THE SWIMMING CLUB.

Mataura Ensign, Volume 7, Issue 413, 28 November 1884, Page 6

THE SWIMMING CLUB.

TO THE EDITOR, Sir, — As efforts are at present being made to form a Swimming Club in Gore, a few wor3s on the subject may not be not out of place. There is a saying that " Cleanliness is next to Godliness." True or not, cleanliness is necessary to goo i health, and swimming is a pleasant, healthy, and useful exercise. Everyone can be taught how to swim, and he who passes through life without learning this useful art, misses one oi the gieatest pleasures that life affords ; and he may be said to be always in danger of being drowned. Think of the number of lives that have been lost by inability to swim, and of the number that have been saved by the possession of this qualification, and you will agree at once that that there is no excuse for culpable ignorance. Swimming is one of the most delightful sensations imaginable ; to feel ourselves completely at home in a now element, to throw oiS the burthen of one's own weight, and to be able to move through an unresisting and buoyant medium, is to ; enjoy, for the time, the privilege of a ! different order of animals. The full healthful effects, of swimming can only be obtained when it is practised in the open air, and in , i unpolluted water of a natural temperature. ■ ! Swimming in water artificially heated, and i from which, consequently, the air has been partially expelled, and in close and. imper*

fectly ventilated bathroom', though undoubtedly both pleasant aud useful, ceases to be a hygienic i'gent. of any considerable power. ' Shimming in cold water, in the open air. produces its healthful effects from the pecul.ar exercise, the temperature of the surrounding mediums, and the exhilaration it causes. Our civic rulers are behind the tim^s, otherwise th<?y would have Jong since provided a proper placs f>nd set aside a ivseive for swimming purposes, instead of leaving the matter to private individuals ; however, it is not yet too lute, and the local H ards ruight now. as a s--t off a^.iiiisr. their former apathy, subsidise the Swimming (Jluband so lend a helping hand to what will prove a public benefit and convenience. — 1 am, etc. iSATATOK, Gore, Nov. 27, 1884.