The Washington times., 1901-07-28
DANGERS OF SEA BATHING.
Masculine Vanity Causes Hard
Work for the Life-Sa -ers.
Men Place Themselves In Jeopardy
simply to Win Admiration From
the CrOvds-The Troubles of
Women While Learning to Swim.


the Cro,rds-The Troubles of
| Women While Learning 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
puffed on very damp-looking cigarette.
| His eyes were fastened steadily upon n
| point in the water some distance beyond
! the raft.
These buns" said ne. without remov-
| ing his -ss from that point, cause me
much ache. See those two yaps out there
| beyond the raft. ducking each other and
doing the porpoise stunt and other fun
| nyisms?' noddng disgustedly in the di-
rection of the part of the water on which
| his gaze was so intently fixed. well,
| they are soused up for fair and I'll be
getting a stiff 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. 1t doesn't
make any difference il man can swim
like Paul Boyton: he's got no business
padding around in water more than two
feet deep, If as much as that, when he's
| got jag on. It's dangerous. And it's
! dangerous for lot of reasons.
| In the first place, man whose in
sides are all heated up with rum has
about nine chances in ten of getting
| cramps in sea water. And. leaving out
the cramp business altogether, the fel-
| low with the skate on takes too many
chances in the water. He feels too gay
| with himself. He warts to be too merry
| with his carcass. Water only about for
| ty feet deep won't do for him at all. He
| gets it into his head that he's tramp
steamship drawing about 800 fathoms and
| he thinks it's his job to set course for
| the coast OF Norway.
And he's real strong. too-at first. All
| jags are Sandows-at first. But when they
get about half a 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 the boat out in their direction-for
we always have 'em mapped ana charted
from the minute they strike the water
And even If they don't start out for a
long-distance cruise. and stay within hit
ting distance of the raft like those two
fellows-I 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
sudden. I've seen jagged men go to
pieces all OF sadden within five feet of
the raft, and he unable to swim another
lick, and then they'd have to make them
selves feel'cheap by hollering for help.
Next to the soused chaps, we have
the most troubled with the>smart Alecs.
Every year i pull out of the water an
average of about 100 smart Alecs. Oh.
yes, they're good swimmers; that's just
what's the matter with 'em-they're too
good. They're so good that they want
all the thousands of folks on the beach
to know it, and that's how they usually
get theirs. They're as bad as the tanks
in the chances they take. They try for
Europe, too.
This thing of going to Europe by the |
overland stroke is all right-going. It's |
coming back that nails you. But the |
smart Alec never seems to 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 as 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 the old country we Just |
about know when to tip each other the |
lamp. throw away the comfortable smoke
go after him.
THE cheapest-looking smart Alec that |
ever hauled out of the wet got into |
trouble up at Long Beach. 1t was about |
five years ago. He was the main pretty
boy at the hotel, and he had about forty |
eight girls so faded that they read their
novels upside down. SOS they could keep
on looking at him. He was good-looke-
all right at that-a great big geeZer with
fine muscles and a proper makeup.
We'll, one morning a big delegation of
new girls came down to the hotel from
New York. and it wasn't twenty minutes
before this hot card was calling em Lulu
and Minnie and Blanche. and they liked
1t. Well the hour for bathing came
around and the hot boy led the new bunch
of girls down to the brink. There was
gleam in his lamps that looked like work
for my partner and l. and we were ready
when We saw him shoot for the deep sea-
He was going 10 show those girls just
how far a real fine piece of work could
go in a heavy seattle water was rough
and not even pant.
He was, for n fact, good swimmer
a rafting good swimmer. and he was
pretty good stayer, too. But that's hard
water up around long Beach for anything
fellow had never taken such chances
with it before When he had got out
about half mile, and still going. my
partner handed me the eye, and we threw
away our butts and climbed into the old
scull. We hit up n pretty good gait,
him all the time, and by the
time we got within a hundred yards of
him-he was then about two-thirds of a
mile out-he needed us. In fact. his arms
went up right at that point. and he sank.
we lifted the old tug right out of the
water then, and we got him by his curly
hair when he was going down for the
third time. He was as limp-looking a
hotel hero as ever l saw when we lifted
aim In. My partner took both oars and
pulled double for the beach while l did
he Observation-Disclosures stunt over
he hot card who had been bound for
Brussels. For few minutes it didn't look
ls If | was goiag to make coed with that |
)ne. He had nary a heartbeat nor a
breath. and says | to myself. Son. I'm
sorry, but you ought to've been good.
.'All the girls were lined up on the |
,each, and wringing their hands when we
fitted the nice strong boy out of the boat.
There was an old kerosene barrel lying
IN the beach. and over the same did We
oil the hot hotel card just the same as
we'd have rolled four-year-old that d
,ot his head under two feet of water. The
girls stood around, kind O. drawn like :
iround their mouths, and watched the
OBJ. and when his eyelids began to fiutter =.
md he began to gasp | would have cough
d up twelve good dollars of my wages
1