Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-08-29
THROWS UPONE HAND
The Only Signal Of Distress a Drown
ing p. son Gives.
INTERVIEW WITH A LIFE SAVER
Boys Will Not Give a Prompt
Alarm to the Guards.
VICE TO RE sou E r S

."In all my experience, and 1 have had
considerable at various watering resorts,
| 1 have never known of single instance
| of drowning person calling for help"
| said one of the life savers at the bathing
beach to Star representative.
1T is generally supposed that persons
struggling in the water call for assist
| ance, but such is not the case. For some
reason, which can hardly be explained,
they never signal help. They simply throw
up one hand, not both, mind you. and un-
der they go. 1 have noticed this particu-
larly at the Washington beach. In not a
single instance has there been a call for
help. have pulled persons from the
water within a few feet Of the raft who
were struggling for life and yet who never
uttered a single cutlery.
| 'It was only that 1 happened to notice
| their peculiar actions in the water. and
not the noise they made that tmpelled me
to go after them. Time and again have
seen poor swimmers start from the shore
and, after padding short distance, throw
| up one hand and go under. 1t is the most
remarkable thing imaginable that they
give no signal Of distress when help Is so
near. 1 have often asked rescued per-
sons why they did not call for help. but
| they could give no explanation. They
knew they were drowning, but the only
sign Of their peril was the involuntary
raising of the arm. 1 have become SO ac-
customed to this sort of thing-that pecu-
| liar manner in which q drowning person
throws up the hand-that among a score
Of bathers diving, ducking and splashing
about 1 can tell the one in danger in an
instant.
When he goes down it is with head
| thrown far back. AS the water washes
II slowly disappears, going under inch by
| inch.
Under without a Sound.
'"Then If anything is done 1t must be
| done quickly. / have heard many stories
Of a drowning person making a great
racket to attract attention, but 1 do not
| believe them When more than one per-
| son is in danger l have known of calls
but invariably they came from the one
| who could swim enough to save himself
| but who could not bring the drowning one
ashore. The one in Immediate peril simply
| goes under without sound. l have been
with fairly good swimmers who became
exhausted, and who, without word OF
warning, threw back the head as though
about to float or swim on the back, and go
| under. AS they sank one arm came up
.'One would suppose that person who
could swim would be exempt from this
| dumbness in the moment of danger, but
| 1t Is not so. OF course, many persons
| who start from shore get out so far that
| they realize they cannot get back without
assistance, and will call for help before
| their energy has been all spent. Possibly
| they may manage to keep a1oat until as
| sistance comes so when they cry out they
| are not actually drowning. When it comes
| to giving up and going under they sink
| slowly without sound.
1.-The more 1 think of this phase of the
drowning question the more remarkable It
seems. Boys have been drowned here who
would have been rescued had they but
called once. They have gone under sur
rounded by companions and so close to the
life guard that rescue would have been as
sured had there been any signal whatso-
ever.
Down Only Once.
THE impression that a drowning person
comes to the surface three times Is a mis-
take. In fact, in most|cases he goes under
once and stays there unless some one goes
after him. Ordinarily. person overheard
takes enough water into the body on first
sinking to weight it that 1t will not rise
to the surface, but there seems to be no
rule Of nature governing this.
lungs full of air the body will come to the
surface, but usually the first sinking Is
the last.
This is our experience at the beach.
Cases have been quite numerous where
good swimmers dived from the raft and
failed to come to the surface, going under,
and staying there until one of the guards
went down for them. OF course they were
brought up unconscious, and could not tell
why they did not come up as usual This
is another Of. the mysteries of drowning.
If there are more ways of killing cat
than one, so there are more, reasons than
one why people drown. Good swimmers,
bad swimmers and those who can't swim
at all go under and stay from time to
time. If people will go in the water peo
pie will drown. We guard against acct
dents to the best of our ability. but occa-
sionally some one goes down never to come
up alive. We guards sit here and watch,
go in and drag out all who appear in dis
tress, but despite our vigilance suddenly
some one will be missed going down with
out word, surrounded by half hundred
persons any one of whom would possibly
have been able to extend a helping hand.
Resuscitating n Drowning Person.
LAS soon as the alarm is sounded every
one Is called from the water and the
guards begin diving and searching along
the bottom. 1t is impossible for any one
to remain under long without being dis
covered We have been very successful in
saving those who have been taken from
the bottom by working on them ashore.
In only comparatively few instances has
1t been impossible to revive the bather.
OF the drownings the public always hears.
but the lives that we save at the beach
seldom attract attention. Day after day
boys have been rescued who probably
never even told their parents that they
had been on the point of drowning.
cued. If in a conscious condition. Is to tell
a He He will declare that he was not
drowning, but was only trying to fool
some other boy. 1t seems to be regarded as
a rather disgraceful thing to be caught in
the act Of drowning. 1t doesn't reflect very
much credit on the average boy, but 1t is
a fact that as soon as he finds that a
companion, with whom he came to the
beach, Is missing the survivor begins to
think Of home and mother, and in nine
cases out of ten will start for the bath
house without giving the alarm.
Boys VIII Not Give the Alarm.
Boys seem to have a horror of telling
the guards that one Of their number has
gone under and probably drowned. Their
first act. on the contrary. is to leave the
beach, They generally arrive at some agree
ment not to mention that they have been
swimming, and to leave the discovery of
the drowning to some one else. The last
fatal case we had here was a striking illus
tration of the ambition of boys to clear out
after an accident to one Of their number.