The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1885-11-13


= ~ Words % Advice 6ren 0ne WE
knows Al Abeot 81
-Four years ago was floating % The
surf u Atlantic City. gazing Up into the
sky and thinking only of ,ts beauties.
when feeling somewhat tired. ! essayed
70 stand up. but failed for tho very OK
collent reason that had nothing 70
stand on. / had. without noticing e.
floatcd ont beyond my depth lam :
very indifferent swimmer and make il .
rule not 70 venture into the water
where can not secure foothold when
J need one Yet found myself. not
through any foolish vonturcsomcncss.
beyond the furthest line Of bathcrs. "
course ] immediately struck out for
shore. After swimming until / felt
thoroughly exhausted found that I
had made very little progress, and /
also discovered that the bottom OF the
ocean was too far beneath me to be Of
any practical benefit As = basis Of trav-
cling. Now what would you do under
such circumstances? Shout for help.
you say: Exactly! That. suppose, il
what any aforementioned sensible hu.
man being would do. and yet found
myself actually ashamed to do 1t.
was positively morally weak enough to
permit consideration OF what my fell
low man would think of me to over
power the natural sense OF seIf-preser-
walton. fancied that / might be
laughed at for crying out for assistance
before was actually sinking beneath
the waves. and 50 struggled on until
. sudden conyulsiye twitching in the
calf Of my left leg told me that had .
cramp. Then | shouted Help" quite
Justify and shouted thrice. Nobody
heard me and nobody paid any atten-
ton TO ne. Thanks TO nv good fort
une. however. l remained perfectly
cooi, else ] would not be talking to you
now. was able to recognize on the
shore the faces Of people | know. and.
although ! experienced no sense OF
fear. ! felt fully satisfied thai would
never see them again
Now, BY all recognized rules and
regulations. in such cases made and
provided, the events Of my entire life
should have passed before me il instan-
taneous review. Ill guarantee that
you never read novel but what. when
the hero or villain Is sinking beneath
the waves. he thinks, with lightning
like rapidity. Of every act in his career.
"And as Reginald felt the cruel waters
closing above him. all the deeds OF his
life. both good and bad. passed before
him as though panorama was being
moved by some magic hand" That IS
the way It generally reads. you know.
and that is what should have happened
to me. But 1 am .iconoclastic and
cruel enough to say that had no such
experience. found that nv mind
was absorbed with but one thought, to
the exclusion Of all other sensations.
thought Of absolutely nothing but Of
getting ashore Just as soon as possible.
After my first UNDECIDED cries for help
again felt ashamed to call again, but
made another effort at swimming. In
my cramped condition / found this
fruitless, and 80 again cried out for
assistance, but kept perfectly still in
the water while did it Had / strug-
gled ] would have lost breath, and
with II my life. My last shout was
heard, saw a sudden excitement on
the beach. Isaw men point their arms
toward me. saw others run into tho
the water. / saw man bringing .
coil Of rope. ! could identity the indi-
viduals who were doing these things
watched them coming toward me and
simply endeavored TO keep as quiet as
possible. In this way ! managed to
keep afoat until they got to me and
dragged me to shore.
What Ilwish to demonstrate Is that the
very poorest swimmer among you is
perfectly safe in the water il he only
keeps cool and does not struggle when
nothing Is to be gained BY such efforts.
Philadelphia Nescs