HOT SPRINGS Circular of General Information 1936

PHYSICIANS

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 in the park, 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. In many ailments the baths will not afford material benefit unless taken in connection with proper medicines prescribed by physicians. It is a useless expenditure of time and money to take the baths for a disease that will not be benefited by them.

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 park a list of the qualified practitioners.

Physicians' fees for examination for the baths are from $5 to $10.

Visitors are advised that soliciting for hotels, boarding houses, or doctors on the trains and busses 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 moral responsibility of good citizenship demands that visitors should make known to the superintendent of the park 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.

The swimming pool at the public camp ground. National Park Servic photo.

THE PAY BATHHOUSES

There are 19 pay bathhouses operated under rules and regulations approved by the Secretary of the Interior. Nine are in the park at the base of Hot Springs Mountain and 10 are located at various points in the city. Nine 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 towels, mitts, blankets, and bath robes, laundering bath robes and blankets, and handling helpless invalids.

Any dissatisfaction relative to administration of the baths or treatment of patients should be brought to the attention of the park superintendent.

Bath attendants, under the rules and regulations for the government of the bathhouses receiving water from the Hot Springs National Park, 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. This charge is included in the bath price.

Bath tickets are redeemable according to the redemption scale for baths fixed by the Department, a copy of which is posted in each bathhouse.

SCALE OF RATES FOR BATHS AT DIFFERENT BATHHOUSES RECEIVING WATER FROM THE HOT SPRINGS NATIONAL PARK

[Including fee of bath attendant, $0.20 for single bath and $4 for a course of 21 baths]

Bathhouse Row. Eckler photo.

POOL RATES

[All pool treatment requires a physician's prescription]

RATES FOR MASSAGE

[The maximum charges for general massage, including all necessary accessories, at all bathhouses]

THE GOVERNMENT FREE BATHS

The Government free bathhouse for the indigent was established pursuant to act of Congress of December 16, 1878.

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. The law reads as follows:

ACT OF MARCH 2, 1911 (36 STAT. 1015)

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That only persons who are without and unable to obtain the means to pay for baths and are suffering from ailments for which bathing in the water of the Hot Springs Reservation will afford relief or effect a cure shall be permitted to bathe at the free bathouse on the public reservation at Hot Springs, Arkansas; and before any person shall be permitted to bathe at the free bathhouse on the reservation he shall be required to make oath, before such officer duly authorized to administer oaths for general purposes as the superintendent of the Hot Springs Reservation shall designate, that he is without and unable to obtain the means to pay for baths; and any person desiring to bathe at the free bathhouse on the Hot Springs Reservation making a false oath as to his financial condition shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be subject to a fine of not to exceed twenty-five dollars, or thirty 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.

The Government free bathhouse is a modern concrete building fully equipped for bathing large numbers of people under sanitary conditions. In connection with the bathhouse the United States Public Health Service, with the cooperation of the National Park Service, is operating a clinic for the examination and treatment of indigents taking the free baths.

All applicants for free baths and treatment for disease must be prepared to provide and pay for their own board and lodging and have return railroad fare. There are no hospitals in the city of Hot Springs to which patients can be admitted free of charge, nor any funds available from which relief can be afforded or railroad transportation furnished.

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.

Army and Navy General Hospital.

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, however, not 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.

In the case of veterans whose service was rendered since 1897, application for admission to this institution should be made to the Veterans' Administration, Washington, D. C., or to a district office of the Administration. The nearest district office to the hospital is at Little Rock, Ark. In all other cases applications should be submitted to the Surgeon General, United States Army, Washington, D. C. No local applications can be considered.

PUBLIC CAMP GROUND

For automobile tourists, the Government operates a modern tourist camp in the Gorge, a beautiful valley at the foot of the eastern slope of Hot Springs Mountain. Modern camping facilities, an abundant supply of pure water, and the unsurpassed scenic beauty surrounding it make this one of the most attractive camps available to the public. A large swimming pool fed by fresh running water is located in the heart of the camp site, with dressing rooms available for both men and women. The camp is 2 miles distant from the center of the city of Hot Springs.

Horseback riding is a popular pastime in the park. De Luxe photo.

AIRPORT FACILITIES

The Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce owns and maintains a conveniently located airport where ships of any type may land and take off and be serviced.

HOW TO REACH PARK

BY RAILROAD

Hot Springs is served by the Missouri Pacific Railroad and Rock Island Railway. Through sleeping cars are operated daily by the Missouri Pacific between Memphis, New Orleans, St. Louis, Omaha, Kansas City, and Hot Springs; and between Chicago and Hot Springs via the Chicago & Alton Railroad and Wabash Railway north of St. Louis, in connection with the Missouri Pacific south thereof. Through sleeping cars are operated daily between Chicago, Memphis, and Hot Springs via the Illinois Central Railroad and Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway. 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.

BY AUTOMOBILE

Hot Springs is located on two transcontinental motor highways, the "Broadway of America" and the Lee Highway, as well as on United States Highways Nos. 67, 70, and 270, which are all-year, hard-surfaced roads.

In addition, the extensive road-building program conducted by the State government has provided many hard-surfaced roads throughout Arkansas, some of which afford unusual scenic attractions, and all of which connect with the main arteries of interstate highway travel, running in all directions.

BY AIRPLANE

American Airlines, with its connecting services to all parts of the United States and its through service from New York, Buffalo, Boston, Cleveland, and Chicago to Los Angeles, has Little Rock, Ark., as a regular stop. This makes the park accessible to those with limited time by means of the fast, comfortable, de luxe, multi-engined planes operated by this air line.

