10,

It should be remembered that conditions pertaining to bathing water are
different from those relating to drinking water. Many persons svallow little or
no water while swimming, This is particularly tru@ if it contains salt, Under’
such circumstances, the danger of enidemics of typhoid fever or dysentery from
svimming is much less then from drinking water from a polluted supply. There
may be an occasional or sporadic case of typhoid fever from bathing, but evidemics
are comparatively rare.

Carelessness

The great danger at bathing places is not due to bacteria but to lack
of thought amd carelessness. At least 95% of the deaths, injuries and illnesses
associated with swimming are unnecessary. If pool killers vere highly efficiont,
the tragedies of bething beaches, summer outings, and vactions ~ould be negligible.
Until we can discover a serum which will give people caution and foresight, we
mast continue to expect many accidents, infections, and illnesses connected with
water. Even if there tere such a preventive ve vould still have to deal with
anti-vaccinationists who would refuse to be vrotected.

The old swimming hole of happy memory is gone, It is now a bathing
beach. Park pools have taken a graduate course and have become emporiums of
natation, The old teacher of diving reapnears as an artist of contortion. It
is no longer z00d taste to speak of swimmers. The Emily Rost of bathing beaches
insists that the proper ~ord is agumcade. Swimming is both big business and
superspecialization. Bathing places are located by commercial strategists,
designed by architects, built by engineers, adorned bv artists, supervised by
Sanitary chemists, and checked by bacteriologists. They are overwhelmed by
salesmen, cosmeticians, suit designers, crooners, and students of anatomy,
Swimming is truly the King of Sports and the Sport of Queens.
2

"THE PROMOTION OF A SWIMMING POOL"

By

C. M, Roos
Manager, Peoria Veter Company

The adage, thet there is more to the grapefruit than that which enters
the eye, can very antly be applied to svimming pools, long before excavation
begins or concrete is poured, there has been effort put forth by civic minded
individuals. The mere promotion of o svimming pool is not often difficult
to accomplish, but the promotion of a successful swimming pool involves careful
planning end selling to the public. The ideas expressed by Dr. Roos are
vorkable as evidenced by the most successful results in the shape of the
minicipal pool at Cairo. ("here he formerly vas manager of the ~ater comvany).
Practical ideas in swimming pool planning combined vith personal experionces
in the field of public relations give the author special and outstanding
qualification to present his most important topic.

ex FX kK *
12,
"THE PROMOTION OF A SWIMMING POOL"

By
C. M, Roos

Manager, Peoria Water Company

The subject assigned, "The Promotion of a Swimming Pool", includes one
~ord, "promotion", which should be clarified or defined a bit before vroceeding
“ith this discussion, as the “ord can convey various meanings, some according to
Yebster and some applied or immlied. Iy this instance the ~ord is intended to
meen “organizing and financing a swimming pool vroject or undertaking." The
odiousness which sometimes is attached to this word as applied to the promoter
of préjects of questionable soundness or value, need not apply to the promotion
of a swimming pool, as a project of this character, proverly and intelligently
set up, pays dividends of immeasurable value which can not be expressed in terms
of dollars end cents. However, ~hen intelligently planned end organized a
swimming pool in the average comminity need not lack in financial success,
Soundness, financially, economically, socially, in health and recreation dividends,
is not only possible but should end can be varemount in any plen for e community
svrimming pool.

The first step in promoting e new swimming pool in a community which
has not had one, or a new or improved pool where the old one is inadequate,
inefficient or obsolete, is to create a community swimming nool consciousness.
This means education, often involving tact, ability, patience and perseverance
in this first process. However, usually the lack of success in this vreliminary
step is due to lack of sufficient interest on the part of someone ho could do
the job well. The best way to do a job is to do it. Thre is no substitute
for intelligent effort, in building a swimming pool or a wood shed,

This job of educating the public is an important one, presenting many
opportunities to have the people of the community understand in the beginning
what a good modern swimming pool means, and understand the difference betveen
a pool of highest sanitary standards end one which may be simply a hole with
water in it, or a nearbv creek or river. “hen the public understands the
value of a modern clean sanitary pool, and the reasons “hy bathing places which
ere below these standards are extremely dengerous, the promoters have gone far
tovard the ultimate goal and are ready for the next step.

The second st-p overlans somewhat the first one in that it is helpful to
have at least part of the information provided by the second part of the under-
taking to secure best results in the first. This second division of procedure
is to have prepared, by one well qualified, a proper design for the pool and all
equipment to fit the community. The subject of pool design will be presented by
enother speaker on the program, but reference should be made to it here to em-
phasize the importance of having prover plans and specifications if the promoters
are to succeed in any stage of their work, and to assure sutcess of the project
after the pool is in operation. Design and success, financially and otherwise,
are inseparable. In the past before modern swimming pool standards were estab-
lished, too many pools vere constructed bv those whose good intentions, conscience
and honesty are above question, but ~hose work and efforts produced results which
show unmistakable evidence of "zeal without knowledge", This statement should
not be interpreted as unfair criticism, as swimming pool standards as ve now
have them, thanks to the State Department of Public Health, do not date back
many years in any state. VYowever, it is this situation ~hich makes the job of
reselling the public on rebuilding or improving svimming pools so difficult for
the State Health Department, local health euthoritics, and local organizations
which are trying to help communities bv providing safe, sanitary, clean pools.
13.

Underscore prominently the importance of proper design and plans for

pools. Money spent on good designing and engineering is the best investment
in any pool, and this statement is not limited to swimming pools. It can be
applied to any structure worth while.

The matter of financing can not be ignored or forgotten entirely until
plans and specifications are available; but the final detail of financing con-
struction and operation can not be set up until the design is completed. The
design must be made to fit the available budget, end it must also fit the size
and tvpe of the community, but the financial budget must be made to provide
certain definite features in design and equipment which are absolutely essential
to safety and health. If these essential features can not '.. provided it is
better not to have a swimming pool, -s results would be harmful rather than
beneficial, A competent swimming pool authority or engineer knows what features
can be skimped safely and which ones are essential.

No plan of construction should be decided before first submitting it to,
conferring vith, and securing the approval of the State Department of Public
Health, which ranks as the outstanding euthority on swimming pools in the entire
United States. Our State Health Department has rendered invaluable service to
many cities in Illinois, not only in siding end guiding them in selecting
proper pool designs, but in assisting them in community meetings on swimming
pool promotion.

There are various vays of financing community swimming pools. Pools
have been financed successfully through municinal vnark board which have taxing
pover, sometimes through other municipal devartments, through civic clubs
and organizations, through public subscriptions, through municipal bond issues,
by using ¥.P.A. and/or °.".A, assistance, end other vays.

