Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1909-06-26
Salt Lake 5 Need For
Public Swimming Baths

\ exparieucc of other cities, the attend
| ance is not heavier al night than
| at other times OF the day, instead II
| is heaviest between and p m. Inc
| heaviest attendance during the week
| is the sunday morning period of three.
hours The most crowded whole day
| Is sometimes Friday, sometimes sat
| urtiav--on the whole, however. Satu1-5
! day These two and one-quarter days
make up a. SO per cent of the week 3
| total 1t has been found necessary
to exclude the children after . o'clock
| on Saturday.
The total attendance of $685. was d.
| vided between d2.1a9 men and boys, and
| 26.GT5 women and girls. on the mems
side ti,ers. arc q showers and one tub;
on The women's side eight showers and
two tubs Therefore. cHch compait-
pent on the news ei,lc was rsed
q ,glS1 times to g,sS5.;, times for those
on the wonnen's siIa, The average dur
ing the eight months, FOR dav of IL
hours. wtts 32S. ar Average of 2I.3 per
hour. There are many tyres Of bath
houses as has been stated before. In
cities where there is plenty Of fresh
water ut hand the swimming pier is
popular There are also enclosed float.
ing bath houses which are barges
rooted over and which are noored in
shallow water. offering an excellent
natatorium and also protection from
the hot summer sun. st. Louis has no
agitation for either the recreation pier
or the floating bath house owing to the
5inadeauacy OF the river at the present
time.
ON PLAY GROUNDS.
Another method OF public bathing
which will soon he popular here will be
the installation OF showers and pools at
the principal playground sites. There is
one bath house now nearing completion
ut Se%ent,. and Soulard streets. which
will have a pool, lockers for clothes of
bathers. showers for the men, women
and children
10 enter the pool 1t Is compulsory to
first 20 under the shower This is
made necessary 60 maintain the clean
Illness of the water.
The public bath house is closely link
ed with the industrial welfare of any
community. In Europe the public bath
house became a metropolitan institution
% years ago. In Berlin, Vienna, Lon
don, Paris and even the cities of Japan,
there are elaborate systems OF bath
houses built along the lines adopted iii
st. Louis by the public recreation COM
mission.
1t ii commonly said that in Toxic
the small boy will spend his penny
for u bath III preference to candy or
toys The laps in this respect, are
the cleanest race in the
world, and the daily bath is national
characteristic.
The public bath house where ever
thing is free reaches Q spot untouched
by any other charitable institution.
Health officers may fumigatc homes,
social workers may give food to the
hungry, but who offers the poor man
/, good clean bath? Very few of the
old houses in the tenement district
have running water in them, let alone
bath tubs. The man who works hard
all day hasn't the inclination to go down
to the river and take Il plunge. lie
has no alternative and must remain
filthy not from choice, but from neces-
sity as has been conclusively shown in |
the work now being carried on under
the direction of Chariot Rumbold, sec |
rotary of the st. Louis Public Recrea-
ton commission.
CLEANER CITIZENS.
Great reformers have advocated the |
of public bath houses, soap |
and water being excellent civillzers."