The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1885-12-10
HOW NOT no DROWN.


Four years ago | was floating in the
surf at Atlantic City, gazing up into
the sky and thinking only of its beau
ties. when. feeling somewhat tired, l
essayed to stand up. but failed for the
very excellent reason that had moth
ing to stand on. | had, without no
ticing it, floated out beyond my depth.
| am a very indifferent swimmer, and
make it a rule not to venture into the
water when l cannot secure foothold
when / need one. Yet found myself.
not through any foolish venturesome-
ness, beyond the furthest line of bath
ers. OF course | Immediately struck
out for shore. After swimming until
| felt thoroughly exhausted l found
that l 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 travelling. Now what would you do
under such circumstancesp Shout for
help, you say. Exactly! That, i sup
pose, is what any well-conditioned,
sensible human being would do. and
yet l found myself actually ashamed
te do it. l was positively morally
weak enough to permit consideration
of what my fellow-men would think of
me to overpower the natural sense of
self-preservatiou. l fancied that L
might be laughed at for crying for as
sistance before | was actually sinking
beneath the waves, and so | struggled
on until a sudden convulsiye twitching
in the calf of my leg told me that
had cramp. Then | shouted "Help!'
quite Justify, and shouted thrice. No
body heard me, and nobody paid any
attention to me. Thanks to my good
fortune, however. | remained perfectly
cool, else l would not be talking to
you now. | was able to recognize on
the shore the faces of people | knew,
and, although | experienced no sense
of fear, felt fully satisfied that
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 in in
stantaneous review. ru guarantee
that you never read a novel but that,
when the hero or villain was 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 piano.
rama was being moved by some magic
hand" That is about the way it gen.
orally reads, you know, and that is
what should have happened to me.
But am iconoclastic and cruel enough
to say that had no such experience.
L found that my mind was absorbed
with but one thought, to the exclu-
sion of all other sensations. l thought
of absolutely nothing but of getting
ashore just as soon as possible. After
my first unheeded cries for help
again felt ashamed to call again, but
made another effort at swimming. In
my cramped condition l found this
fruitless, and so | again cried out for
assistance, but kept perfectly still in
the water while | did it. Had l strug-
gled l would have lost breath. and
with it my life. My last shout was
heard. / saw a sudden excitement On
the beach. l saw men point their arms
toward me. | saw others run into the
water. | saw man bring a coil of
rope. | could identify the individuals
who were doing these things. | watch
ed them coming toward me and SIM
ply endeavored to keep as quiet as
possible. In this way L managed to
keep afoat until they got me and drag
ged me ashore.
What | wish TO demonstrate is that
the very poorest swimmer among you
is perfectly safe in the water if he only
keeps cool and does not struggle when
nothing is to be gained by such efforts.
Philadelphia NeWs.