Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-07-07
THE RIVER BATHERS.
The Best Time to GO in Swimming
and the Healthiest Way.
WHEN IT BECOMES DANGEROUS.
Why Many People Drown While Engaged
in the Refreshing Sport.
SOME INTERESTING TIPS TO SWIMMERS

has been accompanied by the usual loss
of life by drowning, and in some cases
death by cerebral congestion, caused by |
entering the water too soon after partaking |
of hearty meal. DR.. Hudson DAILY was
asked by DISPATCH reporter yesterday as
to the condition the system should be in be-
fore daily bathing may be INDUCED in.
He said that the best time to bathe is about |
o'clock in the morning before eating
breakfast, or at night before going to bed in
some cases. He further advises against
going into the water until about two hours
after eating, thus giving food the natural
time to digest.
DR.. Joseph Dickson and other physicians
being consulted by the reporter, the pre-
scription to bathers in general may be writ
ten thus:
PRESCRIPTION FOR BATHERs.
A natural result of cold immersion soon
after eating is to encourage or induce ten |
dency to syncope, to concentrate surface
blood still more about the central organs, in |
Guiding the heart, which, especially if at all
unequal to its duties, labors Intellectually to
readjust the blood pressure, and finally sue
cumbs, with the lungs and venous system
engorged by passive congestion. 1t is as if
an enemy occupied the outworks of a for |
tress left for a time unguarded, and forth |
with paralyzed the resistance of the citadel. |
1t is best, therefore, to wait at least an hour |
and half or two hours after a good meal |
before bathing. Another danger to be |
avoided is that of cramp. This is particu- |
larly apt to occur after severe exercise or
long immersion. The effect of cold being to i
prolons the contraction, while exhaustion |
lowers both the power and the elastic recoil |
of muscle, it is evident that we have in a
combination of these forces all that is re-
quired for the production of this dangerous
condition. The obvious warning implied in |
these remarks requires no further admoni-
tion to impress the fact that the bather in
cold water must be economical of time and
free from any appreciable signs of muscular
exhaustion.
, THE BEST TIME.
An hour before noon and before going to
bed are the best times to bathe. The aver
age duration of the bath should be from five
to ten minutes for children, 15 minutes for
women, and but little longer for men. To
delay much beyond these periods is perni-
ClOuS luNlbluS ucUlllly anu |
How often one sees, in a stroll along popu-
lar sea beach, groups of drenched, misera-
bic objects, with blue lips, chattering teeth,
and wrinkled, clammy skin, who have been
spending half morning in alternately
plunging into the waves and walking about
dripping, in the cool air. They return from
what should have been an invigorating dip,
in a condition approaching collapse. Such
abuse Of sea bathing is, unfortunately, too
c0mmon even amonp thoee xUho ha Sor1 1oht |
the seaside for the improvement OF impaired
health.
The immediate effect of cold bath is to
chill the surface of the body, the tempera-
ture of which, as tested by thermometer,
may fall several degrees-as much even as
three or four. The skin becomes pale, the
lips blue, there is a chilliness, shivering,
gooseskin, and the breath has q spasmodic
and catching character. Cold bathing is
salutary under certain conditions of the
system, while in others it is capable OF great
harm. 1t
BENEFITS THE STRONG
and robust, and it can be made restorative
and tonie-a revitalizer-to the "run-
down." when wisely and judiciously used
Aged people should use it with much care,
and not oftener than every other day. and
should not remain in the water longer
than ten minutes at the most Per-
sons who have heart or kidney dis
ease and those in a feeble state of
health should notindulge. If the bather does
not remain in too long reaction" sets in,
the chilliness gives place to pleasant glow
and a feeling of comfort and agreeable ex-
hilaration. This reaction follows most
quickly when the bath is OF short duration
The shorter the bath, the less is the ultimate
depression of the temperature OF the blood.
The shorter the bath the greater is its power
of stimulating the functions; the longer it
is continued the greater the cooling effect,
and the consequent lowering of vitality.
The temperature of baths NAV be stated as
follows: The tepid bath is from $50 to $50
Fahrenheit; the warm, from 800 to $50
Fahrenheit; the hot, from $50 to 112o
Fahrenheit; the COOL from 600 to 75o
Fahrenheit; the cold, from 800 to 600
Fahrenheit.
BEST OF ALL.
The best of all baths is the swimming
bath, for in it the bather can indulge in a
free exercise of his limbs, such as is hardly |
attainaDle under any other circumstances.
Swimming is very valuable exercise, as it
brings into action a large number of
muscles. 1t employs the arms equally with
the legs, and leads to a healthy develop
ment of the muscles of the chest. Nearly
all good swimmers are big-chested. A sea-
bath has also another great advantage over
all other forms of bath, that it is taken in
the purest air possible. Reaction more
readily occurs after a sea-bath than after a
riyer-bath, and thus the liability to "catch
cold" is less, although the popular belief
that it is impossible to take cold from a
wetting with salt water is far from the |
truth.
There is a large class of persons. who.
while not having any actual disease, are vet
weakened by excesses, such as dissipation. |
confinement within doors, deep study and
other close mental applications. For them
cold bathing is indicated, and proves brac-
ing and ssiutary. 1t is also beneficial in
sleeplessness, nervous disquietude, debility,
constipation, chronic catarrhal troubles |
corpulency, dyspepsia, sluggish circulation,
and in a variety OF other affections. In fact,
cold bathing is one of the most efficient OF
tonic measures, and physicians depend upon
it in the treatment of no inconsiderabIe pro-
portion OF their patients.
DANGEROUS Practices.
Another physician spoken to said: "Dur-
can bathe in salt Or fresh water every day
ii they care to; the less strong should not do
so oftener than on alternate days. Bathers
should enter the water quickly. The i'm
mersion should be sudden, and a bold dive
is the best. The effect is then uniform. If
one wades into the water hesitatingly the
blood is driven from the lower extremities to
the upper parts, and temporary congestion
therein is induced"
A local physician practicing at a water
ing place everv summer calls attention to
the dangers and evils of the amusement
called padding" A common result is a
condition resembling heatstroke, bat per-
itonitis might be brought about by this
dangerous practice. The symptoms, how
ever, in many cases may not be SO severe,
and numbers Of children are languid and 4
poorly, suffering from headache and
malaise from this cause, while the parents
account for the disturbance by the theory
that the climate is too strong Tor them" or
that sea air does not agree with their