The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-09-04 00:00:00

CAPTAIN WEBB'S SWIM ACROSS THE
CHANNEL.

Referring to this extraordinary feat, the Saturday Review
says :

It is easy of course to make too much of Captain
Webb's swim across the Channel; yet, with every de-
duction, it is a remarkable feat, and, though useless in
itself, may prove useful in its results by inspiring an
interest in a very important exercise, and encouraging
practice in it. . . .
It is clear, at least, that Captain Webb's success
casts into the shade the much-vaunted feat of Captain
Boyton. The latter had the aid of an elaborate ap-
paratus which buoyed him up in the water and
lessened the strain on his physical resources, and he
had also a paddle and sail. Captain Webb has shown
what it is possible to do without any special equip-
ment ; and this is a very important thing, as it will no
doubt encourage people to trust rather to skill in
swimming than to extraneous aids, which in most
cases of danger will not be at hand, and which,
even if they are at hand, there may not be time
to adjust properly. Captain Webb's achievement
is a triumph of swimming pure and simple; and
though it could not have been accomplished single-
handed, it is an impressive demonstration of the value
of the exercise. There are probably few persons who
could do what he has done, and he may be presumed
to be of an exceptionally robust constitution. Yet a
vast saving of life might be effected if people could
only. be persuaded to take a little pains to acquire,
even in a moderate degree, the sort of skill which has
enabled Captain Webb to cross the Channel. At this
season of the year we are accustomed to be shocked by the
number of bathing accidents which periodically happen
with the regularity of the harvest or the tides. Scarcely
a day passes without one or more disasters of this kind
being recorded in the newspapers; and it would appear
that the majority of them are due to ignorance of a
very simple art, which may be acquired with compara-
tively little trouble, and which, once acquired, is not
likely to be forgotten. .. . It is a singular thing
that, considering the fondness of 'Englishmen for
physical exercises, and the opportunities for bathing
afforded in this country, swimming should be an ac-
complishment of such comparative rarity. It may be
doubte3 whether the Parisians are not more at home
in the water than Londoners. The other day a little
girl got beyond her depth in a pond in an English
country village, and, though she was seen by a num-
ber of people, none would venture to her rescue until
at last a young man, bolder than the rest, went in and
got her out, but she was then dead. It is possible that
an explanation of the apparent inhumanity cf the by-
standers may be found in their consciousness of help-
lessness in the water which they share with so many
of their countrymen.
It is difficult to understand why, when so many
people enjoy bathing, the exercise of swimming
should be so much neglected. Every now and then
there is an outcry for more elaborate arrangements at
bathing resorts for the protection of bathers, but it
would be surely ranch better if bathers would only take
the trouble to learn the art of taking care of them-
selves. It would hardly snit the spirit of the age to
propose that no one should be allowed to bathe who
was not provided with a certificate of efficiency in
swimming, at least to the extent of a few strokes, or
of floating. But there is certainly great need of more
general training in this exercise. There is, we believe,
a society which undertakes to teach swimming
gratuitusly, and we are glad to observe that the move-
ment for extending the number of swimming-baths is
making progress. The system of river-bathe, with
which every visitor to Paris is familiar, has now been
introduced on the Thames at Charing-cross, and will
help to supply an important want . . . What is,
however, above all important is that swimming should
be established as a regular and unfailing part of school
education both for boys and girls. If the fashion
were once set, it would soon be generally followed,
and a school which undertook this duty would have a
great superiority in the eyes of parents over those
which ignored it. The necessary arrangement might
be made without much difficulty, since the art may
be learned in a small piece of water almost as well as
in a large one. In Mr. Blackmore's well-known
novel, Lorna Doone, there is a graphic account of the
way in which Devonshire lads used to be taught
swimming at a former day, which is worth quoting :

Now the large boys take the small boys, crying sadly for
mercy, and thinking, mayhap, of their mothers; with hands
laid well at the back of their necks, they bring them up to
the crest of the bank upon the eastern side, and make them
strip their clothes off. Then the little boys, falling on their
naked knees, blubber upwards piteously; but the large boys
know what is good for them, and will not be entreated. f•to
they cast them down, one after other, into the splash of the
water, and watch them go to the bottom first, and then come
up and tight for it, with a blowing and a bubbling. It is a
very fair sight to watch, when you know there is little
danger, because, although the pool is deep, the current is
sure to wash a boy up on the stones, where the end of the
depth is

