A TRIP ABROAT.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXII, Issue 87, 11 April 1912, Page 8

A TRIP ABROAT.

(By A Traveller."* Bath, the best named city in England, is famous for its baths, highclass furniture, carnages, the worldwide known bath chairs, bath stone and the delectable Bath buns. The\ have a tradition here that Bladud, the leprous son of a British King, being expelled on account of his malady, became a swine herd, and his pigs caught the infectious diseaca, but by rolling themselves in the warm mud were soon cured. Bladud did likewise and, recovered, and on being discovered was taken homo. He afterwards became King and built the. city of Bath on the place that had been so beneficial to' him. This was 833 8.C.! The mineral waters were used by the Romans in the first century and) they erected splendid and lu.\tin'our : baths which have been dheoverpd and are on vietf. They are in a wonderful) state of preservation.' ' Remains j;oi, hypocausts have also been 1 found. Those-, correspond to what we know as Turkish baths. The largest Reman bath had a surface of 82 by 40 feet, the floor being covered witli thick lead in sections of 'about 8 by 4 feet and weighing 401 b to the square foot. The original Roman culvert has been cleared out and is in use at the present time. The guide told us thai the cement was as hard as flint. Perhaps plumbers will be interested to •know that some Roman lead piping has been unearthed and is shown to visitors. It is not round, ( but .ova] shaped, the narrow part, bping. at the top, where the seam is t There, are two or three joints in it, which seem to be as neatly wiped as if done/ by ( # srfi expert of the present day.. 1; t T-} ( springs flow from the. ; earth at. a temperature of 120-degrees,Far. The large Roman bath mentioned holds 100,000 gallons and the .water Js used for cooling the hot water , for baffling. The pump-room where peep!o do congregate to drink of the water rand the baths are luxuriously f .fitted up and it is said that 'there arc 4000 taps and forty miles of piping at the • several bathing establishments,. Two fine steam engines are used for pump ing and one at the laundry where 700 dozen towels are washed weekly. The arches of the Roman bath were constructed of hollow bricks, wedge-shap ed and open at the ends, like boxes. Some of them are on exhibition. Afto: the Roman' departure the baths wer; neglected and' remained in ruins foy a long period. Apart from the .hoi springs Bath is also a great fashionable rendezvous and a person ought' tc consider it a compliment to bejtold to "Go to i Bath," for the number a! celebrated people, from Royalty downwards, who have "gone there," h legion. There'are tablets placed pi a great many houses -where notabilities have resided: Bath once.;iran lU local King, for Beau Nash, wlio was ah arbiter of fashion and master, oi ceremonies for over fifty yoarr;,. earnej the sobriquet of "King of.. Bath." The old man had a good innings, but diet almost in poverty in 1761. His friend* gave bim a great funeral and his remains lie in the.;old Abbey ; Church. This fine old church like , many an- ' other sacred edifice ■„ has been dismantlI ed, for history says that, in 1539 the Commissioners of Henry -Will, spl3 all the lead from the roof, amounting to over 4.00 tons, also the glass, iron and bells. It remained in this state for over 30 years when it was restored by pious and philanthropic persons.; It coutains- many interesting mohu : ments and inscriptions and has a beautiful stone ceiling. The fine Wesf front is adorned with a .reprosenfajtion of ladders with angels ascending and descending. One of tho most notable buildings that attract the notice of visitors is the Royal Crescent which is built in the form of a segment of a circle and is composed of 34 mansions, all alike in design. One of the finest pleasure resorts in Bath is the Royal Victoria Park, which in beautifully laid out. It was opened by the late Queen in 1830, when she was the Princess Victoria. From.. Bathford and Combedown, suburbs, there are splendid views of the city, etc. At'the former place there is a Bath stone quarry and works. The stone is scft and is cut with a saw like, the Oamjiru stone, but hardens on exposure, to the air. Visitors are not.long in -this city before correspondence .begins to come in, at which one naturally wonder's, considering he or she are stjrangers to the place. .The fact is jthe hotels and pensions ,spnd .in a Ksjt of all fresh arrivals tp a, paper for publication, and of course the tradesmen are not slow in making use of it to) push their wares.