HOT SPRINGS Rules and Regulations 1920

GENERAL INFORMATION REGARDING THE HOT SPRINGS OF ARKANSAS.

The hot springs, 46 in number, are situated at the city of Hot Springs, near the center of the State of Arkansas, 50 miles southwest of Little Rock. In addition to the hot springs there are many cold springs furnishing palatable waters extensively used both in the treatment of disease and as table waters.

LEGENDS AND HISTORY.

The hot springs were probably visited in 1541 by De Soto, who died the following spring on the Mississippi, about 100 miles away. According to traditions the curative properties of the springs were known to the Indians long before the advent of the Spaniards. There is a tale that the various tribes battled from time to time for control of the hot waters, in which they believed the "Great Spirit" to be ever present, but that finally a truce was declared under which their benefits were extended to the sick of all tribes.

It is believed that the earliest white settlement was made about the year 1800. Dunbar and Hunter, who visited the place in December, 1804, found an open log cabin and a few huts built of split boards which had been erected by persons resorting to the springs in the hope of regaining their health. Manuel Prudhomme built a cabin there in 1807 and was joined the same year by John Perciful and Isaac Gates.

THE RESERVATION.

In 1832 the hot springs and the four sections of land surrounding them were by act of Congress set aside for the future disposal of the United States, not to be entered, located, or appropriated for any other purpose whatever, thus making the first national park reservation of the country and preserving the waters of the springs in perpetuity free from monopoly and commercial exploitation.

The Hot Springs Reservation contains 911.63 acres, and includes Hot Springs Mountain, North Mountain, West Mountain, and Whittington Lake Park. The springs are all grouped about the base of Hot Springs Mountain, their aggregate flow being 851,308 gallons per day. The hot water is supplied to the various bathhouses, and the receipts from this source are all expended under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior in improving the service and in developing and beautifying the reservation. There are more than 11 miles of well-built roads and footpaths over the mountains.

The Government is represented at the springs by a superintendent of the reservation appointed by the Secretary of the Interior. The superintendent has charge of all general matters connected with the Government's interests, is disbursing officer, enforces the rules and regulations of the department, has charge of sanitation, hydrotherapy, the bathing of patients, the Government free bathhouse for the indigent, the instruction and supervision of bath attendants, and the determination as to their fitness for employment.

THE CITY OF HOT SPRINGS.

The city of Hot Springs is a municipality governed under State and municipal law. The Department of the Interior exercises no control or supervision over any matters connected with the city.

The city has extended beyond the narrow valley in which the springs are located and spreads out over the open plain to the south and east. It is supplied with all the public-utility services of the larger cities. There are churches of every denomination, public and private schools, hospitals and sanatoria, theaters, and other places of amusement. The resident population is about 16,000.

There are many hotels, the largest affording accommodations for 1,000 guests, and several hundred boarding houses ranging in price from $7 a week up. Cottages and apartments for light housekeeping, furnished or unfurnished, can be rented from $20 a month up. The cost of living is about the same as in average cities of like size. Lists of hotels and boarding houses can be obtained at the Business Men's League, which is located next to the post office, and inquiries of a general nature not related to the administration of the baths will be answered by its secretary.

The climate is good throughout the year. In the earlier days Hot Springs was exclusively a summer resort, the hotels being closed from October to March. In later years, however, owing to the number who come during the winter months to escape the cold of the north, the resort is patronized throughout the year. There is no malaria.

The elevation of the city is 600 feet, and that of the surrounding hills about 1,200 feet above the level of the sea.

THE PAY BATHHOUSES.

There are 19 pay bathhouses operated under rules and regulations approved by the Secretary of the Interior. Ten are on the reservation at the base of Hot Springs Mountain, constituting what is known as "Bathhouse Row," and 9 are located at various points in the city. Eight are in connection with hotels, hospitals, or sanatoria. The water is the same in all, but the prices charged for the baths vary between the different houses in accordance with the equipment and accommodations furnished. The rates are fixed in each instance by the Secretary of the Interior. The charges for the services of the attendants are the same in all, and include all the necessities of the baths except furnishing towels and bath robes, laundering bath robes, rubbing mercury; and handling helpless invalids.

