The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1900-01-03
FREE BATH In CHINATOWN.

. FREE BATH IN CHINATOWN.
Il is well to make Chinatown clear
and the thing can be done The place
d can also be kept clean. But how are
. the people living there 10 be cleansed
from their bodily filth and made 90
; conform in future to sanitary usages
They have no baths of their own; they
cannot or will not so to the harbor 10
swim nor to Waikiki: what are they 10
do?
/ Thirty years ago this problem pre-
( sented itself in the congested tenement
districts of New York city. The dir
and odor Of these places were no. con
/ fined 10 the little rooms and dark Gel
| la.s where the squalid poor tried %
/ live but were much in evidence on the
/ personnel. Boards of Health cleaned
the tenements but the people them
selves went dirty and the rae Of their
mortality was high The problem thus
presented was most perplexing. The
tenements had no baths: in fact they
could not have enough to meet the
need. \ few owners put baths in but
the fixtures and even the bath tubs
were stolen or sold by the half-starved
tenants. OF course it was out of the
question to ask these people to pay for
baths in barber shops or on the water
front and so it came about that the
proletariat of New York literally smell
to heaven. Then some one thought OF
free public swimming tanks along the
North and East rivers and these ibene-
factions were promptly established by
the city government. All the children
who could snatch an hour from work
went TO these baths and many adults
followed suit either on their own mo-
ton or on that of the sanitary police.
In year the mortality in the tenement
districts of-the East side decreased
33 1-3 per cent and filth diseases made
a better showing even than that
The local application is that there
ought to be a large, central free bath.
supplied constantly with fresh ocean
water, established in the heart of Chi |
natown-say on River street where the !
exhaust water could be returned NJ
once to the harbor. We are sure that |
the natives and japanese would make /
constant use of it and the Chinese /
could be compelled to. The youth Of 4
all resident races would take to II /
naturally. The bath ought to be in the 1
form of tank, perhaps one hundred /.
feet long and fifty wide, concrete or
sides and bottom so tina. the thing
could be scrubbed when emptied, and |
of depth ranging from three feet at
one end to nine at the Other To make
It popular chutes, diving boards. ira
pezes and suspended rings should be
provided. There ought also to ce
shower baths. The cost of carrying on
such place would be that of running
the gasolene pumping plant for an
hour or more each night, for scrubbing.
lights and attendance Whether towels
should be provided free is a matter Of
detail.
We commend this proposal in all Sc
robustness TO the Council of State. as
of public sanitation which has
found approval in places which are in
much less need of II than Honolulu
We also commend it to the community.
from which will perhaps be
needed to induce the Council to take
action. This community has built mis-
siOns and charities among the Asiatics
but IT has overlooked the fact that next
to godliness is cleanliness. One of the
best beginnings for a savage when you
want to Christianize him IS to make
him lake a bath-it is part of the cur
riculum of the Indian school at Car
isle. In the case of our resident cool
les, however, II has become a measure
Of safety TO the rest of the community
SOW fellow citizens. what DO YOU
think about it? II your views are
favorable you can do no better than to-
impress them upon the Government
and the Council of Safe Fortunately
he surplus is big enough to provide
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