The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1878-07-26
ABOUT LEARNING TO SWIM.

ABVOV AEANN1N6 VV SW AAs
IFrom N. O. Daily City lten.l
A little chapter ofadvice on the sub.
ject of swimming Is at present rapidly
circulating through our exchanges !; but
we very much doubt whether II could
possibly provo In anywise useful either
to those who do not know how to
swim and desire to learn, or to those
who have already learned to keep
afloat In the water and to move slowly
on Its surface by froggy strokes with
the legs and arms.
Books on the subject of swimming
seem lamentably deficient In several
important particulars, and seldom aid
one in mastering the rndlments Of ma
tatton any better than the old.fanRled
advice to beginners to lie face down
ward ON bench and initiate the ftan-
tic struggles Of q frog In q basin of wa
ter. A human being Is not constructed
like frog, docs not possess certain
muscles to be found In the frog, and
can never learn to swim successfully
after the fashion of the frog. 1t is new
ertheless true that boy must usually
learn to swim lying upon his stomach
before he can acquire a more rapid and
less fatiguing method but the reason
of this does not appear to enter the
minds Of those who print pamphlets or
treattses upon the art. The reason ls
simply this: that the beginner must for
his first lesson he taug int the necessity
pressing the hands doscsatUarot rather OF
than outward In making the stroke. If
he does this either through accident,
instinct or instruction, he can not learn
to keep his head above the water.
Once he has learned to hoat himself
and move his body through the water,
however, the sooner he abandons this
style OF swimming the better. It Is
the most fatiguing of all ways, and
practically useless-cxcept, perhaps,
for swimming In rough sea. In
rapid swimming the body must remain
almost entirely submerged, tho hands
must never be allowed to plash above
the surface, and the swimmer should
lie upon his side, slightly reclining
so that at least three-quar-
tors of the face be above water.
The fashion OF overland swimming,
so common among our boys, Is tire
some, ungraceful and tedious. The
fast swimmer, lying on his side, uses
his hands much like q pair of oars,
their edges horizontally
when reaching forward to catch tho
water and striking back with tho
palms at an acute angle, which In
wolves slight downward pressure. In
other words, he "feathcrs'' his hands
like good Oarslnan feathers his oars,
except that he never Lifts them above
the surface, and the feathoring Is done
nately In rapid succession, striking
back toward the hip, or both together
the latter method being tho most
powerful. at the same time he reaches
out to catch the water, he gathers up
his legs and strikes back with the
hands, rolling his body about a quarter
round with each stroke. A strong
swimmer can clear nine or ton feet with
overy such stroke and experience lit.
tie fatigue.
These fine points of tho art, however,
can only be mastered by practice but
50 soon as one learns to swim upon his
side, they will be instinctively acquired !
by daily exercise in tho water. Once
there is no such thing as ia |
tigue for the swimmer. He feels no
would feel in walking, indeed, he prob
ably feels less. He has thenceforward |
only to dread cramps as the result of |
chill or other violent exertion, and |
those affections of the heart arising |
rom the same cause. In such eli. !
mate as this, above all others, where
The water Is SO warm, the greatest care |
should be taken not to overhead oneself
BY over-rapid swimming or gamboling.
The greater portion of the body be-
ing immersed, perspiration is impossi-
bic and with dangerous results. Con-
gestion of the eyes-of the brain itself,
not to mention aggravated forms of fe-
brile diseases, are liable to result from !
reckless OVer-exerttOn.
The Platform ON which California was
Carried by Kearnev