The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1877-02-01
Skill. in Skating.

is unusually full. The famous Chevaller
de St. George, who was marveleusly ex-
pert in all exercises of the body, was
able to sign his name on the ice with the
blado Of his skate. A certain young
lady, it is said, accepted challenge to
correspondence on the ice, and in few
minutes question and answer were writ
ten down with all elegance unsurpassed
by handwriting upon glass with a dia-
mond. There was Swede who was able
with one feot to design portraits on the
ice. Strut, in "Sports and Pastimes of
the People of England" speaks of four
skaters who were able to dance a minuet
upon the ice with as much elegance as if
they had been walking on the floor of a
ball room, and William Hone, in his
every Day Book" speaking of the skat-
ing on the Serpentine River, says: "The
elegance of skaters on that sheet of water
is chiefly exhibited in quadrilles, which
some parties go through with beauty
scarcely imaginable by those who have
not seen graceful skating" Mr.. Sam
Weller, as we learn from the veracious
history in which Mr.. Pickwick figures so
prominently, was an adept at the beauti-
full feat of fancy sliding known as "knock-
ing at the cobbler's door," which is
achieved by skimming over the ice on
one foot and occasionally giving double
knock with the other. Tracing the letters
of the alphabet on the ice has long been
favorite exercise, but with US, in these
degenerate days, the execution of the
figure eight is about the severest test of
skill. In Germany, particularly, there
are many graceful skaters. Baron de
Brincken, who was page to the King of
Westphalia, was able while moving over
the ice at great pace to leap distance
of two yards and clear two or three hats
placed one above the other, or some of
che little sledges which the ladies use.
Klopstock not only wrote fiery lyrics in
praise of the art of skating, but was an
expert at the exercise even in his old age.
"Whatw the less active among his coun-
trymen would exclaim, "the author of
sMesian' linger over pleasures no longer
suited to his agew When he and Goethe
met the conversation for the most part
was about skating, and the latter is said
to have found in the exercise relief
from the tortures of mind he suffered in
consequence of the breaking of the love
link which had existed between him and
Frederick of Sessenheim. With us it is
within'a comparatively recent period that
ladies began TO skate, but in the counties
Of Northern Europe both sexes practice
the art. In Friesland most people skate
more than they walk, and. skating races,
especially for women, are frequent in all
of the towns. The course is always care
fully laid out, long strips of wood being
ranged in line to keep the competitors
separate, and as it is sometimes more
favorable to swift progress on the one side
of this demarcation than on the other,
the skaters are required to change sides
every time they turn. The lists are in
closed by ropes which run around by the
sides of the canal, along which there is
always multitude of excited spectators.
The prizes are valuable, but to obtain
them it is necessary to win from sixty to
eighty races. AS q matter of course the
races in which women alone engage are
more interesting than those open only to
men. First, there is the honor of attach
ing the skates to the feet of the fair con-
testants, and second, the reward of a kiss
to the fortunate swain. In these coun-
tries, if the women are not as swift as the
men, they are at least more expert, and
excel them in lightness and beauty of
style. "The races on the ice," says
Palati, "are the carnivals of the Dutch;
they are their fetes, their operas, their
designations. At this season, during
which many fashionable people in differ
ent parts of the world are running them
selves in their extravaganza, the only ex-
pense to which the Hollanders are put is
the cost of a pair of skates, and the out
lay is called for only once or twice during
their lives"