Evening star., 1942-05-31
Mckinley High School Singers Find Professional Their Talent
Just
Between
Yourselves
BY PHILIP III. LOVE
Junior Star Editor.

The opening of the swimming sea-
son gives timeliness to an interest
ing letter that came to The Junior
Star recently from Hazel Mae Skin
ner, IA, of Brentwood (Md) School.
1t was hot day in July, and
Hazel and her stepsister, three
years younger than herself, were
playing with a group of friends on
the pier at beach resort. One of
the children called attention to a
large crab swimming nearby. 1t
was headed toward the pier, and all
the youngsters stopped playing to
watch it.
1--WE all leaned over as far as we
could to see the crab as it went un-
der the pier" Hazel recalls.
Her stepsister, alarmed when one
Of the other children brushed
against her, cried: Don't shove me.
I'll fall in!"
That gave somebody in the crowd
the foolish idea that it would be
fun to tease the little girl by giving
her slight push. ct seems that
there always is at least one person
in every good-siZed swimming party
who thinks it good sport to tease
any one who shows fear Of the
water)
over my stepsister went, splash
ing into water 18 feet Deep" Hazel
writes. "She began to struggle for
her life"
Apparently there was not a swim
mer in the crowd. for no one made
move. Hazel did not know what
to do. She could not swim, but on
the other hand she could not stand
idly by and see her stepsister drown.
There she was" Hazel says of her
stepsister, "bubbling at the mouth
and sinking little by little. Then
suddenly I gained my nerve. I
jumped over and went down but
padded until I got back to the sur
face. grabbed her and, using all
my strength. pulled her over to a
post supporting the pier. I held her
with one hand and clung to the post
with the other one, all the while
screaming for help as loud as !
could.
"A man reached over the edge Of
the pier and pulled my stepsister
from the water" Hazel continues.
Then I struggled to the ladder and
climbed to the pier, almost breath
less. My stepsister leaned on me,
cold and pale. and I carried her
home. have never ceased being
thankful that I had the strength to
save her, as love her very much
Hazel's letter teaches an impor-
tant lesson for all Of us-namely,
that there is no real fun in playing
pranks on others in or near the
water. Some people are just nat
urally afraid of the water. Duck
ing" them does not overcome their
fears; it only accentuates them.
When I was about the age of
Hazel's stepsister I went swimming
for the first time. I was getting
along all right when an older boy,
without warning. picked me up
and threw me into deep water. 1t
took me several years to overcome
the terror that he thus prankishly-
and no doubt innocently-planted
in me.
There is no better sport than
swimming. Any one can learn to
swim if he is not afraid of the wa
ter. We do not help our friends to
learn by frightening them; on the
contrary, if we frighten them
enough, we may make it impossible
for them ever to learn.
Let us resolve now to observe
these simple rules:
l. Learn to swim.
2. Make it possible for our friends
to learn to swim, too, by refraining
from pranks that may frighten
them.
8. Refuse to swim with people who
think it fun to duck one another or
to play other alleged practical jokes
on others.
Swimming is fun. Let's not do
anything that might change it into
tragedy. Let's keep it-fun!