The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-03-10
the ground above, and sail on by Lake
Rotorua to Rotorua itself.
New Zealand's Hot Springs.

the ground above, and sail on by Lake
Rotorua to Rotorua itself.
New Zealand's Hot Springs.
This is the famous health resort OF the
South Pacific Ocean, The land all about It
is steaming. clouds Of vapor go up from
pools Of boiling water. each Of which has
its own medicinal properties. There are
hotels and cottages and all the surround
ings of such a resort in the United States.
The Government has charge oflthe springs
and fixes the tariff, and the people thus
keep the place for themselves. The Gov
eminent has put UP lighthouses. with enor-
nous swimming pools.
Madam Rachel and the Priest.
The baths have curious names. One. ow-
ing to the beauty which it gives the COM
plexion, steaming all impurities out Of
the system. has been called after m
Rachel. which the French pronounce Ra-
and say Rachel, as though they were
speaking of an English girl. Another Is
called the Priest bath. another the Pain
killer, a third the Coffee Pot and a fourth
the Blu Bath. The names sound curious
at first, and when 1 was told l could have
a half hour at the Priest 1 felt like pro-
teSlluB 1 Was IOl d SdbhoiSS boS " SoSs
iron Presbyterian.
Joking aside, the baths are wonderful.
Rachel comes from a boiling caldron of
enormous depth, which yields $1,000 gal
Ions daily. The water seems to be loaded
with sulphuretted hydrogen, and a smell
of decayed eggs floats into your nostrils.
You are disguised until you walk down
into it. Then your skin seems to have
turned to satin, and you lie as comfortable
as though on beds of rose leaves.
The Blue Bath has a swimming pool
about as big as the average city lot. The
water is at 9S degrees. 1t is delightful. In
the Coffee Pot" the poll is covered with
an oily slime, and the water Is thick,
| brown and muddy. Still It Is a cure for
| rheumatism. Others of the baths are so
| strong in their mineral properties that
| one must be examined by q doctor before
he can enter them.
How the Natives Battle.
There are many native Maori villages in
| this region. The Maoris. you know. are
| the aborigines of New Zealand. They cor
| respond to the Indians of North America,
| although far different from them in char
| acter and customs. There ara only about
| 40, COO of them left. 1 went into many of
| the houses. They are 4 sort Of cross be-
! tween an Indian hut and tina. OF a lower
| class Englishman. They are built right
over the steaming earth. Many Of them
have bathing pools behind them, and in
the pools you see boys and girls bathing
together in the steaming water. 1 Etood
and watched such a crowd this morning.
The pool was about twenty feet square.
and in it were a dozen little ones as naked
as when they were born. The eteam rose
\ I'D from the pool. and as the morning sun
caught it their brown skins rhone cut
through the mist. One Of the bathers was
a girl Of IA. She was pouring tue water
over her with a bucket. when I threw in q
silver sixpence. She, with all the rest. dived
down into the steaming pool for it. she final
" emerging with the coin in her mouth.
As I walked on to other pools I saw here
and there the heads Of men and women
| floating, as 1t were, upon the water. They
were Maoris, but whether they were taking
this method of getting warm or merely
having their morning baths I do not know.
where Mother Earth Does Cooking.
Old Mother Earth is kline to her Maori
! daughters. She does their cooking for them