The Morris County chronicle., 1905-05-16
lcopyrlght, 1g04 " Frederic. upha.n Adanal

| I've III luSSS I1SLlLuLlOuS. i14lfcApVOl las
expended or appropriated more than a
million dollars on its public baths.
The CORVALLIS street baths Of Liv-
erpool compare fayorably with any
public or private establishment, no mat
ter where located, save perhaps in the
patter Of useless adornments. Liver
| pool has a comprehensive system of
public lighthouses, and it is its proud
boast that no citizen is more than a
few minutes walk from public bath
ing establishment.
The CORVALLIS street baths cost
about $125,00O, and Liverpool has
begun the construction of buildings
at Pier Head which will demand an
expenditure of $375,000 made a
careful inspection of some Of these
establishments. The swimming pools
are large and the temperature Of the
water is automatically regulated.
There are several classics Of baths with
varying prices, and one can have a
plain tub bath with hot and cold wa
ter, soap, sponge and towels all for
the sum Of 2 cents in our money or a
penny in theirs Two days in the week
| this price is cut In half You could
not get as good bath in the best ho-
tel in Liverpool or London for fifty
times the money
The average price Of a plunge bath,
with the use of the pool as long as de-
sired is less than 6 cents. But the
free open baths of Liverpool are more
interesting and hardly less attractive
Whenever it is possible to secure an
open space the baths department con-
struets pool, provides warm water
and erects shelters for the little ones.
One day last summer $500 lads used
one Of these open baths.
While the receipts from IIverpooPs
baths are large there is, of course an
annual deficit. Last years receipts
were about $4,000, and the deficit was
not far from the same amount. But
this is one of the enterprises conduct
ed without hope of financial gain. The
city is fortunate in its baths engineer
and chief superintendent, w. r. Court,
man who has been connected with
bathing establishments for years and
to whose energy and forethought is
due the planning and success of the
"slum baths"
Eve believe" said Mr.. Court in the
course of a thorough inspection of
these baths, that it is as important to
teach the children to bathe as it is to
teach them to read and write. The boy
who acquires an ambition to have a
clean body will find way to an educa-
ton. If l have any criticism to make
concerning our system as it stands to-
day it is that we have paid too much
attention to first class baths and not
enough to those within absolute touch
of the mass of our working classes.
We shall accomplish that in very few
years from now''
A picturesque and practical adjunct
to many Of these bathing establish
ments is the system of washhouses.
or public laundries. The average tene-
ment house dweller in Liverpool and in
other large cities has no adequate
means of doing the regular weeks
washing. Hot water is expensive, and
avon the most nrimitiva tools are be-
yond the means Of many Of these wo-
men toilers. Again the municipality
comes to the rescue. Scattered all over
Great Britain are hundreds of public
washhouses. To these the housewife
takes her bundle of soiled clothes.
There are placed at her disposal the
machinery and appliances Of a modern
steam laundry
Instead Of spending hours over tub
in the cramped living quarters Of her
tenement she is privileged to wash her
clothes by means Of hot water and
steam, rinse them in a food of pure
running water, dry them in hydro
extractor by centrifugal force and com
plete the process by hanging them for
a few minutes in steam heated room
where they are exposed to superheated
air in motion. She then takes them to
the mangling and ironing room and by
the aid Of the best of appliances speed
lily completes the task Of washing and
ironing.
Two hours Is the usual time con-
sumed by a woman in washing, drying
and ironing the clothes for the average
family. The rate in most of the wash
houses is a penny an hour, though in
some of them an extra halfpenny Is
charged after the first or second hour.
At the most it costs the average pa
tron Of these remarkable establish
ments cents to do weeks washing
and ironing, and the work which once
took the best part Of two weary days
is now ended in two hours or less. And
all this is in practical operation and
has been tested for years, with the re-
suit that the washhouses are not only
self sustaining, but actually yield a