The Globe. MONDAY, JANUARY 25, 1875.

Globe, Volume II, Issue 196, 25 January 1875, Page 2

The Globe. MONDAY, JANUARY 25, 1875.

We trust that the Board of Education will take some further notice of Mr L. E. Nathan’s letter to them, having for its subject “ the advisa- “ bility of encouraging the youth of “ this place to learn the art of swim- “ ming.” The Board merely instructed their clerk to write, thanking Mr Nathan for his letter. We presume that they were not certain as to whether learning to swim could be considered as part of the educational system which they have under their control. But it is to be hoped that, whether this part of a lad’s physical education comes into their province or not, they may at least issue some circular addressed to those who have the care of the youth of Christchurch calling their attention to the importance of lads being taught to swim. Jn the case of the accident on the Sumner Bar, which induced Mr Nathan to write to the Board, the only lad amongst the party was a good swimmer, and being accustomed to be in the water a great deal he did not lose his nerve in the hour of peril. Even with these circumstances in his favor, his safely getting to the shore was partially owing to the encouragement and even to the help of another member of the party, who remained alongside of him on their swim to the beach, and lent him his aid amongst the rollers. It must be remembered that it is a very different matter to swim some two or three hundred yards in smooth water, with the advantage of being able to choose ones own time for the exercise, and in puris naturalibus, and to find oneself striking out for dear life at a moment’s notice amidst breakers, and encumbered with the weight of an ordinary suit of clothes. But the man who can swim, if he does not lose his nerve, can, as in this instance, reach the boat, and divest himself cf his garments, and is then prepared to make a struggle for the life we all hold so dear. The facilities for learning to swim are not great in Christchurch. The River Avon is not either a convenient or a safe stream in which the youngster may take his first lessons in the art of natation. The water is at all times of the year icy cold, and the banks of the river are, as a rule, so steep as to prevent easy egress from the water. Added to this is the great curse of the stream, the watercress, and the danger from getting entangled in the roots of this obnoxious plant is by no means an imaginary one. Time after time the idea of public baths has been mooted, in one or other of the various journals published in the town, and each time the scheme has come to naught. It must be conceded that the first principle in teaching any lad to swim is to give him an idea of his perfect safety whilst in the water, and that being once accomplished, the actual knack of supporting himself, for a shorter or longer period according to his strength, is easily imparted. The education cannot commence too young, and we are all familiar, if only by description, with the fact that amongst the inhabitants of Polynesia the infants of the various tribes can swim as soon, or sooner, than they can walk, and that

as they grow up they are equally at home whether amongst the breakers of the coral sea, or sporting in the smooth water of the different lagoons. It is almost impossible for an ordinary scion of a civilised race to acquire the same power and ease in the water, as is possessed bv ninety-nine out of every hundred of his dusky brethren ; but every lad can at least be taught so much of the art ns shall render a capsize from a boat, in an ordinary sea, a matter unattended with the greatest danger. But yon cannot teach a lad all at once, and therefore we do most strenuously advocate the establishment of public baths in Christchurch. In these institutions the rudiments of swimming could be taught to any number of boys, and when once a youngster has mastered the art of keeping himself afloat, he will of his own accord, in almost every case, soon become a tolerable swimmer. We trust that some steps may be taken shortly to supply, what has been for some years a crying want in the town, and that when next summer comes, those of us who have to live amongst the hot winds and dust of this city of the plain*, may be enabled to indulge in the luxury of a plunge into a good sized swimming bath.