In the City of Cairo, Illinois, a pool was constructed a» number of
years ago, sponsored and financed by the Rotary Club, ~hich club vas supported
in the project by a number of business firms ~ho were led to realize the value
of the pool to their employees and their employees' children, This old pool
became obsolete and was scrapned in 1936, when a new modern pool vas con-
structed as a municipal pool in the name of the city, vith title in the city.
However, the Rotary Club provided all funds necessary from its own treasury
end by selling advence season pool tickets to the public to match V.P.A. funds
and labor for the construction, Althouzh this is a municipal pool, owned by
the city, not one cent of the funds for construction or operation has come out
of the city treasury. The total cost of this pool, including ¥.P.A. assistance,
“as about $60,000.

An operating corporation, organized by the Rotary Club, handics all
the detail of operating and financing the pool for the city. On this basis
the local pool investment is on a self liquidating schedule, operating revenues
paying all exyoenses and retiring the investment of the community.

The Cairo pool is free from children of school age during the entire
morning of each day until eleven o'clock. During the afternoon and evening of
each day edults pay 254 and children pay 104 admission. Spectators, for vhom
spacious attractive quarters are provided ~ith a esuard fence between them and
the bathing areas, pay 104 admission. The pool is very popular and vetronage
is excellent.

Cairo points with pride to the fact that since the original community
pool was provided not a single child has lost its life from svimming in the
nearby rivers, Prior to the construction of a swimming pool every year took
its toll of life of children of school age, dro-ned while swimming in the rivers,
14.

The Olympic high diving champion at Paris about the year 1923, Miss
Carolyn Smith, took her first swimming and diving lessons in the Old Cairo pool,
and without much subsequent training she went to Paris to win the high diving
championship. Such accomplishments and results help«the public to place a’ proper
value on public swimming pools,

Any civic organization or municipal department which desires to do
something of real value to the community, has opportunities now which the pioneers
in swimming pool design and construction did not have. It is easier no to
design, finance and promote a swimming pool than it was only a few years ago.
Guide posts, standards, advice, precedent, etc., all are now available. Com-
petent experienced engineers are now available so thet experimenting and guess
work need no longer cause communities to hesitate to provide the essential
benefits and advantages of public swimming pools,
 

15,

DISCUSSION PAPER ON

"THE PROMOTION OF A SWIMMING POOL"

By

J. Py Thompson

Portland Cement Association

The discussion by Mr, Thompson includes many ideas that have "clicked,"

 
16,
DISCUSSION PAPER ON .
"THE PROMOTION OF A SWIMMING POOL"
By
J, P, Thompson
Portland Cement Association

In promoting a nev swimming pool the first major activity is to develop
favorable public sentiment. This can generally best be accomplished through
one or more civic organizations such as Chamber of Commerce, American Le zion,
Kivanis, Rotary or Lions, Possibly several of these may cooperate. Hovever,
as with any project, most of the ~ork must be done by one or two persons or at
least the responsibility and active leadership mst be in the hands of someone
vith considerable initiative. ‘

While a community can be made conscious of the need of a swimming pool
by the use of only zenerel information, a complete job of selling to obtain
definite action requires at least a preliminary plan, estimate and method
financinaz, These are so interrelated that they mst be developed tozether. i
Local conditions vill determine ~hich ~ill carry the most ~eight and which ~ill
be the easiest to establish first.

Possibly the easiest vay is to determine the apvroximate size of pool
desired, obtain a roush estimate of cost for such a pool and then see if it can
be f'nanced satisfactorily. ‘hen a ce aagponae dd balance has been obtained be-
tween desirable size and funds available, a fairly complete desigm and estimate
should be prepnered and a detailed method of finencing determined.

At least a reasonable plen should be complete before any idea as to
the size or cost is given to the public. It is bad psychology to edvenee a
frandiose scheme and then find that the available funds make it necessary to
reduce the scheme very matcrially. Hovever, to command attention and obtain
support, the advance nublicity should be based on as pretentious a seheme as
may reasonably be expected to be folloved,

The importance of prover dcsi2n end equipment ill be diseussed in the
next portion of the prosram, but I want to join Mr. Roos in emphasizinz the
necessity of obtainine qualified personnel in mekinz the preliminary vlens as
well as in malting the finel desien.

Pools have been financed in several wavs and the method selected vill
depend upon local conditions. Durins the last few years practically all public
pools have been built as ~ork relief projects either through the “PA or the
PYA, This has materially reduced the direct cost to the sponsoring body.
Horever, most of the methods used in vast years of raisins funds for the entire
project can still be applied to obtainin= the money needed for the sponsor's
share,

A. properly desisned and operated pool is not a drain on the public
treasury. By charzine= reasonable fees, the pool may be made not only self
supporting but also self-liouidatine, When considerinz the orizinal financine,
it must be decided how much of the oxnense of operation and of initiel cost
is to be obtained from the income of the nool.

Many public bodies consider a svimminz pool as a health ond recreation
service to the comminity the same as public carts, playzrounds, etc., and exnect
the pool to vay only its overnting costs and sometimes only part of these.

In other cases the public's financial condition is such that the returns from
the pool mst also retire the initial investment, These different conditions
will be reflected both in the schedule of admission charzes and in the financing,
17.

Some of the methods of financing which have proved satisfactory are?

Cash from public’ treasury '

General bonds of the public body

Revenue bonds r

Private donations of clubs or individuals

Advance sale of admissions

Benefit shows, etc.

Private construction and opveration for a given period

The first of these simply requires selling the public body, such
as city council, park district, the desirability of using its cash for this
purvose,.

The issuance of bonds generally requires the development of public
opinion to the point of apvroving the bonds. “hen the bond election is held
at the same time as a general election, good organization and publicity is
required since approval of the proposition generally reouires a majority of all
votes cast at the election and not simoly a majority of those case on the pro-
position. Particularly when there is an important general election, people
frequently neglect to vote on the snecial bond issues and failure to vote is the
same as a negative vote.

Some states, including Illinois, have laws permitting the issuance
of so-called "revenue bonds" for the construction of swimming pools. These
bonds are secured by the income from the pool only, rather than by all of the
assets of the public body, The approval of such bonds by the public can usually
be obtained easier than approval of a general bond issue since there is no
possibility of such bonds increasing the taxes. However, revenue bonds are more
difficult to sell than are regular bonds,

Particularly if revenu@é bonds are used, it may be necessary or ad-
visable to put on a drive to sell the bonds individually rather than to sell
them through the usual financial channels. Then the bonds are sold in this
manner it is sometimes desirable to offer some special inducement such as re-
duced admission to holders of bonds. This private sale of bonds has been used
considerably by private clubs.

All or part of the cost of many pools has been obtained by donations
from clubs or individuals. here the money is obtained from individuals, it is
necessary to have a well organized and intensive drive the same as for raising
funds for any public enterprise, One scheme which has been used by a few pools
in order to increase the number of small pledges is to dramatize the idea by
making the contributions in terms of sacks of cement and giving each contributor
a small badge bearing a sketch of a sack of cement and the ~ords "I bought a
sack of cement", Of course the cement actually represents not more than about
5% of the cost of the complete pool, but it is a specific item which aids in the
dramatization.

