St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1868-01-24
Sliding DOtcn HUI.
BY HENRY WARD BEECIIEK.

There is nothing in the tropics that
can console man doomed TO dwell there,
for the loss of northern winters. Mon
keys and humming birds, gorgeous flow
ers and gigantic vegetation, insects, rep
tiles and luscius fruits, which you can
not eat without cholera, swcltering
nights and roasting days! Deliver us
from the intolnrable delights of a tropi-
cal luxury.
But northern winter is full of brac-
ing joys. In doors all is ruddy and So
cial, and out of doors all is energy and
manly JOY A man who has blood and
vital spirits glories in the cold of winter.
But Of all sports, what can claim supe-
rority over coasting or, as in our boy
hood days it was called-sliding down
hill
Long before we attained the age of
sled, two barrel slaves fastened together
by the knowing workman, served an eN-
cellent purpose, and required no mean
skill in sitting and steering. A slight
mistake in balancing, and the boy and
slaves changed places, the boy under,
and the sliding machine on top-and
then gradually rolling into promiscu-
Gus heap, out of which came some rip
ping remarks not made by the sled
Next came the glory of full and real
SieclsMp-a sled with runners, and iron
or steel shod sled painted and letter
ed, With that we defied the thermome-
ter, and set our faces against the north
wind And how the long hill-a full
half mile-iS sought, not all OF Il gentle
slope, nor yet too steep, but properly
made up, as all hills should be. with Il
fine gradual beginning, then a pitch quite
steep, then another long middle slope, Il
jouncc here, rullock there, i sweep
yonder around point, and a tetching-up
place right along the river Ga such
hilltop, with glorioas sled, well mut-
fed and mittened, the boy seats himself
on his sled, prouder than ever sat king
upon his throne,
Away he goes, with nimblc feet reach
ing out before him, (tor sled carrie- its
rudder at the bow and whose heels with
>hllllul lOlNll SlCtlS lIlS ny
See him make leap over the rullock,
lifted clear into the air, and coming
down with a iounce that makes every
thing crack Boys have springs inside of
them, under every muscle, on all sides OF
each bone. and come down with Il spring
bound that cars and carriages may envy,
but cannot hope to attain.
None OF your belly y-tlounders . This
living down on a sled, ike 4 buckwheat
cake on grid lie; or that sideway sit
ting on the hind end of it, with one leg
cork screwed out behind tur ste ring.
are not the thing. They are not ortho-
dox. They SAVIOR Of a compliance with
weakness and timidity. y real boy
should sit upon his sled fair and square,
with his face to his work. and ready to
meet all difficulties with his breast to
them.
Nor let any one decry the long tramp
up hill that follows this fierce tlight
downward. What if it is long, the sled
hanging behind, the way slippery, and
withal some perils of of those avalanches
of other boys that came roaring and
whirling down? The going up is still an
Indispensable part of the epic. 1t i, the
'lnh that gives power to the high light.
The up makes, by contrast, the very lory
of the dOpH
We never see the snow on the ground,
old as we are, that we do not feel the
very spirit Of the sled again. And now,
IN old man, we wonld if we could,
mount and plunge down the hill again.
Though mans hair is as white as the
snow under his feet, he need not he
ashamed of u voyage on a sled.
One winter not long ago, when III
New Bedford, we found long street re-
fused to horse vehicles, and set apart It
sIeds. The selectmen, or whatever lheII
names were, at the public expense, cart
ed on snow where til track was worn ;
iced it by water thrown on it over night
stationed band OF music there; had
torches lit and placed along the sides
and the generous people, catching the
spirit, Illuminated their houses, and til;
preparation was thrown open to men,
women and children. That city is evil
izcd. That part of the millennium, whict
consists in sliding down hill, we believe
will begin first in New Bedford,