The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-08-16
How They Order Ii
Better in Britain
London Letter in Chicago Record.

Although Great Britain Is far behind
the United States and other countries in
priv ate bathing arrangements its system
of public baths is the most convenient and
extensive in the world, except, perhaps,
that of Japan, where the people are am
phibious. In every parish In this country,
except those which are entirely agricul-
tural, there is at least one place where,
for nominal fee, men, women anti chill
dren can obtain a fresh-water bath win
ter and summer, and at any hour bftween
sunrise and bedtime. At nearly all of
these bathing houses there are swimming
pools-one for men and one for women
sufficiently large and deep to enable
the batherS to cultivate the art of SWIM
ming. Where there is only one pool 1t
is reserved for women exclusively certain
hours of the day, and the men have the
use Of 1t the rest of the time.
At many of the bathing houses there
are two classes of pools. The second
class is not SO large nor so deep as the
first class. the finishing and furnishing is
not SO luxurious, the stalls for dressing
are not so convenient, and the bathers are
required to furnish their own towels. But
there is a corresponding difference in the
charges. 1t may cost from to 10 cents
in our money for a bath in the first-class
pool, and only 3 or cents In the second
class. AT nearly all the public bath
houses are tub conveniences also for
those who do not wish to go into the
swimming pools. The water and the air
are artifcially warmed during the winter
and are kept about the natural heat Of
the body.
In some OF the large cities. like London,
Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham,
the charge for a second-class bath is only
or cents and 1t is customary, particu-
larly during the warm weather, for the
.rHIgt, t.. 4.
in the factories TO start for a swimming
pool as soon as the bell announces the
end Of the days labor. Thus, at sunset,
the swimming baths are crowded, and the
significance of the posters warning people
that they must not remain in the water
or occupy the dressing stalls for more
than a certain number of minutes is thus
explained. At some of the public bath
houses the number OF patrons runs up
into the thousands daily. The man in
charge of the baths at Seven Dials, Lon
don, told me that their daily average was
above 4.0OO, and on holidays in summer
the attendance often exceeded twice that
number.
Hardly less important has been the
work of the Association for Promoting
Cleanliness Among the People, in estab-
fishing public laundries for the use of
the poor The society owes It's existence
to the benovelence of the Earl OF Shafts
bury, who seems to have been the most
practical and far-sighted philapthropist
In history. Nearly all the great social re-
forms which have iegenerated Great Brit
ain began in 1874. 1t was a matter of
charity at first, but the municipalities
have teken IL UP, until now, nearly al
the cities that have a considerable work.
Ing population provide public laundries.
where, for nominal price-from TO 6
cents an hour-the mother of family
may have the Use of an abundance of
pure hot water and every necessary form
OF rubbing, wrlnging, drying and ironing
apparatus uat ingenuity can suggest
These laundries are placed in the tene-
ment house districts, where the people,
living in small apartments, have no op-
portunity to dry their clothes, and no
running water to wash with. Most of the
tenement houses, like the private resi-
dences Of the rich, are without the con-
Veniences which In our country afford so
much employment to the plumber. One
can thus appreciate what a blessing il is
for the mother of a family of children to
be able to take their soiled clothing to a
place where 1t can be boiled and scrubbed
and dried and ironed and starched as
neatly as at the laundry of the queen.
They furnish their own soap and starch,
and by limiting the time Of each washer
the mothers of families are protected in
the use of the tubs and wrlngers against
those who WASH for a living. In some of
the public laundries the number of pa
irons reaches a thousand a day. In the
Seven Dials parish laundry the daily
average attendance was about 700 in the
winter and $50 in the summer.
In Glasgow municipal paternallsm has
been carried so far that the city govern
ment undertakes to do general laundry
business for bachelors and families who
have no one TO do their washing. These
establishments, however, will not do iron
ing. They send the clothes home trough
dried" and charge accordingly. This,
however, is all that a workingman re-
quires, for he does not wear "boled'
shirts and starched collars and cuffs. II
he can get his underclothes and socks
and flannel shirts thoroughly washed and
dried he is well taken care OF, and the
price he pays is Just sufficient to cover
the eXpense. The public laundries serve
another good purpose in furnishing EN-
ployment for a large number OF women
who need food and shelter until they can
find permanent positions. Therefore
nearly all the washcrvomen are refugees
who are sent to the laundry by the po-
lice, the inspectors of the poor, or the
sanitary inspectors, who have found them
In a destitute condition.
%
In Glasgow, where the municipal re-
forms have been carried to the furthest
degree of experiment, the city also main
tains model lodging houses for the float
ing population that is always found in
large manufacturing and commercial
communities. There, under what Is known
as the ''pure-air law" which prohibits
the overcrowdinS of sleeping apartments
In tenement houses, and requires so many
cubic feet of space for each person, the
CITY on clHlR underIa lxn 10 ca re FOR fhnsa