The Nome daily nugget., 1915-11-27

pearance on the domestic hearthstone. We loved that begrimed chap in the same degree that we hated the oppo- site of what he represented-cleanli ness. We, all of us detested with all the fervor of our being the frequent applications of soap and water to which we were subjected at home and our hearts went out to him in unconscious respect for his superlative freedom for that he was able to escape that which our youthful and habit free souls abhorred. We realize now that We were unconsciously upholding the dictum of Dr. Lee that man has no natural utilization with water, that he is mot a water beast" Young as we
 were we recognized this fact. Per naps some surviving taint of our un- washed primeval ancestors whispered to us that We were simply the unfor- tunate victims of an acquired habit" | land unnecessary practice" Anyway, we were absolutely sure of It all the time, just as the average small boy of Iotday is sure of it and voices his as-
 surance when ever the hour of ablu- ton approaches by sneaking off behind 1.-the woodshed in the hope that mother
 will forget That's why we envied the blissful freedom, the utter disre- gard for dirt, of that boy around the fcorner. Since Dr. Lee has enlightened
 us We begin to see that all our regard
 for that kid, all our hatred of water
 was simply the appeal of primeval in days when our prehistoric forbears lroamed the uptracked wilderness blissfully unconscious that wa ter was good for any thing but drink
 ling and who were doubtless well con- ,inced that it was otherwise simply a disagreeable something which made ' them cold and uncomfortable when
 ever it touched their bares kins and
 which was therefore to be summed
 whenever possible. Any way, one may oe sure they never employed tubs as la household necessity or sported with
 health and long life and they proba-
 ply got along very well at that. The doctor is right, all right. We are a
 .ong way off our natural course. Here we are slaves to a habit. a foolish, useless habit, according to the learned doctors pronouncement. We have been l ieluding ourselves that bathing was good thing and also that it was in some sort a necessity when all the while ii was well ascertained fact that most of our ancestors lived quite | as long as we are likely to and enjoyed of acquaintance with the delights of tubbing save when they inadvertently 1 fell in the creek while bringing home
 cows. Here we have gone on year af- | ter year bound by the dictates of an acquired habit and In the face of ex-
 cellent testimony that good Queen Bess and a host of other notables of the
 same or earlier periods probably never took a bath in their lives and lived
 to a good old age at that. It is as
 clear as clear can be that we are sim ply the victims of a habit that is
 not part of ourselves, an exotic some thing that We have brought into our lives and have now become it bond lservants. We don't ned to bathe at all if the doctor is right and if we want to live in conformity with the way we were intended to live, if we want to be no longer bound by the exactations of "a needless" habit, we
 must forget the admonitions of the health cranks and abolish the bath tub
 from our midst. It Is an enemy in the
 house. says Dr. Lee, and he had ought
 to know.