BATHGATE, bathIgat. A town in the centre of Linlithgowshire. Scotland, 17 miles west southwest of Edinburgh. The old town lies on a steep slope, and the new on a more level site. The celebrated gas-coal called Torbanehill min eral is worked here. Bathgate has paraffin and paper works, but mining is the chief occupation of the inhabitants. Population, in 1871, 6942; 1901. 6786. In 1668 King Charles II. granted Ilatligate a charter, since which time it has been a free burg of barony. In the vicinity is the site of an ancient castle. which Margaret, daugh ter of Robert Bruce, brought as a part of her dowry to her husband. Walter, great steward of Scotland, who died here.
BATH (bath) HOUSES, MUNICIPAL. The first modern publicly owned baths were estab lished in Germany, while Liverpool was the first modern European city to construct inclosed bath houses with appliances for furnishing both hot and cold water. This was in 1842, and since that time, authorized and aided by parliamentary legislation, the movement in favor of public baths has rapidly spread in Great Britain, espe cially during the last decade of the Nineteenth Century, until now every borough with a popu lation of over 50.000 has municipally owned bath-houses, and very many smaller cities are well supplied with such facilities. The cities of Continental Europe do not possess so many pub lic baths. In 1900 Germany had municipal bath houses in 45 of its cities having a population of over 50,000. France has fewer, and in Austria, Norway, and Sweden, baths have been erected only in the larger cities. Vienna has 11 such establishments. In Russia they are very com mon, even in the smaller villages, being deemed absolutely essential to health. The city of Tokio, Japan, is said to contain 1000 public bath houses. The movement in favor of municipal baths scarcely began in America until the close of the Nineteenth Century, when not more than ten or a dozen cities possessed them. Yonkers, N. Y., appears to have been the first American city to establish a public bath with hot and cold water, and to keep it open all the year round.
It was opened September 3, 1896, and two years later another bath-house was constructed of fire proof brick, at a cost of $8586, affording accom modation for 400 baths daily. Newark, N. .1., opened a bath-house on July 29, 1895, and a sec ond one in 1897, but neither of these was open the entire year until 189S, and they were closed one month in 1899 through lack of funds. In 1900 Newark appropriated money for a third bath-house. The movement for public baths in Boston dates back to 1866, when the first one was opened; but until 1898 only beach baths, open a few months in the year. had been fur nished. The Dover Street bath-house provided during its first year of operation—I898-09— baths for 300,000 people, about 30 per cent. of whom were girls and women. During 1900 the first municipal bath in New York City, situated in Street, in a densely crowded sec tion, was built at a cost of $100.000. It has 67 spray-baths capable of furnishing 3000 baths per day. allowing each bather 20 minutes. New York is the first American State to enact legislation making the erection of public baths compulsory. In 1895 a law was passed that all cities having a population of more than 50,000 should establish and maintain such free public baths as the local board of health might deem to be necessary, and that any city or village having less than 50.000 inhabitants might loan on its credit or appropriate of its funds for this pur pose. The baths must be open 14 hours a day, and both hot and cold water must be provided. The maintenance of river, lake, or ocean-front baths is not to be considered a compliance with this act. The first bath-house erected under the act was opened in Buffalo in 1897. The Riving ton Street Bath, New York City, described above, was also built under this act. Albany, Rochester, and Syracuse have built bath-houses since the law was passed, and Troy adopted plans for one in 1900.