TEPID BATH FOR SUMNER

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22467, 30 July 1938, Page 20

TEPID BATH FOR SUMNER

TO THE EDITOR OF TOT PRESS. Si r _Being a public-spirited citizen I thought that I should like to bring the claims of Sumner for a new tepid bath before our Mayor and councillors down here. With this in view X wrote to them on the subject, quoting the remarks made by Messrs Symes and Moorhouse, two Canterbury swimmers of repute, who know what they are talking about, to the effect that the present ‘tepid baths were obsolete and not hygienic, and that the accommodation for both swimmers and spectators was insufficient. Can this be wondered at when the baths were built in 1908, 30 years ago. In Sumner we have two good sites for a tepid bath, the first on the west side of Cave Rock, where the baths would be sheltered from the prevailing. easterly winds; the second, the old Bell’s bath site, where it is also well sheltered from the easterly winds. To my mind the Cave Rock site is the best. The bath could be built the regulation length of 55 yards so that it could be used for championship swimming races. Sea water could be used by being pumped through a healing system and water could be heated to the required temperature to suit the climatic conditions. Dressing sheds, hot and cold showers, and plenty of accommodation could be provided for spectators, a charge for admittance could be made to cover the costs. I warrant that it would soon pay for itself. Tepid salt sea water would provide the most healthgiving water known to man. Any doctor will tell you this and when finished, the bath would provide a great asset and attraction to Sumner. When my letter came before the Sumner Borough Council the present Mayor, Mr Tail, said that they did not want a tepid bath down here as they already had the sea, in which people could bathe all the year round; but to my knowledge there are now only three “tough guys” down here who take that on, so what about the thousands of people who would come down to Sumner in the winter months and have a swim in tepid sea water if we only had the bath here. Cr. Claydon said I had mentioned the bath at Vancouver as being ideal, but you could not compare Sumner with Vancouver. I certainly agree with him there, if he is comparing them as cities, but we could have a swimming bath down here as good as Vancouver, and there is nothing to stop us. The Labour Government is spending some £ 20.000,000_ on public works next year and here is a chance for our Mayor and councillors* to get busy and 1 get some of this money spent on Sumner and try to liven the place up.—Yours, etc., S. W. HICKMOTT. Sumner, July 27, 1938.