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About Eugene register-guard. (Eugene, Or.) 1930-1983 | View Entire Issue (June 27, 1937)
f vj u u y u b lis ijlllilllilJJ If $ Easy Enough To Drown But Old Axioms Are Sometimes Hindrances All Swimmers Should Study Lifesaring Rules Before Venturing By Richard W. Emery WHK youe Binning iui me mira lime and your mouth and nose are full of oter 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 a drowning than three firecrackers make a Fourth of July. But jusi as one oversize nrecracker an conclude a person's Independence Day cele bration, so can one trip aown prove nnai. nn the other hand, to look at the subject from it, bright side, you (in this imaginary accident) nay continue to bob and gurgle for an hour, miering countless duckings, and still survive to tell your grandchildren about It. Of all tne misDeneis bdoui swimming, that nUnut tha thtvrl Mmn )...... I i teal is the most ancient and the least true. It has cost many lives by discouraging spectators from attempting to rescue apparently doomed bathers. A little thoughtful consideration of facts and tables about swimming may prove to be your liesaver 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 sea to match your pace, you won't ever drown. Discouragingly, the evidence is all against fou! Good swimmers go aown to Davy Jones' locker right along with the dubs. In fact, they live a 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 i 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 iimming fatalities. Some strange theories nave been developed, and the amazing indication i! 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 senje of orientation, say the surgeons, is caused by water penetrating the ear and reaching the deli cate inner ear, organ of balance. Whether that new theory is or 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 (right instead of submersion. Early every summer, In beach cities and river resorts, lifeguards post such a list of rules as the following: Swim near the lifeguard station. Don't dive into shallow water. Don't over-estimate your ability. Beware of tide rips or other currents. After eating a meal, wait two hours be fore swimming. Don't try to mix alcohol and swimming. Protect yourself from sunburn. Don't throw glass or break glass on the beach. Stay away from piers and rocks. Never signal for help unless vou need Help. Bathing resorts which have special '.angers warn their visitors against ftem. The terse warnings in the lists My seem at first glance to be a bit too severe. Yet not a bathing season es without Its traceriies resulting from violations :f the simplest safety principles. S Swim near the lifeguard station" it sounds too simple! Yet sometimes a bather far from a look-out station finds "mself exhausted in deep water. Too !te. he realizes what the rule meant. Sometimes an un skilled lifesaver comes to the res ce. and quite possibly both Wmmers perish. Frequency of 'Jut type of acci dent has prompted '"guards at "sny beaches to Provide floats for tmergency use. n amateur res ff can push a ":ank or a buoy a weary bath- and both may rag safely to the !W until a life- ftard arrives r of the time- snored legends "lures a hero to -and life-long paralysis j, j JUL Stn&iiHtl V i J j In Ocean This I -vV . Summer ,ST) ' x -by. kv " I f' . t . X-J r r W -Xi -T- : ' .KJ rw' ....... clothed and kind of float, to the rescue of a drowning rer- tuch an act is not iustined in one map out of a thousand. It is not only suicide; it is murder. The warning about diving into shallow water uraerves lop place on the list. What's the haz aru : A Droken neck or death! Drifting along in a current mav sound at tractive. When a swimmer finds himself un expectedly snatched up bv a current however, his emotional reaction is usuallv one of fear Heart pounding, he fights the current, thought- trooiy irying to match its swift flow with ailing ot arms and logs. Soon exhausted he faces serious trouble. He might have avoided trouble by swimming across the current instead of against it. Like a boat crossing a river, he probably would have reached safety Lifeguards preach the "river" idea to surf bathers, most of whom suffer from a super stitious fear of "rip tides" which are not tides at all. Scores of lives arc lost every summer by the tide rip route, only because an overwhelm ing fear grips a bather when he finds that he cannot swim straight back to shore against the rip. In that battle of swimmer versus tide rip, there is an exception of the geometrical axioni about a straight line being the shortest distance between two points. Only bv drifting along with the current and swimming toward its etlge, as if it were a river, can a swimmer return to shore. r-araiyzmg cramps are deadly but rare. Muscle cramps of the feet, calves, thigh and neck are more com mon than the dreaded "stomach cramp" which doubles its vic tim into a knot. Fa tigue, chill and over exertion cause muscle cramping. Sunburn brings a golden tan to some skins, but only raw, red burn to others. Too much direct sunlight on a ten der skin will de stroy the outer layers of skin and dry the inner lay ers, even tx the 9 I' tendons of the hands and feet, crippling tho surTercr. A few minutes of cxpo suro each day will provldo the average bather with a defensive coat of tan, Untannablcs the redheads and some blondes should wear protective cloth ing. Thoughtless discarding of bottles where lliey may be broken and en danger bathers is one of the newer haz ards at American beaches. Offenders face arrest and lines. On most bathing beaches the signal for help is not a yell, but a wave of tho hand. One of the reasons in that a person half-drowned has little, breath to use In shouting. The sender of falso rescue signals may rue his foolishness later If ho has real cause to wave for help. Most of the superstitions or misbeliefs about swimming give an exaggerated Impression of aquatic dangers. There Is one bit of misinforma tion now being widely circulated, however, which might give tt bather a confidence not Justified by facts. The test Is simple to see If no one can possibly sink If he Just relaxes! A bather need only to take a breath, hold his nose and refrain from any movement for a few seconds In deep water, and he will know whether he Is a (loater-typc or a sinker! No sinker-type bather need give up hope on that account, however. Some of the greatest speed swimmers sink like plummets, feet first, unless they keep moving. When a "sinker" swims forward, his body is Inclined at a slight angle, In the manner of an airplane wing, so that tho water has a lifting action which keeps him on top. HITJcisCS l-? lme Mea"s Vrw'i'ig" Pictures 2, 3 mid KwS3rr' -J&?r jGT''' ;' ' 1 Show the M"" fighting to Keep Afloat . In fcTCrTvfTT ' J' &--'J Number Hie Is Douu for the Third (but not r Sf trfZ . nT4 : last) Time. A I. ie guard U as Reached llim in MJsS? rSy & - t , fSZ Jr Number 6. These Prove That it Pays to Study ESSr .r.n ft Safety Rules! 7 his Dramatic Series of Photo g r a l b s Has Caught a Swim mer in a Struggle to Keep Prom 1 r tt If I It n Also Refuting the Old 7 heory 7 hat "Going Down for the Third HELPS KEEP TEETH WHITE MOUTH HEALTHY $ttJui ff terMthri smile DENfYNE PEPS UP HALF-HEARTED SMILES. Modern, toft foods givo teeth ond gumi loo little exercise may rob Ihem of health. Yet you moy still have your mother's lovely smile . . . chew Denlyne I III special consistency helps keep teeth white strengthen gums bring smilesl A FLAVOR THAT MAKES CHEW ING A REAL PLEASURE. 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