The Logan Republican. [volume] (Logan, Utah) 1902-1924, 1903-01-27
THE OLD-TIME BATH
SATURDAY NIGHT IMMERSION A
TIME OF HORROR.
Mldde-Aged Business Man Contrasts
the Luxury of the Present Day
With the Life In Small Western
Town Twenty-Five Years Ago.

Last night" said the comfortable
booking man with the 4S-inch waist
baud, Il stood by as the sailors say,
while the wife bestowed scrubbing
upon my 7-year-old youngster. Moth
ing remarkable about that, is there?
But 1t set me to thinking about how
Il than they did when was lad my
self.
He looked mighty comfortable.
that boy did, and he just lay there in
the tub and let his mother swab and
molfy-coddle him with all the insou-
Glance in life. When the dousing was
over he stood up and let the tepid
water from the shower run over him,
and then he stepped out of the tub
onto a bath rug. and his mother gave
him brisk drying with a Turkish
towel. Then she anointed him with
Florida water, rugged him out in n
fresh night shirt, and tucked him into
BIRD.
II knew, when | was his age, this
Saturday night bathing game was al
ways in store for me, and | used to
look forward to 1t with a kind of a
feeling of despair. But I'd dodge the
the job as long as possible, and I'd
wait for my good mother to appear at
the back gate and summon me home
along toward or 8 o'clock of the Sat
urday night. BY that time she'd have
The supper dishes all washed up and
the pans in the kitchen all a-shining
for Sunday, and the old wash tub,
with the wooden handles sticking up
above the brim, would be out in the
middle Of the kitchen floor.
"'Get the water, son. she'd say to
me, and then the job was on. 1t was
q little western town where there were
no water works, but the well was right
out in the back yard. That well al
ways seemed about a mile and a half
deep to me when l was drawing up
the water for the Saturday night
scrubbing. Then my brother and I
would begin to race to see which
could peel his buds off first, and get
the first bath. The reason why we
both wanted to get the first bath
wasn't, of course, On account Of any
love for the bathing, but because II
was so much fun for the one who had
got through with the horrible job first
to stand around nice and dry and
warm, and make faces at the one who
was just beginning to undergo the
misery.
| "Well, when l was the first un
dressed I'd skate over to the ole
green-painted wash tub and feel 0
the water with one of my hands ant
feel sad with myself. B-r-r-r.r! but
wasn't that well water cold, though
I'd stand there and look into the
depths of the tub, shivering, until my
mother made her appearance in the
kitchen with her paraphernalia.
Now, get in there, you boy m,
good mother I'D say, and I'd stick ont
foot in, swearing in my heart all thu
time that at the first chance was go
ing to run away to be sailor or some
thing-and then my mother would ex
ert sudden pressure on my should
ers and down I'd kerfiummox in tina
icy water. wouldn't be through gasp
ing and trying to get my breath before
she'd begin on my upper superstruc
ture with a piece O. red flannel for
washrag and half bar Of common
yaller soap that had edges on 1t al
sharp as knife.
Mother was pretty muscular II
those days, and the way she'd begil
to gouge and bore with that red fan
mel washrag and that soap was sur,
a caution to locusts. And when sh,
wasn't busy with the hand holding
the washrag she'd always let tn,
burned cold thing hang. dripping
down my back. Such a swabberino
Talk about your military scrubbing
and things like that, I'll bet they'r
not one, two, three with the washtuI
swims that that ever faithful, sell
reliant, strong-armed mother of min
put me through when | was at tn
tadger stage OF life. | can smell tina
yaller bar of soap yet--it smelt lik
'rozzum'--not resin, understand, bu
'rozzum.'
..''Maybe | wasn't always glad whel
she began to rinse me off by dippin
4 tin wash.basin into the tub an
pouring the water on my head. Tn
drying.off process didn't amount t
much, but you can wager your galluse
that it wasn't done with any turltisl
towel. Fact is, there'd often be
shyness OF any kind of a regular towe
on these occasions, so that I've see
my mother hunt around for an oil
pillow case or remnant of some my.
FERROUS cottony garment for the DIR,
ing-off part of the job. And | CUES
maybe | didn't breathe sigh OF dee
contentment and relief when, afte
clipping into one o. those old-fasl
Toned. fuZzy-wuzzy canton flame
union night garments for young uni
! | got into the old feather bed, wit
the apple tree just outside the windo'
and knew that the next BATH was
: whole week in the distance. "-Wasl
ingtou Post.