The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1872-08-31 00:00:00

SWIMMING IN THE CHANNEL.

Some incredulity which had been expressed when it
was announced that Mr. J. B. Johnson would swim
from Dover to Calais has been nullified by the fact
that an attempt to do so was absolutely made- on
Saturday, and a not inconsiderable feat of natation
perfortned. The distance between Dover and the other
side of the water at the nearest point, supposing the
swimmer could swim straight across, to computed to be
at the least nineteen miles, but with the tides running
crossways it was generally agreed that Johnson, to
accomplish his object, would have to go a distance of
Irons thirty to forty miles.
. _ .

It appears that a wager was laid in Leeds of £l,OOO
to 1;30. and was almost immediately doubled, that
Johnson would not swim across the Channel. No
doubt was expressed as to his ability to swim the dis-
tance ; but, as the terms of the bet were that he was
not to some out of the watcr, the great question arose
how the circulation of the blcod was to be kept up, it
being estimated that the swimmer would take at least
twelve hours to perform his feat.
•

On Friday morning the water, though not very rough,
was "lumpy,' and, a message having been received that
it was flowing hard at Calais, the event was postponed
till Saturday. Mr. Johnson, however, to prevent the
immense crowd that awaited his arrival on the Admi-
ralty Pier from being disappointed and talking of a
hoax, walked on to the pier about half -past nine. Soon
after he went into the water, and for upwards of an hour
he amused the spectators with some clever aquatic frail,
and, to all appearances, he seemed as much at home
in the water as upon land. In the afternoon he again
entered the water, and performed more clever tricks.
The start, which was to be from the Admiralty
Pier, was announced for Saturday morning, as it was
reckoned that the tide would serve to t ake Johnson to the
westward for about two hours, and then he would have
the advantage of the tide in the opposite direction to
reach across to the other side. At the hour named,
Mr. Johnson, accompanied by a number of his sup-
porting with his breast adorned with some twenty
to alb ty decorations, walked to the pier. On their
arrival there, after a delay of about an hour, the em-
barkation took place. The Palmerston then left, and
steamed a few feet away.
At 10.40 Mr. Johnson appeared on deck, attired in
bathing costume, and, having ascended the pad die.
box, he dived into the water in splendid style. At the
the stern of the steamer a small boat, containing
Mr. Johnson'e brother and Mr. Collard, was towed
alnng, so that in case of necessity help was immediately
at hand.
Striking out to sea, the swimmer soon made head-
way, t eking some most powerful strokes, which ap-
peared to send him at least a distance of six feet
each time. Johnson continued to swim in splendid
form, and accomplished two miles in twenty minutes.
He kept his pace, and at 11.20 took his first refresh-
ment, and at 11 30 he again partook of stimulants.
The tide had now taken him nearly off Folkstone,
and he then put on such a spurt that he over-
hauled the steamer, which was some distance ahead
of him. On reaching her he said that he should like
something to eat ; and, though he was neither ex-
hausted nor tired, the surgeon saw that circulation was
failing, and advised hint to coins out. This was at
11.41 a.m., and taking this advice, be got into the
steamer, having swum over seven miles in an hour and
five minutes. He did not appear in the least tired, but
Isis lees were Dumbed. When he got all right he had
the pluck to desire to continue the feat, but, the water
being very rough, it was considered a physical impos-
sibility for him to continue his task. He then went
below, and the Palmerston steamed direct for Calais,
arriving at three p.m.
Just before going into harbour, Johnson appeared on
deck again, and with his brother jumped into the
water, and performed various aquatic tricks.
Arriving at Calais, Mr. Strange's band, of the Surrey
Zoological Gardens, consisting of fifty performers, who
accompanied the party, at the request of the Mayor
played in the market-square, and were afterwards enter-
tained at the Hotel de Ville.
On Sunday, the members of the band were the guests
at a d jest rice given by the band of the Bth Regiment of the
French line, and in the afternoon the English instrumen-
talists gave a promenade concert, which was attended
by at least 20,000 people. It being the occasion of the
Calaie files and regatta, the English visitors received a
most enthusiastic reception.

