Year: 1868

OoHie udys ago, says the WaShlngton
correspondent of the Cleceland Leader,
secured, ticket for the baths, and was
shown down into the vaults of the Cap
itol. A negro of buff color was seated
on stool opposite the bath room door.
Within, the gas burned softly and low in
its vase, showing the floor of inlaid mar
Bile, and the booths inclosing the baths,
with their dim light. through their
ground glass doors, and opposite each
other, upon a chair, cooked back, sat a
Congressman, waiting his turn. After
while, 1 got chance, and the negro
opened one of the doors. There was
a bath tub against the wall, hewn
out of one solid block of mar
BILE; the marble floor was warmed by
heaters below, so that it feltto your bare
feet like the warmth of another human
skin. All the comfortable appurtenances
of the bath were there; the warm towels,
rough and fine, the sponges, the soap,
that had the smell of the date palm, the
brush to stir up the energies of ones
scalp; the mirror to abash one with the
image of himself, made ruddy by the
pencil of the fame from the holdings of
the bronze side light. With tolerably
long armless chemise and copy of Cat
tulus, 1 felt that 1 should have made a
very good Roman of the era of Diocle.
tian. The Romans, as you know, got
out of the bath tub and fought battles to
dry off; then they got out of the battle
field into the bath tub as quickly as pos
sible. That originated the phrase of
"out of the frying pan into the fire."


In short time 1 looked like an an
tique marble and got into my quarry at
once. Lying there, splashing and hold
ing my nose, many Roman visions came
back to me. TO appreciate the real Ro-
man civilization you must get in mar
BILE bath tub and repeat a speech of
Cicero; it is worth hundred pages of
Gibbon. l leaped out and went through.
the motions of driving a chariot then
l hurled the QUOT Ga bronze two cent
piece). GA -ra


While musing of the bliss of serving
ones country in the summer, and debat-
ing as to how Turkish pipe might
soothe this too classical atmosphere, 1
was suddenly surprised to observe on
the ceiling violent agitation of shad-
ows. The effect was that of regimen
tai drill of mosquitoes, the shadows swept
together, made fantastic images, leaped
and shook in manner that awakened
my inquisitiveness. The booths inclos-
ing the bathrooms rear their partitions
only half way to the ceiling, and it was
patent to me that somebody on the other
side was going through some very extra
ordinary motions. My belief was that
my neighbor had a fit. Compassion,
not to say curiosity melted me to make
an observation. Therefore 1 planted
my great toe upon the rim of the bath
tub, caught the top of the partition with
my hands, and cautiously peeped over.


Conscript fathers there was rever-
end Senator executing jig upon the
bathroom floor. He was as destitute of
garments as child just brought into the
world. Lankness and abundant stomach
were equally prominent in him. He
planted the fiat of his foot upon the slabs
to the perfect time of an inaudible tune,
and looked as much like the dancing
fawn as eve looked like lamb. The
hands that had seen raised to enunci-
ate the truths of craftsmanship were
flung aloft like a darkey's at ,Whitsun-
tide, and to the measure of


"Ho diddle down. fiddle rol de diddlev'


[ beheld one of the most eminent men
of my acquaintance beguiling the leis-
ures of the State. What picture for
constituency! What a position for
posterity. A view of those shanks and
that abdomen overthrow my reverence
for classical costume. Never may our
Senators assume the Roman chemise
with such figure as this, for it cast the
reflection of spider on crutches, with
its


"Ho diddle down. fiddle rol de diddler'