Cleveland tri-weekly leader. [volume] (Cleveland, Ohio) 1854-1885, 1863-01-13

SKATno.-Skating is an ancient pas
time, five may believe the books. 1t ismen-
toned in the Edda, written eight hundred
years ago, in which the god Ellsr is repre-
sented as distinguished by his beauty, arrows
and skates. KlOPstOck has sung its praises
in several odes Goethe, Herder, and other
German poets have celebrated it. AsaheaIth
giving exercise it stands pre- eminent, bring
ing the body into action through variety
Of motions, and exhibiting in marked de-
gree the comparative ease ard grace pos
sesssd BY those who venture upon a trial of
their skill.
The best skaters, It is said, are found in
Holland, Germany and Russia. In Holland,
as is well known, both men and women use
skates as q means Of lOcOmotion from oneyiI-
lage to another, and on market days the riv-
ers are lined with persons gliding to and from
the market towns. There ladies universally
practice the amusement, not only as reere-
alton, but as part of the gymnastic course
Of training to which females, as well as males,
are in that country submitted Night after
night they may be seen, sometimes with gem
tlemen, and again alone, flike the Homeric
gods, striding with winged feet over the sea,
transmitted into solid ground"
It is only within few years, that skating
has reached what may be termed the fash
iOnable circles of society in this country. For
generations previous, the boys had held su-
prems sway over the ice, and when one of
larger growth, not forgetting the delights of
his school days, ventured " to strike out, he
was deemed an intruder, and treated accord
ingly. Now, however, the scene has changed
ana beau and belle vie with each other in
the ice carnival.
In this city, sl=-t;-sy a-as- bveUms very
popular, although winter thus far has afford
ed very limited opportunities for the practice
Of that exercise. We have one Of the finest |
Skating Parks in the country, when Jack |
Frost gives it the required surface of ice.-
Yesterday, the skating was excellent and the
Park was dotted with skaters who were en-
ioying te the full the exhilarating exercise.
ELECTRIC BELL PIANo."-A man in
Pontiac, Michigan, has recently invented |
very curious instrument which by means of |
electricity, the man, hundreds Of miles dis
tant, can play q piano-fOrte or an organ in
New York or Boston separately or eOnjOintly |
BE has arranged his instruments to play
with bells at present. 1t is said to be avery
ingenious cOntrivanee, and is destined to at
tract great deal ofattention. Who knows
but one of these days, after a submarine ca
BILE is completed to England, that the gentle
man, seated in his easy chair in Pontiac,
with the score before him, may be able to
take part in one of the grand Oratorios at
York Minister? We have news by lightning
why not have music by the same agency p
Indeed we have. The deep toned dispasOn
which sometimes thunders in our ears in
spring and summer time, is but the work of
that subtle agent. Franklin was the first to
take down lightning from the heavens. Can
not the gentleman so modify and extend his
machine as also to bring music from the
clouds and make it subserve practical pur-
pose in our concerts?