Any dissatisfaction relative to the administration of the baths or the treatment of patients should be brought to the attention of the superintendent, who will investigate the complaint and adjust any differences.

In addition to the foregoing, bathhouse attendants, under the rules and regulations for the government of the bathhouses receiving water from the Hot Springs Reservation, are allowed to charge for their services not to exceed 20 cents for a single bath, or $4 per course of 21 baths, to be collected for the attendant by the bathhouse manager and properly accounted for by him to the attendant.

Scale of rates for baths at different bathhouses receiving water from the Hot Springs Reservation.

Bath tickets are redeemable for the same proportionate price for which they were sold, when presented by the original purchaser, provided that when less than five baths have been taken on any ticket presented for redemption the bathhouse may charge the rate for single baths for the number of baths taken on said ticket.

THE ARMY AND NAVY GENERAL HOSPITAL.

The Army and Navy General Hospital is also supplied with water from the springs. It is administered by the War Department for the benefit of officers and enlisted men of the military and naval service of the United States, cadets at the United States Military and Naval Academies, officers of the Revenue-Cutter Service, now forming part of the Coast Guard, officers of the Public Health Service, and honorably discharged soldiers and sailors of the Regular and Volunteer Army and Navy of the United States, who are suffering from such diseases as the waters of the hot springs of Arkansas have an established reputation in benefiting.

Admission to this hospital of all such cases regardless of their severity is not, however, contemplated. Its facilities will not be extended to mild and transient cases which should yield to ordinary treatment, but are reserved for those of a serious and obstinate character, which, though resisting ordinary methods of relief, promise a rapid and permanent recovery from the use of the waters of the springs.

Application for admission to this institution should be made to The Adjutant General, United States Army, at Washington, D. C.

THE GOVERNMENT FREE BATHS.

The Government free bathhouse for the indigent was established pursuant to act of Congress of December 16, 1878. The number of baths given to the poor during the year 1919 was 87,040.

The act of March 2, 1911, provides that an applicant for free baths shall be required to make oath that he is without and unable to obtain means to pay for baths, and a false oath as to his financial condition makes him guilty of a misdemeanor and subjects him, upon conviction thereof, to a fine of not to exceed $25, or 30 days' imprisonment, or both.

Tickets are issued only to those who, after examination, are found to be suffering from diseases that may reasonably be expected to be benefited by the baths. Children are not allowed in the bathhouse unless they themselves are patients.

Those who intend making application for these baths are advised that no other treatment is provided. There is no hospital attached, and they must provide their own board and lodging. There are no hospitals in the city of Hot Springs to which patients can be admitted free of charge, nor are any funds available from which relief can be afforded or railroad transportation furnished to their homes. This statement appears to be necessary, as many destitute invalids come each year from other and distant States in the belief that the Government maintains a public institution at which they will be cared for free of charge.

THE CHARACTER AND ACTION OF THE WATERS.

The source of the heat is believed to be great masses of igneous rock intruded in the earth's crust by volcanic agencies. Deep-seated waters converted into vapors by contact with this heated mass probably ascend through fissures toward the surface where they meet cold springs, which are heated by the vapors.

The waters of 44 hot springs were analyzed by J. K. Haywood in 1901, and the complete results have been published in the publication entitled "Analyses of the Waters of the Hot Springs of Arkansas," which may be purchased from the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C., for 10 cents. With the following exceptions, the hot waters are practically alike in concentration and composition. The waters range in temperature from 102° to 147° F., most of them having a temperature of 135° to 145° F. Little Geyser Spring is nearly cold and contains only 170 parts per million of mineral matter besides having slightly higher percentages of silica and sulphate and slightly lower percentages of calcium and bicarbonate than the average. Superior Spring (North) contains only 231 parts per million of mineral matter but is otherwise normal. Tunnel Spring contains only 259 parts of mineral matter and has a slightly higher percentage of silica and slightly lower percentages of calcium and bicarbonate than the average. Stevens Springs and Mud Spring have somewhat higher percentages of sulphate. Reservoir Spring contains 310 parts of mineral matter and has higher percentages of sulphate, potassium, and sodium, and lower percentages of silica, bicarbonate, and magnesium than the average. These differences in composition are too small to affect the therapeutic value of the waters. The waters of the other springs, ranging in mineral content from 272 to 297 parts per million, correspond closely in their chief constituents to the following analysis, which is that of Big Iron Spring, with the figures rounded off for convenience:

