Daily national Democrat., 1861-03-13
SnOw-Shoe Racing.


well repay perusd:
At Onion Valley there i. a regularly or
cauiacd Snow shoe clu1. iu Which ul. l.r.,ld
laurel 10 be won is a belt neatly made Of fine
leather and embeIii.hcd with the word
"cnAMrIoN'' in solid silver capitals that cy-
tend nearly the entire distance Of the strap.
which is fastened in front hy Il silver buckle
b airing the inscription c. '. = :. c.
The Valley appears TO me like an enlarged
cli ion Of an old fashioned grain hopper.
which is among the ha pie>t "reminiscences of
childish days) for it is surrounded on all
sides by bill that slope toward one common
center, whore you may stand and see men
drifting down the slopes. from every dircc-
ton toward the hotel, which is about the only
building in town that keeps itself above the
snow drifts
BY 10 o'clock A NJ large and enthusiastic
crowd had gathered on the race ground, and
until p. N. the time WAS fully occupied in
getting up PONY purses and scrub races for
the ambitious candidates who presented
themselves from the rival lurghs Of Rich
mCnl, Hopkins, Poor Mans and the Valley.
About o'clock, when the Narmost por-
ton Of the day was past and the snow bcgun
to assume crisp, slippery texture, the pre-
liminaries were arranged for the grand race
of the day for the Champions belt The
starting point, known as The Lone Tree. was
agreed upon; poles were set up, lines drawn,
Judges chosen, and seventeen names entered
for the race. Seven OF the competitors
.hou,dcrcd their shoes and e.urcly took the
line Of march Indian file, up the IilI. The
p-aks Of all The adjacent buildings that show :
ed above thcsnow were quickly Il promiated
for seats, and speculation rose to fever heat
during the time the racers were winding up
the hill. Presently they arrived at the Lone
Tree, were busy tiAing their Shoes when the
attention Of the spectators was drawn TO an
other part Of the hii! by The sudden appear
auce OF form enyo'opcd in cotton and ciiuo-
line, and hooded with saUcy colored Ii9o-
I,ttc, deiiantiy leading four or five rivals, in
pants and mining shirts, who We're stretching 9
every nerve to catch the fairy form, which
swept over the snow slope like the shadow Of
swiftly driven cloud. The womau!' "tcc
the woman, shouted hundred voices, and
simultaneously spliugiug to their feet, the ad-
miriug spectators held their very breath -
There was no time to ask, "vho is sheI' 1t
was quite sufficient that a woman had essay
ed the pcilous feat; that Boadicca had
taken the field On they come, the rgolctte
swept back and its tassals gallantly floating
huirah! Up went the hats in the air as fthe
prut up devotion to criuoline had at last
found It's Legitimate vent. Cheer after cheer
rang out in continual camor as they passed
the liberty pole, the woman winning The race
Iy fifteen ct.
am very sorry to he obliged to tell the
truth now, but that same pared Of criuoline
brai.od up her spanker and hove to in the
lrough OF the sea, or rather in the sag be-
tween two snow drifts, and while still the
fascinated gaze was li,ited ON the Object OF
-up,rsjitious awe, up went the criuoliue with
"A Kind Of an indicate jerk that threw the
| whole section of cat-addcrs clear over the
head, and revealed the-Oh ahominaLle
eat!-the pants tucked inside the bootlcgs
/ the inc, liable cray SHIT and leather belt
"ltichi rI is himself again. bur, friend Nor
| man, YOU must not SCH these Hoops to the
crowd again, while they give You thoit
/ whoola for uotAju@: we can get Your Kind at
any tine, lut oUrs are gone beyond recall,
There was 10 time to chlfp over the dctost
aole sell, for "herc they come sounded along
the lines OF spectators that Lad again settled
Ike focks Of pigeons on the peaks of tle
/ buildings. All were iutently scanning The
corps of skaters that had showed out from ,h,
Lone Tree, ana were sEimming down til,
grade at almost lightning speed 1t was Diff
cult TO determine, from our point Of view
which was ahead, I'll. they darted down oyeI
the brow OF The hi. toward Us, when the nlaI
known as "Petc' seoWcd TO make a leap ant
shot ahead some twenty fsct running on to ;
/ rough, WayY piece OF snow, when he fell
/ ploughing more than 20 fee, in straight
fuIrow toward the Hlges' st,ud lie cmcrg-
Cd trom the snow twelve yards short of the
scratch, and surveyed the scene Of dsa~tG
with a sort Of perp.eXed contortion Of coun-
tenaucc indicative Of badly mixed state o
IDEAS He went back and drew his darling
shoes from their white covering TO find one
Of them hrokon, and consequently bis pros
pact for the championship utterly blasted at
the moment when it seemed almost within lis
grasp. The first race was won by one Ne
/ DoWel. and he was set aside till it should be
decided Vh ho would be his rivals in the final
/ race. Soon another squad shoulderyd their
Shoes and Travelled up the hill; when arrived
at the starting point they found there Wcr,
too many Go gotegether conveniently, So they
! split up and then came on, doing the rae,
handsomely without bau.k-wpn b. Cook
Again the cry "IIere they come anl
corps Of seven few down the hill like hawks
swooPing on their prey. Conspicuous among
them WAS seen the champion of the previous
week, his Joins girt up with the zone of silver
g,itlcriug brightly in the snow. "Ilurrah foI
Oaion Valley hurrah! hurrah !" again burs
forth as they swept along IN close connection
McGce crossing the line about two shoe
lengths ahead After few expressions o
dissatisfaction by some Of the defeated candi-
dttes, who for a few moments looked rather
slUaily, the best man from each detachment
went up to decide the contest. Here ther
were the pluck and science of-eyeuteen racer
reduced down to three competitors il a heaC
and head strife for the laurels. At the wore
"go,' the poles were plicd ninily to get NJ
speed and bounding on they came. a thrill
of eXUtation ran through the crowd, and &
wild hulrah again rent the air as NcGce ,ho
ael oss the line ten feet ahead The listanc,
is half mile by computation the time 81
seconds by actual count The OGion Valley
boys were quite eXu,tant over the fact that
none cf the rival burghs could CLAIM the tro-
ply; but great effort viii be made to carryi
over the hills the next time it is run for, Il.
has been done once or twice already.
STRONG BnNAru-A man named Murphy
at indianapolis was blowing some Goals tC
light fire, when his breath caught an,
communicated to his face, which was SO com
pletely satuarated with whisky that it burueC
like kindiing wood. Murphy tells the story
himself lie is shochingly burned, and may
yet lose his sight
- ~ zssz
Arrivals at the US. Hotel.
STORES suELDs....... .PRoPRIET0Rs
March II, 1sGl