A FEMININE GRIEVANCE,

Observer, Volume 5, Issue 124, 27 January 1883, Page 307

A FEMININE GRIEVANCE,

There is' a matter in connection with the Public . Baths that requires attention at the hands of the authorities, and it is one that involves some very nice considerations. We mean the complaint urged by the ladies against being obliged to bathe during the same hours as women of ill-fame. On the abstract principle that a

public body cannot make any invidious distinctions bc3^f£n its constituents, the ladies have no Reason toieel aggrieved if notorious characters

frequent. the, public: baths during the same hours

as themselves ; but, on the ground of expediency, js«^fc^inay be desirable to make some arrangement ™Vich will satisfy alf^parties. We are credibly •formed that the conduct of these women while ikjithing, so far. from being quiet and decox'ous, i^ffio objectionable that no lady with any respect fr&r hferself would ventur* near them. They i£Kiout and laugl* so boisterously that men. and. '"' boys in boats are attracted to the vicinity of the enclosure, and their appearance, of course, only incites the sportive naiads to redouble their Igfyj^ls and their outcries. Their conversation, YM^^teW we^ k e cs P e c te d, is anything but re--fiSBRRiI the aversion with which they are regarufct°6y their purer sisters seems but to stinau- • late them to an gumption of coarse bravado.

[^Married and elderly singleladies, although indisposed to run the risk, of $$&&$ fco P ut U P "«™th rencontres of this sort, yen|||§rable to take care of w themselves when ; they |^^Snd themselves in

such company 5 but the case is entirely different with young girls, who have no chaperone to look after them. They are at the mercy of the demi-monde, who, we understand, are not backward in taking advantage of the meeting. A real danger of moral pollution is therefore caused by the unrestricted admission to, and conduct of, fallen women ab the baths ; and fathers of families will do well to prevent their daughters frequenting the place without a protectress until remedial measures are adopted. ,

In answer to the numerous complaints on the subject which have appeared in the Press, the bath-keeper has written a letter in which he plaintively states that ho can hardly be expected to know a prostitute from a respectable woman in case any distinctions wore to bo made. He is hardly ingenuous, however. It is a fact that at present the nymplies dv pave drive down to the baths in cabs, and are conveyed homo agaiu in the same manner ,■ and it is a further fact that they always partake liberally of refreshments before leaving the establishment. Perhaps this lattor circumstance may have unconsciously produced a tendency on the keeper's part to be "to their faults a little blind, and to their failings ever kind." At any rate, they arc good customers. Unless, however, some means are adopted of securing isolation for these women, they will soon have the whole baths to themselves during the hours set apart for females. Even now the attendance of the reputable portion of the softer sex has greatly fallen off, and ere long it will be a reproach amongst womankind to be seen near the place. Various plaus have been suggested of overcoming the difficulty, but the best one seems to be that during a certain portion of the time set apart for ladies, only ticket-holders shall be admitted, and that the tickets shall be issued by the City Council to all applicants except women of known bad character. The latter class could visit the abltitionary institution without tickets during the remaining portion of the time, and a real grievance would be redressed. If something of the sort is not done, the small minority of abandoned women in our city will s enjoy a virtual monopoly of the baths during the hours for ladies, to the entire exclusion of the virtuous majority.

A PIERCE-ING APPEAL ON BEHALF OF BALLS,

At a church, meeting recently of the parishioners of St. Sepulchre's, Mr G-. P. Pierce made a strong appeal to the meeting as to the desirability of having a billiard-room at the back of St. Sepulchre's school-room, for the amusement and use of the young men -of the parish. He said that at present they loafed about the n^Wtc-house corners, or shouted at the bars, becsmse 'they could not get a game of billiards any dphes*wyay. It would be far better for them to hafre a \uiet game at the back of the sohool-rocfn, divested of these demoralising surroundings Ito |pj>t the "red" there rather than the " blue\at&re street corner, who was waiting his chance to^run them in " ; and to canon at the congregation billiard-table rather than against the public-house lamp-post. The parishioners coiildn't see the Piei'ce-ing appeal, and the minister's churchwarden could only soliloquise in a Sepulehre-al way, "I might hare known ifc ; Gr. P. P. is twenty years ahead of the age, but in his prophetic eye he sees that billiardtable coming !"