Tur want of a good bathing place has long been felt at Shanghai, and various schemes have from time to time been proposed. Tro difficulties have always stood in the way; the muddiness of the water, and the difficulty of finding a convenient locality. When, two years ago, the Municipal Council erected a mat shed at the large pond near the New Cemetery, a very considerable number of bathers made use of what was little more than a makeshift of the rudest nature; and, had means been found of replenishing the water, and at the same time keeping it clear, there is no doubt that the experiment would have proved a success. Many of our readers are acquainted with the rows of floating baths which mark the Seine at Paris, and know the extensive patronage bestowed on them by the inhabitants of that city. The arrangements of these baths are, however, by no means perfect. The Seine water is naturally much clearer than that of the Hwangpoo, but even it is not altogether free from sediment, and this sediment naturally dis colours the water passing through the bath. Tomeet the difficulty of providing baths in muddy water, and when difficulties as to site present themselves, Mr. Chas, Slagg, C. E., makes a communication to the " Builder" of the 15th February, describing a floating bath proposed by him, which contains many elements of success. A boat 200 feet long and 44 feet wide, contains in its centre a bath 120 feet long. Surrounding this bath, on projecting guards, are situated rows of dressing rooms, while the space at either end of the boat contains a well communicating with the river by means of an open packed with filtering material.
At the four quarters of the boat are paddle wheels, revolving with the force of the tide; and joined to their axles by cranks, are pumps which drive the water from the wells into" pair of elevated tanks. The boat is made of a section gradually deepening towards the centre; so that 9 to 11 feet of water can readily be obtained there, while the ends shallow to 4 or 5. The action of the bath is simple in the extreme. It is moored stem and stern in the tideway. The flow pf the tide in either direction sets the floats of the paddle wheels in motion, and these pump the water out of the wells into the cisterns. To fill the vacant space in the wells, the river water forces its way through the filtering material, becoming purified in the process. The water mixed into the tanks is led over each extremity of the bath, whence by an ingenious arrangement it is made to fall in a monster shower bath, thereby com. pletely aerating the water and tending to its greater purification. The filters are to be placed level with the bottom of the boat, thereby exposing their lower sur face to the current of the river and ensuring their liability to cloy. They will be covered with copper gauze netting covered with cotton hemp or other fibrous material, over which will be placed a layer of sand and such other filtering materials as experience may dictate. The cost, it is calculated, would not exceed £3000. The other details, as to means of access &., would turally differ in each particular case. The whole idea is well worthy of cone sideration, as it would supply a want much felt in Shanghai.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.