The Sun.
London, England, 1856-08-22 00:00:00

THE SELF-SWIMMER.

M. Danduran, a French civil engineer, now in
London, has invented an ingenious little apparatus
under this designation, which he exhibited on the
Serpentine on Wednesday, by means of which per-
sons wholly unable to swim, including oven women
and children, may be protected from drowning
under all ordinary circumstances ; and in the re-
collection of all the calamitous accidents which
have occurred this very summer, and are constantly
happening from bathing, we are but performing a
service to humanity in bringing an invention under
public notice in the least calculated to prevent or
lesson such lamentable casualties. It simply con- 1
sists of two round instruments, made of tin, zinc,
or copper, enclosed at both ends, each about 15
inches iu length, of the diameter of an inch and a-
half at one extremity and four or five inches at the
othef, aild constructed in a crescent shape so as to
accommodate themselves to the armpits, where they
are intended to be used. They are covered over
with any kind of light linen fabric, and fastened
together with a few yards of strong riband in such
a manner that a person can put on the apparatus
in a Moment, as if it were a waistcoat, and with or
without his or her ordinary clothing. Its buoyant
power is so great, that any one wearing it in water
cannot by any possibility sink, though wholly unused
to sWimming as an art ; and another essential cha-
racteristic of it is that it invariably, under all cir-
cumstances, maintains the head and shoulders
abot'e vratet, Even to an expert person it would
be of immense advantage in an emergency, in
enabling him to rest at pleasure when he bad a
long distance before him to swim or a tempestuous
sea to contend with, and it might be the means of
his salvation in case of an attack of cramp; while
to one wholly ignorant of the art of swimming it
would L 6 if the last imnortance, for it wo:ild keep
him above water l indefinite length of tir&-,s, or
until relief came to his aid, I-lad Mr. gitaveri;
worn it when bathing at Scarborough the other
day WO should not have heard of the casualty
which deprived him of life, nor, with it, would the
two sans of Mr. Cunningham, of King's College, or
the near relative of Dr. Vorbea Winslow have met
with so deplorable an end. If all persons, indeed,
made it a point never to bathe without the uso of
M. Danduran's apparatus, the public mind would
cease every now and then to be wcuuded by such
sad accidents as these, and friends would be spared
the grief which prostrates them in such cases. The
instrument is also invaluable as an aid in learning
to swim, enabling, as it does, the novice to lay
himself at once along the water without the slight-
est danger of sinking, which is the first requisite
to the acquisition of the art. M. Danduran will
exhibit his apparatus on the Serpentine about 3
o'clock every afternoon on which the weather will
permit for a few days.

A board of Engineer officers concluded an inquiry
yesterday. afternoon at Brompton Barracks, Chatham,
into the circumstances connected with the accident which
took place on Chatham Lines on Tues;lay during the
siege operations. The accident is now understood to
have arisen in consequence of the wires of the voltaic
battery, used in firing the gunpowder, having acciden-
tally come in contact iief ore the men had left the loth!:
ment. The proceedings of the hoard will be forwarded
to tho Duke of Cambridge.