Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-02-07
THE NEED OF BATHS,
Where Cleanliness Can Be Secured
Without Money or Price.
A PAYING PUBLIC INVESTMENT.
Palatial Accommodations Are BY No Means
O Necessary Feature.
INTERVIEWS ON TOPICS OF INTEREST

Public bathhouses find many ardent
supporters in Pittsburg, and there is talk
of an organized movement in favor of such
institutions. A gentleman who is inter
ested in the plan said yesterday: ''Palatial
buildings and equipments are not neces-
sary. We care not W hat kind of provision
is made so long as it meets the approval of
the Health Department and provides the
means whereby person who has not the
money to pay can secure good bath.
''That such places are an absolute neces-
sity and would prove an inestimable boon
TO the community there can be no doubt.
They would be a paying investment to the
city, inasmuch as they would be potent
preventive oS the spread of disease. / have
given the subject a great deal of attention
IF late and have sought advice from medical
experts on points where L was at fault.
Every physician with whom / have talked
has been heartily in favor of the establish
ment of public bathing houses They tell
me that man who keeps himself in
cleanlv condition is not half so susceptible
TO contagious disease as is the man whose
body is in feverish condition in conse-
auence of the pores of the skin being
closed bv dirt.
TT is a fact that many persons are in
reality filthy when they imagine that they
are clean. Because the skin is not black
and dirt is not apparent TO the eye it does
not follow that man is clean Dirt grinds
right into the skin and NAV leave no e1-
ternal indication of its presence.
Would Benefit the wage-worker.
1.-THE patrons of public bathing houses
would be the middle and working classes
Men who work in shops and factories all
dav can hardly afford the luxury of taking
a bath each night. They think they are
doing well if they pay out % cents week
for such a purpose. 1t would be entirely
different if public bathing places were pro-
vided by the city. The argument may be
raised at this time, as it has been in the
past. that men who do not keep themselves
clean under existing circumstances would
not do so even if there were public bathing
houses l maintain that such is not the
case.
"A man after he has removed the dust
and CRIME from his person feels like new
being He is lifted for the time being to a
higher plane in life, and l should like very
much to see the man who would not like to
have this feeling every day. just stand at the
door of any barber shop in the city where
there are bath tubs any Saturday night, and
watch the same men as they come out
They enter slowly and apparently with no
fixed purpose. Not so when they come out.
Their step is firm and elastic and they move
off as if in some strange manner they had
gained a new lease of life. This picture is
not in the least overdrawn, and L think has
a direct bearing on the point at issue.
A Chance for the Newsboy.
''There is another class of beings who
would be benefited who at present, it might |
be said, have for a part of their composition
the dirt and Crime which they gather up
during the dav. l refer to the hundreds of |
newsbovs and bootblacks that are daily |
seen upon our streets How many times a |
week do you suppose they lay down 25
cents in order that they may keep clean? |
1t would be worse than nonsense to say that !
they would not take advantage of public |
bathing establishment. The difficulty in |
this case would be to keep them out of it.
''While some philanthropists are casting
about for objects on which to bestow their
spare cash let them look into the public |
bath question. They will never find a |
place where their money will yield greater |
returns in amount Of good accomplished, |
and the bathhouse will be an enduring mon |
ument to their memory.
1T is an impossibility to keep bath tubs
disinfected For this reason would recon-
mend rain-baths. Let a large room or COM
partments be built with perforated over
head pipes from which the water would
fall like rain. Give each bather piece of
soap and a towel and he could take a bath
in a remarkably short time. If it is desir- |
able to have swimming tanks the bather |
might be permitted to go into them after he
has passed through the rain-room. This |!
would be my suggestion for winter, but for |
summer let us have floating bathhouses."