Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 4, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 February 1894 — HOME BATHS FOR THE POOR. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

HOME BATHS FOR THE POOR.

Even The Humblest Farmer In Japan Can Have Hia Tabbing Every Day. One of the marked differences between the tillers of the soil in Japan and the peasantry of other countries is the superior cleanliness of the former. Travelers have frequently remarked upon the fact, but it remained for a correspondent of the Boston Herald to discover the cause for this superiority of the Japanese farmer over his brethren of the Occident The Jap is addicted to his tub. “Even the poorest houses,” writes this correspondent, “have their bathtubs, which are provided with a simple and inexpensive apparatus for heating the water. It would be a great benefaction to introduce this convenience into our agricultural districts, where anything like a bathtub is almost unheard of. The simplest of these bathtubs are round, about as large as the halfhogsheads in which our New England farmers scald their hogs, and made perfectly smooth inside. Another form, more convenient, is oval. In the lower half of one end an iron or brass pot is inserted and extends inside the tub. In this a wood or

charcoal fire Is made. The pot inside the tub is covered with wood, making a convenient seat. A tub of this form 4 feet long and 2i feet wide would be roomy enough for a person of average size. A vent at the bottom lets off the water. Such a tub complete sells here for from $2 to $6.”

WOODEN BATHTUB WITH FURNACE. [Dotted line Shows firepot inside and dash line shows seat and front partition.]