The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-07-10 00:00:00

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WORLD FAMED

Ee i:fkotttiribge Ober.

SATURDAY, JULY 10th, 1880.

BATHING ACCIDENTS.

Tax harvest field of death is one to which addi
tions are made in numerous and diverse ways
The storms which sweep the surface of the sea,
and pursue their destructive career far in upon
the land, the railway collision, the plague, the
pestilence, and the famine, the battle, the murder,
and the sudden death, have allies in varions
directiong. The number of persons killed and
maimed by accidents in the streets of London
in the course of twelve months is equal to the
population of many a little Parliamentary
borough. Again, 3'ooo lives, if not more, are
lost annually in the rivers, canals. and lakes of
England, Scotland, and Ireland through boating
and bathing accidents. In each succeeding
summer there is a renewed record of mortality,
and during the holiday season scarcely a day
passes in which the newspapers do not contain
reports of one or more fatal disasters. Yet the
lessons so frequently given appear to be un-
heeded; and it may be admitted that there is
something singularly fascinating and attractiv,
in the sight of a cool stream on a hot summer
day. Still there cannot be the slightest doubt
that a wider diffusion of easily-acquired informa-
tion, and the exercise of reasonable precautions
would lead to a considerable decrease in the
number of deaths by drowning on our shores.
For many years the National Lifeboat Institu-
tion has been actively circulating instructions
for the restoration of the apparently drowne,l.
In very many cases practical effect has been
given to their advice, the proper means for re-
suscitation have been adopted, and carried on
with patience and perseverance until success has
crowned the efforts which have been made.
Want of knowledge as to the method of proce-
dure in cases of supposed death by drowning has
led to the loss of many a Useful life; and much
advantage would be derived from the more
general circulation of the paper on this ERIN .!ct
which has been issued by the Lifeboat Institu-
tion.
Boating accidents, while in too many cases
contributing the same fatal result as those which
arise from incautious bathing aro, there is too
much reason to fear in the majority of cases, to
be attributed either to culpablQ carelessness or
to gross and wilful neglect. The owners of small
craft at oar watering places are generally ready
to hire their boats to all corners, v.ithout insti-
tuting an adEquate inquiry as to the capacity of
the hirers to manage the vessels with which they
are temporarily eutru3ted. Thon4htless school
boys, to whom the spectacle of salt water is rate
and uncommon, are permitted to proceed sea-
wards,although the probabilities seem to inclic tte
a disastrous termination to the voyage. Pro-
bably, lviwever, the greater proportion of the
deaths by drowning which annua.lly occur in the
three kingdoms may be directly attributed to
the neglect of the art of swimming This has
often appeared inexplicable in a maratime people,
which has so large a proportion of the population
employed upon the water. It would be account-
able in a vast inland country like Germany ; but 1
it is not easly explained in Great Britair. Few
acquirments could be more useful, or more
eastiy learned ; yet swimming does not appear
to be a nicessary part of the education of our
boys and girls. Amongst the many attempts
which have been made to encourage this valu-
able acquisition, there has been nothing more
likely to prove of practical value than the efforts
made during recent years to teacli swimming iu
schools. There are now many institutions in
England and Scotland where instruction in
swimming forms part of the educational course,
and where the boys have been so trained as to be
almost as much at home in the water as on
shore. If the managers of educational establish-
ments will see that the youths under their charge
are as carefully instructed in swimming as they
are in their accomplishments, and if Corpora-
tions will act wisely and well in the provision of
swimming baths for the populations under their
charge it may be expected at no distant date
that a large decrease in the annual returns of
deaths from drowning will be witnessed. Swim-
ming matches and feats of endurance in the
water are always popular, and never fail to at-
tract numerous assemblies, a clear indication of
the interest which is taken in such competitions,
and which would_be increased if more incourage•
merit were given to the ert of swimming in early
life.