the bottom going with the current. When a drowning man gives up his struggle and goes down, his body sinks a little way and is brought up again by the buoyancy within it and the air is expelled. It sinks again and next rises less high and air is again expelled. This happens several times until enough water is taken into the stomach and air passages to offset the floating capacity. The floating capacity is barely overcome,
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so the body weighs but little. It is very simple, as almost any youthful swimmer knows, to go to the bottom if one can dive from a float, pier or boat, but to be able to dive down ten feet from the surface requires practice. In most cases to go deeper would require a weight after the manner of the Southern sponge and pearl fishers. Grasp a ten or fifteen pound stone and dive in; to come up the swimmer lets go and rises to the top.
Diving For Lost Objects
In covering a considerable area in search for bodies or lost objects several ropes can be anchored with grapnels or rocks in squares and a systematic search thus maintained by divers. Going down from the surface is not simple and the knack is attained by practice, especially by athletic lads. The secret is to swim to a point where a sounding is to be made, and to plunge the head and shoulders under, elevating the hips above the surface to drive the shoulders deep and give chance for a few strokes — breast stroke preferred — until the whole body in a vertical position is headed for the botom. The elevation of the feet and lower legs in the air gives the body additional