The Moral of the passage is continued in the remark
that all the boys learned to swim, "for the greatest
point in learning that is to find that you must do it " ;
and even boys who bated it most came to swim in some
fashion when they had been flung for a year or two
into Taunton pool. We do not exactly recommend
this process in its rude and simple form for adoption at
the present time; but it would be better for all if Eng-
lishmen were in early youth made to feel themselves
quite at ease in the water, and not afraid of a good
plunge. It is when young that swimming, like riding,
is most readily and thoroughly learned. In each case
confidence and salf.po,session are more than half the
battle, and these are not so easily acquired in after
life, when the mind has settled into a habit of timidity
and distrust. It is possible that at present there is
not a sufficient number of properly qualified teachers
of the exercise, but it is really so simple in itself that
there would be little difficulty in supplying this de-
ficiency. It might be less easy of course in some
places to provide baths to practise in; but if the

importance of this branch of education were once
generally appreciated, the means of carrying it
on would soon be forthcoming. It is not to be ex-
pected that many persons should be able to emulat
Captain Webb' daring feat; nor would there, indeed,
be much advantaged, in thein--doing so. There are
quicker and more convenient ways of crossing the
Channel : but this bold swimmer has done a service in
showing that to a man of resolution the waves are not so
terrible and overmastering as might ha vebeen supposed.
Any one who found himself suddenly overboard in the
middle of the Channel, and away from help, would no
doubt have small „chance of reaching the shore; but
the power of beirg able to keep afloat and moving for
an hour or so, or even for a shorter time, would in
many cases be'sfitfidrent to save a'We. We can only
hope that this event will bring 'swimming more into
fashion. It appears that Captain Webb has already I
done good service in saving life, and in any case an
example of courage and intrepidity is never thrown I
away. • - -also—Arving
• h • driver wb-
The British .31tdisat Journal says :—The unprece- unives-
dented exploit of Captain Webb stands almost un- Of
rivalled as an instance of human prowess and endurance.
It places Captain Boyton's achievement completely in
the shade as an exploit, though its practical utility to the
species may be much less. It is not merely that
Captain Webb is a daring and accomplished swimmer,
of unusual powers of endurance, as regards sustained
muscular efforts, thegreat question is, by what arrange-
ment or modification of his heat-producing and heat-
conserving processes did he manage to sustain his
twenty-two hours' immersion? It is notorious that
J. B. Johnson's attempt to swim the Chas Tel two- •
years ago ended in complete failure after
mersion, and yet J. B. johnaon is a ,flas4slsdinise7 •
swimmer, and a stalwart fellow, possessinggood powers
of endurance. There must exist in Captain W.ebb's case
strong contractile power in the vessels of the skin, by
which his body heat was conserved and his stores of force
thus rendered available for muscular effort. Combustion
within the body produces heat and mechanical effort,
and when the powers are taxed to produce heat, or the
temperature falls, muscular effort fails partially or
absolutely. But, though wearied, he fulfilled his
task; and if his immersion be followed by no pyrexia,
then Captain Webb's heat-regulating powers must be
regarded as of no ordinary character. How far and
to what extent the porpoise oil prevented beat-loss,
and so aided in the result, is a factor•that can only be
appraised when others have tallied it, and seen how far
it will enable them to undergo the heat-loss of pro-
longed inamersion. That it will have an effect is cer-
tain, as in cold regions it is usual to grease the body
thoroughly in order to retain its heat. But, admitting
all this, there would still appear to be peculiarities in
the vaso-motor nerves which make thd difference, and
which has made Captain Webb'a achievement un fait
ascompti.

Mr. Joseph J. Grylls, secretary to the Mercantile
Marine Service Association, 66, Tower-buildings,
Water-street, Liverpool, writes :—" Captain Matthew
Webb, who accomplished the wonderful feat of swim-
ming across the Channel in twenty-one hours and
three-quarters to Calais, was formerly a ' Conway '
boy, and served an apprenticeship in Liverpool ships.
He is also a member of the Mercantile Marine Service
Association, and his noble efforts and success in saving
human life, together with this great achievement in
the art of swimming, make him a credit to the mer-
chant service, and call for universal commendation. I
may state that in recognition of his previous praise-
worthy deeds, as well as this last act of unprecedented
endurance and daring, and also with a view to en-
conrage others to qualify themselves to be useful to
their fellow-creatures in the time of danger, the presi-
dent of this association has contributed £25 towards a
testimonial to Captain Webb, and,l shall be happy to
receive any further amounts to be applied to this pur-
pose."