Referring to Mr. Johnson's remarkable feat in natation,
the London Standard says
Saturday last will henceforward be famous in the
annals of natation as having witnessed the attempt to
accomplish a feat which, had it been succeesful, would
have utterly thrown into the shade the very consider-
able performances of the swimmers of all ages. That
this effort should have failed will surprise no one; the
marvel would have been its achievement. When the
good people of Dover were informed "that Mr. J. B.
,Johnson (the hero of London Bridge end the champion
of the world) would s vim from England to France
on Friday. August 23," they may be readily
pardoned if they received the anixouncment with
a certain amount of scepticism ' • and if, in
some cases, they so far embodied this scepticism in
language as roundly eo declare that the whole thing
was a hoax. Nevertheless on Friday morning Mr.
Johnson made his appearance on the Admiralty Pier,
but the era was so rough that it was at once decided
that the attempt must be poetponed, and it was fixed
for 9.30 a.m. on the following day. Once more Mr.
Johnson kept his appointment, and to some little pur-
pose. Amid the applause of an excited multitude,
which to the number of some thousands lined the
shore and thronged the pier, Mr. Johnson took the
water at exactly twenty minutes to eleven, plunging
in from the paddle-box of the Palmerston steamer, and
executie g an in itial dive after the most approved fashion.
The delay which elapsed between the time ap-
pointed for the start and the moment at which it
actually took place appears to have been most unfor-
tunate. There is probably no part of the Channel in
which the tide runs so strong as between Dover and
Calais, and it was only by observing to a nicety the
calculations as to the ebb and flow of the water that
Mr. Johneon's most enthusiastic partisans ever ven-
tured to hope that be might succeed. . . . But
the bold swimmer struck out straight to sea, and
shooting ahead by a series of the most powerful
strokes, and in really splendid form, made an as-
tonishingly rapid progress. In twenty minutes' time
two miles had been accomplished, and the human
object which all Dover was following with straining
eyeballs had disappeared fiom sight, and was not even
as a speck upon the waters. Still Johnson continaed
to keep his pace and was swimming perfectly within
himself. At 11.20 he had done four miles' and having
been in the water forty minutes he took, under the
advice of the surgeon in the steam boat, which ac-
companied him, "his first stimulant." At 11.30 he
had accomplished a mile more, and be took his
seconci stimulant By this time he was nearly off
Folkestone, and reemming his course he put on a
mighty spurt. At 11.4;5 he was again abreast with
the strainer, which had gone some little way ahead,
and expressed a desire for something to eat. "He
was not," says the account, "either exhausted or tired,
but the eurgeon saw that the circulation was failing,
and advised him to come out. When be got out he did
pot appear in the least tired, but his legs were numbed."
• lie had no sooner recovered from this sensation than he
was for continuing his task. The sea, however, was
now so rough that it was considered inipoesible, and
Johnson was thus compelled to abandon his Herculean
effort, having as it was done seven miles against a
strong tide, and a troublesome sea in one hour and
five minutes.
We will not speculate upon the result which might
have ensued bs,a the "champion of the world" been
able to commence his labours exactly at the time fixed.
. . . Putting the question of tidal calculation aside, we
may suggest that the condition of the requisite amount
of smoothness in one which will never be satisfac-
tory fulfilled. To speak plainly, we believe that
for a man to swim across the English Channel with-
out a continued series of indefinitely protracted stop-
pages is impossible, and that Johnson did on Saturday
as much as was possible. Forty miles in all is the
dietaries which it et estimated he would, had ha au••
seeded, hews pm. Of this elisions, he performed
rather mire than a thib—rwisming f lrivv

minutes at the rate of a minute fraction loss than a
mile in nine minstee. This is satisfactory evidence
that his btreu gt h did not fad him, but the question is
whether the numbness which supervened is nut in-
evitable to the man who makes such an attempt.
It may be mentioned am a carious coincidence that
the time occupied by Lord Byron when, in emulation
of the once supposed impossible feat of Leander, he, in
company with Mr. Ekenhead, swam across the Helles-
pont from the classical Abydos to Sestos, was exactly
one hour and five minutes. "The whole distance,
from the place where we started," wrists Byron, '' to
our landing on the other side, including the length we
were carried by the current, wee computed by those
on board the Salsette, the frigate, at upwards of four
English miles, though the actual breadth is barely
one." Now there is no doubt that Mr. Johcson

