The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1900-10-21
GERMAN rnEn nArms.
TathcrIaRd Pressing England Hard
I'm Matter OF General Tubing.

In waiter OF ecnerni IuhbtnG.
Germany Is passing through what may
be called great bath cycle" For a
century. more or less the Engllshman
has been regarded as the words foremost
bathcr. but the German vii sosn cha
lcuge him in this regard. as he has IN the
building OF ships and in hundred and
one other pursuits. And SO the free
hath Is row a great and growing German
institution. or course. the government
o. ne the bottom % the movement. as d
b. az the bottom of almost everything csc
In the faiheriand. Il probably began zen
or perhaps twenty years ago, coming q
tho uotlce Of some under secretary Of "a
sub dire tor OF board 81 henltn.. This
under secretary. bcing man OF obssrva-
ton. thought that the Germans would he
a better people N they hathed more 80 Dee
proposed a ffee bath scheme 70 his chief.
Tho idea wotmfd its way upward. accu-
mulating red scn.s and Documentary EN-
phasie until ~ reached some man Ia au-
ttofify who had never heard OF the an
dcr-EccTetary Of the suh-direcior. but who
believed In water The next day the Fov-
eminent declared. Let there be- baths IN
Germany" and there were baths.
At Chemnitz I visited one Of these new
turing city. making immense quantt as
OF hosiery and knit goods. as wcl as iron
and steel machinery. II has a large work
Ing population. Of that class which knows
no enjoyment but beer and shooting tests.
and which works long hours Tor small
pay live Ia crowded homes. cats rye bread
ana believes Ia socialism. II ia a splendid
pace for a free bath. and the bath In
question IS cXcellentlv adapted 20 is pur-
work being thoroughly done. and the man
agcmeut. like everything German. being
mothodioal. orderly and clearly TO de-
gree. The bath-house Is ia a square, one
story brick building. rather neat archlfe &
uraly. situated In "a city square within
easy reach OF all the factories I visited
Il on "a chilly Saturday afternoon in
spring and / found the waiting hobbies
literally packed with workmen Most 81
them had come directly from the shops.
black with CRIME and grease. Nearly all
had brought newspaper roll containin <
clean shirts or other sunday wear. al
though many were without any change OF
cloihing A few girls and women were
waiting their turn IN a separate room.
In Germany nothing Is ever given away.
ana l was quite prepared to hear that n
cost 10 pfcnnigs about 2is cents) 10 use
the free bath This fee however. was
intended not 80 much as a charge as a
sort OF governor for the machinery !
presented my ten pfennig piece and re-
celvcd a large. clean towel and a biz ~
fragrant yellow soap, together with a
slip ~ paper bearing a number Then !
entered the waiting corridor and took my
place on a long bench with tho workmen.
The walls were OF marble. the doors Of
tho baths were yellow warn shed wood and
everything about the place was as neat
and clean as a New England kitchen.
There were fourteen separate bath
I rooms. as I remember. on the mems side
ana two on the women's side. boy with
slate kept an account % each hath
room Every man was ailowcd twenty
minutes inside Just before his time was
up tho boy rapped sharply on the door,
aud when he came out the towels were
removed ana the boy called the number
81 the next man. There was no crowding
/ / yNls compelled 20 wait "a long time be.
! fore reaching my turn. and had an %
! portunity to observe my ncighbora. They
were ali heavy working men OF tho atolld
German type not unfamiliar IN this coun-
try. Their work clothing was much poor
or than that Of the American workman
they sat looking before them aud saying
almost nothing. not even evincing much
| Interest when their numbers were called
.
men I had once seen under similar cir
cumstances and how they had ioked one
another aud laughed. ana discussed al
sorts Of questions. Some Of these German
workmen waited an hour or more for
their turns hut not one Of them had any
thing 20 read and no attempt had been
made 10 supply the waiting room with pa
pors or reading matter Of any description
But they seemed To enjoy the baths. and
the change when they came out was most
marked. they looked like new men, ana
they evidently felt a. they looked.
AZ last my number was called. en-
tered a very small square room, haVin8
a bench az one side ana hooks Tor cioiiiisiS
a tho other. Opening from this was a
sim smaller alcove built solidly Of mar
bic. with a grated floor. II was inviting
Is clean. There were hot ana cold water
faucets which regulated the fall OF wa
ter from the shower above. and one was
able to get a most pleasant and satisfac-
tory bath.
learned afterward that the towel and
soap fee. small as u was. nearly paid the
operating expenses Of the bath. which was
becoming weekly more popular. Certain
~ there never was "a more civilzng in
nuence in such a town than a bath OF this
kind
Right in this connection Germany has
another most admirable institution, the
railway station wash room. which, OF
course. Is = governmental AFFAIR Many Of
the stations arc provided with little pri-
yate rooms having toilet arrangements.