One city registered the results of the drive for funds on a large
placard showing a body in a swimming suit and the caption "Make him swim."

The height of the water indicated the results to date.

The advance sale of tickets has frequently been used to raise part
of the necessary funds. However, th-re is a word of warning regarding the use of
this method. Unless some special provision is made for current operating ex-
penses, the pool may be in difficulties in this respect since its cash income
will be greatly reduced until the advance tickets have been used.

In some instances, pools have been constructed bn public property
by private organizations or individuals with the understanding that the latter
would operate the pool for a given number of years or until the profits from the
pool paid for its cost and then the pool was turned over to the public,

In Sioux City, Iowa, a contractor agreed to build a $30,000 pool
if $7,500 was raised by advance sale of tickets and receive the balance of the cost
from the profits of the pools: the park board to operate the pool from the
beginnine, The Junior Chamber of Commerce sponsored the sale of tickets,
18,

In order to have the pool in operation for the major part of the first
season, the contractor started construction as soon as only $2,000 had been
raised.

At Weleetka, Oklahoma, the city furnished the land, water, light
and power and the Lions built and operated the pool for five years at the end
of which time the city was to operate the pool and turn the profits over to the
Lions Club Park Funds for beautifying the city parks.

Various types of benefits may comprise part of the public campaien
to raise funds, These may include all sorts of athletic events, theatrical
performances, concerts and exhibitions.

Before the days of the WPA the cash required for some pools was _
reduced by contributions of labor. In Gerden City, “ansas, merchants agreed to
cancel some of their old accounts if the debtors would donate the equivalent
in labor on the construction of the new pool. This obtained considerable
construction labor, cost the merchants practically nothing since they had con-
sidered the debts uncollectable, and reestablished the debtors self esteem,

In other cities, members of the sponsoring organization, and sometimes others,
have contributed lebor as well as cash.

The public should be definitely sold on the idea of a new pool even
though it is not necessary to have their approval of a bond issue or other dir-
ect aid in financing, This requires good publicity.

The first source of publicity is the local newspaper using both news
stories and paid ads. The editor will usually be very glad to cooperate and
should be furnished with stories and with data from which he can prevare his
own articles, These should explain the advantages of a swimming pool to any
community and especially to this specific on-. Some of the points which may
be stressed are: Swimming is healthful exercise: pool eliminates danger of
Swimming in insanitary and unguarded places; keeps youngsters out of mischief
by oroviding something definite to occupy their time; attracts non-residents
resulting in more business for local merchants.

In addition to the nevspapers, publicity may be obtained through
talks before all local organizations; posters - possibly a contest for the best
one; handbills which can be distributed by the Boy Scouts; and many other methods
which can be developed by an active committee,

Both when planning the pool and when promoting it, consideration
should be given to its uses outside of the swimming season. A few of the larger
pools have been used for ice skating and I know of one at a private school which
is used for boating during the spring and fall.

In New York City, the large pools vith fairly level bottoms are
used for games such cs paddle tennis, badminton, handball, shuffleboard, and
even tennis. Empty wading pools also give excellent sports for the youngsters
to roller skate and ride their tricycles.

Small pools are not as adeptable to "off-season" uses but the
bathhouses can be used for many other nurposes. ‘here built in a park, the
bathhouse can be used as dressing quarters for participants in other sports,
Equipment may be removed from the dressing rooms and the space used for game
and reading rooms or handicreft projects.

Many of you undoubtedly noticed in the last issue of Reach & Pool
that the new project at Charlotte, .C., includes a community house and bathhouse
the second floor of which consists of one large room serviced from the kitchen
below by a dumb-vaiter. This may be used for dinners or dances. The dressing
stalls and lockers will be removed from the ~omen's dressing room and the space
used for other purposes betvern swimming seasons. The building will also contain
special locker rooms for golfers.

These special uses of pools and bathhouses can be used to advantage
to gain support for the project by shoving that the facilities can be used the
year around and will serve persons other than those who swim,

To summarize, a swimming pool may be successfully promoted for various
conditions in a vide variety of vays but each campaign should be based on a
oe

fairly definite physical plan for the pool and a broad and complete plan for
financing and promotion,

 
20.

THE VALUE OF POOL OPERATION RFCORDS AND REPORTS

By

J, K, Montieth, Park Commissioner

University City, Missouri

Swimming pool reports are often considered only sheets of records to
be filed, but in this article, Mr. Montieth has vitalized them and emphasized
their value and importance to the pool ommer and operator in his daily activities.
The author is particularly “ell qualified to discuss this subject because of his
years of active swimming pool experience as a Park Commissioner and the active
pert he has taken in swimming pool and recreation associations throughout the
entire country. Therefore, the ideas included in this paper are not only those
based on Mr. Montieth's experiences, but include many gernered from the numerous
contacts with wide aveke swimming pool end park executives in various parts of
this country.

* RK K KK KK K KR OK OK OK
a
THE VALUE OF POOL OPERATION RECORDS AND REPORTS |

By
J, ¥, Montieth, Perk Commissioner
University City, Mo,

What type of business employing more than one person of the present
day, can operate without keeping accurate records?

I think I can safely answer this question by saying that there isn't
any.

With the various incomes, sales, social security, unemployment
insurance and undistributed profit tax, many types of business are forced to
employ additional help to keep these records and make additional reports.

The Government, with its many departments, the state and cities,
are required to keep detailed records of all incomes and expenditures and
experiences. These records are seemingly vorthless to the average person,
some possibly are, however, in many cases records are actually of great value
and a saving to the agency. ©

When an ocean liner, battleship, air-plane transport, start on a
scheduled trip, they rely on records and reports furnished them for their
safety. They receive reports regularly which “ill determine their progress,
They also keep accurate "legs" of records of their trips.

Where would the practice of Medicine, Lav, or Engineering or
practically any profession be without records?

Most swimming pools can be classed as business ventures and pool
operation is fast becoming a profession,

How does the keeving of accurate records and reports help the pool
orners and operators? in the case of private, commercial or municipal pools,
the answer is the same, The pool either operated as a commercial establishment,
a municipal enterprise, or by a Country Club or by an individual, mst return
either sufficient pleasure or an income to make it profitable. In case of
a school or university, the pool is a necessary facility to round out the
education program, If the operators are a Municipal Government, Park District,
Officials or other public agency, the pool is operated as a recreation facility
for the public. In the exwenditure of public funds, an accurate record must be
kept of both incomes and expenditures as required by*the statutes and in many
states and cities where these statutes do not apply, the responsibility of the
community justifies accurate records and these records are public information,

To Commercial Pool Operators, operating for a profit, an annual
set-up of records vill afford a clear picture at the end of the day, ~eek,
month or season as to just what happened. A study of the record ill assist him
in making his plans for the future.

