THE RESCUE OF DROWNING PERSONS.

THE summer of 1868 will long be remembered by the present generation in the British Isles as the most extraordinary within their recollection ; for what With the long continuance of almost the heat of the tropics and the drought of the African desert, Old England has for awhile scarcely seemed like herself.

Amongst the phenomena which have been the perhaps natural consequence, every one who has read the journals of the day will have observed the greatly increased number of destructive fires, and the very numerous deaths from drowning, as compared with those which have occurred in ordinary seasons.

The former of those results has been occasioned by the excessive dryness to which inflammable substances have been reduced, and thereby been made more ready to ignite, as from a mere spark or even from friction.

The latter phenomenon has, doubtless, arisen from the unusually large number of persons who have been tempted to bathe from the extraordinary heat of the season, whilst the number of those who could swim has not been above the average.

There can be little doubt that, almost as by a natural law, the ratio of persons able to swim is nearly proportional to the general heat of the climate. Thus there are places, in tie Pacific Ocean and elsewhere, where men, women, and children alike swim off to ships nearing their shores, almost as if water were their natural element, and amongst whom no individual could be found who could not swim. And, even in the Mediterranean, travellers who have visited Malta will remember the " Heave for dive, signer!" of the crowds of boys, some of them scarcely more than infants, who swim off to vessels on their first entering the port of Valetta, and shout in the above words to have pence thrown into the water to them ; just as their dirtier congeners, the " mud larks," as they are absurdly termed, turn up their grimy faces to passengers over the London bridges at low-water and shout themselves hoarse, thus attempting to " earn an honest penny," although it be not in a useful, and certainly not in an ornamental work.

As an illustration nearer home, however, we, some years since, in conversation with a boatman on the coast, expressed our surprise that whilst many a ploughman had learned to swim in the nearest river or canal in the neighbourhood of his home, yet that by far the greater number of themselves, whose lives were often jeopardized in following their avocation, had never learned to do so.

" Ah, sir, but the water is so much colder in the sea than in rivers and canals!" was his reply.

To proceed, however, with the practical part of our subject: amongst the many valuable lives that have been lost by drowning during the past few months several have been those of persons who have sprung into the water to the rescue of their friends or others who have fallen in from accident.

Not a few of them have been women, who so constantly are ready to follow a generous impulse of their nature, and, utterly regardless of self, to think only of the object possessing their affection or exciting their sympathy.

As in this country, however, few women can swim, and even when they can do so the female ordinary dress is most unfavourable to the free motion of the limbs in the water, and must much embarrass the wearer, it almost follows that but few cases of attempted rescue by females, when the drowning persons are in deep water, are likely to be successful.

But several instances have occurred during the past summer of men and swimmers losing their own lives, or nearly doing so, through being clutched or dragged down by those whom they have attempted to save.

A notable case in point, which excited general sympathy at the time, was that of the late Major Taylor, one of the Military Professors at Sandhurst College, who perished in the attempt to save his own child, a little girl, scarce more than an infant, who bad fallen over from a boat in which he had taken his children, with their nurse, for a row on the College lake.

We are not aware if Major Taylor could swim, although it is said that he could do so; but at all events he was unable to save a small child; how much less, therefore, would he have been able to render any assistance to an adult person, struggling for life in the water. How important then is it that every male person, at least, should not only be able to swim, but also that he should know how to apply his art to the rescue of a fellow-creature in peril, with as little danger as possible to himself! The great danger to the would-be rescuer in all such cases is that of being clutched by the endangered person, and thus rendered powerless to use his own limbs. It is an old and true proverb, that " a drowning man will catch at a straw." In fact, a person in fear of drowning will seize—nay, convulsively grasp—anything that catches his eye in the water. Indeed, persons so situated seem not only to lose their presence of mind, but all natural sense and feeling, as they will almost invariably try to climb over, and thus force under water, the benefactor who is endeavouring to aid them, even if he be their nearest and dearest relative.

It becomes, therefore, the more important that a person swimming to the aid of another should preserve his presence of mind, and not only act coolly and deliberately, but even, if necessary, to do violence to his own natural impulse, and to withhold his helping arm until a favourable moment should present itself for seizing the frantic, struggling creature before him, who would otherwise destroy the lives of both. Accordingly, the deliberate advice of a celebrated swimmer, who had saved many persons from drowning, and whose recommendations on the subject we some years since published in this Journal, was, " To keep clear of the drowning person until he or she became somewhat exhausted and ceased to struggle." Few persons would have the sangfroid to act thus deliberately with a drowning person almost within their grasp; nevertheless, coolness and presence of mind in such cases is of vital importance.

