The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1891-08-29
How 70 KEEP FROM DROWNING,
one Needn't Know How TO swlm-sinnply
uTrend Water"

To keep from drowning 1t Is not nee
essary to know how TO swim. This may
seem at first strong assertion, but
much depends on the meaning that is
attached to the word Swim" A man
may be able TO tread water" yet he
may not know how to swim. When a
man swms IL means one thing; when n
dog swims it means another and some.
what different thing. In the main, the
difference is one of position-of stand
ing upright or of sprawling in the
water. OF course the dog can not swim
us the man can and does, but a man
may swim on the first trial as a dog
swims, if he will only do as the dog does.
In what follows the object is to show
how drowning may, under ordinary
circumstances, be prevented even in the
case of persons wholly ignorant of what
is called the art of swimming.
In the first place it is perfectly natural
for every human being to float. Whit he
lungs inflated and the body below the
water one can not possibly sink. There
is no easier method of keeping afloat
than by simply treading water The
operation is just like running up stairs,
und about as difficult. 1t is perfectly
natural for animals to swim" Throw
u dog into the water and at once he be-
gins to walk the same as when out of
water Why should a man, woman or
c!ild do differently under like circurn-
stances? Clearly there is no good rea-
| son why any human being who can not
swim should make a few helpless strug-
giles, raise an outcry, throw up the hands
and sink out of sight
The trouble is that nine persons out
of ten lose their presence of mind when
for the first time in water beyond their
depth. IT, instead of struggling, peo-
pie would do more thinking, fewer
would be drowned, oddly enough, peo,
pie have TO do just what the animal
does instinctively in the water. The
dog, the horse, the deer, and even the
cat tread or walk the water at first at
tempt Mans ignorance of so simple a
thing as treading water is Il little re.
marlSable. 1t is nonsense to say that
animals have any advantage in the
water over men. On the contrary man
has the further advantage of paddle
formed hands, and of being able to rest
himself when tired by floating, thing
J which the animals never do. The man
who can not swim must follow the eX-
ample of the animal, and should go on
all fours. He must strike alternately
with hand and foot, exactly as the dog
does-one, two, one, two.
All the human beings can walk in the
water without any preliminary practice
if they will simply keep cool-headed.
In order, then, to keep from drowning
it is necessary only to tread or warl,
the water.
The most simple way to preserve life
if out of our depth is to float, which
consists simply in lying fat on your
back. This is easily accomplished by
keeping the lungs inflated, the head
thrown we'll back, the limbs extended
but flexible, the arms placed close tc
the ears, with the hands over the head
The majority of people prefer to float
on the back rather than to stand up
right. Yet any man, woman, or child
who can walk on dry land can also
walk in the water with safety.
1t is surprising how long animals and
human beings are capable of sustaining
themselves in water. In one well au
thenticated instance dog swan ashore
with letter in his mouth at the Capt
of Good Hope, while the crew of the
ship to which the dog belonged all per
ished. The sailors need not have beer
lost had they treaded water as the dog
did. Although unable to rest by the
way, animals swim immense distances
Last year dog was washed overheard
during gale off Cape Hatteras and ye
made his way safely to shore Only {
week or two ago some cattle were
swept from a vessel during a storm of
the Maine coast, and more than half OF
them were, saved.
If you can not swim and should fal
overheard don't scream, but try t.
''climb up stairs" with hands and feet
IN. y. Advertiser.