This uncredited article ran in the Los Angeles Times on July 14, 1912, with a five-tiered title: "Through the Combers - Riding Surf Board Thrills - George Freeth is Teaching Girls at Redondo - Hawaiian Swimmer Performs Hair-raising Stunts - Pretty Miss Says it is the Best Sport in the World." This version has been slightly edited and shortened.

The exciting Hawaiian sport, surf-board riding, so easy for the native Hawaiian and so difficult for the American, has been taken up by some of the summer girls here, and judging by their perseverance they mean to master the feat or die in the attempt. These girls are probably the only women in the country who ride the surf board, and but few men have learned the art of handling the board.

Miss Dolly Mings, Miss Birdene Packson, and Mrs. Hattie Whitney are the young women, and may be seen almost any morning learning the tricks of the sport under the instruction of George Freeth, the Hawaiian swimming instructor.

Miss Packson, a pretty blonde, who came here recently from San Francisco, describes surf-board riding as the "best sport" she knows off. She says "you feel just as though you were riding through the air when you ride in on the breakers."

Miss Mings is the best and strongest swimmer here. Surf-board riding is the latest accomplishment by this attractive little swimmer.

Mrs. Whitney has so far proven the most expert with the surf board as she has given the most time to it. All of the girls agree that the sport is difficult to learn, but very delightful.

George Freeth, the instructor, says: "surf-board riding requires unlimited nerve, and is much like mastering aa bucking bronco. You never know what will happen. A little chop and down you go. But the only really difficult or dangerous thing about is when you attempt to ride the board standing, after the manner of the Hawaiians."

Here are Freeth's methods, as described by him: First, when leaving the beach you carry the board, but hold (it) off to one side, headed into the breakers, otherwise the breaker may catch the board and send you sprawling. Second, lie flat on the board with the feet just hooking over the end, and paddle with the arms as if they were oars. At the same time balance the board by pressing down with the chest on whichever side the board should be directed. Third, start to paddle about twenty feet from the breaker, and keep paddling until you have fully caught the breaker. Then slide backwards off the board until the end of it strikes between the knees and the hips so as to remove the weight from the front of the board to prevent it from running into the sand. As the board rides over the breakers and up to the beach use the feet as a rudder with which to steer it, and as you are carried into shore hold to the board with both hands.

There are just four things to avoid to prevent danger, according to Freeth. "First, the rider must never get between the breaker and the board, or there is danger of being hit by the heavy board. Another thing to watch is that you paddle until fully up to the breaker. Above all things, the rider should remember not to slide off the board too far when taking the breaker; that is, the foot of the board should touch the legs of the swimmer between the hips and the knees, otherwise the board might strike the swimmer in the body. The last thing, but most important to remember, is never let go of the board."

The surf boards used to Freeth and his class of pupils are of redwood and weight about forty pounds. The dimensions are eight feet long, twenty-four inches in width and two inches thick.

The art of riding the surf board in a standing position was revived by Freeth in Honolulu in 1900. Although the Hawaiians generally rode the surf board, up to that time they rode only by lying on the board, although they knew that their early ancestors had ridden in a standing position. Freeth, who now has one of the old surf boards given him by a native prince which had been handed down from the early days, as a boy persisted in trying to ride the breakers in a standing position as he had heard of from the old natives' stories.

The board given him by the price was sixteen feet long and about four inches thick and after many falls and calculations, Freeth figured out that his board was too long for the breakers, as it couldn't take the curve in the combers. He finally worked out the dimensions that are used now in the boards in Hawaii. Now many of the Hawaiians ride the surf board standing and carry a second person on their shoulders.

SURF LESSONS FROM GEORGE FREETH, 1912: "IT REQUIRES UNLIMITED NERVE"

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