[Illustration: AT EASE.]
On the first day of June the public swimming-baths in New York city were
opened for the season. It is only a few years since the "City Fathers,"
as the Board of Aldermen are sometimes called, came to see the advantage
of providing places where those of their children whose lives are passed
in crowded tenement-houses and hot, dirty streets could wash and be
clean. The aldermen built schools and paid teachers, and thought they
had done their duty; but cleanliness is next to godliness, and health is
even more important than reading and writing. The bath-tub is not in
great favor with persons who have not been brought up to it, but every
boy and girl likes to paddle about in the water in hot weather; and
where there is a chance to swim, very few will long be content with
paddling. Swimming is natural to most land animals, and a man could swim
as readily as they but that he lacks confidence. It is very easily
learned, however, and when learned, how delightful and healthy an
accomplishment it is! and to what noble deeds does it not open the way!
[Illustration: A FREE SWIMMING-BATH--WOMEN'S DAY--DRAWN BY JESSIE
SHEPHERD.]
You will read in the newspapers from time to time of persons who have
risked their lives to stop runaway horses, or to rescue helpless persons
from an awful death in a burning house; but the heroes who have
distinguished themselves by saving life in the water far outnumber
those; for among a travelling people such as ours, danger by water is
much more frequent than fires, or any other situations where the act of
a single person may save life. Prince Bismarck, the great German
Chancellor, may cover the breast of his uniform with medals and stars
and orders of knighthood; but the decoration which he wears most
frequently, and values more highly than all, is a medal which he
received for rescuing his groom from drowning many years ago.
[Illustration: TEACHING THE LITTLE ONES TO SWIM.]
There is a story of a loving and overcautious mother who forbade her
children to go into the water until they had learned to swim. Of course
it is impossible for any one to swim before he has had an opportunity of
trying; but in the absence of a teacher, a beginner will learn much more
easily if he studies the positions and movements as given in the
following hints. The first rule in learning to swim is, take things
coolly. Remember that you can swim naturally if you can only put aside
all nervousness and excitement.
[Illustration: FISHING.]
Salt-water is the best to swim in on account of its greater buoyancy,
but it is very difficult to learn in the surf. If you bathe in still or
running water, be careful to choose a place free from weeds, and with a
hard bottom, sloping gradually down to deep water. Be cautious about
holes which would take you over your head, especially when bathing in an
unknown place. Never venture out into deep water trusting to corks or
life-belts to keep you afloat. Such help will never teach you to swim,
and may lead you into danger. You need have no fear of taking cold _in_
the water; but if you stay in long enough to get chilled, you will most
likely take cold when you come out.
If you find that you do not get warm as soon as you are dressed, you may
be sure you have staid in the water too long, and your bath has done you
more harm than good.
It is a great mistake to think that swimming is a sport solely for men
and boys; for not only do those girls who learn to swim enjoy doing so,
but it is quite as important for girls to know how to swim as for boys.
Nearly every large city is provided with swimming-baths, private and
public, where every facility is afforded for swimming and learning to
swim. In New York city there are seventeen of these baths, nine of them
private, to which a small admission fee is charged, and eight of them
public. In the private baths certain compartments are always reserved
for women and girls, and the public baths are devoted to their use on
Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.
[Illustration: A JUMP FROM THE ROOF.]
On the preceding page are a number of sketches made by Mrs. Shepherd in
one of the largest of these public baths. Some of the girls who visit
these baths become very expert swimmers, and think nothing of taking a
flying leap from the roof of the bath-house, swimming the entire length
of the bath under the water, and doing other feats that appear very
wonderful to the little ones just learning to swim by the aid of lines
made fast to their waists.