The San Francisco call., 1910-12-20
TURKISH BATH is
PART OF RELIGION
Islam 0rdains Periodical Scrub
All Over and Practice Is
Universal

ne bouliSt VINO WdnQerS ABOUT SldIn-
boul will. from time to time. come on
domed buildings of all sizes. which
might be taken for mosques, bpt that
they seem to have no fountains and
no minarets. Frog some place. such
as. the terrace of the mosque of Sultan
Sulayman, where their roofs may be
overlooked. it win be seen that the
low domes are often Of a peculiar sal
mon pink color, and always covered
with glass bulseyes. as though the
Turks practiced French intensive cul-
tivation on their roofs These are the
real Turkish baths
Quite apart from the ceremonial
wash before prayer, Islam, which con-
siders cleanliness not so much next to
godliness as n part Of godliness itself.
ordains a periodical scrub all over. And
the Turk, unlike the sodden west, never
sits in hot water, but prefers a hot
room, a tap and a basin as minimum,
and shampooer and a ffeshglove if he
can afford such luxuries, says the In
dianapolis News
One enters. as in the west, into the
cooling room, generally a high domed
room with many galleries around,
marble floor and fountain; and before
bath is to be done on the cheap. to
place on the bHy common sofas, one
exchanges dirty boots for slipshod heel
less slippers.
This habit of taking off boots or
galoches is the eastern equivalent for
taking off the hat, and has the advan-
tage OF cleanliness over the now mean
ingless western custom. Watch and
valuables may be left under the care
of the cooling room attendant, who su-
perintends the process of undressing,
winds a loin cloth around one and
throws a primrose towel over ones
shoulders. Before crossing the floor
of the cooling room the slippers are
again exchanged for wooden clogs,
wherein the novice walks like Agag,
delicately, in fear of a fall, till he
learns TO initiate the speed of the bath
men by abandoning all attempts to
walk and executing a fast shuttle
CIGARETTES AND COFFEE
The outer hot room, at about the
temperature of an English shampooing
room. is a very secondary affair. One
stays there for a little, still clothed
in the primrose towel. reclining on a
distant imitation of a bed, drinking
coffee and smoking a cigarette, per-
haps watching a couple Of shampooers
amusing themselves by a wrestling
wear the same type of lein cloth, an
elaborate check of red and yellow.
If that cigarette is finished, come
into the inner room, the real bath.
The attendant pulls off the shoulder
towel and opens the door, a heaVy
wooden affair kept shut by counter
weight whose banging is not the least
characteristic noise in the bath. In
side is a large square domed room.
Innumerable bullseyes in the dome ad-
nit the light which the whitewashed
walls reflect, making a light and airy
effect On great square slab in the
middle they have placed towel and
pillow, and here one lies, leaving the
clogs on the floor.
DEMOCRACY OF ISLAM
Round the room, screened from one
another by dwarf walls, are row of
marble basins. and here may be seen
all classes-such is the democracy OF
Islam-from the army officer to the
day Iaborer. whose shaven head oddly
suggests a tonsure. The poorer classes
do not indulge in the luxury of mas
sage; they come for a wash only, and
often bring their own soap for econ
omy's sake. 1t is not uncommon to
see two of them scrubbing one another
by turns Meanwhile one lies on the
great central slab and counts the bulls
eyes which star the dome, or watches
the water drops gather and fall, for
the heat is damper than in English
baths.
Presently, unbidden, the shampooer
mounts the slab and squats beside his
victim Most of his work consists in
kneading the flesh, rather than the
! long, heavy strokes of an English
masseur. But when the customer is
turned on his face the masseur becomes
more energetic. He plucks the skin on
each side of the spine, walks up and
] down on the back, and strenuously
! gathers up arms and legs into curious
I bone breaking knots, regardless of the
grunts of the stiff jointed patron. A
! final saper Gordian knot and the clap
! ping of his hands shows that it is over
/ SCRUB WITH PALM FIBER
The customer, as soon as he can col
! lect limbs which seem to have been
pulled clean off him, adjourns to one
OF the basins and is rubbed with a
rough glove to take off the old skin
Then the man brings a battered metal
bowl <"old bowl, old bath" is the
Turkish proverb for "the old, old
story'D with soap and a lather wisp of
"lyf" Mecca palm fiber), and scrubs
conscientiously for some 10 minutes,
working with the abandon of a Jealous
house maid on a floor, forgetful, appar-
emily. that the object he is scrubbing
is flesh and blood.
Finally he pours warm water from
the bowl to wash away the last of
the soapsuds and. if the bath is a
large and up to date one, conducts his
well scrubbed victim to a cold douche.
Drying takes place in the outer hot
room, sundry loin cloths and towels
are wrapped about the body. a small
| towel makes a turban for the head,
and clean clogs are produced for the
feet, which have been dried with great
sometimes inconveniently great
care. loud clapping of hands an
nounces that the process is over, and
the three or four Turks who seem al
ways to be doing nothing zealously in
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