Evening star., 1939-07-16
By JACQUES FUTRELLE, Jr.

ny JHSNOLo + AtIAAIs JIs
Chesty, 1.-THE and muscular, the
life guard sits in his tower chair.
More than likely he is oblivious to
the admiring glances Of the nymph-
like bathing girls, small boys and
men, who don -look-well- in bath
lng-suits, His eyes are rowing the
bright waters before him, straying
frequently to a boisterous party
who has the earmarks of show
of swimmer. 1t is Sunday. hot,
and the beach Is crowded. He has
need to be alert, for, if the heat
wave is general throughout the
United States over the week end,
more than 100 persons who venture
into the water are going to drown
These victims form part of the
inevitable news story on Mondays
of fatalities among the recreation
seekers of America. The headquar-
ters of the American Red Cross
and the chapters scattered through
out the Nation have learned to an
ticpate the tragedies, have come to
watch each week end weather FORE
cast with forebodings. Temperatures
in the COS and zoos mean trouble
ahead. The free" swimmer. the
man or woman of ability wise in the
ways of the water, more or less
takes care of himself the average
swimmer knows his limitations
and gets over his head principally
through miscalculation; it is the
novice, a bit too daring, who contrib
utes largely to the toll. And yet
any swimmer, good or bad, is
candidate for trouble.
At the beaches, few bathers ever
see members of the life guard crew
in action. To all appearances they
lead sedentary lives. sitting hour
upon hour in their watch chairs.
Their very inactivity attests a we'll
ordered, disciplined beach which
saves the smarty swimmer from
himself and keeps the good SWIM
mer within range of rescue should he
Unexpectedly get into difficulty. If
strangling cry comes over the wa
ter, it's Is to guards ripping
muscles and skill will snatch name
from the fatality list.
The annual toll of more than 5000
accidental drownings in the United
States comes largely from isolated
beaches and streams patrolled by
skelton staffs or safeguarded only
by the impromptu efforts of fellow
bathers. And it is at these places
that the more poignant Of the
tragedies are written-the story Of
the swimmer who cries for help
and doesn't get it because hes
fooling" Life guards have a cure
for that-the swimmer who. like the
boy in the fable, cried wolf" at
many times when there was no wolf,
and once when there was.
All good swimmers capable of ef-
fecting a rescue should adopt the
primary code of the life guard No
cry for help is to be left unheeded.
As to their cure for pranksters, the
professional method is best left, for
safety sake, in their hands. Going
to the aid of a prankster only TO
learn that his cry was joke, ex-
perienced life guards almost invari-
ably carry out rescue" in which
the hoaxer gets good physical
going over. Expert and powerful,
they accidentally" submerge the
victim to the point Of strangulation
and perhaps stray elbow pops into
one of his eyes. Safer for the or
binary swimmer answering a fake
SOS is an appeal to reason-on land.
No ono should ever suggest sound
padding over a barrel, and yet
The prankster's fateful cry, like the
sweet music of mythology's sirens,
has tempted many a man-an in
expert swimmer-to his death:
prompted him to heroics bit be-
yond his ability. The comedy be-
comes tragedy, scars the heart and
the mind by snuffing out the life Of
an earnest person who risked his
own to be of service to fellow man.
Grim jest!
X X
Launching into the travel expert
ence of touring the Youth Hostel