Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1902-12-04


aboard while sailing dead before the
wind. AS he looked, the helmsman
put the tiller down and the little
craft rounded up to port and. heeled
over as the breeze caught the sail,
still hauled close.
What do you suppose he thinks
he's trying to do?" laughed a man,
sitting near Timothy.
Slowly the boat Strengthened up as
the man at the helm again put her
before the wind. Still he kept her
close-hauled, and shifting his helm
again, he jibed her over. AS be-
fore, the sheet was held fast; but
this time a puff of wind caught the
sail and the boat turned over. The
four persons who had been aboard
made a good deal of splashing as
they found places by which to hold
on to the overturned craft.
A ripple of laughter ran along the
shore. At Santa Monica a tip-over is
not considered serious, for every
body who goes out in a small boat
rather expects a wetting. Even the
fishermen change their ordinary
clothes for bathing-suits before 60
ing through the surf. At high tide
the surf is so high that no small boat
can live in it.
So when this boat turned over the
crowd looking on laughed, and ex-
changed good-naturedly contemptu-
remarks concerning the skill of
the boatmen as they waited for the
crew to right the craft and take to
the oars to work her out to sea-, for
the wind was driving her toward the
breakers.
But the men made no attempt to
right the boat. Clinging to the al.
most submerged sides, they seemed
to be waiting to drift ashore.
eff they let her get into that
surf" said the man sitting near Tim.
othy, that boatIl go to pieces like
an egg shell in an ore-crusher."
One of the men clinging to the boat
waved his hand to the people on the
shore, and Timothy stood up.
"That's a pretty stiff surf" he said
"but l guess I'd better go out and
tell them to keep off till the tide
turns and the surf goes down."
Timothy was a swimmer, and in.
ured to surf work by his month al
the shore. Although he had never
battled with waves so heavy as those
before him, he felt little doubt of his
ability to make his way through
them.
He walked slowly seward, follow.
ing a receding wave and meeting an.
other coming, and dived into green.
ish-brown water seeming as steer
and as high as the wall of a house
He had taken a good breath ant
needed IL all before he had another
opportunity to breathe; but he
caught the undertow and felt him
self scraped against the sandy bot
tom as he was swept seward. He
came to the surface a few seconds
later 80 yards from shore, and in the
middle of the trough between two
waves; thus he had time to empty
his lungs and to fill them again be
fore the next roller was upon him.
He dived again, and again the I'M
dertow swept him from the shore
and again he rose in the trough OF
the sea, well in advance of the on,
coming wave. He shook the water
from his eyes, and then Strengthened
out to take as deep a breath as he
could force into his lungs. The wave
before him was a "double-header,'
and yer a stronger swimmer thar
Timothy might admit that he was
afraid without exposing his courage
to suspicion.
A double-header is only half as high
as the wave series of which it is ar
irregular member, but it's menace tt
the swimmer is much more Between
two ordinary waves is a trough OF
fiat water, allowing the swimmer
chance to breathe; between the
halves of a double-header there is
also a trough, but it is filled with
lather and foam much too thick fol
breathing, yet too thin to support
the swimmer. He must either take
a deep breath and hold tiff he car
lying still till the wave passes ovel
him, or he must take a breath equal
ly deep, dive and swim-if he can
under water till the increasing light
tells him he has passed under the
stretch of sea which is boiling ant
frothing like a horrible great caldron
Timothy preferred to dive.
AS he went down he had some feal
that he might never come up again
together with a feeling of thankful
ness for the two seconds of grace
that had allowed him to go dowr
with his lungs well-flled with air.
The distance under a double-headel
is four times that under other waves
running at the same time, and The
undertow offers no aid to the swim
mer, for instead of a current run
ming strongly seward, it is a mere
tangle of swirling water running no
where. Timothy dived deep, striking
out strongly but carefully, and open
ing his eyes.
Under an ordinary wave the light
is blue-green; under a double-headel
there is no light, for water dashed
into foam is opaque as a plank cell
ing. Salt water hurt Timothy's eyes
and he kept them open only long
enough to make sure that he was ir
the dark.
The pressure on his lungs became
intolerable, and he let out some OF
the air in them, Immediately wishing
he had tried to save it a few seconds
longer. He opened his yes, saw nc
sign of light in the black mass above
him, and struck out again, feal
clutching at his heart as he felt how
ineffective had been his stroke, anG
realized that repetition Of ever such
xvoo1y offort yUac havond bic poxya,