Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 17, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 May 1894 — A Winter Bath at Alaska. [ARTICLE]

A Winter Bath at Alaska.

“Up in Alaska the method of taking a bath is somewhat historic,” remarked John McGee. “Every trading post has a bathhouse, and the people are supposed to avail themselves of its privileges once a week. A person accustomed to living in a milder clirqat? woul<J Joavq p good deal of. hesitancy about undressing in one of these places, as the temperature is always below zero. In an inner room an arch of stone is built, so that a tire made beneath can penetrate through.. A trap door in the roof answers for a chimney. After the stones have become thoroughly heated and the smoke has passed out, all the coals are removed and the trap door closed. In this room stands a cask of warm water and another that is ice cold. When the bather enters, he pours hot water on the stones until the room is filled with steam; then, taking a seat on s bench, he waits till the perspiration streams from every pore in his body. Next he takes a bunch of dried twigs and leaves, prepared for the purpose, with which he scrubs himself till all the impurities have been removed from the skin, following this with a wash-off in warm water and soap. He concludes his bath by dashing a bucket of ice-water over his body, and then rushing to the dressing room, where with his teeth chattering he resumes his clothes.”