Show TO LEARN TO SWIM The Old f Heroic Method not a Good One WATER POLO OUT OF DOORS The Loop Method Recommended by Dr Sara enow to Resuscitate Drowning Drown-ing rersous Snimmins Strokes NEw YORK April 301S9L Special correspondence cor-respondence of THE HEKILDJ As everyman every-man or woman ought know now to swim and as it is not always easy or convenient to learn in adult life itfollows as the night the day that it is a good plan to begin swimming lessons with the boys and girls and to begin right What is the right way I asked Dr Savage the expert on physical training If you had a boy or girl to teach swimming how would you go to work to do its The bestmeans of teaching swimming said Dr Savage is to put harness or belt about the body of the pupil under the arms attach to it a strap sufficiently long to be just taut at the level of the water have a little pulley at the end of the strap running free upon a wire stretched across the tank This gives the pupil the necessary confidence confi-dence that he is not going to drown and yet if the proper tension is provided it doesnt prevent him from working It is better to have the loop and a portion of the strap of rubber to allow for stretching The pulley follows him back and forth about the tank and Yes but doctor it is not everybody who has a tank How would you work it out of doors Oh in that case I would attach a similar loop to a short stout pole and go out upon afloat a-float or in a heavy boat and encourage the pupil to swim round and round it gradually gradu-ally easine away the tension upon the loop ror r N 1 t r t 4 t I JOHNXT LEARNING TO SWIM as he became proficient or tightening it a s he flounderedjust like playing a big fish you know Or if I lived near a river and the bank was sufficiently steep I could walk along by the side of the water while the pupil in his harness swam alongside As loon as possible I would dispense with the harness altogether and go into the wate rftu l the o cbildi The oldfas vi a blond way > o f j supporting the young swimmer with the hand under the chin is notso good because the support thus placed at one extremity of the body is not as available the feet tend to sink and the pupil clutches instinctively his instructors arm Probably you do not approve the old heroic method of throwing the pleading cryinglad at once into deep water J Certainly not There is to begin with avery a-very considerable danger of drowning Even if no such result terminates the experiment ex-periment the pupil is apt to get such a terror ter-ror of deep water that he will never willingly will-ingly go into it again Of course though some boys would learn to swim that way and many nave The plan would probably succeed best in the case of some of these New York street boys who have never been accustomed to anything but abuse from their birth up and who can stand anything and then wait to pay off upon the next fellow fel-low But I would notlet a child of mine boo bo-o treated The swimming loop to which Dr Savage referred is in use in most of the gymnasiums gymna-siums but the outdoor modifications of it which he suggests are capable of more extended ex-tended usefulness It is not every athletic club even which can aflord a great swimming swim-ming tank like those of the New York or Manhattan club with shallow water at one end for dipping and deep water at the other for plunging But there is plenty of deep and shallow water out of doors R TUB i II lihl J i I = WATER POLORGSnrxG TIIE lULL The increased attention paid to water i sports by gymnasts is an encouraging thing because the example is sure to be followed i Nothing is more certain than that water I polo a novelty of a few months in the tanks I of the big athletic clubs will be taken out I of doors this summer and played in the open 1 air in proper swimming waters No equipment equip-ment is required except a ball which will float upon the water With it any party of I youngsters by choosing sides can make as much fun for themselves the spectators as cracks like clever Do C8sanovaMarwipr Davis Crane Knoedler Collins and Clark of the New York Athletic club in thei costly building The finest amateur swimmers in the two great clubs here are Alexander Meffert of the Manhattans and W C Johnson of the New York Athletic club Their prowess is i eclipsed by professional swimmers like Gus Sundstrom and Robert McGee but they are remarkably clever examples for the New York athlete who excels for the pure love < of it and for the greater glory of his club Considered purely as an exercise swimming swim-ming is highly praised by the experts I t gives a varied exercise calling into play many muscles not ordinarily usedbut it ha s its effect upon the lungs and muscles of the rear of the neck which most recommend it The exertion of breathing while immersed im-mersed in the heavier fluid is excellent for reasonably healthy lungs affecting them like mountain climbing while the necessity of holding the head well up induces an exact ex-act carriage Wrynecked export swimmers swim-mers are not often seen They are as a rule splendid deepchested fellows with erect heads and fine carriage This applie I I to women too No more magnificent specimen spec-imen of physical development in horse x F jf t was ever seen than Agnes Beckwith the English swimmer who was with Barnum a few years ago and whose statuesque pose before the plunge set puny dudedom crazy with delight A woman who swims much is apt to have a figure which causes envy in others of her sex F cwt l MEFFERT TAKING A HEADER The old paddle stroke sometimes used in swimming the boys call it dogfashion is never employed by fast swimmers except ex-cept possibly for a few strokes to rest some tired muscle The square breast stroke which is what most pupils firstlearn is not a very fast one either though for long distances dis-tances it is the easiest Most of the tidewater tide-water racers use the English stroke in which one side of the body usually the right alternating with the left for shorter periods kept well in advance one arm ever reaching out towards the goal the other underneath never showing abovo the water The body seems to meet with less resistance when it thus cuts the water edgewise edge-wise as it were When a swimmer has mastered this stroke and can dive forward I backward or sidewise ho is ready for water polo swimming races diving for small stones for for saving lives if he be strong enough And that reminds mesince warm weather is coming on and since upon an average a boy a day will be drowned until snow flies in ordinary bathing to say nothing noth-ing of yachting accidents and tumbles over Li A RIVERSIDE FROLIC boardthat a good way to rescue a person who is drowning is to swim behind him clasp him about the body under the arms turn upon the back and swim towards shore in that attitude Another way is to clasp his head from behind before assuming the same position The reason for turning upon the back is that the rescuers buoyancy is much greater in that position as only his nose need then be out of the water The drowning person being approached from behind is less able to clutch at his rescuer and impode his work This is the method almost universally employed by the famous slife savers at the big swimming beaches I The rescuer is justified in using any amount of brutality to prevent the drowning person per-son from seizing him as that may result in the death of both A sharp pull at the hair of the subject frequently brings him to his senses and induces a proper meekness and submission To resuscitate a person who has been nearly drowned and is unconscious the body is laid upon the face with the head well down to allow the water to run well out of the mouth and HOBO The respiration may then need to be artificially restored This requires hard work by two persons The air can be partly driven from the lungs by direct and heavy pressure on the chest Thenthe body lying now on its back grasp the hands and turn them forward and up until they are in a line with the body over the head Then pull them forcibly in that direction as if stretching them This pulling will cause the lower ribs to start out and a small quantity of air will bo drawn in Place the arms again at the side and press the air out then repeat the stretching process pro-cess Continue the stretching and the pressure pres-sure alternately until breathing is resumed The assistant who holds the feet of the subject is meanwhile busychatingnlapping and rubbing them to restore the circulation circula-tion To be effective this treatment must sometimes some-times be long continued Cases are known where natural respiration has been restored restor-ed after half an hours work upon the subject sub-ject It is a good plan not to give up a aoubtf ul case until all doubt has vanished There are other more elaborate methods of resuscitation but this is easily remembered remem-bered and applied and will work in a majority ma-jority of cases DAID WECHSLER |