The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-11-16
SOME MEMORABLE
DISTANCE SWIMS

Leander. who used nightly to swim the
Hellespont to meet his ladyioye, is prob
ably the first iong-distance swimmer Of
whom there is any record, though the
Hellespont would not be thought a very
formidable strait by the modern athlete
as IT is only about a mile across says
the Chicago News. The strengths OF the
current there, however, renders 1t impos-
sible for boat to cross In direct line,
and Lord Byron, who in 1910 swan the
HeIlespont in company with Lieutenant
EIkenhead, actually covered a distance
of about four miles. Among the Romans
Hora thus who swan the Tiber after mis-
heroic feat in keeping Lars Porsena and.
his army at bay cam hardly be reckoned
among Iong-distance swimmers as the
river is only about 100 yards across.
Apparently the first attempt ever made
to swim the English channel was IN
1872. when Johnson, known as the hero
of the London BRIDGE" started from
Dover. The cold of the water. however,
was so intense that he was obliged to
give in after q comparatively short as
lance, but he is said to have covered
seven miles in sixty-five minutes. The
next effort was that by the famous Cap
tain Webb. three years later. The first
great swimming feat of Captain Webb
was his heroic attempt, when on board
the Cunard liner, the Russia, to save a
seaman who had fallen overheard In
mid-Atlantic. His next exploit was his
twenty-five mile swim from Blackwell to
Gravesend. a distance he accomplished in
a few minutes under five hours Then
on August % he again started, leaving
Dover at O'Clock. a wind arose and
the sea roughened and only his indomi-
table pluck enabled him to keep up the
struggle. He finally landed at Calais at
1O:40 a. m, after being in the water
INIT &C
His success made him a popular hero;
he was greeted with the widest enthu-
siasm wherever he went; and unfortu-
nately it must to some extent be reckon
ed the indirect cause of his tragic death
in 1858, in his wild attempt to swim the
Niagara rapids.
The next channel swim was by Davis
Dalton, an American, who started from
Boulogne at 4 o'clock on August IL, 1890.
The night was cold and rainy, and the
tide drifted him considerably out of his
course; but it was claimed that he was
successful in reaching Folkstone at 1880
the next day, having covered between
fifty and sixty miles. Many attempts
have been made since to swim the chan
mel but none have been wholly success
full. Fisher and Dalton attempted to
swim from Dover to Ramsgate, n feat
which Captain Webb had once perform
ed but were unsuccessful. In 1897 Peter
McNaliy, OF Boston, started from Dover
at IL O'Clock, accompanied by lugger.
AS a suitable diet he chose beef extract,
essence OF ginger and chewing tobacco
BY o'clock exhaustion began to set in.
and he suffered greatly from cramp; but
he went doggediy on until he became de-
l:rious and his friends dragged him forci-
bly, into the lugger. The last attempt,
and one which was very nearly success
ful was that of Frank Holmes, in Sep
TENDER, 1895 Starting from Dover, he
swan within six miles of the French
coast, when, fog coming on and the
wind beginning to rise, he abandoned his
attempt