Waterbury evening Democrat., 1888-04-30
SWEATING IT OUT.
GETTING RID OF ALCOHOL IN A
 TURKISH BATHROOM.

A Young Inebriate's Initiation Into the
 Mysteries of the "Hot Room"-In tho
 Land of Dreams-A Sudden Waking.
 Rejuvenated.
 little office under sidewalk; passing view of room filled with narrow canvas cots a few yellow gas flames; behind desk young man whose nakedness is emphasized by an equator of crash towel; in front of the desk an inebriate with pale, blinking eyes and unsteady hands. The inebriate removes from one pocket roll of greenbacks, from another a revolver, from third a match, from fourth handful of ruined cigars He lays these with his scarf pin on the counter. He takes key to the drawer in which they are placed by the naked youth, and he walks loosely out through the room where the cots stand. He staggers little and almost goes down in avoiding an obese foot that sticks from the end of one of the cots. He curses the foot with pathetic pro fanity. The owner of the foot rubs his sleepy eyes and sends back volley of oaths that blister the stone floor The inebriate stumbles on around to room to which an attendant "a duplicate of the youth in the office-has assigned him. He removes his clothing after desperate struggle with his suspenders and a collar and elbow wrestle with his shirt. And now he stands nude, and alcoholically bashful until another equator of towel is tied around his blushing form. He is led out to the hot room.
 The future has no terrors for any man who has encountered the torridity of hot room in Turkish bath house for men. You could fry eggs on the floor. It is hotter than dog days in the lower regions. It would make a salamander quit in five minutes. The air is so full of suspended fire that a red headed man looks like a striking brunette. The in- ebriate lies on a couch. He closes his eyes The air is heavy He slumbers. He dreams he is a porterhouse steak. He is being broiled. The cook is careless. He wakes with start. The sheet has been pulled from under him and the fercely hot rattan top of the couch is next to his skin. He looks about him with savage eyes. The man in the next couch is quietly smoking. Two others, divested even of their towels, are sparring in a corner. None of them notices him. He lies down again and dreams once more. Suddenly something bricks him like needle
 HOTTER THAN EVER.
 A sharp pain runs through his back He whoops and jumps up. His neighbor is still smoking The sparrers are sparring There is nothing to indicate the cause of his sud den waking except az thin spray of water ldZlly ldlluS liOul Cu0 COlu WdC6T IauC0G The inebriate knows that some one has sprayed him, and he is hotter than ever He offers to fight any person in the room. The boxers say they would be glad to accommo- date him, but the doctor has warned them to beware of violent exercise The man on the next couch assures him that he promised the friend who gave him the cigar that he would smoke it before he killed iy one.
 The inebriate is disgusted. He meanders into an adjoining room. There are others there before him. They are turning on the steam. It rises first in vapor, then a mist, then fog, now cloud. The air is filled with white light The inebriate is stihed; he cannot breathe; he can scarcely think; he moves his hands feebly and crawls out into 1 the hot room. Then he sweats. He sweats l for keeps. He leaks first, then he showers then he pours He is standing in pool of water that was once himself He feels his l legs going; his brain reels; he staggers out, and in another moment is lying on marble slab with soap in his eyes, his ears, his mouth, his nose. A muscular young man is pounding him as though he were rubber | bag. Soapy and sore he arises from the slab He seeks the shower. He turns it on himself 1 Now for the rippling, gurgling waters of the plunge. He hurls himself in. He is an in- ebriate no longer He is a nymph with whiskers and a rasping voice. There are other nymphs there before him. They also have whiskers and queer voices. They play like boys They splash each other. They kick. They disport. They swim under each other and tip each other up.
 | At o'clock the ex-inebriate meets his en- ployer at the office.
 "You are looking well this morning."
 "Yes, sir. 1 left our church sociable about 10 o'clock, had a good sleep, and got up early. It is very pleasant walking down town early in the morning. You ought to l try it, sir"
 The employer says he will. Chicago l Times