The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-02-23
IN THE BREAKERS
APAclFIc COAST EXPERT TELLS HOW
HE GOES THROUGH THEM.

He Is Doctor and an A&hlete and Is
Called The King of the Rreakers.n
Copies From the Wild Duck-Easier to
Go Out Than to Get Back to Shore.
San Francisco has king of the break
ers, man who views the giant shcrc
waves OF the mighty sea as things TO play
with, and who proposes TO revolutionize
the life saving service by substituting
Drawn and skill for life lines and compli-
Gated paraphernalia. What breaker
really is not marC people know. Major
Blakeney, who has been for years with
the government life saving station, is one
of those who ought TO know.
"A breaker is not exactly a wall Of wa
ter" he said. 1T is rather great roll OF
the sea. It starts miles and miles away
as a wave, gathering force and gaining
sped as it rolls, the great volume Of wa
ter tons and tons of it. turning over and
over upon itself. Finally as the sea bot
tom rises 10 form the sandy beach the
space for the giant rolling mass OF water
becomes contracted, and il breaks-bTeaks
not from the top of the roll, but from the
bottom; breaks with a force that makes
the rush CT u cannon shot seem trifiing.
The tor of that breaker, containing vel
umeS Of water big as houses, is thrown
forward at terrific speed forming what is
known on the beach as a 'oomber' 4
boat caught at the time the breaker is
formed is carried forward at a rate of east
" 80 miles an hour. A mass OF water like
that is solid, Is inelastic. a man caught
squarely under such q comber would be
killed when it struck him-killed as he
would be if he stood under trip hammer
as it fell
lit is not the breaker at the beach that
is dangerous-it is the breaker away out
that is the power By the time it reaches
shore it is merely foam. A man drowned
in breakers like that never comes ashore.
His body is never found. He sinks and
stays. The water in its rolling picks up
the sand from the bottom until the roller
is heavily charged with sand. A man who
gets into that water gets sand in his lungs,
ears and nostrils, in all his pockets, in his
shoes, under his clothes, in every possible
crevice. until he is ballasted SO that he
sinks forever.
Breakers ere not made for men TO
breast, whether they be swimmers or
not"
Yet the king of the breakers thinks his
subjects are easy TO rule whom understood.
Personally the king of the breakers is
a commonplace looking man of ordinary
build and wearing ordinary whiskers. He
is doctor, a member of tho turner socie-
ties and the schuetZen sections, a good
German citizen who loves TO drink beer
and to swim in blue salt water. His name
is DR. +. Riehl.
Il learned how TO take the breakers by
watching tbs duck" said the doctor. 1T
is very, very easy. The heavier and larger
the breakers the better like it. just so
il is with the duck. Watch one of the wa
terfowl any time. As the bird swims in
shore ana the breaker comes the duck dis
appears. Look again when the breaker
passes, and you will see the duck calmly
swimming on the smooth water beyond.
That is the way L do. It's so simple that
it is hardly worth telling about. Any
good swimmer may be taught in a few
hours how to go through the breakers.
This is the way do it: Going out
from shore, run through the first small
waves as far as l can breast them, or I'M
til the water takes me off my feet. Then
j swim straight on toward the breakers
When one comes, dive just before it
comes TO me. 1 go under it and come up
in the smooth water beyond. There is al
ways smooth water back of the breaker
been much around the sea can understand
that. / swim on through the smooth wa
ter until TIE next breaker comes / take