Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1881-08-10
SWIMMING,
4 fimeiY Article that Oash, 90 b. Read bY
LyHIFbDdY,

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EypITbeah
l wish 10 show how drowning might
under ordinary circumstances, ,beayOided
sven Ia the case Oi persons Otherwis1
wholly Ignorant Of what IL called the art
OF swimming, The numerous fdghtfu
casualties render every working sugges
ton OF importance, aud that which
here offer venture TO think II entirely
available.
When one Of tho inferior animals
takes tho water, falls, OF ID thrown In, II
instantly beginstO walk ~ II does when
out Of the water, But when u man who
cannot "swlm" falls into the water he
makesa few spasmodic struggles, throws
up his arms and browns. The brute, on
the other hand, treais water, remains on
the surface, and II virtually insubmer-
gible, In order, then, 10 escape drown
Ing ID only necessary 10 do ~ the brute
does, and that II 10 tread or walk tho
water. The brute las no advantage In
regard to his relative weight, In respect
OF the water. over man, and yet tho man
periahes while the brute lives, Mover,
theloss, any man, any woman, any child
who can walk on the land may also walk
In tho water Just as readily ~ the AMI,
NAL does, II only he will, aud that with
out any prior instruction or drilling
whatever. Throw dog into tho water
aud lao treada or walks instantly, and
there IL no imaginable reason why o
human being under like circumstances
should not do ~ the dog does.
The brute indeed walks In tho water
instinctively, whereas the man has 10 be
told, The ignorance OF no simple q
possibility-namcly tho possibility OF
treading water, strikes me as one Of the
most singular things In tho history OF
man, and speaks very little indeed OF his
intelligence. Ilo IL, In fact, IN ignorant
on the subject as is the newborn babe,
Perhaps something h to DO ascribcd to
tho vague meaning which is attached to
tho word swim. When q man swims
II means ono thing, when u dog swims
II means another and quite different
act, Tho dog Ia wholly incapable OF
swimming as man swims, but nothing
is moro certain than thata man IL capa-
bio Of swimming, and on tho instant,
too, as q dog swims, without any pre-.
vious training or instruction, and that by
80 doing without fear or hcsitancy he
will bo just as safe in tho water a. the
dog Is.
The brute In tho water continues 10
20 on oil fours, and tho man who wishes
to save his life and cannot otherwise
swim, must do so too, striking alter.
nately, one.two, one-two, but without
hurry or precipitation, with hand and
foot, exactly as the brute does, Whether
he be provided with paw or hoof, the
brute swims with the greatest ease and
buoyancy. The human being, II he
will, can do so too, with the further
immense advantage Of having paddle
formed hand, and Of being able to rest
himself when tired, by floating, thing
of which the animal has no conception.
Bridget Money, poor Irish emigrant,
saved har own life and her three child
ren's lives, when the steamer convey
ing them took fire on Lake Erie. by
floating herself and making them float,
which simply consists in lying quite
still, with the mouth shut and the head
thrown we'll back in the water. The dog,
tho horse, the COW, the swine, the deer
and even the cat all take to the water
on occasion and sustain themselves
perfectly Without any prior experience
whatever Nothing is less difficult,
whether for man or brute, than to tread
water even for the first time. l have
done so often, using the feet alone or
the hands alone, or the whole four
many times, with perhaps one of my
children un my back. Once l recollect
being carried good way out to sea by
the receling tide at Boulogne, but re-
gained the shore without difficulty. A
drop of water once passed through the
rima of'tEe glottis, and on another oc-
casion / experience such sudden indis-
position that if l had been unable to
float it must, think, have gone hard
with me.
Men and animals are able to sustain
themselves for long distances in the
water, and would do so much oitener
were they not incapacitated, in regard
Of the former, at least, by sheer terror,
as we'll as complete ignorance of their
real powers. Webb's wonderful endur-
ance will never be forgotten. But there
are other instances only less remarkable.
Some years since, the second mate of
ship fell overheard while in the act OF
listing sail. 1t was blowing fresh
the time was night, and the place some
miles out in the stormy German ocean
The hardy fellow nevertheless managed
to gain the English coast. Brock, with
a dozen other pilots, was plying for
fares by Yarmouth and as the main
sheet was Delayed q sudden puff of wind
upset theboat, when presently all per-
ished except Brock himself, who, from
four in the afternoon of an October
evening to one the next morning, swan
thirteen miles before he was able to
hail vessel at anchor in the ofing.
themselves are capable of
swimming immense distances, although
unable to rest by the way. A dog re-
Gently swan thirty miles in America in
order to rejoin his master. A mule and
a dog washed overheard in the Bay of
Biscay have been known to make their
way to shore. A dog swan ashore with
4 letter in his mouth at the Cape of
Good Hope. The crew of the ship to
which the dog belonged all perished,
which they need not have done had they
only ventured to tread water as the dog
lid. As o certain ship was laboring
heavily in the trough of the sea, it was
'CLnd needful, in order to Tighten the
vessel, to throw some troop horses over
BOARD which had been taken in at
Corona. The poor things, my infor-
nant. a staff surgeon. told me. when