To the operators of the Country Club Pool, records kept by the Club
Manager, of the Pool Operator, will indicate whether the pool is an asset or
liability and unless the cost of opereting the pool is insignificant to the
operation of the club it should determine future policy of the club in regard
to pool operation,

For private pool operators, operation records will be a check on
the operation for the following season and also affords the orner some idea
of the cost of his luxury,

TYPES OF RECORDS; ~

All Commercial end Public Pools should be self supporting or at
least partially so, - so records of most importance should be of INCOME AND
EXPENDITURES,

Records of all admissions in various charge classification will
be indicative of the comparative adult and children's ettendeance. “ith a
little additional effort this can be broken dorm to the number of men, omen,
boys and girls patronizing the pool. From these records, the alert operator can

 
22k
see what the demand is and in many cases captialize on it.

Records of the number and size of suits rented will be a guide
in the futare purchase of suits for rental purposes and thereby eliminate
the future investment in suits that are sizes ~hich are not in demand and
use up veluable space that the suits of proper sizes should be using to ad-
vantage. Suit manufacturers all have made up for the purchasers convenience,
various proportions of sizes that should be purchased, these being baded on
the salesman's experience over the country and also from the records of pool
operators, however, location of the pool, charges, and many other elements will
vary this figure considerably.

The question of laundry is also another element in considering
the purchasing of suits. Records of TOVEL RENTALS AND LAUNDRY COSTS should
indicate to the operator whether it would be more economical to rent tovels
rather than purchase them or whether it vould be more adventageous to install
a laundry equipment and leundry the towels and suits at the pool. This if
of course, out of the question to most of us operators. Records of the great-
est number of tovels and suits used over a one, two end three consecutive day
period, denending on the laundry conditions, will indicate the actual require-
ment of your pool,

Records of the sale of bathing cans, and other items, might
indicate a possible savings in the future an quantity purchases without
over loading.

Spectators! admission will indicate vhat attractions are success—
ful and bring in the spectators and those that fail to please. Of course the
estimate size of the crovd ~ill tell this but records of the admissions are
proof positives,

Next to the record of incomes are the records of EYPENDITURES.,
These should be kept in detail and at the end of the season or sooner should be
broken dom into such items as: Wages, which can again be broken dorn into
Menager, Operator, Attendents, Life Cuards, extra helv, watchmen, etc. Cost
of the various supplies could be divided into the cost and amount of vater,
chemicals, electricity,ne~ equipment, suits, tovels, also pool supplies, bath
house supplies, repairs, paints, advertising, insurance and others, depending
on local conditions. These records ana yzed and compared vith other seasons
‘ill give the operator of the pool something to think about,

Records of chemicals and bacterial tests are very important. The
records of bacterial tests of the pool water made by an outside recognized
agency, either public or private, will stand as evidence in Court. Records
of chemical tests will also generally indicate what can be expected in bacterial
tests. These chemical tests will give the operator a cross section of the
condition of his water, He can correct any deficiency or eliminate any overdose
by these tests. The record of chlorine, P.H. and copper sulphate tests should
be a definite barometer to the operator. Records of the quantity of chemicals,
either chlorine, ammonia, alum, soda-ash, lime, copper sulphate or the combina-
tion of some, used to produce definite results are invaluable to the pool opera~
tor. Some of these can be kept in the head but it is well to have it as a
record as memory sometimes fails.

Records of all ACCIDENTS, either trivial or serious, are required.
by the Insurance Company covering pool liability. Pools carrying insurance
can readily see the value of these records as they are often subpoened several
years after the accident occurs. These records are much more convincing to a
jury than some one attempting to remember just what happened at a particular time.

Records of weather, temperature, precipitation, will explain in
detail some losses and gains. Of course, it is agreed that nothing can be done
about the weather but the records will indicate that the management is not always
necessarily at fault.

Records of swimming competition are interesting end if displayed
on the Bulletin Board, here the swimmers have access to it, it creates
competitive sport which will help to bring patronage,
256

There are many ways thet records can be kept. To keep them
uniform, I suggest the use of forms. These can very according to the individual
pool and generally they ere quite similar, These records should be kept by
the Cashier, Manager, Maintenance man or any one in similar position, however}
it is necessary that some one who is interested and some one in which you have
confidence, as a felse entry may be the easiest or quickest way out, of course
in a case of this kind, the records are not correct and they are of no value,

I have a covy of the 5,E, Form §.P. —- 2 Division of Sanitary
Enginecring Departm nt of Public Health of Illinois. This form incorporates
most of the information suggested in this paper. If th se forms are properly
kept, which I think they arc, in most cases, mich valuable information can be
obtained from these records. A study of these reports will be time well spent,
by the pool operators during long winter evenings.

I hope that some information contained in this paper has been of
some benefit to some of the pool operators end will assist them in making their
pools better places to swim and pay better end lerger dividends on their invest-
ments.
DA,

"THE IMPORTANCE OF COMPETENT PERSONNEL"

By
BE, W, Craig, Supervisor of Swimming

University of Illinois

A swimming pool operator can be better than the pool, but a pool
can be no better than the operator and herein lies the importance of competent
personnel. In this article Mr. Craig brings to us the results of his exper-
jences not only as a pool operator but also in the capacity of one who through
his position at the University is constantly instilling into students of phy-
sical education the value of this subject. This presentation is particularly
characterized by the "straight to the point" manner in which the ideas are
presented, It leaves no doubt in the mind of the reader the importance of
proper personnel, not only their duties but particularly the a
on which their employment should be based.

* *e eK KE HK hk Kk HK K
25.
"The Importance of Competent Personnel"
By
H, %. Craig, Supervisor of Swimming,
University of Illinois

The importance of competent personnel in swimming pool work is some-
thing which has been, I believe, rather frequently overlooked. For many years
inadequate salaries, discrimination between candidates for pool positions based
on other considerations rather than ability and poor preparation on the part of
candidates for positions, heve marked this field of endeavor.

Today, faced with a growing public recognition of the value of
recreation, of which swimming and aquatics form a very important phase, it behooves
us to. examine our thinking as to what detcrmines competency insofar eas the handling
of swimming «nd swimming pools are concerned. It will be assumed that most of us
ere interested in situetions involving pools to which the general public is ad-
mitted - pools maintained by and for the community certain questions of policy
must be answered,

First, should the pool operate on a fee basis, or should it be

open to all free of charge?

Second, should the pool promote free lessons for children in the

mornings?

Thitd, should the pool promote games, contests, pageants, etc.,

with the intent of entering more fully into the leisure time activities of the
comminity?

