BEACH PATROLS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16307, 23 December 1920, Page 6

BEACH PATROLS.

The lack of beach patrols during the school holiday season should require the attention of the Government and local authorities. During tho next sis or seven weeks the beaches will bo thronged by holiday-makers,. many of them school children. As a, measure of safety the beaches should bo continuously patrolled during that period. It is too much to expect the Sumner ant] New Brighton Borough Councils to foot the bill, and tho surfing and life saving clubs render so much voluntary aid that they should not bo called upon to contribute financially. Tho City Council! and the Tramway Board are most directly concerned, and they might be approached for assistance. Wo hope, however, that the seaside bodies will do what they can to minimise tho risks which aro never absent from beach bathing. Practical steps hare been taken at Sumner, and similar action at New Brighton would bo helpful. It is seldom that a summer passes without some preventable bathing tragedy being recorded, but if reasonable precautions ard taken the number of mishaps should be reduced practically to vanishing point.