Approximate chemical composition of the hot spring waters at Hot Springs, Ark.

In 1904 the Secretary of the Interior authorized Dr. Bertram B. Boltwood, of Yale University, to report on the radioactivity of the waters. Dr. Boltwood's report was not published by the department, but some of the results of his work were printed in the American Journal of Science, fourth series, volume 20, 1905, pages 128-134. This publication is not available for distribution by the Department of the Interior, but may be consulted at the principal libraries. The following résumé of Dr. Boltwood's conclusions is reprinted from the Annual Report of the Secretary of the Interior for 1904:¹

* * * The results of the electroscopic tests of the gases obtained by boiling the waters were very satisfactory, as they showed that the waters at Hot Springs are radioactive to a marked degree; and from other tests, taken to determine the properties of the emantion from the waters, it was found that the properties of these radioactive gases were identical with those of the radium emanation.

On the other hand, when water from which the gas had once been taken was boiled a second time, after being allowed to stand, no radioactivity was detected in the gas obtained from the second boiling, and it was therefore concluded that little or no radium salts existed in the waters. This conclusion was strengthened by the fact that a test of the residue of the waters which had been left by evaporation also failed to disclose any sign of radioactivity of this solid substance. A sample from the tufa deposit, formed by some of the springs on issuing from the ground, was also tested, and it was found that the amount of radium contained in 100 grams of the tufa was less than one one millionth of the quantity of radium, associated with an equal weight of uranium in pitchblende. Samples of the gas which arose from the springs were also tested, and its radioactivity was found to be less than that of an equal volume of gas obtained by boiling the waters from the springs. The following conclusions are reached by Dr. Boltwood as to the result of his investigations:

(1) The waters of the springs on the Hot Springs Reservation are all radioactive to a marked degree.

(2) The radioactivity of the waters is due to dissolved radium emanation (a gas), and not to the presence of salts of radium or other radioactive solids.

---

¹Copies of this report are no longer available for distribution.

---

An article entitled "Electroscopic Determination of the Radium Present in Some Tufa Deposits at Hot Springs, Ark.," by Hermaun Schlundt, appeared in the Transactions of the American Electro-chemical Society, volume 12, 1907, pages 247-253.

The baths create a reaction accompanied by an elevation of body temperature, accelerated heart action with diminished blood pressure in the arteries, and a stimulation of the nutritive changes in the tissue cells, especially those composing the organs of elimination and those concerned in the formation of the blood. The mineral constituent is very low, and when the waters are taken internally, combined with the sweating produced by the baths and packs, elimination by all the emunctories is greatly increased.

The hot waters may reasonably be expected to give relief in the following conditions: In gout or rheumatism after the acute or inflammatory stage; in neuralgia when depending upon gout, rheumatism, metallic or malarial poisoning; in the early stages of chronic Bright's disease; in catarrhal conditions of the gall bladder; in certain forms of disease of the pelvic organs, and in sterility in women; in chronic malaria, alcoholism, and drug addictions; in many chronic skin diseases; in some forms of anemia; in syphilis; in gonorrheal rheumatism; in toxaemias and conditions of defective elimination; and in some forms of cardiovascular disease with increased tension in the blood vessels.

