Imperial Valley press., 1937-06-27
By Richard w. Emery

w and your mouth and nose are full of
water and you remember with horror that the
third sink is supposed to be final-well Brother
take heart, because it's NOT SO!
Three duckings don't any more make
drowning than three firecrackers make Fourth
of July But just one oversize frecracker
can conclude persons independence Day cee-
bration, so trip down prove final
On the other hand to look at the subject from
its bright side, you lin this imaginary accident)
may continue to bob and gurgle for an hour
suffering countless duckings and still survive
to tell your grandchildren about it.
Of all the misbeliefs about swimming that
superstition about the third time down being
final is the most ancient and the least true 1t
has cost many lives by dscouraging spectators
from attempting to rescue apparently doomed
bathers.
little thoughtful consideration of facts and
fables about swimming may prove to be your
lifesaver when you most need one this summer
You may believe that because you learned
to paddle at a tender age and now defy the
very whales of the to match your pace you
won't ever drown.
Discouragingly, the evidence is all against
you!
Good swimmers go down to Davy Jones
locker right along with the dubs. In fact, they
have bad name in lifeguard circles because
of the ease with which they erase their names
from the list of the living. The reason, of
course is that good swimmers take chances that
mere paddler never willingly would take, and
bad luck catches them.
In recent years scientists and autopsy sur
geons in America and in Europe, especially in
Germany have been studying the causes of
swimming fatalities. Some strange theories
have been developed, and the amazing indication
is that most of the drowned bathers didn't
drown at all. Instead they died of fright.
One strange conclusion reached by German
surgeons is that a drowning" person becomes
lost in water, so that he cannot tell which di-
rection is up. The upsetting of his sense of
orientation, say the surgeons, is caused by
water penetrating the and reaching the deli
cate inner ear, organ of balance
Whether that theory is is not true,
hundreds of autopsies performed on American
bathers, after bathing fatalities, have shown
that almost nine out of ten died of shock or
fright instead of submersion.
Early every summer, in beach cities and at
river resorts, lifeguards post such list of
rules as the following;
Swim the lifeguard station.
Don't dive into shallow water. &
Don't over-estimate your ability.
Beware of tide rips or other currents.
After eating meal, wait two hours be- M
fore swimming. SM
Don't try to mix alcohol and swimming. Ms
Protect yourself from sunburn. M#
Don't throw glass break glass on the VIZ
beach. &
Stay away from piers and rocks. M M
Never signal for help unless you need a
help. M,
Bathing resorts which have special 8@
dangers warn their visitors against # #
them. The terse warnings in the lists I'm
may at first glance to be bit
too severe Yet not bathing season
passes without its tragedies resulting =#
from violations Of the simplest safety # .
principles. ##@
"Swim near the lifeguard station @SMS
it sounds too simple Yet sometimes #%@#
bather far from a lookout station finds #=#
himself exhausted in deep water. Too
late, he realizes what the rule meant
Sometimes