The Tiffin weekly tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1859-1868, 1864-02-04
From the Chicago st.
Trials AND TRIBuLiTIONS.
Beau HacLett rs mn Amateur shater.


succeeded In throwing a double somcr-
snult out Of n hav-lnrt. on which occnsinn
the siable.kccpcr's boot played the part OF
a spring. hoard. ! had passion fnr hay.
l"fs in the hcy.day Of INV youth. was
IN clover rvury time ! got in one. Ru,
the physical exercise incjdcnttu INV cary
experience IN trcc.clnbirg. picket seal.
inc and rrccjpitit' revolutions cut Of
barn Carr,ts, rather retarded than i'm.
proved my muscular dcvpnrmcnt aud
/ the sUr,'ro-muscular operation urtukirr
n foot oir my deli ate figure whoa was
already rs short as a boy of NV rUr had.
any r'Vht tu hr, caused me in latter ycurs
7 to avoid siudiously any physical rNGrtion
that was not absolutely necessary To- n,y
health and well being,
Therefore,
Skating Is = new thing 20 me. never
studied the ART IN my boyhood's sunny
years, and n,Vcr purcticcd Il. Ia, am
prepared tn assert from actual ohscrva.
tions aud experiments, by the subscriber,
that skating is mmhug, aud skating
parks nrc dinholical invention that could
have belonged to no other age than the
one in which we live.
/ rejoice in the acquaintance Of several
young ladies who skate. They COM
mcncc1 Bs early AZ the last Fourth of
July to persuade me 10 learn the glorious
art (; and they have prosecuted their on.
dcavors increasingly ever since. As the
cold weather advanced, | became u little
Il Harmed, aud tried To convince them that
1t would be- to their advantage to rcpudiate
my friendship; but they insisted that |
was an exceedingly proper young man.
/ and cultivated me more intimately than
ever. | began to think that summer oil
the wear would be agreeable, notwith'
standing philosophers have cortcndct
that If such we're the case we would moi
know how tn appreciate II. The frs
morning that found ice in my pitcher
came near inintiug; and when | saw Hr
adv, rtis,mo ~ in the papers o. skates lui
sale, il al solutcly made me sick. was
not troubled. however, until Chris mas
iduv. | had made all necessary arrange
imcnts 10 spend that nncISLH u.gi'rrsHry
In quct, aud was wcndiiF F'hy " y home
ward very rccnhly inAtAe nitrrnroou'
when was sttgckcd by Nhcvy 81 my
sk,tinr rcmala friends with their arms
n,ll of skates. Flight was impossible. !
ind to face the music. ] rcscrt,d to-
strategy in the frst place. but il was u
failure. Told them had no skates
They offered 10 present me pnir. My
/ gnlldntry was challenged and could say
no more On that head, but begged them
! 10 90 with me somewhere and let me
practice little or sHwdust before ap-
pcarcd in public on the ice; they refused.
| told them if they would 20 homc with
me would have my back yard flooded,
and we would skate there till doomsdny;
but they had the skating park fever, aud
all of my propositions were powcrlcss.--
Finally became charitable, squundcrod
the price Of u pair of skates, nrd accom-.
panied The imPortuning bcvy to skating
park.
The first thing ! did on entering the
park was to laugh. laughed vOciicr'
.,usly Conc Of the young ladies' said il
was vucilcruusly) To see how stupid
had been. Anyh,dy could skate
knew II as soon ms suw II. Why, ii
was just as easy spurncd my tutors !;
| would have no diciutrcsscs with pctIi-
coats told them to stand aside | could
paddle my own canoe, aud So forth
rhcy stood aside; padded. bucklcd
on NY skates and stood upright, with hope
springinv ctcrual in my human brcusl,
and struck out boldly. ln less than ore
, tenth Of second afterwards | struck in
, boldly, head foremost, don't think
fell; but believe that M acrobat, with
q million triumpbs in bis luvoritc art
clustering about his person, could moi
5 have performed the fat that performed
I 80 4 Lot VtapaaI tlt tra
Q rologis, could have examined the impress
r son that my head moie in the ic'
c and drawn thoreirum "A very accurate
= map of my intellect. was satisfied III,
o told ny crinolincd keepers that il the!
Il would crown me with luurels wUu,
= leave as soon as the gutckecpcrs woul,
o let me. They were not 50 impcluous u
i myself, und contendcd that should sta,
g awhile.
:, One precious littlo creature with Sa
d tan in her eye, took me by the arm, ant
G said had nothing TO icur; she woul
give me lesson and make skntor o
me. She would teach me the whole mr.
If IN remarkably short spuce Of time; sh
g would do anything in fact that any rea
n sonnble man could exact, md l wen
10 forth with her, feeling tolcrobIy happy
i We struck out moderatcly--shn and L.
l. She suid something about putting tn
It right foot foremost. ] cndcavorcd to lo
low her BGv'cc tut before ] could oc
a complish my purpose | WINS in an excel
d lent position to have photograph OF m
feet taken with the sky for background
aud us acquired that position (not grad
!. ual by any means) heard one OF m
@ skates strike something cousiderabl
ID above The surface of,tho park. Tw
= minutes later my tutor was on her knees
Jt picking up her teeth which were scat
IS tered around so profuscly that n green
= horn might have supposed on scein
l. them that farmers wife hnd bee
rs shelling corn forchickens. One OF he
friends rushed to her ard looked in hC
mouth TO count the vacancies. ! tol
D. her not TO do IL; ! did not want to So
N anybody look down in the mouth on az
lg count Of my caamities, and that was a
r: the apology | made.
st When arose ugain II WAS with III
st determination not to skate auy more Il
IS next senson. told the young ladit
u there was u conspiracy against me
cr somebody had poured oil on the ice
mak9 it slippery, and would not patrol
ize park where the proprietors won
D. allow such indignities to be perpetrate
y, My guardians gathered around me al
u entre0ted me to try il "once more ju
rk. for fun" told them that would try
for anything else but fun, which was II
compatible with a skating park, provide
Ie they would furnish me with balant
e,s pole aud put some sealing wax on Il
IT, bottoms of my skates. Another hero
ne woman, unil lntsd by the Circumstance
a companion having been made tool
=, LESS, volunteered as substitute for
90 balance pole and sealing WAX dragg'
W A .,tll I nlaIs,a hnl