The bathing and massage formed a very important part of the treatment. The
routine, after several trials, resolved itself into three baths a
week--_i.e._, one tub and two vapour baths one week, followed the next
week by two tub baths and one vapour. “The tub bath consisted in placing a
man in a tub of water heated to about 100° F., and leaving him there to
rub and soap himself for fifteen minutes or longer. From the tub he was
placed upon a marble slab, where he was drenched with hot and cold water
and sponged. After this the body was spatted until the skin was in a glow,
the muscles pinched and kneaded, passive motions of the joints employed,
followed by a brisk rubbing with a coarse wash-towel or Turkish bathing
mitten, all this being done by a professional trainer, who was available
at the time. Being obliged to make use of the facilities at hand, the
vapour bath was the moist instead of the dry or heated air, and consisted
of turning steam into a room, and maintaining an atmosphere of 115° F.”
This was followed by massage as before. After the bath the men usually
slept until dinner time.
After dinner they were put through two hours or more of active physical
exercise. In the beginning this consisted of the drill employed in the
case of raw recruits, supplemented by dumb-bell exercises. At first they
were an awkward squad, slow to comprehend an order and deliberate in its
execution. It was some weeks before they were able to march in line and to
keep step.
On November 7th the class was discontinued, and the men were assigned to
various shops and employments.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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