The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-01-03
LARGEST IN THE WORLD.
pm the San Francisco Examiner.

I
The Sutro baths exceed the famous
Roman baths of antiquity in size as
well as equipment. The largest of the
Roman baths had about two hundred
feet OF frontage, to use the modern
commercial terms of designation. Two
OF these great bathing-places might be
dropped within the Sutro baths and
still leave room enough for men to
walk and women to flirt. Adolph Sutro
is skillful engineer, and he enjoys
solving problems in construction or
breaking through difficulties in me-
chanics as he enjoys invigoraring ex-
ercise. He designed the building over
the bath, devised the plan for water
supply, invented and patented the APP
paratus for heating the water. The
Sutro tunnels, second series, are part
of his scheme of construction. With
the ocean at his feet, the breakers
dashing against the rocks, Mr.. Sutro
deemed that nature had SO well pro-
vided power to send the water to the
bathing tanks that artificial means
would be unnecessary. Therefore,
with much noise and enthusiasm,
he blasted out basin in the solid
rock. Over the edge of this basin
comes the water of the huge rollers.
Instead of Kidding the crest of the
wave. Mr.. Sutro traps the crest of the
wave and uses it for his own purpose.
From the basin the water flows through
tunnels and canals, passes gates until
it reaches the reservoir, where it is
warmed by the Sutro patent process,
and then it flows into the great tanks
in the huge glass and steel building.
On the road to the tanks through the
canals and the tunnels the water has
to pay toll of sand. OF course it would
not do to have the waves carry their
load of sand into the baths, so a set
thing place is provided. By automatic
arrangement, also the device of Mr..
Sutro. the sand is washed back into the
ocean, while the water, cleared, goes on
it's course through tho tunnels and
canals to the tanks. Sometimes the
tide is very low, and sometimes the
ocean, even at the cliff, is quiet. There
might be times when the water could
not dash over the rocky wall into the
basin. Artifice is employed to take the
place of nature when nature is in a
quiet mood. An emergency pipe polxes
its black proboscis under the waves,
and pump can draw through it. five
thousand gallons minute whenever
the five thousand gallons are wanted in
minute.
Having made enough tunnels to adj.
NIT tho can1locs anl %ar;1 n
the tanks, Mr.. Sutro had to provide
for sending the water to sea again,
that the ocean might not be drained.
Dropping out the water at the place at
which it was taken in would not be
satisfactory. Mr.. Sutro did not want
the baths to be receiving the same
water over and over again. That plan
would be too easy. In it were no OBJ
stacles to overcome. He laid an outlet
pipe through tunnels probably several
hundred feet long, and through this
the water will flow from the tanks and
return to the sea several hundred feet
from the place whence it was taken.
The water that comes in through the
tunnels must fill six tanks. The
largest of these, the main swimming
tank, is two hundred and seventy-fve
feet long, and at the place of greatest
breadth is one hundred and ffty feet
wide. The other tanks are smaller.
Some will be used for the ladies and
children, some for beginners; each one
has its particular use. One tank will
be filled with cold salt water for swim
merS who want shock Then there is
a little tank filled with fresh water,
supplied from the Sutro waterworks
on the bluff above,