These, and similar questions should be answered fully in the minds of
_ the park board or other agency which hes the task of hiring personnel for their
pool. For knowing what is wanted in the way of a program mekes it easier to
employ the proper persons to carry it out. (Parenthetically it might be added,
thet I am one of these persons who believes pools should be used to the widest
possible extent by the community, giving free lessons to children, selling itself
in many other ways as an agency of highest value to the community. One who worrics
too mach how to make a profit with a swimming pool is doomed to many grey hairs
or the loss of them entirely. “hat profit one can gain from a swimming pool will
have to be the feeling of a job well done - a benefit in the social sense).

Starting then, from the premise that a community pool should operate
for the greatest possible community benefit, let us ascertain the personnel
necessary to operate the pool and discover if ve can what are some of the desirable
characteristics to look for when filling the positions.

First we have the manager. It is my belief that every municipal pool
should have a manger whose time is occupied fully by his managerial duties.

He should not be required to guard or do similar work. His task should be first to
see that all others of the staff are functioning efficiently.

Secondly, he should be responsible for the proper operation of the
pool according to the standards leid down by the State. This implies a knowledge
of the techniques of pool operation, the taking of various water tests and other
fundamentals of good pool operation.

Third, he should have a good knowledge and appreciation of swimming
and, whenever possible, should have preceded his present position with experience
in guarding work,

Fourth, he mast be an organizer canable of producing interesting and
attractive water shows, meets and similar events, as-vell as a broad and compre=
hensive teaching program,

Fifth, he should have some ability at writing and speeking - a big
help in advertising the pool and wheat it is doing for the community.

Sixth, he should possess some knowledge of simple bookkeeving methods.

Finally, he must have a pleasant personality and yet possess enough
iron in him to lay dom the law when the occasion varrents. It should be made clear
; i
to the other émployees that the man in sole cuthority is the manager who in
turn is, of course, answerable to the park board or commissioner “ho hired him.

Now it should be obvious that a man with these qualifications
cannot be found without looking around considerably; and as a parallel to the
last statement, a man with these qualifications should be worthy of his hire,
One usually gets just about what he pays for in this world and the only too
common practice of hiring a manager who is also a guard end in some cases is
expected to watch the showers or the children's wading pool will lead to very
undesirable results - perhaps in some cases to serious accidents. What should
such a man receive? Such estimates cannot be made with any accuracy, but it
seems like $150.00 a month should be a minimum with larger communities
definitely higher, One small community in this state pays its manager $200.00
a month and feels that it is receiving fully velue fo? its money, It is my
belief that the most likely man to fill such a position will be a student or
a graduate of one of our better schools of physical education,

Proceeding to the guards, one must again analyze his needs. In
a swimming pool which is properly run, there are few occasions when rescue
work is necessary. Therefore, the question arises as to whether a guard should
be hired primarily on his swimming ability.

Some little experience with hiring guards has convinced me that
the highly expert swimmer (the Varsity letter man if you will) by no means
makes the best guard. Many times he has become too highly interested in the
competitive phases of swimming to the exclusion of all other considerations.

As one's guards are going to be mainly concerned with the enforce-
ment of regulations and the elimination of dengerous practices it ould be
wise, I believe, to place swimming ability in a secondary position and place
the ability to command respect, the willingness to enforce regulations - the
general ability to police in the first category. (If your guard has neither the
gamption nor the desire to tell off the customer when he is violsting regula-
tions, you will have a poorly run pool no matter how well that guard can stim).

Other desirable characteristics for a guard include:

First, he should be a strong swimmer.

Second, he should make a good physical appearance (necessary
because it is a characteristic highly thought of by public)

Third, he should have knowledge of and technical ability in the
techniques of life saving as laid down by the American Red Cross,

Fourth, should have tmowledge of and teaching ability in the various
swimming strokes,

Fifth, he should be convinced of the necessity for strict bather
regulations and knoledge of the reasons for it. (Explain to customer),

Sixth, he should have a high sense of responsibility and feel the
essential importance and dignity of his position,

Seventh, he should be mature (at least college age) (Salary -
indefinite, but should be about $100.00).

The characteristics of other employees is perhaps not so
important. Meny well run pools employ the men who placed below the guards in
the examinations for guerds as checkers, This is a device to train guards by
putting the checkers out in the pool for short periods “hile giving the regular
guards a relief. It works very vell. ,

The cashier (many times a woman) should of course be quick ond
accurate in her vork, she should possess a pleasant personality (as she is the
first person to contact the public) and should also possess some knowledge of
bookkeeping.

The better pools have attendants in their dressing rooms and this
appears a necessity if the regulations are to be lived up to. In these
positions the more mature individual is = prime necessity. A man or woman of
50 or even more seems to best fib this situation.
 

ers
To generalize:

A pool can be no better then its personnel. Good personnel can

make the pool a powerful factor in the leisure time activities of the community.
Good personnel mst be chosen carefully along certain predetermined lines and
should be paid adequately for the services they render.

 
"LEGAL RESPONSIBILITY IN POOL OPERATION"

By

e

John B. Harris

Assistant Attorney Generel, State of Illinois

The folloving is believed to be one of the most complete
compilations of actual court cases of interest to those not only engaged
in operating swimming pools but all types of bathing facilities. We are
perticulerly indebted to Mr. Harris for this valuable contribution.
This presentation has been made in such a manner as to clearly present
cases often difficult to evaluate. The study of these examples should
serve to point out the denger spots in svimming facilities which might
involve danger suits.

28.
ee,
"LEGAL RESPONSIBILITY IN POOL OPERATION"
By
John B, Harris
Assistant Attorney General, State of Illinois

It is doubtless the law that the proprietor of a natatorium is liable
for injuries to a patron resulting from lack of ordinary care in providing for
his safety, without fault of the patron; but he is not in any sense an insurer
of the safety of patrons, and the death of a patron within his premises does not
cast upon him the burden of excusing himself from any presumption of negligence.

And it was held accordingly, in Bertalot v. Kinnare, 72 Ill. App.52,
that there could be no recovery for the death by drowning of a fifteen-year-old
boy in the defendant's natatorium, where it appeared merely that he was last
seen alive in the water at the shallow end of the pool, and some ten or fifteen
minutes later was discovered unconscious and perhaps already lifeless, at the
bottom of the pool, all efforts to resuscitate him being without avail.

The proprietor of a bathing establishment owes to his eustomers a
duty to exercise reasonable care to maintain the premises in a safe condition:
but he does not insure the safety of his patrons against accident: and his duty
to patrons is satisfied when he uses reasonable care to maintain the premises
in a safe condition for their proper use by the patrons. Rom. v. Huber (1919)
93 N.J.L. 360, 108 Atl. 361, affirmed in (1920) 94 NVJ.L. e208, 109 Atl.504.

