From: firstinitiallastname@texas.net   
      
   Steve Grimm wrote:   
      
   > THE FIRST BATH TUB   
   >   
   > Adam Thompson, of Cincinnati, is credited with having the first   
   > bathtub known in America. During a business trip to England he was   
   > introduced to the English way of bathing. On his return to America in   
   > 1842 he decided to make a bathtub big enough to contain his entire   
   > body, and to be filled by a tank instead of by hand. He built a tank   
   > in the attic of his home, pumping water into it from the family pump.   
   > Pipes for hot and cold water led to the bathtub, the one for hot water   
   > coiled within the length of the chimney, through which hot air and   
   > smoke from the kitchen range passed.   
   >   
   > The tub was seven feet. long and four feet wide and deep enough to   
   > hold the plumpest of persons. It was built of mahogany and lined with   
   > sheet lead. On the first Christmas Day after installation of the tub,   
   > Mr. Thompson gave a bathtub party, all the men present trying out the   
   > wonderful invention. This party was featured in many of the newspapers   
   > and created a sensation.   
   >   
   > Members of the medical profession fought the idea with warnings that   
   > the practice was dangerous to the health, and state and city governing   
   > bodies passed laws prohibiting and discouraging the use of bathtubs.   
   > The state of Virginia passed a law taxing owners of bathtubs $30 a   
   > year. In Boston a law was passed which was in effort from 1845 to   
   > 1862, forbidding one to take a bath except on advice of a physician.   
   > The cities of Providence, Hartford, and Wilmington put a high water   
   > tax on buildings that contained bathtubs, and in Philadelphia a law   
   > was proposed making it unlawful to bath between November 1 and March   
   > 15. This failed of passage by a margin of two votes.   
      
   An H.L. Mencken gag that's still paying off.   
   http://www.sniggle.net/bathtub.php   
   http://www.zetetics.com/mac/mencken.htm   
   http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/tub.html   
      
   For every web site debunking the hoax, there's another repeating the tale.   
      
   --   
                          Gerald Clough   
       "Nothing has any value, unless you know you can give it up."   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)