Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1892-12-22

somethIns that Anybody Can do Without
Any Previous Practice.

somethLng that Anybody Can do Without
Amy Previous Practice.
The easiest position that man, a
woman, or child can assume In wa
ter is to float perpendicularly, says
Harper's Young People. Any person,
without any previous practice, can
tread water, and sDs Keep afoat for a
long time. He should keep his hands
below the surface OF the water, his
lungs inflated, and his feet moving
up and down as In walking, Let the
"man overheard" throw his hands and
arms out OF the water, let him raise
an outcry whereby the air is expelled
from the lungs, and he will sink TO
the bottom. The trouble is that nine
people out of ten lose yleir presence
OF mind when they are In water out
of their depth for the first time. II,
instead of struggling and floundering
about, they would do little walking
there would not be the slightest dan
ger Of drowning right away.
Anyone can tread water In the first
attempt. No preliminary teaching is
necessary. Treading the water Is
simply walking into the wate- ont Of
ones depth, with or without the aid
of ones hands. The operation is not
unlike running upstairs, and, II any
thing, easier. Truly any man, any
woman, any child who can walk up
stairs can walk in the water, and re-
member, on the first attempt, without
any previous instruction or practice.
Hence / say that persons really ig-
norant OF the art of swimming are
perfectly safe in water out OF their
depth. Very often you hear people
exclaim: "Ugh, if this boat were to-
upset I'd drown, of course. l can't
swim you know"
Yes, but you can tread water. Most
Of US attach wrong significance TO
the word swim" Why should we
mean one thing when a man swims
land another or different thing when a
dog swims? The dogUannot swim"
as man swims, but any man can
swim dog fashion" instantly and for
the first time. The animal has no
advantage in any way In water over
man, and yet the man browns while
the animal "swims" The dog, the
horse, the cow, and even the cat all
take to the water, and are able TO
walk as they do when out of water.
Throw dog into the stream, and at
once he begins TO walk, just as he
does on dry land. Why should a
man, woman, or child act differently
under like circumstances?
II caor,c OF mamma fhot ,Naop1a houa
to be told to do what the animals do
instinctively and instantly. Mans
| ignorance OF so simple thing as
| treading water is remarkable; it is
without reason or excuse. There is a
popular notion afloat that in some
way the dog and the animals have an
advantage over man in water. Moth
ing could be further from the truth.
| The advantage lies with man, who is
provided with a paddle-formed hand,
and knows enough to float when tired
something the animal rarely or
never does. Next to treading water,
floating on the back is the easiest
thing to do in water. This consists
in lying fiat on the back, head thrown
well back, the lungs inflated. the
limbs extended but flexible, the arms
held close to the ears, the hands over
the head1, The majority of people
able toeyustain themselves in the
water prefer to float in horizontal
position rather than in perpendicu-
lar manner. Both positions are much
better, in fact much safer, than the
attitude that we assume in swimming.
l have found it so. One day in a
rough surf 1 was nearly strangled
with a sudden swallow of water, and,
had not been able to float, the re-
suit might have been disastrous.