The Savannah morning news., 1901-01-06
SAVING THE SKATERS.
That Wonderful work Accomplished
in Resuscitnting Drowning People.

That Wonderful work Accomplished
in ResuscitntIng Drowning People.
Safety for skaters has become almost
a hobby IN London. The Serpenune in
Hyde Park. a body of water shaped some
thing like a crook-neck squash and OF
considerable size, is probably the most
famous skating pond in the world. It is
near the center of the vast population
Of London, and on days when skating is
permitted every square yard of ice on tae
great pond has its skater while thoua-
ands more wait their turn on the shore
/ 1t is a scene OF the greatest gaity fun OF
/ color and change for the English enjoy
/ such lively outdoor exercise as this. At
/ It's larger end the Serpentine has q depth
OF 10 feet Of water. and at it's shal.owes,
| ii is over four feet deep, so that the
danger from drowning, should the ice
! break, is great And with such brushes
of skaters the strain on the ice is unusual.
| the life saving arrangements are az
in the hands of that famous old institu-
| ton, the Royal Humane Society, which
maintains on the shores of the Serpentinc
a beautiful little brick and stone receiving
! house with pillars and a light in front
! the whole enclosed with an ornamental
| iron fence. special officer appointed by
| the office Of works of the city of Lon
don determines when the ice is safe for
skaters, and as soon as he gives permits
! sion for skating the icemen of the ROYAL
! Humane Society Immediately make their
! appearance under the direction of super.
| intendent. Huge coil hawsers are brought
out and laid across the road at intervals
OF one hundred yards. The first is made
fast on the north bank, the second on the
| south bank, and so on in alienation TO
! the end The lose end of each rope is
| co1ed on the opposite bank and at each
coil an iceman is stationed. He is a thor
| oughly well trained Waterman, he wears
a badge and is provided with a cork Jack
er and hand line. BY the rules of the
| society he must not smoke on duty. must
not drink. must not accept fees, nor help
! put on or take Off skates. He must re-
main at his post as long as the skating
| continues.
The method OF saving is beautifully
| simple Suppose a break occurs in the
| Ice The nearest iceman seizes the loose
| end OF the rope at which he stands and
runs with 1t swiftly along the bank until
II stretches across the hole in the ice. Be
Ing firmly attached on the further bank.
he may pull it tight and fasten it. so that
1t will hold the browning person up until
help can reach hiR. And it is a rope
strong enough to support any number of
persons.
Now,-if the skaters cannot get out the
icemen have other means of help. They
have not only hand lines and cork jackets.
but there are large iceboats on the shores
which can be instantly rushed over the
ice and If the breakage is large. into the
water. These boats contain hand ladders
which can be put down into the water
for the immersed skater to climb out on
and they can be laid as bridges over the
holes in the ice. OF course, every lee
man rushes to the assistance of the one
| In whose territory the break occurs, so
that the possibility of loss of life by
these skilled men is small. indeed
1t may be said in passing that the skat-
ers are not fond of having these great
| hawsers laid across and obstructiug the
! ice and protests have been made and Of
! ten the hawsers have been cut out of
/ mischief but they are persistently main
| tanned by the society.
| II a skater Is taken from the water I'M
! conscious he is carried at once to the So
ciety's receiving house and messenger
| is sent for a ply scan. The receiving
! house contains two wards, a surgery, an
Office and rooms for the SUPERINTENDENT
and icemen or boatmcn. Year in and year
out two tons of water are kept constant
/ ly hot so that a drowning person can be
given a hot bath instantly. A regular
! system of resuscitation is used to re-
! store the pauenl CONSEQUENCES ana Hnen
! he is removed to hot path. From here
/ he is taken to a unique hollow bed, which
/ instead of a mattress has a large space
/ for hot water which keeps the bed cloth.
/ ing continually warm, so that the pattern
may lose no heat after removal from the
! bath. No where else in the world is the
" ork OF resuscita lion from drowning ac-
| complished with such speed and precision
as here Patients have been saved after
being unconscious for six or e ght hours.
and in one case for zen hours. They are
kept in the comfort of the receiving house
until they are well able to be removed,
there being no charge connected with the
service.
In summer the Royal Society has equal
" complete arrangements for saving the
lives of those who so boating or swim
ming in the Serpeutine and rare, indeed,
Is II that a life is lost in this crowded
pleasure pond. In 1899 thirteen persons
attempted suicide in the Serpentine. Many
at night, but so wetchful were the So
cIety's boatmen that ten of them were
rescued and brought to life in spite Of
themselves Besides these many other
lives were saved of swimmers, rowers, ana
other pleasure seekers
The money for all the work is volun-
tarily contributed by the people Of Eng
land TO the society which Includes among
its life members the most famous men In
the Empire, the Duke of York, being its
president.
VEGETABLE LAMB.