Thomas County cat., 1890-07-17
HIS FIRST EXPERIENCE.
"A Novice Received . Turkish Bath, an,
Tells How it Struck Him.


Turkish bath said the reason he had
tarried so long was because he did not
want to expose himself to the scorn of
the attendants, who would discover at
once by his mistakes that he was a
novice. But if his friend would prom
Use to steer him against the game, he
said, and instruct him, so that he would
not expose his ignorance, he would 60
willingly enough. A man behind a
desk at the door took $125 of his money
and gave him ticket, rubber ring
with two keys attached and an envel-
ope. His guide ran his hand through
the rubber ring as though it were a
bracelet, put his watch and money in
the envelope, wrote his name OH it and
gave it to the clerk and then started off
with the green ticket.
The heavy curtains behind led into a
darkened, ornately furnished and warm
ly heated hall, with doors opening into
it on every side and doors opening out
on an oriental balcony that ran around
it. 1t was Uttered with great many
leather safas, on which were stretched
a half dozen men in different attitudes
of repOse or exhaustion. They were
wrapped in long white cloths.
THE WARM ROOM.
The attendant unlocked one of the
doors opening into the hall and showed
a dressing room, into which the novice
disappeared to come forth clothed in a
long and light strip of linen and his
rubber bangle. His guide led the way
before him down stairs through bar
ber shop and down an inclined place
heavily carpeted. 1t was very silent
and very dark.
At the foot of the inclined and car
peted plane the debutant stepped into
a big marble, gayly colored and tiled
hall, with deep tank of green water
sunk in the center and surrounded by
brass rails. He saw all this dimly
through a mist of steam that brought
the prespiration to the surface of his
skin with a rush. and made him gasp
and feel dizzy. He was quite sure that
he would faint if he did not get back to
the fresh air, or be seized with nausea,
or fall over, or stihe, or do something
equally foolish, and he tried to hear
what his guide was saying and failed.
His guide seemed as much at home
in this atmosphere of the place as
though he were on Broadway, and led
him around to row of steamer chars
that were hot to the touch. The debutant
was still afraid to breathe, and painted
and glared around him helplessly, while
his head seemed to be splitting in diff
ferent parts, and his ears were ringing
and tingling. "Do you want to 60 into
the warm room or stay here ?" he heard
his guide ask politely.
"Into what-the warm room ?" gasped
the victim "Great Scott! what do you
call this?" he asked, pointing pathetic
at the redness of his skin and the
streaming perspiration.
"Oh, this isn't anything" said the
guide. jumping up and stalking off into
smaller marble lined room filled with
hot, dry steam. "This is the Russian
bath" shouted the guide: for the novice
still found it difficult to understand.
I-am going to -haye-a-fit"
gasped the novice. 'I-want-to-g get
out"
The man who had been there before
pulled the chain of shower bath and
told the novice to put his head under it.
The water that fell was gratefully cold
and the novice held his head in the
waterfall and breathed freely and long
This made him feel better, and when he
stepped back into the warm room again
it did not seem so bad He lay down
in the steamer chair and watched the
heat wash away about three pounds of
him with novel and delighted interest.
Then his guide took up the line of
march and sigiified that he was to fol
1917 a fat attendant with biceps like a
prize fighter, who led him into a room
with marble slab in it and a shower
bath. There was no one to direct him
now, his friend was locked up with
another determined looking prize fighter
i'll the next room, and the novice felt
very nervous and inclined to give. the
whole thing up and 60 home
THE PUGILIST'S HANDS.
But his own particular pugilist decid- |
cd the matter for hin by pressing him
down on the marble slab like sacrificiai |
offering on an altar and began pound |
ing him with wet catcher's glove. He
alternates this treatment by rubbing the |
bather's skin the wrong way with his |
closed fist, and hitting each particular |
muscle rap with the palm of his hand. |
The only satisfaction the novice had |