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Grey River Argus, 28 May 1914, Page 4

FROM\ earliest youth most of us have been engaged in discussing the amount of washing necessary for per sonal cleanliness. English-speaking peoples have been apt — perhaps sometimes without good cause — to pride -themselves'- on their devotion to the bath tub and the soap cake, and to give thanks that they were not as other people. "Other nations looked at the matter from a different point of view. The English line of argument was, that the British must be a 1 clean peopl«\ because they washed so> often Nations that did not worship at the shrine of the bath, argued that the British must be a dirty people because they needed to wash so often. . They themselves Heing clean peoples,' did not need frequent ablutions. Be this as it may, the Pall Mall Gazette has just published some statistics of soap consumption, and Great Britain heads the list of soap users. The ' average individual consumption of soap in Great Britain is ailbs. per annum, - r and .at 'the bottom of the scale is Russia with only 2lbs, per unit. According " to our ideas, two pounds of soap is anything but sufficient *> keep a man clean for a year. The United States rank, nex: to Britain in the consumption of soap, so that it is evident that national gi.eatness is mot incompatible wfth frequent washing. But are soap and, water a test? G. B. Shaw humorous ly handles the question in "Arms and the Man." Mme. Petkoff complains of a sore throat. Major Petkoff replies: "That comes from washing your neck every day. There was an Englishman at Philippopolis who used to wet himself over with cold, water every morning. Disgusting ! Look at my father! He never had a> bath, in his life ; and he lived to be 98, the healthiest man in Bulgaria. I don't mind a good wash once a week to keep up my position, but once a May is carrying the thing to a ridiculous extreme " There are two sides to the question. Undoubtedly we are cleaner than our ancestors, but it is doubtful df cleanliness is even yet universal among Englishspeaking peoples. Still, it is good W know that Britain heads the list of. soap-using countries. It is to be hoped, that, 'if she ever loses her preeminence in this respect, it will be to New Zealand.