Evening star., 1915-07-30
Girls and Boys Demonstrate
Rescue Methods at Bath
ing Beach.
DRILLED BY EXPERT, THEY
SEEM WHOLLY PROFICIENT
Lifeguards Also Give Exhibition,
Aided by Wilbert E. Longfellow,
Red Cross Agent.

Six girls and four boys, all of them
under fifteen years of age. gave thor
ough and comprehensive exhibition of
life saving by the most approved scien-
tiic methods at the municipal bathing
beach near the Monument this morning.
Their official audince was composed
of the police captains, several police
sergeants and privates and some of the
District officials. An unofficial but
highly appreciative audience of bathing
beach habitues lined the fences around
the pools and looked on in a sweltering
sun, which made the water appear
heavenly in comparison.
The exhibition was the result of
weeks work by Wilbert e. Longfellow,
field agent for the American National
Red Cross. who has taught life saving
and "safety-first'' methods on land and
water to policemen. Boy Scouts and
others for ten years or more The boys
and girls who looked to be perfectly
expert In their water life saving
stunts" today were taken in hand as
raw material a week ago and shown
all the principles of fe-saving, to-
gether with many of the fancy touches.
The girls and boys who showed their
skill today were Beatrice Pollock Nat
allie Wood Mareta George, Elenore -.
Eby, Annie Thrasher, Caroline Nelson.
Ralph Swart, William Brooks and Leon
Robin.
In addition. the life guards aided Mr..
Longfellow in an exhibition previous
to the demonstration by the children.
The life guards, under the direction of
Supt. Sidney c. Cousins were Sterling
Taylor. j. Emmet Haltigan and William
Cusack. The girls have all received
diplomas from the Worlds Life-saving
Alliance for Women.
No Chance for the Bald.
The first exhibition was that of saw
ing a drowning person by swimming
on ones back and gently towing the
Subject" ashore by the ears or hair.
This is all right if the subject does
not struggle. Also, as ore of the boys
remarked, "a bald-headed man doesn't
stand chance in the hair method"
Following this the method of swim
ming on the side and using a free arm
to grasp the drowning person was
shown in various parts of the pool.
The wrist break which is a method
Of freeing the hands from the frenzied
grasp of a drowning man or woman,
was shown. The subject" grasped the
wrists of the rescuer, leaving him help
less. He then exerted the leverage of
his arms on the thumbs of the vic
tim, tearing his arms loose. The res
cuer then quickly turned the sub
ject" over in the water and towed him
ashore.
The method of breaking the strangle
hold proved to be exciting. The Sub
jects," boys and girls. would grasp the
would-be rescuer around the neck.
sometimes from the front and
sometimes from the back. The method
of breaking the front stranRle mold is
to place one hand around the back of
the drowning persons head and with
the other hand shut off the breath of
the mouth and nose and push hard. Also
give 4 sharp poke in the drowning per-
sons stomach with the knee. The
strangle hold will break easily.
DissoIving the Strangle Hold.
The back strangle hold was shown to
be the frenzied grab of drowning
person around the rescuer's neck from
the back. The way to break it was
shown to be a sharp crack in the nose
with the head; simply lifting the head
up and banging the subjects" face.
The strangle hold dissolves instantly
and the rescuer then gets the drown
ing person by the shoulders. turns him
over and tows him ashore.
Methods of resuscitation were shown
after the life-saving demonstrations.
Among the officials who saw the work
Engineer Commissioner Schley, Maj.
Pullman, superintendent of police; DR..
w. c. Woodward. health officer; Daniel
J.. Donovan, secretary to the board of
Commissioners.
The Washington Safety First Asso
citation was represented by j. Clinton
Hiatt.