LIFE SAVING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 17664, 28 December 1920, Page 4

LIFE SAVING.

A valuable but much-neglected organisation is the Royal Life Saving Society, which is giving demonstrations on Cheltenham Beach during the New Year holidays. Auckland, with its many beaches and warm summer climate, needs an organisation of this kind. Even good swimmers get into difficulties at times, and those who are unskilled and venturesome are more likely to need occasional aid. The beaches are so exhilarating and so health-giving that everything possible should be done to make them safe. Auckland bas great numbers of strong swimmers to draw upon, and there would be no lack of patrols if qualified men were encouraged to undertake the duty systematically throughout the holiday season. A small group of enthusiasts have kept the society going and have maintained a system of patrol, but more should be done, and more would be done, if those who frequent the beaches, and the public generally, would recognise the work and subscribe a moderate maintenance fund. In the past the society has not met with the support it deserves, probably because the work has been carried on quietly aaid largely out of public view. Now that the bathing season has opened is an opportune time to strengthen its funds so that it can maintain patrols on all the popular beaches throughout the summer.