Proprietors of a bathing resort, in discharging the duty of ordinary
care for the safety of patrons, may be obliged to keep some one on duty to
supervise bathers and rescue any apparently in danger; and may also be held
liable for negligence if, on information that a bather is missing, they are
tardy in instituting search. Thus, in Brotherton v. Manhattan Beach Improv. Co.
(1896) 48 Neb. 463, 33 LRA, 599, 58 Am.St.Rep. 709, 67 N.W. 479, affirmed
on rehearing in (1897) 50 Neb. 214 69 N.W, 757, 1 Am. Neg, Rev. 115, an action
against the company which maintained a bathing resort, for the death of a patron
by drowning, where there was evidence that the resort was on a lake shore, was
trequented by an average of 10,000 bathers a month, and the evidence failed to
show that the company had any guard or attendant to watch over the bathers,
or to rescue them if in danger, and also showed that, when it was notified of
a bather's disappearance, it did not institute immediate search, although the
evidence warranted an inference that an immediate search would have resulted
ir, the bather's rescue before death, it was held that the question of negligence
should have been submitted to the jury, and that a peremptory instruction for
the defendant was erroneous. The court said: "We think it is a reasonable
inference that persons of ordinary prudence, conducting a bathing resort fre-
quented by 10,000 people a month, should, in the exercise of ordinary care,
keep some one on duty to supervise bathers and rescue any apparently in danger;
and, if not, that it is certainly a reasonable inference that persons so sit-
uated should, on ascertaining that a person last seen in the water is missing,
without a moment*s delay, exert every effort to search for that person in the
water and not merely advise a youthful companion of the missing person to search -
on the land and coolly watch the result of such search",

After stating that the rule is well settled that the omers of resorts
to which people generally are expressly or by implication invited are legally
bound to exercise ordinary care and prudence in the management and maintenance of
such resorts, to the end of making them reasonably safe for visitors, the court
in Larkin v. Saltair Beach Co. (1905) 30 Utah, 96, 3 L.R.A, (N.S.) 982, 116 Am.
St. Rep. 818, 83 Pac.686, 8 Ann.Cas.977, said, regarding the duty of the pro-
prietor of a bathing resort: "And when the business is that of keeping or carrying
on a bathing resort, the authorities held that the proprietors or owners thereof
are not only required to exercise that same degree of care and prudence with
respect to keeping the premises in a reasonably safe condition, which the law

 
30,
imposes upon keepers of public resorts generally for the protection of their
patrons, but the law imposes upon them the additional duty, when the character
end conditions of the resort are such that, because of deep water, or the
arising of sudden storms, or other causes, the bathers may get into danger, of
having in attendance some suitable person with the necessary appliances to
effect rescues, and save those who may meet with accident. Not only is it the
duty of the owners of bathing resorts to be prevared to rescue those who may
get into danger while in bathing, but it is their duty to act with promptness,
and make every reasonable effort to search for and if possible recover, those
who are known to be missing",

In that case it was held that the owner of a public bathing resort
might be found to be negligent, where he placed no signs as to the depth of the
water, or marks to indicate denger, and kept no one at hand to aid persons in
danger, end took no step to aid a person ectually in peril until too late to
be of any avail and in the case of Beaman v._Groons (1917) 138 Tenn. 320,

L.R.A, 1918 B, 305, 197 S.W, 1090, the court said? "The proprietor of a public
bathing resort may be found to be negligent in failing to place or properly
maintain signs as to the dangerous depths of the water, or marks to indicate
danger to his patrons,"

Other things being equal, the proprietor of a natatorium for profit,
to which the public are invited, oves a greater degree of care to a youth who
it knows cannot swim, and who is permitted to enter the pool, than to one who
it knows can swims in other ~ords, the ability to swim, or the lack of it, may be
an important factor in determining what is and whet is not ordinary care on
the part of such a proprietor, But in Henrod v. Gregson Hot Springs Co.

(1916) 52 Mont. 447, 158 Pac. 824, it was held that a non-suit was properly
entered in an action against a proprietor of a natatorium for profit, for the
death of a youth thirteen years old by drowrming in the pool, where it was
alleged that the water varied in depth from 3 to 6 feet, that the deceased was
about 4 feet 8 inches tall, was unable to swim and unable to take care of
himself in water over 3 feet deep and that these facts were known to the
defendant, who carelessly permitted the decessed to bathe in the pool for about
two hours without any person being present to watch after him: since, if it was
intended to charge negligence in permitting the deceased to remain in the pool
an unreasonable time, there was no causal connection between such negligence
and the injury and if the complaint intended to charge negligence in failing

to provide an attendant or guerd, based on the assumption that the deceased
could not swim, the case likewise failed, beceuse the evidence showed that an
attendant had asked him if he could swim end he had replied in the affirmative
and had demonstrated his ability in that respect, he court said this inquiry
wes directed to him in pursuance of a rule of the defendent which denied the
privileges of the natatorium to an unaccompanied minor who could not swim:

so that if it was true, as the plaintiff contended, that the youth could not
swim, he secured admission by misrepresentation as to a material fact, by reason
whereof he became a trespasser ab initio. The court said, also, that it was
not called upon to determine whether the rule of ordinary care required the
defendant to provide a life guard for the deceased without reference to his
ability to swim, as the complaint did not charge negligence in that particular
and the burden was on the plaintiff to show that the deceased was rightfully
in the pool and that his death resulted proximately from a breach of duty
which the defendant owed to him and with which it was charged in the complaint.

The proprietor of a bathing resort is not under the absolute duty
of providing skilled attendents in sufficient number to insure the safety of pa-
trons engaged in bathing: the duty is only to exercise ordinary care to provide
& reasonably sufficient number of competent attcndants for such purpose and
it wes held in Lovinski v, Cooper (1912) - Tex. Civ. App. 142 S,W,959,
that, under the statute in that state (which is not set out), the defendant in
conducting a swimming pool could not be held liable for the negligent ects of
his servants in that promptly rescuing a bather, but vas liable only for his
om individual acts of negligence, if any, in failing to provide a sufficient

 
31.
number of competent attendents, The action was one for the death of a tvelve~
year-old boy by drowning in a swimming pool maintained by the defendant, where
it appeared that he had been playing about the pool and stumbled and fell into
it, striking his head against the edge of the pool of against & post and although
a good swimmer was so stunned by the blow that he could not extricate himself
and when taken from the pool about ten minutes later could not be resuscitated.
It was held that an instruction wes erroneous that if the jury believed from
the evidence that the defendant failed to provide skilled attendants at the pool
in sufficient numbers "to insure the safety of the patrons" of the pool and that
in such failure the defendant was guilty of negligence resulting in the death
in question, they should find for the plaintiff.

