East Saginaw courier. (East Saginaw, Mich.) 1859-18??, 1863-12-23
Skates and Skating

Skates and Skating
1t is no. less astonishing to note
theprogress made in the invention and
perfection OF articles Of every day use
among the human family than in the
''great inventions" which to q won
dorful extent have revolutionized in
latter days the mode of operations in
war as in the peaceful arts of agri-
culture and manufacture. AT this
particular seaeon, when the smooth
ice attracts not only the ambitious jul
venile, but many of maturer years to
try their fortunes with the glittering
steel manipulated by cunning work
men into dangerous though not war
i.IA0 l4"piv...v...- --.--- "a 3
especially interesting to consider the
matter of skates and skating.
The business of making skates, un-
der the stimulating influence ofan i'm
mense and daily increasing demand,
has been reduced to a science, and in
lieu of the meagre variety of plugs,
muleys and common calamities that
in the days when we were "on 'em"
greeted our covetous eyes, there are
now hundreds of different styles, en-
bracing some as near perfection as it
would seem possible to arrive in the
art.
The Holland skate with the runner
secured in a shoe upper, appears to be
growing in popular favor; and GER
tainly our old fashioned skates had
far too many troublesome straps
about them. The runner which is
coming into general use is devoid of a
groove on the face, and skaters assert
that they can Ego much faster with
il" while only little more skill and
practice is required to perform even
the most difficult evolutions.
We have some reason to feel con-
ceited of our skates in these days,
when we compare them to those worn
by our forefathers, about 700 years
ago. An old London historian, de-
scribing the winter sport of the youth
in that city in the twelfth century,
says (about frozen pond in Moor
felds): "Many young men play upon
it-some striding as wide as they
may, do slide swiftly; others make
themselves seats of ice as great as a
milestone; ono sits down; many, hand
in hand, do draw him; and one, slip
ping on a sudden, all fall to gether.-
Some tie boAss 10 Their feet and mder Their
heels, and, showing themselves with
little picked staff, do slide as swiftly
as bird fyeth in the air, or an arrow
out Of cross-bow Sometimes two
run together with poles, and hitting
one or the other, either one or both
doth fall, not without hurt-some
break their arms, some their legs; but
youth desireth Of glory of this sort -
exerciseth itself against the time of
war;" These old-lashioned skate run
ners were made of the shank bones of
oxen, and were highly polished
They are sometimes dug up now in
the vicinity of London, and afford
useful lesson in regard to the prog
gress we have made in making skates.
o steel runner Of skate, such as that
which now costs only q few cents,
could not then be obtained in famous
London "for love or money"
Skating as winter amusement is
invigorating, celebrating, and, above
all minor considerations of health,
grace or muscular development, it is
From Central Park in
New York, to Muggins' Mill Pond in
Minnesota the "excellect Skaters"
male and female, are marked, honored
and envied; to DO zone of them" seems
to be the chief ambition of the juve-
niles, and the attempts of some Of
older infants to acquire that distinc-
ton if wi tnessd do not require the pen
of Brick Pomeroy or any other man,
to render them ludicrous
->e>-
Ea- On forty acre farm in Iowa