The Logan Republican. [volume] (Logan, Utah) 1902-1924, 1903-04-21
THE OLD-T1ME BATH
SATURDAY NIGHT IMMERSION A
TIME OF HORROR.
MIddle.Aged Business Man Contrasts
the Luxury Of the Present Day
With the Life In Small Western
Town Twenty-Five Years Ago.

while the wife bestowed scrubbing
upon my 7.yearold youngster. Moth.
ing remarkable about that, is there?
But 1t set me to thinking about how
much better the kids of to-day have
II 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
molly-coddle him with all the insou-
Glance in life. When the douslng 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 a brisk drying with a Turkish
towel. Then she anointed him with
Florida water, rugged him out in a
| fresh night shirt. and tucked him into
bid.
II knew, when | was his age, this
Satur lay 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
.he back gate and summon me home
along toward or 3 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
Qpove the brim, would be out in the
middle IF tho Eitphap flppr
"'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 mile and half
deep to me when l was drawing up
the water for the Saturday night
scrubbing. Then my brother and
would begin to race to see which
could peel his buds OF first and geS
, 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 1t
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
) aas just beginning to undergo the
I misery.
) well, when I was the first un
} dressed I'd skate over to the old
!. green-painted wash tub and feel u
the water with one of my hands and
feel sad with myself. B-r-r-r-r! bu
wasn't that well water cold, though
s I'd stand there and look into thu
o depths of the tub, shivering, until NJ,
!, mother made her appearance in thu
s kitchen with her paraphernalia.
r Now get in there, you boy m!
n good mother 'ud say. and I'd stick on,
s foot in, swearing in my heart all tn,
s time that at the first chance | was go
r ing to run away to be a sailor or some
e thing-and then my mother would ex
Il ert sudden pressure on my should
t. ers and down I'd kerfummox in tina
q Icy water. wouldn't be through gasp
It ing and trying to get my breath befor
II she'd begin on my upper superstruc
d ture with piece O. red flannel for
IS washrag and half n bar Of common
d WALLER soap that had edges on 1t q
Ia sharp as q knife.
ID Mother was pretty muscular Il
10 those days, and the way she'd begi
~ to gouge and bore with that red far
e rel washrag and that soap was sur
a caution to locusts. And when sh
wasn't busy with the hand holdin
the washrag she'd always let tn
~ burned cold thing hang, dripping
A down my back. Such a swabberino
m Talk about your military scrubbine
Of and things like that, III bet they'r
g not one, two, three with the washtu
q swims that that ever faithful, sci
n, reliant, strong-armed mother of min
q put me through when l was at tn
ia tadger stage OF life. can smell thi
!" yaller bar of soap yet--it smelt Ill,
;" 'rozzum'-not resin, understand, bi
n. 'roZzum.'
We Maybe ! wasn't always glad VIII.
OF she began to rinse me off by dippin
nd tin wash.basin into the tub an
nd pouring the water on my head. III
a. drying-off process didn't amount
Ill Much, but you can wager your gallus,
re that IL wasn't done with any turks
* towel. Fact is, there'd often be
nd shypess OF any kind of a regular tow
on these occasions, so that I've see
my mother hunt around for an o
pillow case or a remnant OF some my
IN FERROUS cottony garment for the dr.
lie ing.off part of the job, And que
in. maybe | didn't breathe sigh of de,
an contentment and relief when, aft
10. slipping into one o. those old.fas
nd toned. fuzzy-wuzzy canton fam
j.. union night garments for young ur
is got into the old feather bed, wi
of the apple tree just outside the windo
Ii and knew that the next bath was
e; whole week in the distance."-Was
ington Post.
The Melted Coin.