The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1888-06-21

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New York Sunl
ca Roberts il . peddler nov in the
northern part Of Neu lersey bat
there Vas . time when Prof. Gilbert
Roberts Taught the an of diving He
uAs himself m expert. and made .
GOOD living by insfrucfinK people in
the test methods OF holding their
breath for long time under the water.
sounding its depths. or ranging Tar
beneath is surface. without assistance.
II hardly know how 70 swim At ~. =
was the startling declaration made by
Mr. Roberts a. he Deposited his pack
on . sunny bank where no Wild thyme
grows. sat down besides H. and pre-
pared - satisfy his qaestioner's curios-
(ify regarding the secrets OF the deep
Bat can dive ~ wei ~ most men,
When was . boy I often dived - far
that I found it hard to swim hack 10
shore. That was before I learned 70
20 under the water direct from it, sur
face. instead Of jumping from few
feet above is. and 50 getting . down.
lungs are filed with air you can't sink
unIess Won want to do so. and you
cant do ii then unless somebody who
can has shown you how When man
has = cramp in deep water. or Is too
tired TO swim any further, q recol-
lection Of this may save his life. just
let him keep his chest inflated,
and though he be as thin as
ran, he must float sufficiently
high 70 enable him to breathe freely
His danger comes when he has to re-
new his breath: bat il he il calm, and
the water Is in the same condition, he
can do that In less than half second.
He need not quite empty his lungs.
YOU see, before be takes in q fresh sup
pIy OF air, and what remains OF the old
stock will prevent him from sinking
like q stone. so that he will have the
necessary buoyancy again before his
nose il below the water. OF course,
the final thing a man should do before
irving 10 make long dive is to take
in a. much air as his lungs viii con-
tain. Let him not delay his plunge
an instant after he has done this. be-
cause the time then wasted above the
then must he deducted from the period
which he would otherwise remain be-
low it. He should always go in head
first, for the head and chest will have
tendency to rise. anyhow. and if they
are too near the surface they are apt
to pop up above il before the motion
of the feet and hands can force them
down. With the feet above the head.
however, the diver has only to use the
ordinary motions of swimming, and
he goes readily toward the bottom.
stopping the strokes for a second,
however, brings the head up, and the
swimming motion very quickly car
ries it to the surface. In passing hor-
izontaIiy through the water the head
should always be bent lower than the
chest When the diver wishes TO come,
up he has only to raise it, aud swim
on, and he will come at once to the
top.
I'm diving directly from the surface
great deal OF practice is required to
enable man to get the upper portion
of his body under the water. You see
the chest Is inflated with air and does
not easily sink, and the feet. which
are the chief motive powers, both in
diving and swimming, are at first al
most useless, because even after their
owner succeeds in getting them above
his head they are out of the water, and
however vigorously man may kick
at the air he can't make much head
way. The only way to DO it is to draw
the feet as close as possible to the body
before each stroke, so as to get all the
catch obtainable upon the water, and
strike strongly with the hands, turn
ing the palms upward as the back mo-
ton IL made. When depth of two
or three feet has been gained the rest
Is easy. OF course, diver can sink
Immediately by exhaiing instead of in
haling the air; but unless he wants to
drown, or he compelled to turn his
head and swim at once TO the surface,
there is not the slightest use in his GO
ing under the water with empty lungs.
Frequenters of plunge baths are ia
miiiar with the remarkable exhibitions
made by noyiees trying to learn this
mode OF diving. They manage to
get their heads and legs below the
surface. and work forward under the
impression that they have left the air
above them; but they are not entirely
submerged. Oh, dear, no; and they
wonder what the spectators are laugh
ing at when they raise their faces for
air. The eyes should be kept always
open when diving. In salt water this
smarts little at first. but the pupils
soon cease to feel any inconvenience
from the submersion. One cannot see
very far under the water, and at a GER
tain depth the light does not penetrate
sufficiently to freely allow one to see
anything; but very few divers, relying
on their own powers, can go deeper
than daylight. Shells and small OBJ
jects on the sand at depth of fifteen
TO twenty feet assume huge proper
tons. Once when | tried to catch a
little crab that | had plainly seen
through the clear water as / stood on
a rock eighteen fee. above IL. the crea-
ture, looking like devil fish when
got under the surface, extended both
its gaping claws at me and frightened
me away.
"A dangerous mistake that young
divers often make is going down to
great depths without calculating how
long ii will take them to come up
again. Their lungs want relief when
they touch the bottom. and then, Tor
the first time, they realize that there
is a long upward swim between them
and the fresh air. As they rise they
are sorely tempted. in the great pain
and distress that ensues, to gasp out
their exhausted breath and take in
whatever happens TO be nearest to
their lips. Water is n poor substitute
for air when the lungs are empty. Ii
not only smothers the man who takes
il in, but it so increases the weight Of
the body that there can no longer be
any hope of its rising unaided to the
surface with any spark OF life remain
ing in II. An expert diver will burst a
blood-veS>el before he will be tempted
To open his mouth under water In
deed, in diving matches. have often
come up with my Rose and mouth
iiccked with blood: and have seen
dozens of others rise in the same con-
dision. For this reason l hardly
think that diving can he classed among
the thoroughly healthy and life-pro-
longing exercises, though. praeiised
within the bounds oi prudence, do
not suppose il can do much harm.
To Young man who wishes 10 make
sensation the art is especially valu-
able. When he stands by the-side of
his dripping sweetheart in Coney
Islands surf. and telling her not to he
alarmed for he will be up in min
ute plunges under the foam, he is
very likely to keep his word; but the
minute passed in waiting for way
ward lover who has stepped around
the corner "a look at the clock, though
il may he tillel with vexation horn of
a conviction of the true reason of his
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