CONSCIENCE STIRRED.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 65, 18 March 1938, Page 13

CONSCIENCE STIRRED.

■j LEARN-TO-SWIM WEEK. : OVER .*>ooo PEOPLE TAUGHT. The public conscience lo the necessity '• of swimming ability was stirred more '• than on an,\ previous occasion. Exceptionally keen interest in swimming was evident, and, in consequence, the campaign

w.is a notable success. | So says t)io teport released last night' v by tlie organising committee of liie Auck-;(j land branch of the N'ati mal Committee (. of Swimming and Life-Saving. on the, activities of leain-to-swim week, December | 5 to 11. Over .~>(RH) people were taught swimming ! » during that period. Twenty thousand i pamphlets, explaining a .-inipic m.thod of j learning to swim, were published i>y the j branch, and 19..T10 were distributed. the'j greatest proportion to ihe 137 schools' j applying for them. The lessons were [ most useful, and a further edition was I recommended for the campaign next year, j . Typical of the excellent work done by | j teachers were the achi '\ i nients of four 1 schools. At the Newton Central School ll'S children were taught to swim, at the! Ponsonby school 10"). at the Weliesloy | j Street, school f>6, and at the Waimauku ■ , school 13. | The fact that 186 children at the Pnnsonby school were non-swimmers prior to j ' the campaign illustrated its value. The I number of children taught on an average | at schools that submitted returns indicated that the total estimate was conservative. I i In three months th'is summer,death by! | drowning had taken more than 80 lives. 1 but hardly a local body was aware that I 'swimming pools were essential, stated the: .report. Furthermore, within the metro-! | politan area the organising committee met j jan obstacle in the refusal of schools with; .baths to allow tl/em to be used by other! schools. Only three such pools were' made available, namely, those at King's' I College, the Teachers' Training College. ■ and Gladstone school. 1 ! Ihe campaign, however, had given many j a means of healthful recreation, and . equipped persons with a safeguaid for their lives. The toll of drowning remained heavy, however, and for this reason, future learn-to-swim campaigns must be orsanised with more thoroughness, and pro-, moted trith. greater energy.