History of Sanitation

122 HISTORY OF SANITATION bath houses. The first bath in that city was established in 1828, and is known as the Pierhead. It contains eleven private baths, two vapor baths, one douche, one plunge 46 x 27 feet, one plunge 40 x 27 feet, and two small private plunges. In all, Liverpool has at the present time nine public baths. Birmingham, England, was It now has five bath houses, the on Kent Street, and opened May 12, 1851. next in point of time, first of which was built In this estab- lishment aTurkish bath can be had for a shilling. London, Eng- land, follows on the heels of Birm- ingham, with elev- en bath houses, the first of which was erected in 1854. At present municipal London has invested over $2,500,000 in pub- lic baths and laun- dry establish - ments, which cost $550,000 annually to maintain. A Modern Porcelain Enameled Lavatory Provisions for free public baths were made in New York in 1870 by the erection of two floating baths. These bath houses, however, could only be used during warm weather, so could not be considered, in the full sense of the word, bathing establishments. The New York Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor, realizing this and the lack of public bathing facilities, undertook to supply the deficiency as far as possible, and in 1891 opened the first real public bath house in the United States, at 9 Centre Market Place. \ onkers, N. Y., however, claims