STAYING UNDER WATER From a swimming point of view no particular merit attaches to this performance, but some remarkable feats have been publicly accomplished by experts. Most writers insist that it is impossible to remain under water more than one or two minutes without suffocation, but there are many well-authenti cated cases of longer stays under the water by persons wearing weighted belts. For instance, James Finney of Oldham, in the presence of hundreds of persons, remained in a tank with his head below the surface for 4 mins. 29} secs. on April 7, 1886. We have ourselves repeatedly seen the same excellent swimmer remain under water for over three minutes night after night, his average ranging from 3 mins. 15 secs. to 3 mins. zo secs. Peter Johnson was also a splendid under-water performer, and other members of the same famous family have shown similar ability, but the performance of Miss Elise Wallenda on De cember 14, 1898, when she stayed below the surface of the water 4 mins. 45g secs., must be recorded as a most remarkable feat, for it denotes staying powers of an extraordinary cha racter. On December 5, Miss Wallenda stayed underneath 4 mins. 9g secs., a time never equalled by any female; and at the six succeeding performances she accomplished the follow ing times : 3 mins. 53 secs., 3 mins. 45 secs., 3 mins. 39 secs., 3 mins. 38 secs., 3 mins. 43 secs., 3 mins. 28 secs.' This per formance placed in the shade every other properly authenti cated attempt of such a character, particularly when it is noted that before attempting to stay or ' sleep' under water she performed the following feats : Undressing under water, 52 secs.; writing on slate under water, 4o secs. ; sewing under water, 51 secs. ; eating (grapes) under water, 47 secs. ; drink ing out of a bottle under water, 28 secs. ; total, 3 mins. 38 secs. Between each of these there was an interval of from 4o to 8o secs. during which her head was above the surface. The tank in which this performance was accomplished mea sured io ft. long, z ft. 4 in. from back to front, the water being 4 ft. 4 in. deep, the back and bottom of the tank being of iron, and sides and front of thick glass.
It was noticed that before going under water Miss Wallenda took one deep inspiration, and in so doing gently settled to the bottom lying on her left side, her head resting on her left hand, with her body and legs perfectly straight and feet crossed. As she took this long inspiration her throat ap peared to work as if the air were being swallowed with some difficulty. When at the bottom she lay perfectly still. As time sped by the tension became painful in the extreme, the silence being most marked as the officials called the various times. Just previous to 3 mins. being called a small bubble of air gently rose to the surface, and at 3 mins. 3o secs. these became more frequent ; at 4 mins. quite a little stream of bubbles rose. At 4 min. 13 secs. she appeared for the first time to show signs of fatigue. At 4 mins. 3o secs. there was a movement as if attempting to rise, and at 4 min. 36 secs. one large bubble escaped from her mouth. A few moments later she attempted to rise, but failed to do so ; her trembling hand, which she had moved from her face and placed flat on the bottom of the tank, slipped away. Directly this was observed she was brought to the surface, and on being lifted out of the water she forced her head backwards, opening her mouth as wide as possible, but seemed unable to get her breath, and appeared slightly dazed, but on pressure being applied to the lower ribs she gained control of herself and said she was all right. We noticed that when under water her chest was per fectly still, but on the other hand the abdomen was constantly moving up and down, like a person breathing after a sharp run. We also noticed that as the abdomen flattened her throat distended, as if the air were being driven into it. When the abdomen rose, the air in the throat appeared to be with drawn. These were the only discernible movements whilst she was under water. At first sight it would appear that this peculiar accomplishment was in a great measure due to lung capacity, which enables one to inhale a large volume of air.