Could have passed the Hellespont.
A. once (a feat on which ourselw we prided),
Leand, r, Air Easithead, and I did,"
and have thought nothing of it. Chevalier states that
the same expi it has been performed by a young Jew
for his iuddress, and Oliver, cited by Byron, men- ,
Lions its having been done by a young Neapolitan.
"A number," to continue the quotation, "of the
Salsette's 'row were known to have aneorripliehad a
greater distance; and the only thing that surprised
Ins was that, se doubta had been entertained of the
truth of Leander's story, no traveller had ever en-
deavoured to ascertain its practicability." Lori Byron
himself, when he swam from Old Lisbon to Belem
Caitle, had previously made a more perilous, but less
celebrated passage—the distance traversed was greater
and the time occupied was two hours.
Two of the greatest swimmers of modern timee have
certainly been Franklin and Professor Wilson. Both
the solver of the secret of electricity and Christopher
North accomplished feats greater in point of the space
traversed than Johnson did on Saturday, but in smooth
and almost tideless water. We are by no means
certain whether an exploit which the rifted and mi.
happy American genius, Edgar Allan Poe, achieved
is not among the very first of the deeds of natatory
prowess which can be mentioned. On a hot day
of Jane the author of the " Raven " swam from
, Richmond to Warwick, seven miles and a half,
against a tide running, as his biographer states,
"probably from two to three miles an hour," In a
little over two hours. The truth of this statement
was questioned during Poe's lifetime, but its authenti-
city was allowed to be conclusively attested when it
was publicly vouched for by several well-known gentle-
men of Virginia who witnessed the feat. What Mr.
Johnson did, we therefore think, on Saturday was to
accomplish a feat which, considering not merely the
distance but the expenditure of effort involved, is cer-
tainly, if not unprecented, at least unsurpassed. . . .

