Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 34, Number 104, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 August 1902 — Habit of Bathing. [ARTICLE]

Habit of Bathing.

Americans are much given to the habit of bathing, and the general opinion is that it Is good for them. They are bound to have a bath at stated times or demand the reason w*hy. This is true even of the American soldier, who might be supposed to get careless about It, but he will bathe if there is water to be had and protest loudly at its absence, says the Tacoma Ledger. Many of the foreigners of the lower classes who come to this country develop into good citizenship, and one of the earliest symptoms of their change for .the better is their acquired liking for towels and soap. It is notorious that some of the Russian emigrants and others from countries bordering on Russian territory do not at first comprehend the necessity or the joy of bathing. The child of'such a family was sent home from school to be washed, and the mother explained that this could not be done, as the youngster “had been sewed up for the winter.” Nothing of this sort would be possible in an American family or one that had been in this well-washed region long.