Welsh Journals

Another thus In France we visited six different collieries. The buildings there are some- thing like our large halls, varied in size according to the number of baths that are required. The walls are made of bricks, the floor of tiles, the roof partly of glass, and the rest of slates or galvanised zinc. There are not many windows in the walls of these buildings. The halls are heated by pipes, which take heated water through the buil- ding, the temperature being about 30° Centigrade. The baths in France are all on the same principle, but varied a little in construction. They can be called cabinets or stalls, about 3ft. by 6ft. and 7ft. in height, with a spray the further end. These cabinets were put up in different parts of the halls. We saw them in rows along the sides, also back to back in the centre. The time taken by a man to wash was ten minutes. While the quantity of water used per man was about ten gallons." "In Belgium we visited three collieries, Everything we saw there was similar to what we had already seen in France, except that the number that indulged in the baths here was much greater than in France. The cost of erecting a building with 60 cabinet baths and 776 wires, for hanging the clothes in order to dry them, was £ 4000. Men in charge of baths were only paid about 3/- per day in France and Belgium. "We paid a visit to six collieries in Germany. The owners there are com- pelled to prepare baths at the pit-head, while the workmen are also compelled to wash in them. The owners of every mine are legally compelled to construct a covered passage from the pit to the baths. In Germany we saw different baths to the ones we had seen before, these being open baths. The halls are the same, only some of them had concrete floors. The bathroom is a somewhat small building by the side of the hall without any compart- ments in it, only from 70 to 100 sprays about 7 feet high all over the building. In some places we saw benches for the men to sit on while washing. There is nothing to hold the water in these more than in the cabinets, the water flowing away like a shower of rain. Boys under 20 years of age have a separate bathroom. "My opinion is that this kind of bath will not be very readily accepted in South Wales, although even this kind of bath is more private than the manner of bathing found here in South Wales at present. But the Germans did not object to it, indeed they rather liked it, being used to this sort of thing in school and in the army. "As for the French and Belgian private and semi-private compartments, can say that I am perfectly satisfied with them." This writer proceeds to plead for the introduction of such a system in the Welsh coalfield," for the sake of convenience, cleanliness and morality." The touring party is unanimous in expressing its disapproval of the German method of open baths. I am writes one member, I in favour of the system they have in France and Belgium for the reason that there is more privacy in these two countries. Everyone has a private place to bath, whereas in Germany they all bath publicly in one room." He adds, I may mention that another thing, that appealed to me strongly, was that, in case of an accident to a person in the mine, they had a separate place to bath him, with a person who understood First Aid in attendance. From this bath he is lifted on a stretcher and carried into the ambulance van and taken to his home. I think this method of taking the injured home is better than the one we have in South