So, in Behrns v. Roth (1917) 204 Ill. App.328, notwithstanding there
vas much noise and shouting going on in a swimming pool from a large numbe# of
boys swimming, just before and at the time the deceased met his death therein,
the court held that the evidence failed to show negligence on the part of the
defendant in the equipment of operation of his natatorium, it appearing that
signs as to the depth of the water and warning signs es to safety had been
placed in the pool, that two life guards had been stationed there and that efforts
were promptly made by them to recover the deceased from the water and to resusci-
tate him. It was held that the evidence showed that the death was not due to
drorning but to organic disease.

Where it was customary to serve drinks in a bathing establishment,
including the room in which vas a swimming pool end a patron in attempting to
enter the pool was injured by placing his hand on a glass on the edge of the pool,
it was held that:there could be no recovery against the proprietor for the _
injury, there being nothing to show who placed the glass where it vas, or how
long it had remained there. Jones v. Levy (1906) 50 Misc. 624, 98 N.Y. Supp.
206. The court said also that the place vas brilliantly lighted and the glass
should have been, at least, as clearly visible to the plaintiff as to the
defendant's waiters.

In an action for injury to a bather by slipping upon smooth
concrete steps as he was attempting to enter a swimming tank, the proprietor of a
natatorium was, in Anderson v. Seattle Park Co. (1914) 79 Wash. 575, 140 Pac.
698, 6 N.C.C,A. 954 held not guilty of negligence, where it was show that
the steps were constructed in accordance with the universal custom of similar
natatoriums, thet they were scrubbed end washed with fresh water three times
a week, that bathers had used the steps constantly without falling end had never
found them in a slimy or dangerous condition. But the owner of a park in which
iS a swimming pool operated for hire and held out to the public as a suitable
place for swimming end diving may be held liable to one diving, who was injured .
by striking invisible timber under the Water. Bass v. Reitdorf,(1900) 25 Ind.
App. 650, 58 N.E, 95,

In Turlington v. Tama Electric Co. (1911) 62 Fla. 398, 38 L.R.A.
(Y.S,) 72, Ann, Cas. 1913D, 1213, 56 So.696, 1 N.C.C.A, 490, it was held that
a ceuse of action was stated by allegations in a declaration for damages for
the death of one drowned in the defendant's bathing establishment, to the
effect that the defendant maintained, as a part of his bathing house, a spring-
board for diving, which was about 3 or 4 feet above the water, that the depth
of the water underneath was, at average tide, about 24 to 34 feet decp; that
owing to the shallow water :the place was dangerous for those who restored there
for bathing and diving; that the defendant negligently suffered the same to
remain in this dangerous conditions that there was no sign indicating the depth
of the water, end that the decedent had no knowledge thereof; and that the
latter, having hired a bathing suit from the defendant, in the exercise of
due care, dived from the springboard and struck his head on the bottom of the
bay, sustaining injuries from which he died. It was contended in that case
that the allegations were merely to the effect that the defendant maintained a
springboard in good condition over a body of water 33 feet deop and that this

 

 

 
326

did not constitute actionable negligence, The court said: "The springboard
and the water beneath and about it constituted the diving and swimming accommo—
dations. It was in law the duty of the defendant to exercise proper care,
precaution and diligence to provide and maintain a reasonably suitable enti safe
springboard and water of reasonably suitable and safe depth under and about the
springboard, free from obstructions or other dangers to comfort and safety in
the ordinary and customary use of such a diving and swimming place. If the
water was in fact of such a depth as to make diving from the springboard into
the water beneath, in the usual, ordinary and customary manner, unsafe in the
particulars alleged and no appropriate notice or warning was given of the un-
safe or unsuited condition of the diving place and the decedent was, because of
such unsafe or unsuited accommodations being negligently furnished, injured
while properly using the accommodations in a customary and appropriate manner
in diving from the springboard in his customary way, without fault on his part ,
a cause of action for compensatory dameges exists under the statute in favor
of the plaintiff, if the decedent could have maintained an action for the same
injury had his death not resulted therefrom... . Where a party maintains
a bathhouse or a diving or swimming place for the use of the public for hire
and negligently permits any portion of the same or its appurtenances, whether
in the house, or the depth of the water, or in the condition of the botoom, or
in things thereon, to be in an unsafe condition for its use in the manner in
which it is apparently designed to be used, a duty imposed by law is thereby
violated; and if an injury to another proximately results from a proper use of
the same, without contributory negligence, a recovery of compensatory damages
may be had.®

In Barnes v, Honey Grove Natatoriums, (1921) - Tex. Civ. App..__,228
S.W. 354, it was held that there was sufficient evidence to justify a finding
of contributory negligence, and that a Judgment for the defendant should be
affirmed, in an action for the death of the plaintiff's sixteen-year-old son
in the defendants! swimming pool, which was about 50 feet wide by 100 feet
long, was of concrete, and sloped gradually from one end, at which the water
was only about 18 inches deep, to the other end where it was about 9 feet deep,
wnere there was testimony to the effect that the boy, who was an inexperienced
swimmer, had been told by another boy with whom he spoke about "kind of cramping",
to get out on the bank and wait until he felt differently. The case was treated
=s tho the party who was drowned were an adult, no complaint being made to the
instructions on this ground. The court said that, treating the case as one
in which the ordinary rule with reference to contributory negligence was
applicable, it was plain that the jury were warranted in finding that the
piaintiff's son was guilty of contributory negligence: that they had a right
to conclude that the boy discovered, during the half hour he was in the pool
before he had the conversation in question, that the water thein became gradually
deeper, and knew and realized the danger to a person who was not a good
swimmer, or even to an exvert swimming, in using it after he discovered that
he was cramping; and that the jury might conclude that an ordinarily prudent
person under these circumstances would not have gone back into the pool, as the
youth did after he had the conversation in question. The court expressed the
opinion that a finding that the defendants were guilty of gross negligence
would not have been warranted, where it appeared that they had exercised some
care for the safety of persons who used the pool, by providing handrails
along the end where the water was depest and for a distance of about 40 feet
along the sides from that end and by placing chains across the pool | at points
where the water vas about 2 feet deep and also where it vas about 35 feet deep,
although it did not appear that they had employed attendants charged with the
duty specifically of looking after the safety of persons in the water.

A person constructing a toboggan slide to be used by the public for
@ consideration at a bathing resort is bound to anticipate and provide against
injuries from defects in construction, to the extent thet reasonably prudent men
336
might foresse the necessity of doing. Barrett v. Lake Ontario Beach Improv.
Go. (1903) 174 N.Y, 310, 61 L.R.A. 829, 66 NF, 968° 14 Am.Neg, Rep.144,

Where an amusement company maintained a pond in its park and»
charged an admission fee for bathing ond ‘swimming, it vas held in Decatur
Amasement Park Co. v. Porter (1907) 127 T1l.App.448, an action for the death
of a fourteen-year-old boy who was drowned in the pond, that the duty of. the
defendant was to make reasonable provision to guard against those accidents
which common knowledge and experience teach are likely to befall those engaged
in said sports and that it might be held liable for negligence if it failed to
have any attendant to render assistance, if necessary, to bathers, or failed
to mark in any way the depth of the water, which in portions of the pond was
alleged to be 10 feet deep. But it was held also that the mere failure of the
defendant to furnish an experienced swimmer and diver would not alone consti-
tute negligence, and that a cause of action was not stated by counts in the
declaration based solely on the assumption that it was actionable negligence
not'to have an experienced swimmer and diver to render aid to those heeding it.

