The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-10-27
IN THE MEDITERRANEAN.
Exhilarating Use Made OF It's Blue Watel
In Natures Great Layatory.

| Exhllarating Use Made OF Its Blue Waters
In Natures Great Laratory.
As summer approaches is there any,
thing which pictures itself to ones
mind in more roseate colors or in a
more charming manner than bathing
-sea-bathing. No doubt those who
| have spent month at the shore and
| gleefully indulged in all the rollicking
] sports, who have immersed themselves
| in Americas briny waves. are longing
/ for another plunge, another gay time
| on the sands, and, perhaps. too, an
! other shot of the kodak at some unsus-
| pecting group, who blush in unfeigned
embarrassment when the picture is
afterward produced within the stately
| walls OF the winter drawing-rooms.
| But those who have been fortunate
/ enough to glide from Italy's pictur-'
esque shores into the warm blue waters
of the Mediterranean and float luxu-
riously in the salty sea among per-
feet school Of happy bathers will never
forget it. Never. Venice, Naples,
Capri, Anali! 1t makes ones eyes
glisten at the very thought Of it. To
|
Poetry and Song might also be added
''The Land Of Baths" were it not that
the second name to some fastidious
minds would detract from the beauty
Of the first.
The ancient Romans. borrowing a
they did all the worthily imi-
/ table customs from their Greek
and Egyptian neighbors, found the
baths especially suited to their
to a degree of excellence which
had never been attained, making them
| not only of immense benefit in a sani-
tary way, but establishing them as q
| favorite rendezvous for people of cul-
| ture and talent as well as for the
! poorer classes. who also enjoyed the
! privilege of their own compartments.
Look at the baths of Diocletian, which
are estimated to have accommodated
no less than eighteen thousand people
at one time. And those of Caracallar
| at Rome. What wonderful ruins of a
/ still more wonderful structure. In
/ these walls bathing became science
! Cold baths, tepid baths, hot baths. oil
baths, sun baths-every kind of bath!
Why simply to visit the place was
rest and recreation. Statuary and
paintings lent beauty on all sides.
Music charmed. Orators and poets en-
tertained.
What beauty in the re1na in;ng walls
Of the Pompeiian baths. The frescoes
are as bright and beautiful as if they
were done but yesterday, and the mar
bic carvings and pavements which es-
capped the fury of the burning noun
tain have softened in color almost to
an ivory. One object of especial beauty
attracts the eye of the visitor. and that
is graceful bronze vase which stands.
as it stood then, in the center of one of
the women's apartments. This vase,
wide and shallow, is perhaps fifteen or
twenty feet in circumference, and must
have been used as shower bath, in
which it is easy to fancy some fair lone
reclining In the villa or public gar
den of Naples there is another vase
similar to this one but much larger,
which was also found in these baths
and which now serves for fountain
most impertinent ducks-typical Ital-
ian ducks, which take all they can get,
especially from the foreigners, without
Offering the slightest entertainment in
return. but perhaps it is more espe-
ciauy the foreigners who feed them.
Then the baths OF Nero. Around the
coast on the charming picturesque road
leading from Pozzurh to Baia one
alights from the little carozzella and
chambers up to cave cut in the side of
the mountain, wherein is {. spring
heated to a high temperature in its
subtsrranean channels by veins of vol
canic life which abound near Vesuvius.
This spot suited well the comfort-loving
Nero, who made of it a favorite resort
and caused the rough stone couches to
be placed there, which still remain.
One reads little of sea bathing in
those DAYS. Every Roman colony
thought to construct its baths as il
thought of raising its temples. But
now all Italy turns it's face to its nat
ural advantages, and with one accord
cries as early as May: Let US to the
sea"' Not all the establishments are
as convenient and as well constructed
as the Lido at Venice and those of Posi-
lippo at Naples. but they are all on the
same general plan. Every place open
to the use of the public is provided
with a pavilion where people congre-
gate to discuss the latest topics, or TO
devour with eager ears the latest gos-
sip, while there is always music. from
morning till night, if only one of those
harassing "Organette'' or portable pi
amos, which grind incessantiy and
seem always to be playing Santa Lu-
cia'' or BELLA Napoli'' and vary some
times with the 'Trovatore.
On either side OF the pavilion are the
"camerini' or dressing-rooms-ones side
reserved for ladies, the other for gem
tlemen. These ''camerini' are the
toughest kind OF little wooden boxes,
carpeted with mat of braided straw,
the four persons each is supposed to
accommodate. Then there are the steps
leading TO the water. The fee for the
use of each room is one franc fifty Tor
thirty cents, including the linen +.
sheets. the price never varying whether /
there be one or four persons together.
Once in the water and presto, change. /
all the reserved etiquette OF the Italian !,
drawing room vauishes. Then and then
only does liberty exist, and the pretty 4
little signorinas. as well as the hand I
some sipnoras. in the very simplest
kind Of bathing costume GENERALLY /