The general tonic and recuperative effects are marked in conditions of debility and neurasthenia due to the strain and fatigue incident to social and business cares and responsibilities, and in many other conditions the baths and climate are useful adjuncts to medical treatment. The reservation parks afford opportunities for out-of-door life, driving, riding, and hill climbing. Much importance is attached by local physicians to the possibilities for out-of-door life.

The baths are contraindicated in tuberculosis of the throat and lungs and in all forms of cancer.

It is a great mistake for winter visitors at Hot Springs to return home with the first coming of spring—in fact, many physicians claim that the best results from the baths are obtained during the months of April and May, as the weather conditions at that time are ideal. But people remaining in Hot Springs beyond the first of April should have their summer clothing, as the average temperature is from 65 to 85 degrees.

PHYSICIANS.

The only physicians allowed to prescribe the waters of the hot springs are those licensed practitioners of the State of Arkansas who have been examined by a Federal board of medical examiners appointed by the Secretary of the Interior. Visitors are warned that physicians who have not passed the Federal board and been registered in the office of the superintendent are not permitted to make use of the baths in the treatment of their patients. This rule is for the protection of visitors who, if they desire the baths, should before employing a physician procure from the superintendent of the reservation a list of the qualified practitioners.

While the baths may be taken without the advice of a physician by procuring a permit at any of the bathhouses receiving water from the hot springs on the reservation, this practice is not recommended. Patients who assume to determine the nature of their ailments and to prescribe for themselves often fail to obtain the desired relief. The waters are not beneficial in all diseases and in some are harmful. It is a useless expenditure of time and money to take the baths for a disease that will not be benefited by them.

Physicians' fees are from $25 a month up, according to the treatment required.

Visitors are advised for their own protection that soliciting for hotels, boarding houses, or doctors on the trains running into Hot Springs is in violation of law, and are warned against heeding the advice of irresponsible and unknown persons.

In the interest of the public it has been found necessary to prohibit the bathing of anyone stopping at a hotel or boarding house in which the solicitation of patronage for doctors (commonly known as "doctor drumming") is allowed. The recent crusade against the evil has resulted in its material diminution; but it may be stated as a matter of information that the solicitation has usually taken the form of advising the patient that the doctor to whom he has been recommended by a friend at home is out town, but that Dr. X is as good a man and will treat him for less money. The drummers have commonly posed as greatly benefited and grateful patients of the doctors who employed them. Doctors who have made use of agents to induce patients to take treatment from them have usually divided their fees with the solicitors or drummers.

The moral responsibility of good citizenship demands that visitors should make known to the superintendent of the reservation any instance of soliciting for doctors, thus effectively aiding the service in eliminating an obnoxious practice and insuring to themselves the full benefits of proper treatment at this resort.

AUTOMOBILES AND MOTORCYCLES.

Automobiles and motorcycles will be admitted on Hot Springs, North, and West Mountain roads between the hours of 7 a. m. and 6.30 p. m. except from April 1 to September 30, when automobiles and motorcycles may use the roads from 6 a. m. to 8 p. m.

Automobiles will be permitted to enter upon Hot Springs and North Mountains only at the Fountain Street entrance to Hot Springs Mountain, leading south toward the Army and Navy General Hospital, around the tower, and make exit to Central Avenue either through Fountain Street or around North Mountain through Canyon Street.

Automobiles will be permitted to enter upon West Mountain roads only at the Prospect Avenue entrance through Pecan Street and make exit through Gem Street to Whittington Avenue.

Careful driving is demanded of all persons using the roads.

The automobile and motorcycle regulations will be found at page 26.

RAILROADS.

The railroads running into Hot Springs are the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific, the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern (Missouri Pacific), and the Memphis, Dallas & Gulf. Through sleeping cars are operated daily between Chicago, Memphis, and Hot Springs via the Illinois Central and the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific railroads.

Throughout the year round-trip excursion tickets at reduced fares are sold at practically all stations in the United States to Hot Springs, Ark., as a destination. Passengers en route to other destinations will find stop-over privileges available on both one-way and round-trip tickets, for the purpose of making side trips to Hot Springs.