St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-04-13

/ ISSV4EsA picturesque form OF
sEIWYHE@ martyrdoin than de-
LsSsSe ~ voting ones life to
the purifying of
soiled cuticle, but we doubt muchlf the
welding of the scrubbing brush be not
quite as potent for the practical good OF
the race as the counting OF perfumed
rOsarieS III expiation of sin, says the
| New York Sun.
The continually increasing number OF
| women who frequent the baths has ne
cessltated corresponding increase IN
| the number OF women who take
up this peculiar employment. OF
these women bathers about two
thirds take the baths with view
to reducing their flesh. At least to pre-
vent a further increase in avOirdupoiS:
most of the remaining third are Inspired
by a determination to acquire more
flesh, and a small contingent are act,lated
bp a laudable ambition to be really as
| clean and sweet IS morning roses
newly washed in dew" 1t may be
! interesting Information to the stout
ones, who remain in the heat and steam
until fairly parboiled. that in one of the
| baths up town there is an attendant
! who has been in a dripping persplration
| nine hours day for three years, land yet
museum ct
Fat Women.
The ambitious Scrawny deyotees to
the bath would hardly be encouraged
| to see in another batla slight, slim, lit
tie slip of woman attendant. also con-
stantly in the heat who would make q
good anatomical model for artists or
physicians, and would need Queen
EIiZaDethan ruff and seventeen strings
| of pearls to make decOllete dress be
coming. The fieShy attendant shuns the
stout batherS as much as possible, for
they invariably ask her why she dosent
get thin in the baths. and are rather
| inclined to be discouraged at her an
swer, which is always: "Oh, it isn't
natural for me TO he thin"
As rule. however, the attendants
are vigorous, sturdy specimens OF we'll
developed womanheod, with exquisite,
firm, velvety flesh, fair compilations,
clear, bright eyes and great physical
strength and endurance. Some of them
have not been i'll day in ten or fifteen
years, though they work constantly in
the great heat, with their bare feet con-
tinually in contact with wet floors and
their dresses damp from the q
Spiashing of the Water.
Perhaps this is something of an Illus.
tration of the survival of the, fltteSt, as,
woman not well developed and natur-e
ally robust cannot endure the work at
all and makes way before her superior
in vigor at the outset Ia the baths
devoted exclusively to women the
attendants go on duty at s
O'Clock and remain until 6. They
Law aside all clothing, shoes and stock
ings and don little cotton gown reach
ing only to the knees and low about the
shoulders, with sleeves. Some of the
little dresses are very picturesque aflf
fairs of scarlet. which contrast happily
with the clear white flesh of threat and
limbs; others are of blue, with baby
waists and gathered skirts, while more
artistic still are the white drapereS
modelled after the -Grecian chiffon,
clasped on one shoulder, falling thence
below the other arm to fasten on the
hip. and fall apart down the side down
again at every step. ltrequires hand
some woman to appear really we'll
dressed ia that costume and to bring
ont its artistic beauty. as well as a great
deal of loneliness to be clothed round
about With in addition to make il seem
strictly conventional and complete.
Really, the belle of the baths is a
curly-haired Irish girl with short, wavy
hair which twists and kinks in closer
rings as the steam and heat grow more
and more intolerable, who wears an
original and unconining little suit OF
Turkish towels,
two knotted on the shoulder by two
corners and tied again below the other
arm by the opposite corners from the
bodice Two more tied by the corners
on each hip make the petticoat. When
she can't endure the heat another in
slant she takes header off into the
tank, STAYS until she Goods off, comes
out glowing and laughing and goes at
the scrubbng again without the pre-
iiminary of changing her dress at all
simply wringing out It's fringes a little.
In baths where certain hours only
are set apart for ladies, the attendants
time of service is shorter, lasting until
1 o'clock or little later. The heat of
the room through which they are con-
sfantiy passing and repassing is usually
from 100 to IT'S deg. and the tempera-
ture of the small bath rooms in which
all their vigorous work is accomplished
is, or should be, 90 deg III one of the
busiest baths of all the massage and
scrubbiug are all done in the Russian
bath, where the steam arises in such
white clouds that the bather is merci-
fully yelled and invisible to the other
occupants of the room. The perspira-
ton pours off the attendant much more
freely than from the bather, and the
only relief she has dIkrg the humid
hours is an oecasionafsa lex
Dip in the Plunge.
When the small bathrooms are used
the attendant stands upon the wet stone
floor and administers her vigorous
massage, from which many woman
winees, but through which she is invig-
Grated at the expense of tine rubber.
The scrubbing and massage completed
the attendant turns spray upon her
patient. the water continually growing
colder and colder. Meanwhile she is in
| dripping perspiratiOn. and receiyingt
the ice-cold water only on her bare feet
as it flows across the floor to an opening
| i'm the side. Sometimes the patient is
| held under a shower of cold water, and
| as most women scream and shrink
and gasp at first. the attendant must
| hold them and get some of the cold
| drippingS herself. Then she tucks her
| pat~ct away in warm blankets, wipes
the perspiration off her streaming face
| and hurries back into the heat. to go
lHrOuSu Liz odllio ptilOtuidLC6 dSdliI du
libitum She encounters all types of
femininity in her work, the fussy wom-
| an, the exacting, the frightened, the
! nervous. and she must have just the
right thing to say, just the encouraging
word. the subtle little bit of flattery
concerning the figure, so carefully
worded lest it gives offense: the unlim-
tied patience and invention OF mother
with a lot OF cross babies to give their
weekly bath.
The Tipsy Women
are usually the most difficult patients