BATHING.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1402, 11 December 1884, Page 2

BATHING.

To THB EdIXOB,

Sir. —I notice from your report of the last meeting of the Borough Oouncil that Mr Harrison suggested that bathing should, under certain restrictions, be allowed in the Domain, but the Mayor and Mr Bird appeared so alarmed at the proposal, from a| decorous point of view, and the Mayor elect so impressed with- the dangers of a wash, that the author of the suggestion, who generally borrows deter-. mination from opposition, departed from his usual instincts and abandoned his truly philanthropic proposal. X have no doubt that the opponents of Mr Harrison’s suggestion were deeply impressed with the gravity of their objections, but if they were similarly impressed with the importance of personal cleanliness, I think they could devise some means by which the youths of this town could perform their ablutions in tbe Domain without offending the most prudish sensibilities or drowning more than a fair proportion. Tbe virulent form of fever, of which we now hear so much and call “ smallpox," does not appear but as the result of gross violation somewhere of sanitary laws, and I know of no law more generally violated than tbe authoritative one, “ wash and be clean.” People wash their houses and clothes, [and most of them occasionally wash their hands and their dogs, and some of the more courageous uvea wash their faces, but it is a very small minority who venture upon a closer acquaintance with water. I contend that it is the duty of any public body having the sanitary condition of tbe people to care for, to popularise this much neglected, fluids and to provide every possible facility for the attainment of personal cleanliness. I hope Mr Harrison will return to the subject, and not allow it to rest until he has secured this luxury for the burgesses. I am, etc., Bathxb.