The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1863-01-21

i q ''C0nuQence Is great ttx1q9t tn0uEht y o
nah Quod.. Away went the Skaters, cribolin.
and doeskin. Ind away went Quod in tn,
midst of them, his uncouth efforts to Keep ~
| i'm both senses of the term-beine al frs
| uapotfeed, by the animated throng OF specta
! tors, in tie seats which overlooked the gal.
| scene.
Confidence is great thing But 4 little
skill Ia indispensable to skaters, as JONAH
found ere two rods had been measured By hi.
| bungling feet. Repeated falls attested him !.
novice in the art, Daring but Disastrous.
Shouts and screams Of ghrer beasz from
hundreds Of lips at each Of his falls and rises
audacicus struggles and outrageous pitches
| tosses and stumbles and tumbles again, td ths
treachernns footing place he had chosen viii
such unaccountabla ambition. -
Some thought him fcigning awkwardness
and ,eried opt that it was so.
"Know him we'll ("
aBest skater here"
"Only fudging.D
| "Let him alone" s
aSsrike out, straddle- -bIg, and beat emp
At these cries, he madsa . daring rush, fol
rod or two more, sorely bruised as he was
on various parts of his unfortunate person
when the'cuvled toes of his skates happening
| to turn in, hitehed together and heifeIf head
long again, tearing his hands fearfully. Ur
another attempt. This time he fell backward
seeing stars by daylight, and receiving an
awful shock to lis system, such as CONVINCED
certain policemen, WAa.. Roisted him back
over the rails, of the true state of his case
He ,cds an amateur, and no mistakei - s.
Sympathy of his misfortuns,i If not admira,
tion for his daring, poy induced tYo of the
amateurs fhfxhs middle space to. lake him
between thom; and for awhile the three got
along quite -decently--keeping up, at all
eYeass, ap. spite of nany involuntary lurches
forward, backward, and on either side.
Emboldened by thus preserving bis head
in air, he tried the game el9ns, and having
pulled up che hole more ih his straps, as he
several young We men, scme of them quite
expert, but top diftdent to eppear in the race
of prizes. sf,fsa
i One of them he stood still to admire She
was a blooming splendid creature, graceful
and agile. =
"She IN worthy to be smother of faee Of
menH quoted Jonah Quod, striking an un-
lucky attitude, which gave him another fall.
Up again, amid peals of general laughter
while the racers in the track passed on with
the speed of light around them. go
But the crowdng accident, which caused
Jonah to desist altogether, nov took place; fol
Rltt
over. ne vas not aware that tho blooming
skater he nd so much admired ,yas, sailing
toward him, skstiag backward, q a direotiaf
opposite 10 his - he-co1li
sion was tremendousI--at, least to Jonah, fol
the contact Of .utcensciguss cl5noline proves
too much for his equipoise, and cver again he
went, spramling, she barely preserving hel
equilibrium herself b
He begged tep thousand pardons, boss she
excused him,with merry pcals of laughter, a.
she .Iursped per backyard course, adroitly.
while poor Jonah, entirely overcome by this
last catastrophe, led off his skates and res
tired from the arena, of which he had been
the most eonspieAoHs, if pot the most honored
competition
Fad skates Too smooth % he muttered, as
he returned them to the owner and proceeded
home-on his arrival whittier, he asoertained
that he bad lost ope of q set of ffteen-lollar
studs-the set thus being spelled -
"Confeund the lusk-but I'll take good
sn,okcln thought he. feeling in one of his
pooketa for meerschaum, which had cost him
twenty dollars. He pulled it ont, and to his
dismay found that he had smashed i into
smi.heFeens, By his nptipely tpiWahhles on the i.
icel
: aIf ever I go on the ice again, nayI be
smashed as bad as that % he exclaimed and
after attending to his bruises, put himself
mournfully to he'd.
- On the following day, he concluded TO 60 to
work, and did so. But the story of his sad
calamities had come to the knowledge of his
brother compositors; and after they had ban-
tered him awhile, by inquiries as to his studs,
and requests that he would loan them his meer-
isehaum, he concluded to make clear breast
Of it, and gave q graphic account of his first
skating adventure; but he still insists that the