BATHS AND BATHING 



BATON ROUGE 



plaints. The most noted hot springs in North 

 America are those at Hot Springs, Arkansas 

 (see HOT SPRINGS, ARK.; MINERAL SPRINGS). 

 Among the noted mineral springs of Europe 

 are those at Baden, Carlsbad and Aachen, Ger- 

 many; Spa, Belgium; and Teplitz, Bohemia. 



Ancient and Medieval Baths. It would seem 

 that civilized people have always believed in 

 the bath, for Homer, writing ten centuries 

 before the birth of Christ, mentions it as one 

 of the first forms of refreshment offered to a 

 guest. The Egyptians and Hebrews empha- 

 sized washing as a religious rite, and this idea 

 was also common to the Greeks, who connected 

 the bath with preparations for the sacrifices, 

 for the reception of oracles, for marriage, etc. 

 Public baths were maintained both by the 



The hath* of Caraoalln. 



"Mllll". 

 MTU- ti 



beautiful paintings. ntucco < 



IACALLA 



*tlll mnmlflront In 



Lit.- K,. 



mile 

 tit* were adorned with 



Greeks and Romans, and amoiu r tin > 



readied a magnified: 



times. The imp. -rial tin nnar. niviTiiiK enor- 



inoiis spacrs in the h< art .f Kuine. INN a MOft- 



M of hl>rary, gymnasium. l.-cture 



room ntnl bathing establishment, and those of 

 40 



Titus, Trajan, Caracalla and Diocletian are of 

 time-honored fame. 



When the culture of the Western Roman 

 Empire gave way to the darkness of the early 

 Middle Ages, the magnificent public baths were 

 abandoned. Just how much bathing itself fell 

 into disuse in Western Europe historians are 

 unable to say, but it is known for a surety that 

 all the luxurious customs connected with the 

 Roman bath were preserved in Constantinople, 

 the capital of the Eastern Empire, and were 

 adopted by the Mohammedans. From the 

 eighth century to the present time all the 

 Mohammedan cities of the East have main- 

 tained public and private baths. B.M.W. 



BATON ROUGE, bat' un roosh' , LA., the 

 capital of the state, the seat of government for 

 East Baton Rouge Parish and a port of entry, 

 is situated in the southeastern part of the state 

 and on the Mississippi River, eighty-nine miles 

 northwest of New Orleans by rail, and 250 miles 

 by water from the Gulf of Mexico. Transpor- 

 tation is provided by the Illinois Central, Saint 

 Louis & San Francisco, Louisiana Railway & 

 Navigation Company, and Southern Pacific 

 lines, and by the Texas Pacific Railway through 

 Port Allen, across the river. The population, 

 which in 1910 was 14,897, had increased to 

 16,442 by 1914. The city occupies an area of 

 two and one-half square miles. 



Baton Rouge is built on the southernmost 

 high land on the Mississippi River, safe from 

 the destructive waters of the highest floods. It 

 is a quaint, picturesque old city, with Spanish 

 and French houses, tropical fruit orchards, and 

 sugar and cotton plantations extending along 

 the river bank. The state capital is the most 

 notable structure. anl is unique among the 

 capitols of the United States, presenting the 

 appearance of an old Spanish fort or palace 

 with the American flag waving from its t< 

 it n j'l.ic. < the one built in 1862. Because it is 

 the capital city, many of the state's institutions 

 are located in Baton Rouue; these include the 

 penitentiary, the Agricultural K\pcni:H nt 

 tion, the State University and Agricultural and 

 Mechanical College (1860), of which the Audu- 

 bon Sugar School, for training in growing su^ar 

 cane and in making sugar, is a distinctive fea- 

 ture; and the state institutes for the blind and 

 the draf. Features of public interest are 1 1n- 

 city hall, post office, a plant for burning garbage, 

 and a municipal abattoir, the 1 ated 



under Federal supervision. The city has a 

 tcry for soldiers. Besides the uni- 

 versity there arc, for higher education, Saint 



