THE GOVERNMENT BATHS AT OHINEMUTU.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3552, 27 November 1882, Page 4

THE GOVERNMENT BATHS AT OHINEMUTU.

A writer in the Wanganui Herald describing a recent visit to Ohinemutu, says :—ln the immodiate neighborhood of these sights, tho Government has built a bathing establishment, where two kinds of baths may be obtained. Tbe one ' Pukunitanga,' also known as the Priest's Bath, from the circumstance of a priest having bathed in it a couple of hours daily, for three months, thereby effecting a perfect cure of a bad case of chronic rheumatism ; the other bath, ' Whangapipire,' commonly known as Madame Rachel's Bath, from the reputed effect its mineral constituents have on the complexion of persistent bathers, in making them ' beautiful for ever.' The intention of the Government in building these baths is no doubt commendable ; but the execution is highly culpable, not the slightest regard having been bestowed in tho construction on the requirements of the case. Tho building lias not been erected above six|months; in six months rtore it will almost require re-erect-ing. The temperature of the water flowing into the building ranges as high as 170 dog. Fahrenheit. Tho vapour given off is warping and bulging the lining boards ; the compouds of sulphur have so discolored the white paint that tho whole building looks as if it had received, by a slovenly hand, a coat of coaltar ; while the sulphur oozes through every

point in the floor, and gives the whole place a most unsightly appevance. But, worst of all, the sulphuric acid—an important constituent of the water —is rapidly disintegrating every nail, hinge, and, in short, every piece of iron in the place. This defect in construction might have been in a great measure obviated by the use of wooden pins and cleats, or copper nails. Tho Government has liberally supplied over six handred splendid towels. Sixty will amply suffice for all the vequirements of that establishment, since it is impossible to bathe more than two dozen people a day. The water, being far too hot for use, has to be cooled, and the cooler (?) is only three feet wide and nearly as deep. A brewer's labourer would have designed a more efficacious refrigerator. £1600 of Government money has been thrown away on the building, onetenth of which would have been sufficient to construct a number of concrete tanks with a ti-tree or raupo screen. As it is, visitors usually prefer to bathe in a hole outside the building, which tho bath-keeper has partially enclosed with a scrim, and he lends bathers his blanket, so that should any one pass, for tho bather to be dressed Maori fashion is but the work of an instant. A bath in this al-fresco fashion is really enjoyable, for the bubbles of gas, percolating the ground at the bottom of the bath strike and roll along the body in a manner most exhilcrating ; but to take a bath a second time in one of those dismal steam boxes, by courtesy called bath-rooms, implies the possession of more nerve than many can boast of. A shilling left in the Priest's Bath for a few minutes turns black ; the bather does not; but in half a dozen baths grey hairs are certainly dai-kened.