Next in value to presence of mind is skill in the use of the limbs, and a knowledge of the best mode to seize and secure the person immersed. On this head the authority above referred to recommended that the swimmer, watching his opportunity, should seize the drowning person by the hair, turn him on his back, and then throwing himself on his back, that he should swim for the shore in that position, holding the rescued person at arm's-length in front.

It appears to us, however, that although an experienced swimmer who had practised the operation might find this the best mode of operating, yet that the majority of ordinary persons would be unable so to effect their object. To such we will offer some rules for their guidance; but after all, so much depends on " presence-of-mind" on such occasions, which gift so few persons, comparatively speaking, possess in great and sudden emergencies, that we cannot hope that any rules, however good, will be very generally practised. Before stating them, however, it will be well to consider the theory of flotation by swimming.

All substances in nature necessarily possess a certain "specific gravity" or weight as compared with water, and hence it follows that all bodies which are relatively heavier than water will sink in it, whilst those which are lighter will float, and those that are of the same weight will remain suspended in it. We must therefore look to some other property to float bodies which are heavier than water, and this we find in the principle that when fluid and solid bodies come in contact, the one or the other of them being in motion, the pressure of the fluid, which is always equal to the force or velocity of the contact between the two bodies, is exerted at right angles to the surface of the solid. Hence, we have only to throw a solid body heavier than water, such as a stone or a cannon-shot with sufficient velocity obliquely into the water when the upward pressure of the water on its under surface will not only prevent it from sinking, but will cause it to rebound and remount into the air again and again.

In the same manner, the swimmer is sup ported on the surface, and the greater the vapidity with which he swims, the lighter will he float in the water. Any one understanding this principle will then at one see the importance of a swimmer maintain ing as great rapidity of motion as possible when rescuing another person, independent; of the desirableness of reaching the shore o the nearest boat or vessel as quickly as prac ticable.

The following axioms may, we believe with advantage be borne in mind.

1st.—Strive to remain cool and collected 2nd.—If the person immersed be struggling, approach him with caution, watch for a favourable opportunity to seize him ; do so in preference from behind, and keep as far as possible out of his sight.

3rd.—By choice, take hold by the hair of the head, if it be long enough, otherwise by the collar of the coat or other garment at the back of the neck, if the person be clothed.

The drowning person can then be easily turned on his back, or he will, without an effort do so, on being drawn through the water, and his face thus remain above the surface.

Or again, if seized by one hand, or under one arm from behind, and at once towed quickly through the water, before he should have time to clutch his rescuer, he might probably in general be kept at arm's length.

4th.—Take hold with the left hand, reserving the right hand and arm to swim with; unless in the case of a left-handed person.

5th.—Having secured a hold of the drowning person, throw yourself on your side, and swim with your full force in the manner termed " side swimming," striking out with the right hand in front, and with both feet, taking the shortest course to shoal water, or to the nearest place of safety.

6th.—Supposing that the immersed person has sunk, and the water is not clear enough to see to the bottom, watch where bubbles ascend to the surface, and if you know how to dive, do so in that direction ; but even under water, be cautious as to the manner in which you obtain a hold of the body, as even then, if life be not extinct, the hands will instinctively clutch at anything coming into contact with them; which may usefully be borne in mind by those who cannot swim, and who attempt to save drowning persons near the edge of the water without themselves jumping into it. As an illustration of this fact, we may relate a case which occurred within our own knowledge, when a youth who had fallen into the water, and sunk the fatal third time, was saved by his companions pushing an oar under the water at the spot where they saw bubbles rising. They saw nothing but the bubbles, but either he saw the oar under the water, or felt it in contact with his body, and instantly grasping it, he was drawn to the shore by his frightened comrades, and soon after revived.

It has also been recommended that the swimmer, after seizing the drowning person, should push him towards the place of safety, holding him at arm's length in front; but it appears to us that the former would be likely to push the latter under water by this method of proceeding.

Again; we have been informed of more than one case of successful rescue, where the rescuing party has struck the drowning one violently on the head with his clenched fist and stunned him before seizing him, to prevent being clutched ; but as we think that any such strong-minded as well as strong-armed persons would be more likely to act on their own impulse or knowledge than on any published rules, we think we may safely leave them to their own resources.

Trusting that these few remarks on the subject may prove useful to some persons ;o whom an opportunity may be afforded to save a fellow-creature from death, we will, n conclusion, ask if it does not become a duty for every male person to learn to swim ? Not only because they know not low soon or how often that knowledge may enable them to save the life of another person, but because from their want of it they may at any time occasion the death of mother who may come to their rescue, should accident befall themselves.