HOW BURGESS SWAM THE CHANNEL.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1262, 18 October 1911, Page 5

HOW BURGESS SWAM THE CHANNEL.

YORKSHIREMAN'S GREAT FEAT. SWIMMER'S ACCOUNT Oi? UIS STRUGGLE. 'Hie Channel has been swum agnin. Thomas William Hursts-', the Yorkshire swimmer, walked a-sluiro near Cape l< nslifz, on the French side, on Wednesday morniii", September (i. after slrusslms for over twenty-two hours againyt contrary tide.-, seasickness, delirium, niul physical exhaustion. Thus ihe great t«vt of'Cnptain Matthew Webb, who swam from Jjover to Calais in 1675, lias been at last repeated.

Aftcr"his groat performance Burgess received thu following message:— "I am commanded to convey to you tho hcarly congratulations of the King upon your determination, and endurance in accomplishing the wonderful lcat of swimininu the Channel to-day.—btcun-fordham." Burgess replied to tho King as follows :— "Your Majesty's gracious message has touched me deeply. Its receipt lias fnyon mo more pleasure than the accomplishment of the fc.it itself. I am proud to Ira an Englishman and your subject.— Burgess." Burgos? entered tho water between, the South Foreland and St. Margaret's Bay at 11.13 a.m. on Tuesday, September 5, this being his sixteenth attempt to conquer the Channel. From early on. luesday evening until Wednesday morning no news of him could bo obtained, and fears for his safety lresan to l>e entertained. Soon after midday came the triumphant message from Calais announcing his victory. He had sinim tho 21 miles in 22 hours and 35 minute.?, taking 10 minutes more, than Captain Webb. Burgess's time-table was sis follows.— Left South Foreland, 11.15 a.m., Tuesday. Goodwin L.uht, 1 n.m., Tuesday. Mid-Channel, midnight, Tuesday. Landed iu France, 9.50 a.m., Wednesday. On feeling the French slioto beneath has feet, Bni£ess gave way to tears. Ho w.-uled ashore near tho little villago of Chatelet and was given food and restoratives in a bathing cabin on the beach. Elovon men were in the niotor-bcat F,l>-.ie which accompanied tho swimmer, and a number of people '.ritEcssed his i arrival in France. "A GREAT STRUGGLE." ME. BURGESS'S "ACCOUNT OF HIS SWIM. The correspondent of tho "Daily Mail" writes:--Burgers was lying happily in bed when I saw him, after a good bath to wash off the grease. "It was the hardest fight 1 have ever had all through," were his first words, "but after the first twelve hours I was determined to stay in thirty hours if I had to.

"The first thing I did when I got to land at Gri«nez was to have a jolly good cry. It relieved me. I could not. stand up at all nt , first, after being tossed up and down for so mo.ny hours, but I quickly recovered and walked up the beach. I ate nothing for eight hours after arriving because I should have- been ill. Of course, they made mo have, a glass of champagne, but that did aot agree with me. When I got home I had a dinner of lamb and vegetables and blackberry tart which I had told mother to have ready for me. I enjoyed it too, and now I feel as fit as anything. I don't want to go to sleep. I should liko to have a walk this evening. " Describing his experiences from the start. Burgess said: "I began with a good old English breakfast at homo on hour before I started. Ham and eggs are splendid to swim on, and I can always start off soon after a meal. I havo had practically no tmining for this, only eighteen hours' swimming, and the longest swim was six miles. "It was (hiring tlio first half of the swim that I had tho worst time. From the third to tho fifth hours it was quite rough and I got very knocked about, and was seasick, though I am a good sailor. During the first twelve hours I determined several limes to give up and go back and start again when the conditions were hotter, but lam glad I. did not. I used the oveTarm side-=troko practically all tho way, except for a time, when my heart gave me trouble with con fraction. Then I turned over and ewam on my back. "An expert swimmer friend told mo that the overarm sdde-stroko was the ugliest stroke, and T was tho ugliest swimmer ho knew. I think he must acknowledge himself wrong now. "I was never unconscious on tho way, though I sometimes go to sleep in tho water, but I had hallucinations and saw all sorts of horrible things—too horrible to deseribo to you. When I was very 'groggy' anil very miserable they all rang lo mo anything they could think of as loud as thov could, and that helped immensely. Then I was shine thousand of times by jelly-fish, particularly by big purple one's;'but I swim flatter than most men, and a great many of them slid away from under me. The boys in tho boat werfl splendid. "After the first six hours I found tho motor-boat was making too much spray and wash, and three of thorn got out the little rowing boat and towed the Tnotor-boat with eight other men in it for seventeen hours. They never stopped to cat and drink. I can never bo grateful enough to Mr. Pearson, whoso lioat I had, and his two friends, all of whom rowed. I ato a patent food, chicken and chocolate, and fomo tea, which, however, was not for food, But to cure my indigestion. "Tho Jasf live miles, the 'swimmers'' mile, as th;\;- call it, took me seven and a half hour? 'to do, but I never gave in, and when 1 had got so far I never had a thought of coming out. I would have gono on another seven hours if necessary. "I havo already had several very flattering offers for tho future, but I must first think of my business in Paris, where I havo lived many years with my wife, who is French. I shall not neglect tho business. People say I am French. I am not. I am Yorkshire born and bred, ami shall always be a Yorkshiremau."

Burgess looked wonderfully well after his long effort, and chatted and joked as if swimming tho Channel was an everyday occurrence with him. His grizzled" beard belies his age, which is forty. HOW BURGESS WAS FED.' CHOCOLATE, HOT MILK, AND GHAPES. Burgess took food at half-hour intervals during the best part of the night. He took chocolate, hot milk, and grapes. He is extremely fond of ginger-beer, nn;l said ho would give a sovereign for a drink of it. All night o hazo hung upon tho water and Grisnez light and the English lights were dimly visible only at times. At dawn the nearest land, Sangatte, w,-is only thrco miles distant. About this tiins, after eighteen hours' swimming, Buri r es 3 got a little weak and said he felt "light-headed." Thinking ho was still many miles off the coast Burgess asked for twenty drops of chn.mpaciio every hour, "and not auothti >!rop if 1 go down on my knees for it." When informed ho w.is now only n mile a)id a half off si'iri he brightened up very much, and w.'.ir ».«-ay again with tho words, ":No c.liauiiu- o -uc, then." About eight o'clock he had an atUl'.c of stomach cramp, which prevented him swimming his !.?st. Ho found he was not making headway, and too'- r» vho back stroke. . , .As Burgess slowly fought his way inch by inch into tho b.v.- cast of Grisnez, tlio s.-ono wr.a most drami.Uc. It was a race with the tide, suul Burge" won. imo might say, by inches. 111> got iiisuio the bay and'into slack water, and another quarter of an hour's painful but cheer-fully-performed work brought his gigantic tnsk to a eWo. The excitement ia Hio was intense. Tho wholu of the party took oil their !-.ln>es and stockings and eagerly awaited tho word from tho skipper that the water was shallow enough to walk in. Burgess, gamo to tho last, sprinted tho last 2IR) vards on liis left overarm stroke, hxactiv at l»n minutes to ten, amid roar upon roar from his friends, liiirgefs rtood upright on the sand, having s-wiim Horn England to France in 22hr. 35min., and having covered no fewer Hum 3K miles iictuiil brimming. Including the drill, the mileage, according to tlio pilot 6 eramate, .was about 130 mite.