A SUBJECT FOR THOUGHTFUL CON-
SIDERATION.
The following suggestive article, from the Daily
News, opens up a subject that will eventually receive
the attention it deserves, and it is to be hoped will reeult
in a great saving to every household:—
The subject of Coal ha, emphatically become what the
French would call the burning question of the day. As much
Interest is shown in the conditiou of a friends coal-cellar as
in the state of his health. People who consider themselves
prudent have already laid in their stocks of fuel for the win-
ter, provided, that is, their credit is good, or their cash
plentiful. Weak-minded and undecided brethreu are at a
loss what to do. They halt between two opinions as to
price. 'they argue that if they buy coal now, when the
price is exceptionally high, they may repent at their
leisure, when the price shall be unusually low.
They hope for a decided reaction, yet they fear the worst.
They wish to be warm during the winter, yet they desire to
be economical during the manner and meantime they
occupy themselves in seeking for advice front better-
indurated or stronger-min . nil friends and acquaintances.
The advice they receive is more wholesome than useful,
when it is not altogether contredictory. Once person, who is
either a coal merchant, coal owner, or mere coal consumer,
will tell them with perfect coufldence that the British public
has given way, as is its wont, to an unreasoning
Another as confidently affirms that the public sentiment is
wholly infallible. From the one they learn' that no time
ought to he lost in laying in coal ; from the other that too
long time cannot be allowed to elapse before a ton is pur-
chased. The evidence adduced in both cases is of equal value
being simply based on personal opinion It is not given to
any uortel to tell what will happen to coal before a month or
two shall have passed away. Prediction in this matter is
as dangerous and misleading as in that of the weather or
of the Government of France. About one thing only
can it be affirmed with entire confidence that no two
opinions ought to prevail ; and that is the hope expressed
by Mr. tlawkehaw before the members of the British Anode-
nou that coal might double in price. Men who differ in
anything else must agree in regarding this desire as hardly
lees dreadful than a praym for the precipitation of a catas-
trophe which should solve the coal question by consuming
the world.
However harsh and heartless Mr. Ilawkshawei longing may
appear when taken literally, it is none the less worthy id
serious conaideretion. It was not uttered in the interest of
coal owners or out of enmity to coal consumers 10 a strik-
ing way, Mr. Ilawkshaw meant to arouse reflection and
prompt mend action. His belief, douttless, was that an
enormous rise in price would lead to a due and proper value
being set upon the article in question. One of the things
which ought to be laid to heart is the fact that coal I.
a precious commodity. By all classes of the corumnuity,
the most destitute alone excepted, coal is too often
treated na a product welch there is no harm iti wasting.
Millions of tons which should produce heat anti flame pro-
duce smoke and soot; the November fogs are generated in
the Loudon fire-grate. Instead of caleulating the probable
price per too a few weeks hence, the heat way in which to
employ every ton during the coming winter ought to exercise
the mind of every London householder. If he could succeed
In making the quantity of coal he has hitherto consumed
perform double the effact in yielding heat, he could
face the prospect of • rise in price to double the
old rate with perfect equanimity. Not the coal merchant's
bill, but the combudiou of coal, is the main consideration.
Bow to employ the coal we have to the utmost possible ad-
vantage is the question which has never received anything
like Adequate attention. Yet thin is a consideration which,
for Londoners in particular, has as much practical and im-
mediate interest as the discovery of virgin beds ot black
diamonds 2,0e0 feet below the surface of 'Sussex.
At the meeting before which Mr. Ilawkshaw made his
startling statement, Mr. Bramwell read a paper in which he
advocated the adoption of an improved and m ,re efficient '
tire grate. Ile told his heart rs, what every modern school.
bay knows, that a large proportion of the heat generated flies
up the chimney, Matsui of warming the room. Who is there
that has not telt, oats bitterly old winter's bight, in presence
of a blazing fire, as if elle half of his body were in the
tropics and the other at the North Pole? The hotter
anti brighter the tire, the greater and more mabearable
the discomfort. The sight IS delightful, but the actua-
tion is torture. alk NO a few anis frem the fire, and the
whole body is chilled; approach it, and the one half is nearly
roasted while the other is partially frozen , The foreigner
who envies our coal does not envy our coal fires. in Nerthern
Gerntany, or ian Ruasia, where tile mercury falls so far below
zero as to induce a fear lest it ehould disappear altogether,
where fuel of all sorts is twice as costly as in London during
the sea-erect coal famine, where the absence of artificial
heat entails severe bffilily suffering and even death, the rooms
of the poorest classes are warmed so as to be comparable
only to those of the richest classes in this country It is
true that in those places comfort is purchased at what we
are wont to regard as a disproportionate sacrifice. The fire
is felt but not seen. To assemule round the domestic hearth
means in those countries to lie on the top of an oven. The
eight so dear to Englishmen, and Englishwomen too, of a
crackling, sparkling, sociable fire Is as unknown as the sight
of the sun to a Londoner in November. belches said that the
House of Commons could do everything but convert a man
Into a woman and a woman into a man he might have
added the additional quahfication—or to make man or
woman in this country approve of a etove where no fire
was seen and there was no coal to poke. But in burning
coal, as in other matters, compromise is possible and desir-
able. It is easy to arrange a domestic hearth whereon the
cheerful fire blazes without the waste of heat which is now
the rule, there is nothing Utopian In reducing smoke to a
minimum, and increasing warmth to the maximum ; in
diffusing throughout a room the heat which now flies up the
chimney ; in obtaining all the warmth of the most powerful
stove without sacrificing the sight and sound of the dancing
flames.
flow these advantages might be secured, Mr. Bramwell
showed at Brighton. lie Instanced an arrangement devised
by Captain Gallon for warming air by the heat which now
passes away without producing any beneficial result. Since
that paper was read other suggestioos in the same direction
have been made by ingenious experimenters. It appears to
have been forgotten that one of the inventions which
Dr. Arnett gave as a free gift to the nation was
a domestic fireplace, in which there should be no
smoke, increased heat, and an economy of fuel
equal to 25 per cent. Other inventions equally
simple and practical have been placed before the public,
mainly consisting of a fire- erate which differs in few ex-
ternal particulars from the ordinary household grate, and in
which the coal is supplied from below. This is said to nave
the advantage k f being more thrifty, more capable of warm-
ing than the ordinary arrangement, in addition to converting
into flame the gases which w,,ulct otherwise appear as smoke.
Indeed, the problem is one of the simplest with which me-
chanical engineees have had to deal ; at the same time that it
is the problem td which the solution. on the part of the
general public, is fraught with difficulties hitherto Maur:
mountahle. The late Lord Palmereton signalised his teeure
of the flume-office by an Act enjoining the consumption of
emoke in manufactories. Shortly after the Act some into
operation the gardener of the Inner Temple announced that
he was able, for the first time in his experience, to
rear certain flowers in the Temple-garden. What
has been done for the !Rego furnace might be done
for the small fire-grate, providing the public would
submit to an Act forbidding the needless production
of smeke In private houses. Will such an Act ever be passed,
or will it ever be rendered unnecessary by private and in-
dividual a, Mon 1 If anything will hasten the result, it will
be the ever-increasing demands of the coal merchants. The
dearer coals become., the greater is the chance of our houses
tutor better heated tu winter, and the atmosphere of London
purified from smoke.