The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1911-07-09
DEATHS BY DROWNING
By Dunbar Smith

some one goes after him. Ordinarily
when one falls overheard from Il boat
ne goes 50 Tar under water that his
lungs ar" ilcd almost Immediately. and
thus they are so weighted that the body
VIII never come to the surface OF
course, II tho lungs are full Of air when
the BODY strikes the water, il will come
to the surface, but usually, the first
SINKING is the last.
There are many pcculiaritics of pco-
pc NhIch they cannot of themselves
explain. have seen good swimmers dive
from the beach raft. and remain under
water few seconds too long: and |
nav" gone down after them and brought
them to the surface. Not one of them
mas ever been able Ia give me any rca
son for thus becoming suddenly HELPLESS
under the water
Good swimmers and bad swimmers.
ana those who can't swim at all. 20
under the water In the same way. and
Inc more ] see OF death by drowning
me more mysterious II seems t. me
-\obody but The life guards themselves
redlI%c thc responsibility OF their posi-
lions They sit there during the bath
ihS hours. Watching the young folks en-
JOKING themselves. and rushing to the
hlu "l one VINO DISAPPEARS. but. despite
inns Vigilance occasionally one will dis
appear without being missed. until IL is
too late
Ms soon as an alarm is sounded, how
'N''' an persons are called out of the
water aud we begin diving and search
lns along tho bottom, near tn. MONT of
Disappearance. But, You must r.m,n,
Der mat water u always in motion, even
IN the great lakes. The ocean and river
Waters al" 50 constantly III motion that
ur"Whins "od!cs are swept and rolled
around from point To point. so that there
Is great difficulty in making our
searches, except when We are able To
get iISht IN near the point Of dis
apL.aran,e in a FEW seconds
IN. iirs, thing that boy viii do
Whcn II, Is rescued. is to tell a lie and
stich 10 II. He Will say that he was not
browning but only making believe: try
ms |" TOOL the other fellows Boys seem
To- regard II as rather disgraceful
ihine To- bc found drowning.
Mere Is another thing concerning
which the people know comparatively
nothing. In nine cascs out OF ten. when
a party of boys misses "A coilIanion
they begin 20 think of home. and OF
their oWn skins which may be tanned
WIN Il faWhiGe, SO they hik. for home
without telling anyone nor giving any
alarm. Boys should always he accom-
FAMED by cider brothers or by their
fathers. Unless they are restrained they
VIII remain IN The water too long Al
most invariably when command a bog
10 com" cut The water, he replies: Why,
mister. just come in. deed / did an
there's Jimmy, hes been in an hour
That's the answer when both OF them
nay" been in the water for we'll nigh
two hours
How long Il man may remain in
water. without drowning, cannot tell.
nor 10 believe that amy man can an
swer that question positively Some
times while drinking from tumblcr.
individuals maze been stranslcd Ia
death once, Il man lived under water
l"f fifteen minutes, and lived Tor many
years afterwards. He Was a colored
man who icl from a steamboat wharf
III Il summer resort in Maine AS the
Vessel reached the wharf the pilot blew
me whistle. and il was four O'Clock
thcn, by my watch The colorcd man
lcil OIL OF the other side from the wharf.
Wherc was standing Some time
elapsed before ] was notified; and Then
mad To take OFF my shoes. for ] was
not on dutN at the time. divcd and
iouhd nm twenty feet under water. and
Drought nm nj AS they took him away
|" "a hospital looked again at nv
watch, and ii Was fifteen minutes after
four o'clock. ] was amazed that evening,
when was told that the man was Uy