In Thierry v. Oswell (1925) _. Ale. _, 102 So. 903, in an action
ageinst the proprietor of a public bathing and pleasure resort, to recover
damages for the drowning of plaintiff's minor child, a sixteen-year-old girl,
the court held that although the defendant may have been negligent in failing
to provide safeguards or warnings at a hole deredged out for deep water
Swimming and diving and immediately adjacent to shallower water used for
swimming, and notwithstanding said hole was so deep as to be dangerous to bath=
ers who could not swim, and that the defendant had noticed that the bathing
resort was patronized by children end others unable to swim, nevertheless,
if the decedent, although she did not knor 6f the existenre of the deep holé
described, was notified of the danger in time to have avoided the injury and
did not use ordinary care to avoid the danger, the plaintiff was not entitled
to recover,

In Blanchette v. Union Street R. Co. (1924) 248 Mass. 407, 143 N.E,
310, the court held that a company maintaining for hire a bathing house and
beach and in connection therewith a floating reft, with a chute or slide
thereon, to be used by the bathers to dive and slide into the vater, was bound
to use reasonable care in maintaining the accommodations for the purposes for
which they were apparently designed and to which they were adapted and if,
by reason of the shallowmess of the water, the chute and the water beneath it
were not reasonably safe for diving, it “as the duty of the company to warn
the plaintiff, as an invitee for hire, of the dangerous condition, in order
that he might be cognizant of the danger and a failure to perform this duty
vould be negligence for which the company would be responsible, unless the
plaintiff was guilty of contributory negligence or had assumed the risk
of the conditions. The court further said that although it was within the
right of the defendant to limit its obligation by a sign warning the users of
the chute that it was used at their risk, to have such effect the defendant
mst show that the invited persons had knowledge of the sign and that they
accepted the invitation, subject to the absence of eny duty of the owner and
invitor to warn of dangers which were not visible to ordinary inspection.

In an action for the death of a fourteen-year-—old boy who was
drowned in a swimming pool conducted for profit by the defendant, it was held
in Maher v. Madison Square Garden Cor . (1926) 242 N.Y, 506, 152 N.E, 403, re-
versing (192 215 App. Div.653, 212 N.Y, Supp.865, that the judgment for the
plaintiff should be reversed and the comaplaint dismissed, where it appeared
only that, although the pool was crowded at the time, spparently no one saw
the fatality and that all that was knorn was that the boy was playing in the
pool in the afternoon and that his dead body was found in another part of the
pool the next morning and that death was caused by asphyxiation. It was said
that no inference could be drawn that, by any act or omission of the defendant
or my of its employees, the boy was pleced in a position of danger which
caused his death, or thet any greater care by the defendant could have averted
the accident. From the dissenting opinion in the lover court, it annears that
34,
the verdice for the plaintiff was there sustained on the ground that lack of
Signs designating the various depths of the water, and failure to provide for
guards, constituted sufficient basis on which to preducate liability for negli-
gence. But in this opinion it is pointed out that it was not established that
the alleged negligence was the promimate cause of the death,

The rule thet proprietors of a bathing resort, in discharging the duty
of ordinary care for the safety of patrons, may be obliged to keep some one on
duty to supervise bathers and rescue any apparently in danger and may also be
held liable for negligence if, on information that a bather is missing, they
are tardy in instituting search, was approved in Lyman v. Hall (1928) 117 Neb.
140, 219 N,W, 902, although the evidence was held insufficient to sustain a
verdict in favor of the plaintiff against the defendant, proprietor of a public
bathing pool conducted for nrivate gain, where it appeared that there were signs
indicating the depth of the water; that there ware lifeboats near the bathhouse
equipped with ours, rope end grappling hook, upon which there was a sign "For
emergencies only; "that the defendant head two employees who were qualified to
act in the capacity of guards, who were on active duty at the time of the
accidental drowning, and, at the first alarm one of the guards, who had been
attentively watching the pool at the proper vlace for rescue when the bather
disappeared, ren to the life boat end rowed to the natural place to look for a
missing swimmer and began to cast with grappling hooks and, upon being told the
boy was farther north, moved to the center of the pool, where the second cast
resulted in bringing the boy's body to the surface; and that efforts at
resusication were immediately made and were continued without avail for an hour
or more and notwithstanding the fact that the proprietor had not equipped his
life-boat or bathing resort with a pulmotor, a modern instrument used in the
work of resuscitation, where it appeared that the guards used standard methods of
equal efficiency and that a physician arrived within a few minutes and used
restoratives without success and testified that, in his opinion, the result would
have been the same had a pulmotor been used. The court nevertheless approved
the rule that failure to place and maintain v~arning signs or notices indicating
the depths of water in different parts of a public bathing pool conducted for
private gain may be evidence of negligence and added that not only is it the
duty of owners of bathing resorts to be prepared to rescue those who may get
into danger while bathing, but it is their duty to act with promptness end make
every reasonable effort to search for end if possible recover those who are known
to be missing,

In Nordgren v, Strong (1930) 110 Conn.593, 149 A, 201, it was held
to be a question for the jury as to whether one owning and operating a vublic
resort with bathing facilities must, in the exercise of reasonable care, have
a suitable person and necessary appliances ready to effect rescues end save
patrons from drowning, Those using the swimming facilities of a public resort
which made no charge for such facilities, but relied for its income on the
menting of bathing suits, lockers and boats end the selling of refreshments,
were held to be patrons entitled to reasonable care for their safety, even tho
they paid nothing to the operator of the resort.

In Adams, v. American Enka Corp. (1932) 202 NC 767,164 S.E. 367,
the court quoted the rule herein above mentioned as to the duty of supervising
and rescuring bathers, but held it inapplicable where the bather vas a gratuitious
licensee of a manufacturing company which had constructed a lake for manufacturing
purposes and permitted the public to swim in it,

In Blackwell v. Omaha Athletic Club (1932) 123 Neb, 332, 242 N.W.664,
where the plaintiff, who went to the assistance of enother swimmer in need of
help, was injured when a life guard. believing her to be in difficulty, jerked
her and pulled her over the bank of the pool, the court, in holding that a
finding was warranted that the life guard was guilty of negligence for which
the proprietor of the pool vas liable, said: "Proprietors of bathing resorts of
pools, in discharging their duty tomard their pstrons and guests, are not only
under obligation to keep an attendant or life guard on hand to supervise and