LITERATURE AND MAPS

Government publications on Hot Springs National Park may be obtained as indicated below. Separate communications should be addressed to the offices mentioned.

DISTRIBUTED FREE BY THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

The following publications may be obtained free on written application to the Director of the National Park Service or by personal application to the office of the superintendent of the park:

RECREATIONAL MAP OF THE UNITED STATES, with brief descriptions on reverse side.

GLIMPSES OF OUR NATIONAL PARKS. 92 pages, including illustrations. Contains descriptions of the most important features of the principal national parks.

SOLD BY THE SUPERINTENDENT OF DOCUMENTS

The following publications may be obtained from the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C.

NATIONAL PARKS PORTFOLIO, by Robert Sterling Yard. 274 pages, including 312 illustrations. Bound securely in cloth. Contains 9 chapters, each descriptive of a national park, and one, a larger chapter, devoted to other national parks and monuments. Price, $1.50. Postage prepaid. Remittances should be made by money order or in cash.

SOLD BY DIRECTOR OF UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

HOT SPRINGS FOLIO. Contains information regarding the geology of the Hot Springs region. Price, 25 cents.

TOPOGRAPHIC MAP showing Hot Springs National Park and vicinity. Scale, 1 mile to the inch. Price, 10 cents.

REFERENCES

ALLSOPP, F. W. Folklore of Romantic Arkansas, volumes I and II, the Grolier Society, Kansas City, 1931.

ARKANSAS HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION. Volumes I, II, III, and IV; Democrat Printing Co., Little Rock, Ark.

ARKANSAS TRAVELER'S SONGSTER. Dick & Fitzgerald, New York, 1864.

ARKANSAS HANDBOOK. Archives of History.

ARKANSAS SKETCHBOOK (1919). Archives of History.

BABCOCK, BERNIE. Yesterday and Today in Arkansas, 1917.

BIEDMA'S EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO.

DUNBAR'S REPORT OF EXPLORATIONS ON THE WASHITA.

FEATHERSTONHAUGH. Excursion Through the Slave States; Murray, London, 1844.

HALLUM, JOHN, Biographical and Pictorial History of Arkansas; Lonoke, Ark., 1887.

HARPER AND MCBRIEN. Story of Arkansas, the Grolier Society, Kansas City, 1931.

HEMPSTEAD, FAY. Pictorial History of Arkansas, M. D. Thompson, St. Louis and New York, 1890.

HERNDON, DALLAS T. Centennial History of Arkansas, volumes I, II, and III, the S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, 1922.

HERNDON, DALLAS T. High Lights of Arkansas History.

HODGE, F. W., and LEWIS, H. T. Spanish Explorers in the Southern United States.

JONES, RALPH B. Resources and Industries of Arkansas, the Wonder State (supplement to Human Geography, book II). J. Russell Smith.

PARRISH, RANDALL. Life of Mr. Garland of Arkansas.

POPE'S EARLY DAYS IN ARKANSAS.

SCHLUNDT, HERMAN. Radioactivity of the Spring Water on the Hot Springs Reservation. Amer. Journal of Science. Vol. xxx. July 1935.

SMITHEE, J. M. Arkansas in 1875, Woodruff, Little Rock, Ark.

THOMAS, DAVID Y. Arkansas and Its People (4 volumes), American Historical Society, New York.

WASHBURN, CEPHAS. Reminiscences of the Indians with Biography of Washburn, Rev. J. W. Moore, of Little Rock, Ark.

WILMER, LAMBERT. The Life, Travels, and Adventures of Ferdinand de Soto, Discoverer of the Mississippi, Lloyd, Philadelphia, 1859.

Interesting Places on the Way to Hot Springs

FROM the East through the Memphis gateway along U S 70, known as the "Broadway of America" route, one traverses mile after mile of fertile cotton land. The White River, noted for its pearl fishing, is crossed at DeValls Bluff. Between Hazen and Lonoke are great rice-growing areas. The world's largest fish hatchery is at Lonoke. The State capitol building in Little Rock is worth several visits, and Benton is noted for its pottery plant. Seven miles from Benton on another highway are bauxite mines from which more than 90 percent of the world's supply of aluminum is made.

Fort Smith, thriving industrial center and northwestern gateway to Hot Springs, is on U S 64. From the north U S 71 also leads to Fort Smith, after passing through the famous apple country. Fayetteville, home of the University of Arkansas, is on this route. Between Fayetteville and Fort Smith the road follows the skyline route of the Ozarks. On U S 64 from Fort Smith there are four college towns: Clarksville, Russellville, Morrilton, and Conway. On U S 71 and on U S 270 (taken after leaving no. 71) one travels for miles through the thickly wooded Ouachita National Forest and the rugged Ouachita Mountains.

Texarkana, on U S 67, a bustling railroad center on the Arkansas-Texas line, is the southwestern gateway to Hot Springs. To the north is interesting river country famous for its cotton plantations and colorful Negro life, and bayous and streams many of which are inhabited by alligators. From Arkadelphia, home of Ouachita and Henderson Colleges, State Highway No. 7 leads to Hot Springs. A few miles south of the park Lake Hamilton is crossed.

Another interesting town of this region is Pine Bluff, a cotton center 72 miles southeast of Hot Springs, and Malvern, home of large textile interests, 22 miles distant on State Highway No. 6.