The Savannah morning news., 1903-06-04
LEARNING TO SWIM.
Pool At Casino Is Popular with
Ladies ana Children.

LuulSS HhU OhtAuEens
The exhibitions that are being given
daily in the Casino swimming pool
have become popular and Natator does
his aquatic stunts to fair sized audi
ences. The selection of Thursday as
ladies' day exclusively at the pool has
proven popular.
In explaining his interesting water
evolutions, and they are entertaining as
we'll as instructive, Natator has some
pert things to say. This expert swim
mer says that it is really amazing how
many people who actually live at the
waters edge do not know how to swim.
Il appear before you as an advocate
of physical culture in the form of
swimming, which is not only one of
the most rational and exhilarating, but
at the same time one of the most hy-
gienic and health-giving of all physi-
cal exercises, calling into play as it
does every muscle of the body, and de-
veloping the chest and lung power to
remarkable extent" explains the
man fish at each exhibition. These ex-
hibitions are for the purpose of illus
trating how proficient a person may
become by constant practice, also to
induce those who have an opportunity
OF witnessing them to acquire an ac-
complishment that is useful, and when
once learned can never be forgotten.
1T is lamentable fact that so
many people lose their lives annually
at seaside resorts and other places
from lack of the knowledge of swim
ming. Parents and other persons
having charge of the rearing and edu-
cation OF children ought to be alive
to the fact that 1t is just as important
for girl or boy to learn to swim as
ii is to acquire any other branch of
education. In fact, all the Latin,
Greek, algebra, mathematics, the
ology and all the other 'ologies will be
found utterly useless to the unfortu-
nate person who gets overheard in
deep water without a knowledge of
the art which l am here to demon
strate. In a word parents and guard
ians are criminally negligent should
any fatal accident from drowning oc-
cur to the boy or girl under their
charge, provided he or she is old
enough to have learned to swim
"A thoughtless, bright and happy
girl, without a suspicion of danger,
will entrust her young life in a boat
with an equally thoughtless and happy
boy, neither. of them possessing the
power to save themselves If the boat
should be capsized. The consequence
is that two homes are made desolate
when a timely knowledge of an easily
learned lesson would have averted the
danger, and made the ducking an cpl
sode to be laughed at. If my audience
could have seen the agonized look
upon the face of the mother of a sweet
young girl. the victim of just such an
accident, when I placed the body OF
her daughter in her arms, after bring
ing it from the bottom of a lake about
twenty feet deep, l am sure they,
would be as much impressed with the
Importance of this subject as I am.
Advanced educators hold that at
least an elementary knowledge of the
art of swimming should be made com
pulsory on the part of parents and
guardians, and it certainly ought to
be made a part of the curriculum at
every public school and college in the
country. l have been a professional
instructor in this particular branch of
education since the year 1875, and
have given exhibitions both in Europe
and America before thousands of peo-
pie. You will have an opportunity Of
judging my competence from the exhi-
billions which I am giving"