BATH 



622 



BATHS AND BATHING 



some of which have been excavated and found 

 remarkably well preserved. 



Modern Bath is one of the loveliest cities in 

 England. The houses are of white stone and 

 are built upon terraces at the feet of high hills 

 which rise north and east of the town. Inter- 

 esting features are the celebrated Abbey 

 Church, one of England's fine specimens of the 

 late Gothic style of architecture, the guild 

 hall, and buildings connected with the baths. 

 The city has grown about the hot springs rising 

 nrar the river bank, which yield about 500,000 

 gallons of water daily. It reached the height of 

 its influence and prosperity in the eighteenth 

 century. It is now a parliamentary borough, 

 and sends two members to Parliament. In 1911 

 the population was 50,729. 



BATH, KNIGHTS OF THE. The Order of the 

 Bath is the oldest order of English knighthood, 

 but it is inferior in rank to the Order of the 

 Garter, which is conferred only on noblemen 

 (see GARTER, ORDER OF THE). The date of the 

 founding of the Order is not known, but it was 

 i once in 1127 when, according to history, 

 Henry I conferred knighthood on Geoffrey of 

 Anjou. The recipient of the honor was required 

 to bathe, the act being symbolic of the pure 

 and cleanly life his knightly vows enforced. 

 After falling into abeyance for more than a 

 century, the Order of the Bath was revived by 

 George I in 1725. 



Until 1847 the order was military, but since 

 that date this knighthood has been conferred 

 by the king or queen on those deemed worthy 

 of honor for services in the field of science, art 

 or letters, as well as in the field of war. The 

 Order comprises three classes, namely Knights 



Grand Cross of the Bath (G.C.B.), Knights 

 Commanders (K.C.B.) and a lower order of 

 Companions (C.B.). The holders of the two 

 former titles are entitled to the prefix "Sir"; 

 the lower class carries no title. 



BATH, MAINE, is the county seat of Saga- 

 dohoc County, in the south-central part of the 

 state. It is thirty miles south of Augusta, 

 thirty-six miles northeast of Portland and is on 

 the west bank of the Kennebec River, twelve 

 miles from the sea. It is served by the Maine 

 Central Railroad, electric interurban lines and 

 by steamers which run to Boston, Portland, 

 Augusta and Boothbay Harbor. The popula- 

 tion in 1910 was 9,396. The area exceeds thir- 

 teen square miles. 



The city has an excellent harbor, and the 

 river seldom freezes. The business section 

 extends along the low waterfront for five miles; 

 the residence section occupies higher ground. 

 Bath has a public library, the state military 

 and naval orphan asylum, two homes for aged 

 persons, a hospital and a soldiers' monument. 

 Shipbuilding, both of wood and of iron and 

 steel, is the principal industry and several ves- 

 sels, torpedo boats, gunboats and rams of the 

 United States navy have been built here. 

 There is a considerable coastwise and foreign 

 trade in ice, coal, lumber, iron and steel. The 

 principal industries relate to shipbuilding and 

 include manufactures of lumber, cordage, ship- 

 blocks, windlasses, marine engines, and brass 

 and iron foundries, machine shops, etc. 



Settled about 1660, by Robert Gutch, a mis- 

 sionary to the Indians, Bath was first a part of 

 Georgetown. It was incorporated separately in 

 1781, and in 1847 became a city. 



"[THE STORY OF BATH5 AND BATHING 



^/ATHS AND BATHING. From an 

 early period bathing has been practiced for 

 cleanliness, health, comfort and recreation, 

 either in the home or in public establishments. 

 The ancient Romans considered the bath one 

 of their luxuries, and erected magnificent public 

 buildings in which to gratify their taste for 

 this form of physical culture. Recent years 

 have witnessed a revival of interest in the pub- 



lic bath, but there has been a new point of 

 emphasis; for modern social workers consider 

 it an important feature of their program for the 

 uplift of humanity. Dr. Simon Baruch, who 

 was the chief agent in securing legislation pro- 

 viding for compulsory municipal baths in New 

 York state, has publicly stated that money 

 spent for public baths does more to raise the 

 standard of health and morality than a much 



