then in about as hot
a place as he is likely to enter in this
life. He gets enough of this in a little
while, and he has to be cooled off
gradually by being plunged first into
a tub Of hot water, next into cooler
water, then cooler and cooler, until he
gets back to the temperature of ordi-
nary mOrtals. 1t takes about an hour
or an hour and a halls cooling before
he ventures out into the colder atmos-
phere Of the house; and 1t is best for
him to walk rapidly on his way home.
Members of congress can battle here
any day, provided not more than a hun
dred select the same day; but on Sat
urdays none but members can enter.
On other days employees Of the house,
or men who have been given tickets by
members may battle. On Friday bust
ness is most brisk, and the smashing of
the water may be heard from early
morning until the place is closed In the
evening. 1t is hard to tell how many
people are bathed on this day, but or
dinarIly as many as hundred IS as
many as can be handled "in hours
After an all-night session the capacity
Of the rooms is strained. Members
have all their toilet made here except
their barbering. The air smells moist
with steam, and is fragrant with per
fume and scented soaps. The very
finest toilet furnishings are used. The
black man of the bath" VIII rub you
down and perform ali the services OF
the bath.
Besides this he has proper instru-
ments for the purpose, and he viii trim
off the cOrns and keep the feet in order.
When a new member is elected from
country district 1t generally takes a
right smart while" to get his feet ia
condition. They ra01Iira Fnreb care