HOW PEOPLE DROWN.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20282, 15 December 1927, Page 13

HOW PEOPLE DROWN.

The following timely observation on & near-drowning accident in New York is quoted from the New York World by the Erie Railroad Magazine: *' Out in Central Park lake the other day Ernest Riedel, international canoe champion, nearly drowned v/hen he fell in the water, because the hundreds who were watching him thought that his antics were only foolery. And surely this was not an unusual state of affaire. Almost all of us can recall the aftermath of some accident in the water, with everybody having the same story to tell; ‘I had no idea he was in trouble; I thought he was only fooling ’ ; ‘I could have reached him easily, but I never knew he was really going down ’; and so on. Why is it that this comedy recurs so often in connection with swimming? “ One reason, of course, is that pranks are so common on swimming parties that the members are soon in a giggly frame of mind, interpreting every gurgle and splash as a ruse to pave the way for a ducking;.. But another reason is that an accident rn the water occurs in a way quite different from the way in which most of ns have visualised it. " A drowning man, we have often been told, goes down three times before he finally sinks; furthermore, we somehow have formed the idea that he does this in very leisurely fashion, probably holding up one finger to indicate that he is going down for the first time, two fingers the second time, and three fingers to indicate that the situation is really serious. Thus, when we see an actual drowning man, we are either so dumbfounded that all our eojrdmations are paralysed or else we do not realise he is drowning “ For a man does not drown in the way legend has it, with lusty call for aid and three distinct dives toward bottom. The first sign he gives that he is in trouble is when lie rides low in the water; he is having trouble keeping his nose out, and gives queer lurches to get higher. His bobbing at this stage is probably what has given rise to the belief that he goes down three times. “ His next sign is a hysteria of fright, when his eyes roll and his mouth emits curious noises. It is his actions at this stage which strike his friends as so comical. “ His next sign is when he goes down. When he goes down he stays down, and there is no X to mark the spot so that heroic rescuers can dive and bring him to the surface. And all this takes place in the time it would ta <e to count five. The rapidity of it. indeed, is what makes an accident in the water so terrible: you look, you see a distorted, bobbing face, and then you don’t see it—that is all there is to it. “ If people knew the truth about the’ way things happen in the water, there might be fewer fatalities.”