Wilmington journal., 1875-07-23
0Qlilmilgton Acl|'na'',
WILMINGTON, N. G:
cp1uAY. july %. 1875.

WILMINGTON, N. G:
cpIuAY. july %. 1873.
cleanliness.
uhore is a quotation frequently
ll''. md As nften ascrihed to St
nlH'II -, cleanliness IS next to G"d!i
PAU, Tnp remark is not 1t. PauPs,
ness is nevertheless worthy OF al
D"' Some writer. III Il quaint KIND
cTeu.', has said that ''soap is the ev-
OF N"! of civilization We agree to
ideho tho ountatious, and hope we can
DoSi ' 'o11r city fathers TO agree to 1t
ln""r naortilv. How much of health and
Us p;,,asS depend on perfect cleahlI-
hHp - hard to determine, but we
ness of some cases, and have heard OF
kno" o where the fo1tunes for life have
,'an made by young persons who
pe simply recommended by perfect
cam cIi,,ets of person and apparel.
,t confound this with costly dress
y" 5ardv clothing. 1t is the neatness
VI ;.I' wLich a person is clothed, the
wiz. +ha fitness of dress to situation
la1 I;fs which strikes the eye and ap
Ill ~ &C strong letter of recommen-
5at;on for the wearer. 80 with towns
;tias Strangers are attracted to
nIoces bv the generally neat appear
P PDI,n which they present they llnger
iHn(,ar in such places than in those
oL;oob are neglected, and where gen
"raI air OF carelessness of appearance
,,ravoils. We heard a gentleman say
pn.. that he stopped two weeks IN
1,t.l. uninteresting, unnOted place in
many, simply because it
r,s so clean and neat.
r., use his expression, A lady
r1J have walked the streets in her
liking feet xitlOu: soiilng them
" ssnDusa he meant without shoes.
If such IA test was applied to our city
ua fear it would not succeed. In fact
w.. are far from such a state of clean
,;,.ess as it is possible to imagine.
With a Vertical July snn, with decaying
,racm.uts IF vegetables ard melons
entered everywLe ere, there IL danger
that sickness may ensue, and who Is
r.snonsihie. Let the city be kept
ajean during this hot weather, and
rL4n or citizens breathe the AIR 1t
will invigorate and strengthen them,
hntifit - to he left foui enOngh to
breed malaria and death ensues, the
,..I,se quences ought to be visited on
TIE heads Of the guilty ones. Awake
CItv Father and clean np the town
PcrIIs OF the snhertoVV
friend informs rs tnat there is an
undertow about sixty or seventy-tiye
wards north of our Banks House" ut
WrightsvilIe, where the two currents
meet from the upper and lower inlets.
1t is dangerous place to parties not
Acquainted with it. The following ar
ticle from the New York Journal
Comoerce, is very timely:
The loss of two good swimmers in
the gallant attempt TO save a lady from |
drowning at Far Rockaway should |
serve as animpressive warning against |
the extreme perils Of the undertow. |
To this treacherous foe large number |
of lives are sacrificed annually. 1t |
turks all along our sea-cDast, even the
most fashionable and favored places,
and as deadly to bathers as the cr0co-
dies of the Oranges. 1t must be
waSched for and guarded against with
the same care as Il gigantic saurian or
shark in the waters which those mon
sters frequent. This lesson is
preached by the tremendous eloquence
of example with each recurring sum
mer, but people forget it, or do not
heed il, or, more likely. fail to appre
ciate it because they do not realize
what the undertow is. They cannot
see it in operation. Il is not the in
III / nt Io
eddy or whirlpool which one often see
foaming, at change of tide, Ill TIE deep
holes and marked depres5ious near the
shore. 1t does not pertain exclusively
to the flow of the ebb, and has nothing
to do with wind and weather. Along
some shoes it IS liable to occur at all
times; IN other localities it appears
only at intervals, and then under con-
ditions of which little or nothing Is
known. We can only say OF 1t with pos
ltIveness that Is Il current running be-
meath the surface in a direction con-
tfary to that ABOVE it This constl- |
tutes it's great danger. The bather who
does not swim wades out safely and
pleasantly enough, meeting with no
resistance to his easy return-ln fact,
the tendency of the superficial current
Is to bear him to the shore, when sud
denly he steps off into water a little
deeper. A strong power, as of an in
visible hand, seizes him by the legs.
He leans toward the shore and tries
to make his foothold more secure.
There Is his critical moment. If, by
supreme effort, he can recover that
last step he Is saved. Ii not, he is
sucked by the undertow beyond his
depth ana is drowned. An active flow
or ebb, or an agitation OF the water
by high winds, increases lis peril
bnt the immediate cause OF his death
Is the undertOw itself-that mysterious
Fnbcurrent which pulsates along the
coast, and which is a most familiar
proof of Maury's dictum that the sea,
even when apparently quiet, is as full
OF currents as the air. The place at
Which the undertow is least likely to
De found is that where the land slopes
very gradually into the water; and the
TINE Is that of low tide. The sort of /
slore most atfl 'cted by it is that where !
Tie pitch of descent i sharper; and |
The most unfavOrabIe time for bathing
llrre Is that Of high tide. The force |
q the undertow, pulling its prey be- |
meath the water and out To sea, seems |
iuHy equal to the surface power of the |
ude III the other direction But, as |
We have said, the one is dependent on
lie other, there being no time at which
Nj nndertow may not destroy the per
son WHO comes within it's grasp. The
pest swimmers only may defy it for
II lhey have not strength tO make the
Niofe IN direct line, they can, by
lying, Ind some current which will
assist IN taxing them III. But if they
ale chilled or fatIgued, they too may
pellIh before they can escape from the
e'ael current Ii the swimmers are
nut second-rate, and out OF practice,
u .1tr chances of life are small and
ms class, more often than those who
taDhot SWIM at all, are the victims Of
tAe undertow.
Beaufort.
one OF the JOURNAL staff had the
pressure last week of spending day or