The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-08-14
SWIMMING LESSONS.
How Young Man Taught Bashful
Maiden.

Washington Star: Yes" said the
young man with the reconcentrado-b ronz-
ed face and hands-he returned a couple
of days ago from a tWovweekS sailing
cruise down the river-"that girl surely
did put it ON me pretty hard. and if she
didn make me feel like 30 dark, mauVe,
alleged cents of the realm, l never was
made to feel that way.
i met her at one of the family beaches
on brackiSh water, way down the river.
The morning l hauled my sloop alongside
the pier 1 met Washington chap | knew,
and he took me walking down the row of
cottages. The girl was sitting alone on
the cottage pavilion belonging 10 her peO-
pies summer shack, overlooking the river.
Inc Washington chap introduced me TO
her. l didn't see EN- exchange any WInkS,
but L m going TO bruiSe him up some. any
how, the first time l meet him, on general
principles. The girl was about 10 and just
We worked off the usual line of talk, and
then, as the tide was high, and it was
about the bathing hour, L suggested a
swim.
:. Can you SWIM? 1 asked her.
shyly.
" oh, that's all right said Land I
guess she must have thought l was moth
ing but a big, half-grown, clumsy New
fOundland at that-IH teach you. m
pretty nearly the real thing when il comes
to swimming, if l 40 say so myself, as
shouldn't. Come on in, and I'll give you
a lesson or So
well, she went into her peoples cot
tage and got her bathing togs on and
got a suit and showed IN at the private
pier by the time she was ready a lot or
the other cottagers, including the girl' s
parents and younger sisters, were already
IN by this time. The girl was gotten up
pretty nattily, and her bathing rig looked
so natural on her that l thought it was a
pity she couldn't swim. But she tripped
over to the edge of the water. stepped in
to about three inches of it. ard then sat
dOxr if1c ilra No IA
who are afraid of getting their hair wet,
and who think they're booked to drown
if they get into the water up to their
knees.
L pIoughed into the water with an idea
of showing what a tOrrid tamale | was
when it came TO the wave-disporting bust
ness, and l swan OUT a cou2le OF blocks
or so. Then L returned on my back
My said the girl, how beautifully
..Oh, it's dead easy said l.. when you
get the knack of it. Just requires little
confidence; that's all. You can't possibly
go down in the water. you know All
you've got to do. for instance, to float is
TO lie perfectly still on the water sur
face. and you can't go TO the bottom TO
save your soul. Conference.-The the
whole thing. Same as bike riding. Any
body can ride bike that's got the neceS-
sary confidence. In swimming, just IKE
riding a wheel. you've got to keep moving
Just like this So
And | plunged in and struck out with
an overland stroke. throwing whole
lot O. grace into my movements and
Just patting the surface of the water
with my open palms as they came down,
to show how perfectly at home | was
Then 1 swan back to where the girl was
sitting.
And how easy il looks, tOoi
Easy as rolling off log.' said /
wen pa say "a Wv When that tall 1.-THE girl
stood IN. and gave her bathing toss
few little bitches, and threw her long hair
back from her face. 1 might have known
what was coming from the practiced way
she moved. But I didn't
=. Come on said l, backing into the
water See if you can't swim out to me.
| wclt let your head set under water
I'll see that you
This was as far as L got. She sud