engineers have been most slow to recognize. Such im-
provements have come to us, in many instances, from
America, where they have been developed under con-
ditiens very different from those which obtain litany
part of the Old World. As Swtchmen have been
rendered skilful horticulturists by the uncertainty of
their climate, and Frenchmen skilful cooks by the in-
ferior quality of the food they have had to prepare, so
the Americans have obtained comparative immunity
from accidents by the badness of their lines. They
have been compelled by the high rate of wages to exert
their ingenuity to the utmost in order to contrive
machinery which would supersede manual labour, and
their chief security against collisions has been in ob-
taining a command over their trains which in this
country is FacticallT unknown. Cattle stray at will
over many of their fßailroads, and hence it has
been found necessary to give every locomotive a
Powerful headlamp, capable of illuminating the way
at night for a consideaable distance in advance, and
—alstrierving as a most impressive danger signal to an
who is coming in the opposite direction. The
universal employment of the continuous break allows
Of stoppage almost in the length of a train; and the
general result of these contrivances is that the filnc.
tions of the driver-.become like those, of a coachman,
and that his' fitc'ulties' are sharpened by the senser/Cf
power and by the pressure of responsibility.; Whether
by night or by day, he keeps a constant and vigilant
look-out, not only for signals; but also for the state of
the road and for-the incidents of the journey. When
the permanent way is sound and the track is clear he
puts his engine to its speed, and wheu 114 sees an -i
obstacle or a drove of cattle ahead, or when he ap-
' proaches a piece of imperfect ,line, he. stops,
.so as to
avoid either inflictig or receiving • injury,- or he
slackenAEnted 'au 'WI .01 ran" AAfely over a dangeKnus
place. In England, generally speaking, -the trains
have no brakes other than those which are required for
stepping at pr&determined stations; the driver has ne
other power of outlook at night than for illuminated
signals; and even if he saw an obstacle or the proba-
bility of an impending collision in the daytime, he
would scarcely ever be able to do anything by which
the danger could be averted. Where the American
would stop his train, the Englishman would shut
off the steam and would then jump from his engine.
With the appliances in use in this country the Railway
traffic of America could not be carried on for a day
without disaster; but the ordinary response of English
managers to demands for the adoption of American
improvements has been that these things are not re-
quired where roads are excellent, where fences are well
kept, and where labour is abundant. Hence a system
has prevailed by which the intelligence even of the
drivers has been comparatively little exercised, and by
which the work of pointsmen and signalmen has been
rendered as mechanical and automatic as possible. For
such work it is ordinarily sufficient to provide men of
the humblest elms, who receive but small wages' and
who will submit to an improper prolongation of their
hours of duty. A task which makes scarcely any de-
mand upon the mental faculties is especially liable to
be performed with habitual inattention; and, when a
wearied signalman turns a train into a siding, it is
scarcely just to ascribe his act to inevitable human
error. The error may, indeed, be human, but it is
that of the master rather than of the servant.

We may fairly assume, therefore, even if a period
of finality in the invention of improved. Railway ap-
pliances is at hand, that the period of finality as
regards their adoption among ourselves is as yet far
distant, and that our Directors have still something to
learn in the way of realizing their own responsibility
for those numerous casualties which carry grief and
loss to so many homes, even although they seem so few
when they are contrasted with the total number of
miles which have been travelled over by the com-
munity. If we take an accident which is of recent
date, the terrible collision at Thorpe, where two trains
were started to meet each on a single line by a blunder
about a telegraphic message, it is obvious that the
element of human error would have been harmless
in America, where the drivers of the encountering
trains would have been warned by each other's
headlamps at a distance, and would have applied
their continuous brakes in time to prevent a col-
lision. The proper policy of Railway management
is not only to construct a machine which will work
correctly as long as nobody makes a mistake, but
also to add to this machine a reserve force of such a
nature that the ill consequences of probable mistakes
may be averted. The more completely we recognise
that mistakes must happen, and that they will some-
timea happen when and where they could be least
foreseen, the more necessary it becomes not to receive
them as valid excuses for destructive accidents. Their
very character of inevitableness, on which so much
stress has been laid, renders mistakes so far incidents
of business that they should to some extent be pro-
vided against; and those who are responsible for the
organization of a Railway should always cpnsider
what would happen if a negative signal were sent in-
stead of an affirmative one, or if a lever were moved to
the left instead of to the right. We must perforce
concede to Sir John Hawkshaw that, in all likelihood,
Railway accidents will continue to happen, but we
cannot adopt his tone of complacency with regard
to them, nor can we admit :that they have as yet
been reduced, Or that by any present- policy they
are even in a fair way to be reduced, to any-
thing which can be accepted as their natural pro-
portion to the amount and kind of the existing traffic.
Among changes which are urgently required for the
protection of passengers there are some which seem
trivial in themselves, but which would involve great
outlay if they were to be applied at once to all the
stock of a great Company. We do not ask that such
changes should be made precipitately ;quit we do ask
that the necessity for them should be admitted and
kept in mind, and that they should be introduced as
old carriages are repaired, or as new ones are built.
We are in complete accord with Sir John Hawkshaw
concerning the essential conditions of safety; and we
shall not fail to recall attention to these conditions
whenever they appear to have been flagrantly and dis-
astrously violated. In the meanwhile we would add
one more to them, byurging the Companies to increase
the power of drivers to control their trains, andto em-
ploy men who are fitted to bear the increased respon-
sibility which would thus be thrown upon them.