PERIPATETICS: Fernand the Swimmer

Shirley May France's clothes still hung on the hickory limb but she clung anxiously to a French beach, waiting for southwesterly winds to die down. The winds did not deter a hefty, partially crippled, 34-year-old Belgian mining machine manufacturer named Fernand du Moulin. Around 10 o'clock one night last week Fernand left a champagne party given by his wife, anointed himself with grease and took to the choppy waters off France's Cap Gris Nez. He struck out with a powerful breast stroke, stopping now & then to tread water and consume 20 fortifying pints of soup and coffee doled...

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