Welsh Journals

Wales." This writer also records that he is decidedly in favour of pit-head baths, and thinks, once the men would get accustomed to them, they would value them very much, but he would not make them compulsory, for it would be difficult to get some to leave the old custom, though time and experience would convince them that the baths were a great improvement on the old method." The men are high in their praise of French methods. One writes of the baths at the head of St. Antoine Pit, Lens. These were the first set of baths for us miners to see, and I must say that we felt very interested indeed as we approached them. The room where the baths were was a fine one, and kept clean and well ventilated. On each side of the big room there were 20 compartments about 4ft. square and a jet about the middle of the compartment, so that each bather could regulate the water as he required it. The water was well heated by steam, and its temperature was about 105° F. In all the French baths only one could wash at a time in a compartment, which is, in my mind, quite enough, each man being able to do it in ten minutes, some even could manage it in six minutes which was a great surprise for us, being quite contrary to what we had expected. Each man found his own soap and towel, and there was no danger of his having to use water in which someone else had washed, because it ran off as he was using it. So clean water for each man as we saw it kills a heap of stories in South Wales. In fact in some of the baths we went to in France, we thought it was hard for any miner to resist bathing, the room being so finely finished with any amount of head room and fresh air, and as light as day. Each bathing compartment was made of white glazed bricks, giving to it a very clean appearance. There was to each compartment a revolving door which gave it the necessary privacy. After seeing for myself the working of the baths and heard the answers given to hundreds of questions by all concerned from inspector to miner, I am absolutely convinced that it would be the greatest kindness and blessing for us, as miners in South Wales, as well as in other places, to adopt the French system, for it is by far the cleanest and best. By so doing we would minimise the labour at our homes, and aim a death blow at the indecency which cannot but be prevalent on our hearths. Not only would it improve the moral tone in the collier's family, but also the health, by doing away with the drying of the clothes at home, which cannot be healthy under present circumstances. So after putting all together I feel I can heartily recommend pit-head baths to my fellow workers, and appeal to them to accept this blessing when offered to them." The extracts given above are typical. All the reports are in agreement as to the desirability of the reform, and in attesting the superiority of French over German methods, and their greater adaptability to the conditions obtaining in the South Wales coalfield. Relative to the provisions for the drying and custody of the clothes. there is not the same unanimity as to the best methods, but this discussion we reserve for our next issue.