The Red Cloud chief., 1892-09-23
ri IN THE SURF.
IL IL Not without Its Danger. mud Fooi-
hardy Men TNkc Rash Kisks.

ton of still water. There isa spice of
danger in the surf which mukrs IL
doubly attractive. There is something
for him to battle with. Things are not
ell his W way. and he encounters
breakers 50 full Of force rs to bowl him
over "a easily rs though ho were "A
wooden nincpin. but really, with all
this, the dangers Of the surf To u swim
ner who knows something of the water
are not great, unless, perhaps, there
are certain tides and currents which
are 80 subtle, yet 80 powerful, rs to
make prey of even boats which venture
ON thc surface. Rut 1t Is from the care.
lessucSs or foolhardincss Of the swimmer
that drowning accidents are SO FIRE.
qucnt. For some years past n small
ncwspaperpublishcd on the Jersey coast
has announced with conmcndnblc rcgu-
swimncr"--to wit, the man who goes
about u half-imilc from shore.
The man who comes to the scashore
10 swim had better he very surc of his
strength before he attempts any lengthy
excursions b,yond the big swell near
the shore. lie can get all the excite
mcnt he wants, and more. too, perhaps,
within n very short distance from shore,
and no one will consider him cowardly
il he hugs close" and rides the breakers
instead of going outside tn exhibit his
doubtful aquatic accomplishments
II is n notorious fact that il is always
the best and strongest swimmers who
come 10 grief ut the seashore and pay
with their lives the penalty OF knowing
too much. The reason for this Is be-
causc Il man who has confidence
In his own ability TO keep aaoat will
| take longer chances than the man who
can swim u little. To become exhausted
in the surf means to go under, to get
! into the nav of u marine pugilist who
fights with u hundred hands and who
deals upper cuts, jabs and swings with.
ont u rest. If there is anyone about
who Is able to help the vanqu;shcd
swimmer IL pulled out rs limp ~ n bit
of sea moss, and II is n toss as to whether
or not he will ever get his breath back.
Perhaps the most ordinary danger of
the scashore--if danger can be called
ordinary-is what are known rs the
three waves. The breakers MS n rule
come in u series of three. Sometimes
the three are small and sometimes are
very heavy, but as u rule the sequences
run about the same size. Imagine n
bather inside the surf line with the
surf breaking over u bar about fifty or
one hundred feet from shore. Those
big green waves hat rise higher and
higher as they come toward him do not
....~. s1,t 1a tnka a,.S 49,.
rears its head before IL reaches him
with an angry swish; n curl Of foam
like a feather edge crops out along the
top and fills the air with spray. Then
the wavc takes n most decided shore
ward curl, the line Of foam becomes
deeper, there is n crash rs 1t drops TO a
level and the bathcr finds himself
thrown down in u caldron Of seethinp
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.
lie doesn't really know what has hap
pened, but he has a dim idea tina,
something has hit him. Before he ha.
time to collect his senses the second
Of the series is upon him, and he goc,
down again. He Is dazed and confused
and he founders around hopeless. Tn,
third wave is always tho finishing
stroke, and gives the life-saver, II there
is one, a chance to do some work.
Guided by an outstretched arm thrus,
above the water involuntarlly, or by q
bobbing head with which the surf /.
playing foot ball, he drags the unso
phisticated one ont on the sand. Thai
is the most common danger OF the surf
Toa surf-swimmer it represents nc
danger Mt all. Notice the difference
between the two. The experienced
urfman knews to q dot the strength OF
each wave, when 1t will break and
whether or not an undertow will DO the
result. In describing how TO battle in
the surf l am going to give tho Ian.
guage Of perhaps one Of the best swim.
mers and surfmen ON the New JERSEY
coast. He is Mr.. 4. N. Lillagore and
he has not yet lost the air and bearing
Of n graduated collegian. He Is big,
brown and strong, with a decided per.
sonality, and gives one tho impression
that he could kick a goal without much
trouble and would be q hard man u
meet If he lined up on the opposing
team. He has been spending his sum.
ers on the coast eve since he ian re-
member and can talk more iearnedly
about the surf than all OF the life.savers
from Barnegat to Sandy Hook.
"a good surfman," he said, "if he Is
on a strange shore where there are liza
BILE to be any currents, will study them
before he enters the water, but, as a
rule, dangerous currents are few. II
he knows the coast he will wait until a
wave is about to break, then make n
dive through it; not too deep o dive,
though, for sand will scrape like n file.
II the surf is heavy and rapid, as soon
! as his head IL out Of the water he will
look for and expect the next one. II it
break before II reaches him he will dive
under the whirling stretch Of foam and
save a lot Of his strength. II not he
will either ride owe 1t or dive through
1t. But he never becomes careless. He
looks upon the surf rs an enemy II he is
not careful, nnd as a means of giving
him pleasure II he handles himself as