The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-07-25
III
EOw to Rescue Then-An Interview with q
CoHey Island Life-Saver.

Brooklyn Union.
Presence of mind is the first thing needed in
saving a person from drowning" said William
Johnson, the life-saver at the old iron pier, to a
reporter.
But what good would presence of mind do in
case the drowning person grappled with you, as
was the case with the girls at Clinton Point the
other day." said the reporter.
You have to adopt a heroic remedy in a case
like that said MIR. johnson. 'If a person
struggled with me in the water l would strike
him SO as to make him helpless. If he caught
me about the arms / would. as | have done, butt
him with my head until he released me. He
would do it almost instinctively. The first thing
IN resculng a person Is to be able to seize him
properly. He should be taken at arms length,
so that in his struggles he may not impede
YOU"
Don't drowning persons give themselves up
readily?7
mo; that's the strangest part of If. They
nearly all struggle with you as if they thought
you were trying to drown them. l remember
one big man who was drunk in the water. and
who was unable to help himself. and was rapidly
drowning. l went to his rescue, and he actually
fought with me so that l had to knock him
senseless to save his life
"Do drunken men go In the waterfrequently?"
"They wouldn't naturally be allowed in the
water If their condition was known. The truth
is that they may be apparently perfectly sober
when they start in, and the motion of the water
will render them dizzy. A little salt water is
R0HO " ~ IA lloIt Ii 4 "iA4
help send the fumes to his head. Another thing
is that the bather ordinarily contents himself with
ducklng his head under the water once or twice,
and then letting the sun pour on it while the
lower part of the body is cool. This naturally
draws the blood to the brain and helps the liquor
do its work. People often bend their heads to
the breakers and let them pound upon them
until | should think they'd split their skulls. /
wonder there are not more cases of brain con-
c~ussion. In fact, most people drink before go
ing III the water, instead of aftercominC out, and
meet the breakers III the worst possible way.
Water is the easiest to divide, but the hardest to
resist. Present an angle of your BODY to it, and
there is no trouble. Otherwise there is always
danger"
'If a person goes under water do you wait for
him to come up again.
mo, sir. It is an old and superstitious idea.
that a person must come to the surface three
times before he browns. The truth is he might
come up half a dozen times or he might not come
up at ali according as he struggled or as his
lungs became filled with water. | am always in
condition for swimming, and as soon as anyone
goes under water l notice the condition of the
tide and jump in after him. l have found sew
eral lying on the bottom who would have drowned
if | had waited for their temperance"
after you bring them in how would you re-
store them?'
I'm the first place they should be brought in
face downward, and then laid upon their faces,
so that their heads are lower than the neither
parts of their bodies, and the water they may
have swallowed can go out. There need be no
rough action to secure this result. In fact, the
rolling of a person over a barrel, or other rough
exercise, might be the means of killing them"
THAT will not induce respiration?'
"Oh, no. TO bring back the breath they must
be placed in a reclining position, the arms thrown
back and then each successfully thrown across
the breast; which should be pressed in. This
might be continued for an hour OF more with
good result. In fact lives have been lost because
people gave up too quick. Human lives are
worth hours of work. AT least l think So"
Does the application or brandy do good as a
restorative?f
forced into a person mouth, no. A drowning
man wants all the room lie can get for breath.
If you lie on your back half conscious and struG-
Cling for breath. you can see yourself how your
palate would close your throat and nothing could
get into it. You would choke and die, and |
don't doubt deaths have been caused this very
way
Does over eating cause cramps?'
mot at ali. Cramps are usually caused by
the excessive and unusual use of the limbs.
Have you ever put your arm or leg to a sudden
strain which has contracted the muscles? That
Is what gives a swimmer a cranp. Men who are
good swimmers but who do not swim often. are
the ones who are caught with a cramp. more
often in the leg, because the motion of swimmine
is an unusual one. When they get the cralnp
they lose their presence of mind and give them
selves up. The right way to do is for them, in
stead of giving up, to gradually let the limb out
SO that the sinew may geo it's normal tension,
and they will come out all right They can float
easily If they only try, and put themselves out
of danger ! was attacked with a cramp in my
right leg while bathing III Seneca lake at a part
which was unfathomable. For a second [ lost
my presence of mind, but it was a matter of life
and death, and while | held myself up with my
hands l gradually accustomed my leg to its nor
NAL position"
us there any other source of danger3"
Yes, the habit of diving. it is easy to dive
in the s~hallowest water if a swimmer will only
spread out the palms Of his hands as soon as he
enters the water. This changes his course up
ward in an instant. | have seen men break their
necks by diving from a distance of six feet above
the water, without changing the position of their
hands when beneath the surface. Id like TO
emphasize the need of prOmrtnees in rescuing
people who have gone down under water. Don't
wait for them to reappear, and don't be afraid of
what they might do. A good swimmer always
has the best of 1t, If he keeps a clear head. Then
do not carry drowning persons face I'D. Always
carry them face down, so any water they may
have swallowed shall run out Of the mouth,
and after natural breathing has returned, and
not till then, should they be given restoratives. /
came near getting in a fight for suggestion this
in the case of a Young woman at a neighboring
bathing place. but | carried my point, and, |
think, saved her life"
Mr.. johnson is a practical exponent of his
theory of life-saving. He has saved thirty per
sons from drowning since he has been at Coney
Island. He is about twenty five years old, has
the figure of a perfect athlete. and in the winter
serves as a model for artists who study from
life. He comes of a swimming family, and can
swim In any manner possible. An effort which
is likely to succeed has been begun to get him a
medal awarded by Congress to the most courag-
eous life saver on the island. All the answers
given the reporter breathed little of self. He
seemed satisfied to tell what he knows for the
benefit of others.
NEW STORY O GEN. MCCLELLAN.
c