The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1892-09-24
BATHING IN THE SURF.
II IN Not without Its Dangers and Fool
hardy Men Take Rash Risks.

ltiated in all the briny degrees OF surf.
bathing invariably loses his apprecia
ton of still water. There is spice oI
danger in the surf which makes il
loubly attractive. There Is something
for him to battle with. Things are not
all his own way, and he encounters
breakers so full of force as TO bowl him
over as easily as though he were
| wooden ninepin. But really, with all
this, the dangers Of the surf to swim
mer who knows something of the water
are not great, unless, perhaps, there
are certain tides and currents which
are 30 subtle, yet so powerful, as to
make prey OF even boats which venture
on the surface. But it is from the care.
lessness or foolhardiness OF the swimmer
that drowning accidents are so fre.
| quent. For some years past small
newspaper published on the Jersey coast
has announced with commendable regu.
larity the arrival of the "damphool
swimmer"-to wit, the man who goes
| about n half-mile from shore.
The man who comes to the seashore
to swim had better be very sure of his
strength before he attempts any lengthy
excursions beyond the big swell near
the shore. He can get all the excite
ment he wants, and more, too, perhaps,
within very short distance from shore,
and no one will consider him cowardly
if he "hugs close" and rides the breakers
instead of going outside 30 exhibit his
doubtful aquatic accomplishments.
1t is u notorious 1t that it is always
the best and strongest swimmers who
come 20 grief at the seashore and pay
with their lives the penalty of knowing
| too much. The reason for this is be.
cause man who has confidence
in his own ability to keep afloat will
take longer chances than the man who
can swim little. To become exhausted
in the surf means to go under, to get
into the nav of marine pugilist who
fights with q hundred hands and who
deals upper cuts, jabs and swings with
out rest. If there is anyone about
who is able to help the vanquished
swimmer is pulled out as limp as a bit
of sea moss, and it is a toss as to whether
or not he will ever get his breath back.
Perhaps the most ordinary danger OF
the seashore-if danger can be called
ordinary-is what are known as the
three waves The breakers as rule
come in series of three. Sometimes
the three are small and sometimes are
very heavy, but as rule the sequences
run about the same size. Imagine a
bather inside the surf line with the
surf breaking over bar about fifty or
one hundred feet from shore. Those
big green waves that rise higher and
higher as they come toward him do not
seem very formidable. The first one
rears it's head before it reaches him
with an angry swish; a curl of foam
like feather edge crops out along the
top and fills the air with spray. Then
the wave takes most decided shore
ward curl, the line of foam becomes
deeper, there is a crash as it drops to a
level and the bather finds himself
thrown down in caldron of seething
surf. Say he is in three feet OF water
on the level. After the wave has passed.
he struggles to his feet choking, gasp
ing and half blind with the salt water.
He doesn't really know what has hap
pened, but he has a dim idea that
something has hit him. Before he has
time to collect his senses the second
of the series is upon him, and he goes
down again. He is dazed and confused,
and he founders around hopeless. The
third wave is always the finishing
stroke, and gives the life-saver, if there
is one, a chance to do some work.
Guided by an outstretched arm thrust
above the water involuntarily, or by a
bobbing head with which the surf is
playing foot ball, he drags the unso'
phisticated one out on the sand. That
is the most common danger of the surf.
To q surf-swimmer it represents nc
danger at all. Notice the difference
between the two. The experienced
surfman llnews to dot the strength of
each wave, when it will break and
whether or not an undertow will be the
result. In describing how to bathe in
the surf | am going to give the Ian.
guage of perhaps one of the best swim
ners and surfmen on the New Jersey
coast. He is Mr.. L. n. Lillagore and
he has not yet lost the air and bearing
of graduated collegian. He is big
brown and strong, with a decided per
sonality, and gives one the impression
that he could kick goal without much
trouble and would be a hard man tc
meet if he lined up on the opposing
team. He has been spending his sum.
mers on the coast ever since he can re-
member and can talk more learnedly
about the surf than all of the life-saver,
from Barnegat to Sandy Hook
ga good surfman,' he said, ''if he is
on strange shore where there are liza
BILE to be any currents, will study then
before he enters the water, but as q
rule, dangerous currents are few. II
he knows the coast he will wait until q
wave is about to break, then make q
dive through it; not too deep dive
though, for sand will scrape like file
If the surf is heavy and rapid, as soor
us his head is out of the water he will
look for and expect the next one, If il
break before it reaches him he will dive
under the whirling stretch of foam and
save a lot of his strength. If not he
will either ride over it or dive through
it, But he never becomes careless. lie
looks upon the surf as an enemy if he is
not careful, and as a means of giving
him pleasure if he handles himself as
he ought, The most dangerous bath
ing is whore there is sea-push, or, as
the sailors call it, sea-puSs. 1t is &
current VIII ich runs from the shore
along channel between two sand bars
The waves breaking over the bars meet
; on shore and run out together in the