The sun., 1901-06-30
MISHAPS IN SEA BATHING.
xAsCULIyE VANITY MAKES WORK FOR
THE LIFE SAVERS.
Men Who VIII Go In Swimming Ascr They Have
Been Driakins -Othsr In Danger of Drown
Ing Becauss They Wanted to Show on
--Womans Trouble In Leaning to SWIM

--Womans Trouble In Leaning to Swim.
The life saver at the beach sat on the SAND
close to the verge. his brown-black arms
gripping his brown-black legs. and puned
on a very damp-looking cigarette. His eyes
were fastened steadily upon a point In the
water some distance beyond the raft
These buns" said he. without removing
bis eyes from that point. cause ne muoh
ache See those two yaps out there beyoho
the raft, ducking each other and doing the
porpoiss stunt and other funnyismsf' nod
ding disgustedly In the direction OF the part
OF the water on which his gaze was 90 lntently
fixed. Well. they are soused up for far
and III be getting a stlff neck watching them
until they come out OF the water
"Oh. yes, they're good swimmers all right
But that's not going to help them any.
They're three parts drunk. and that's what's
keeping me busy, II doesn't make any
difference II man can swim like Paul Boy
ton; he's got no business padding around
in water moro than two feet deep, II as muoh
as that, when he's got q jag on. It's danger
Gus. And It's dangerous for lot Of reasons,
In the nrst place. q man whose insides
are all heated up with rum has about nine
chances in ten Of getting cramps In sea water
And. leaving out the cramp business aito-
gether, the fellow with tho skate on takes
too many chances In the water. He feels
too gay with himself He wants to be too
merry with his carcass. Water only about
forty feet deep won't do for him At all. He
gets IL into his head that he's tramp steam
ship drawing aboutsoo fathoms and he thinks
it's his lob to set q course for the coast Of
Norway.
And he's real strong. too-at hrst. All
Jags are Sandows--at nrst But whom they
get about half mile away from the sand they
begin to wonder where they can get tonic
for that tired feeling. and IT'S at this stage OF
1t that we begin to pull tho boat out In their
dirsctlon-for We always have EN- mapped
and charted from the minute they strike the
water. And even II they don't start out for
long-distanos cruise, and stay within hitting
distance Of the raft like those two fellow
l see they're coming In. which shows that
they've got more head than the usual run OF
'em-they're so chesty In their fooling around
that they re liable 10 exhaust themselves and
collapse all OF q sudden. I've seen Jagged
men go to pieces all Of a sudden within five
foot OF the raft and be unable 10 swim an
other lick. and then they'd hsve to make
themselves feel cheap by holiering for help.
Next to tho sudsed chaps. We have tho
most trouble with the smart Alecs. Every
year pull out OF the water an average OF about
hundred smart Alecs Oh. yes. they're
good swimmers: that's Just what's the mat
ter with 'em-they're too good. They're 40
good that they want all the thousands Of
folks on the beach to know II. and that's how
they usually get theirs. They're a. bad as
tla,, N.E rhar
try for Europe. too.
This thing OF going 70 Europe by the over
hand stroke is all right going. lt's coming
back that nails you. But the smart Aeo
never seems 10 think Of that. We get so that
we can spot the smart Alec Just as easily as
We can nail the tank before he's so much a.
put foot in the water. and We keep the good
eye on him all the time; and when he starts
out with that beautiful. graceful stroke OF
his toward tho old country We Just about
know when TO tip each other the lamp. throw
away the comfortable smoke wero enjoying.
get the oars shipped and go after him.
The cheapest looking smart Alec that
ever hauled out Of the wet got into trouble
up at Long Beach. It was about five years
ago. He was tho main pretty boy OF the
hotel, and he had about forty-eisht girls
90 faded that they read their novels upside
down. sos they could keep on looking at
him. He was q good-looker, all right. at
that-a great big geezer with fine muscles
and proper makeup.
well, one morning q big delegation OF
now girls came down TO the hotel from New
York. and 1t wasn't twenty minutes before
this hot card was calling em Lulu and Minnie
and Blanche. and they liked It. Well. tho
hour for bathing came around, and the hot
boy led the new bunch Of girls down to tho
brink There was a gloam In his lamps that
looked like work for my partner and !. and
we we're ready when We saw him shoot out
for the deep sea- He was going 10 show
those girls just how far real fine piece OF
work could go In heavy seattle water was
rough--and not even pant.
He was, for a fact, a good swimmer-a
rattlins good swimmer and hs WAS pretty
good slayer, too. But that's hard water
up around Long Beach for anything but
a pilot fish to monkey with. and this fellow
had never taken such chances with II before.
Wien he had got out about half mile and still
going, my partner handed me the eye. and
we threw away our huts and climbed into
the old scull. We hit up a pretty good gait,
We got within a hundred yards OF him-he
was then about two-thirds OF milo out-hs
needed us. In fact. his arms went up right
at that point and be sank.
We lifted the old tug right out OF the water
then. and we got him by his nice curly hair
when he was going down for the third time.
He was "a limp-lookng a hotel hero as ever
saw when We lifted him In Ny partner
took both oars and pulled double for the
beach while did the arst- for tho dro wncd
stunt over the hot card who had been bound
for Brussels For few minutes IL didn't
look as II ! was going TO mahe good with
that ono lTo had nary heart beat nor
a breath. and. says 70 myself Son. I'm
sorry, but you ought to've been good
All the girls we're lined UP on the beach.
and wrlnxing their hands when We lifted
the nion strong boy out Of tho boet There
was an old kerosene barrel lying on tho
beach, and over tho same did We roll tho
hot hotel card Just the same az we'd have
rolled a four-year-od that d got his
head under two feet Of wa,or The girl.
stood around kind o drawn like around
their mouths. and watched the Job. and when
his eyelids began TO nutter and he began
to gasp would have coughed up twelve
good dollars Of my wages for the privilege
Of laughing out real loud, Rad such foein <
over the way that duck was going to look
when he came 10 and found out what had
happened
Well II happened all right He came Ia
after a while we had him stretched out then
and sat up on the sand lie gszsd around.
moon-calfy like. at the ring OF the girls. and
l. o