No history of sanitation would be complete without touching upon the plumbing fixtures in buildings, and showing the marked progress along these lines within the last quarter of a century. It is only a little over a century and a quarter since the first English patent was granted for a water closet. That was in the year 1775, and was issued to Alexander Cummings, who, strange to say, was a watchmaker. This closet was the first one patented which had what is known as a trap to contain water for a seal. Three years later a patent was issued to Joseph Bramah, inventor of the hydraulic press, for a water closet with a valve at the bottom. Little progress was made in the improvement of water closets during the next half century, and when in the year 1833 the first American patent was taken out the art had not advanced very far. Indeed, it might be said that until the time of the filing of the application for the Fraim and Neff patent, for a siphon closet, that a real cleanly and sanitary type of closet was not on the market.

Bath tubs and lavatories have improved as much in appearance in the time that has elapsed as have water closets. The earliest bath tubs of which we have any knowledge were hewn out of marble. Later, when bath tubs came into rather extensive use in the United States, they were made of wood, lined with either sheet zinc or sheet copper, tinned on one side, and it is only within comparatively recent years that porcelain enameled tubs came into use, and that solid porcelain tubs were manufactured in this country. Open plumbing was unheard of twenty-five years ago and in its stead plumbing fixtures were concealed as much as possible by encasing them in woodwork of more or less ornate designs; at that time the lavatories were all made of marble, and of this material fully 90 per cent. of the lavatories were made up to about the year 1902. About that time, porcelain enameled and solid porcelain lavatories commenced taking the lead and worked a complete revolution in the design of these fixtures. Indeed, so sudden and complete was the change that inside of a year the marble-top lavatories were driven as completely from the market as though they never existed, and, outside of old work, they are as much a curiosity to-day as an old pan closet.

With the perfecting and cheapening of plumbing fixtures came an increased demand for their use, and the attention of public-minded citizens turned to means for providing the people less favored with worldly riches with means for cleansing the person and apparel. Liverpool, England, was the first of modern cities to establish public 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 next in point of time. It now has five bath houses, the first of which was built on Kent Street, and opened May 12, 1851. In this establishment a Turkish bath can be had for a shilling.

London, England, follows on the heels of Birmingham, with eleven bath houses, the first of which was erected in 1854. At present municipal London has invested over $2,500,000 in public baths and laundry establishments, which cost $550,000 annually to maintain.

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. Yonkers, N. Y., however, claims the credit of being the first city in the United States to establish a municipal bath house, supplied with hot and cold water, open all the year round, and maintained at the public expense.

The example set by a few cities has not been without effect, and other cities in the United States have followed the lead. It is noticeable, however, that it is only in the Eastern cities that public bath houses are built and maintained at the city's expense. According to the "Report on Public Baths and Comfort Stations," Buffalo, Boston, Philadelphia, Newark and Trenton each have one public bath house and Chicago has three. Since the publication of that report, however, many cities both in the East and in the West have built public bath houses and many have built, are building, or have planned to build, public comfort stations. Indeed, the standard by which the advancement of cities will be judged in the near future is, "What have they done for the comfort and welfare of the citizens?" And among the visible evidences of what they have done, standing foremost will be the public bath houses, public comfort stations, and last, but not least, public wash houses.

Events of to-day become history of to-morrow, and no history would be complete without recounting contemporaneous facts and events. So it is with sanitation; no history of that subject would be complete without illustrating a few of the plumbing fixtures in use at the time the record was written. We of the present age believe, as did those of a generation ago, that we have almost attained perfection in the manufacture of plumbing fixtures; but have we, or will succeeding generations look back upon what we consider good as we do upon the fixtures in vogue in the early 70's? This we do not know nor can we foresee. Time alone will tell.