Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1851-01-28
lMglD3NT on @asT TtoRV ;
The Skating Regiment.

AHO OA1tiHS NCSlHcfll,
/ In Norway THE ground lis over
spread with snow for three-fburths O
the year, and not unfrequently to {
depth Of tenfeet. When thaw comes
it is only the surface of the mass
that melts, and then the next frost
Of course covers the whole country
with crust Office. In such circum-
stances there is no getting along in
the usual way. The people must
still ascend the hills and dive into the
valleys in pursuit of game; they must
still traverse the hoary forests to
gather wood fof fuel; and Il ley must
still journey I'd the distant towns to
bring food to their isolated lhamlets.
In these excursions, whether long OF
short, they use Skates. Skating is
with them, neither mere amusement
nor gymnastic exercise; it is a
means of locomotion which the nature
of the ground re hders Indispensable,
and man who cd uld not skate would
be unable to walk to any useful pur-
pose.
1t is melancholy to think that one
of the most delightful winter Gus
toms has, like many othef things
good in themselT YES, been pressed IN
to the service of war. In the army
of Norway there is co ompanE of ska
ters dressed in the dark green Of Eng
rlish riAemen, anH armed mefely with
la slight musket slung upon t he shoul-
der, and a dagger sword. They are
likewise provided with an ird ia point
ed staff. seven ife et long, resembling
those used by the Swiss wbeh trayer-
sing the glaciers; which serves to bal
anee them as they sweep albng the
ice, and which they strike deep into
the ground when they desire to stop
in their headlong career. Tie staff
is also indispensable affording rest
for their pieces whensthey fire Their
skates are of peculiar construction,
being singularly long; and when thus
shod, it is a strange sight, Eand in
times of peace, like the present, an
amusing one, to pee this light eompa-
NY climbing with ease the idy hills,
gliding down their precipitouE sides,
and striding, ,as Klopstock says,
with winged feet over the waters
transmitted into solid ground, as if
in defiance of the common laws of a..
ture.
Skating was known to the ances-
tor Of the Northnhan 5, (if we take the
date assigned by sorh be authors to the.
Edda as evidende) eight CENTURIES
ago; the god Ullfr H icing represented
in the Scandinavian scriptures as re-Y
markable for his beauty, ibis ar
rows and his skates. The exbrcise is
not mentioned BY the Greek hnd Ro-
man writer's, though 50 well a tquaint-
ed with all our gymnastics; but Klop-
stock, Goethe, Hdrder, and other
German poets, sing the praises of the
ar t. In Holland it Is practise ed as in
Norway, not forIitsI gracefulhess, but
forits utility; and t here it is com
mon for the country people tb skate
to- market. Du1ing the fam BUS ex-
pedition of Louis XIV, this hrt of To-
comotion was used against til e Dutch
themselves in one of the MOI curt
Gus and daring exploits recorded in
history. When the states sued for
peace, the terms ofafed by the pride
of Lo uis were SO md nstrous, that the
people tore open their slui@es, and
laid the country und der water. The
frost, after q time, b however, rendered |
even this unayailing, and at length
Gen. Luxenl lbourg, d ne dark and free
zing hight, mounted twelve thousand
meA On skates, and sent them over
the ice from Utrecht to surprise the
Hague. The result is given as fol-
lows, by writer who takes bis facts
from French historian:
aWhen they left Utrecht. it was
cld ar frosty weather, and the effect
of the moon and stars upon the even
she bet of ice, over " hich the y swept
like breeze, was truly mh hgical.-
By degrees, as they advahced, the
visible horizon Of earth was pbscured
by yapor, al nd they could sed nothing
around, abo We or ha aneath them but a
circular expanse of ice, bounded at
the edge by thick gray clouds, and
canopied by the starry curtain Of the
sky. The strange groani1g sound
ub;oL o,-or I'D anon hoomAd along