Osage Valley banner. (Tuscumbia, Miller County, Mo.) 1879-1881, 1881-02-17

NORWICH. CoNN.. Is the coastlpg par
adise of New England. IL hos more
I hills than old Rome, and most Of them
are twice as steep. II is impossible 70
60 twenty reds in almost or direction
/ in the old town without climbing. Since
/ the snowfall OF Christmas woek the city
/ has been surrendered ON every evening
4 soon after nightfall TO the coasters
1 After dark Il has been perilqiis TO walk
/ the streets, and there hage been acci-
| dents To men, women, boys and horses
/ without number. On the various hills
/ around Norwich, spectator counted
one evening last week nearly one thou
! sand sleds of every description, from
the long piekerel double-ripiar TO .he
small boys tip-up and the hone-made
i.s aietssre rinppr ~
In tnese sliding matches young ami
old, male and female participated.
I Aged men and gray-haired matrons were
/ often seen carcering at railroad speed
! ON the oak plank OF the ripper or the
! resplendent upholstered cushion Of tie
I expensive double sled
The double ripper is a late invention
| of Young America. but is familiar to
/ country people. Its relation to the or
/ dinary sled Is that of the ice-boat TO the
1 skate in point of speed II is formed
/ by yoking up two large sleds tandem,
/ and joining them with narrow oaken
plank. The pilot sits on the prov of
| the plank, and steers the front sled with
foot tiiler The ripper is made large
or small to suit the plan of its proprie-
tor. Norwich and New London have
long We'd in the development of double
ripper architecture, and they look upon
/ the coasting men Of the west OF New
England as simply amateurs In the
course of dhe past five winters they have
developed coasting into a sport as dis
tinotiVc as that of Yachting or horse
raaing. They have their peculiar mod
els for building and their peculiar terms
| 20 describe features of thesport. They
have undoubtedly attainedrates of speed
! uneQualed anywhere else, and tearlessly
take risks that would appal tyros Each
winter New London sends her liveliest
double-ripper and her favorite riders
10 Norwich on January evening
to compete for the championship of the
season. The sleds that are used in
these matches are great structures that
will seat eighteen TO thirty mon. The
place chosen for the contest is Fox's
Hill, in Preston, populous suburban
village Just across the Shetucket River
Its summit is a mile distant from the
river. II is the highest point OF land,
with the exception OF Taunton Hill,
along the ConnOctieHt seaboard. II is
a Titan among the other emincnces
taround Norwich The slide is three
quarters of u mile long, and when the
10y track is unusually smooth and solid
the best double rippers have gone
across the bridge into the city. The
usual stopping point is an old watering
trough, a quarter of a mile from the
bridge.
Fox's Hill has been througed with
coasters all this season, and some fair
time has been made. On last Wednes-
day evening Charles S. Fiske's double
I ripper, which for three years has been
accounted the fastest sled in Connect
.out, was timed by two timekeepers, one
at the foot and the other at the top OF
the hill, with accurate chronometers.
The track was by no means in iirst-class
condition. The sled bore twelve men,
with Mr. Fiske, who Is the most expert
steerer in Eastern Connecticut at the
front. The descent 10 the watering
trough, three-quartery of mile, was
made in . fraction less. than forty-five
seconds, On the dOuble-ripper no one
is allowed TO move his feet from the
foot supports along the plank he is en-
joined to keep perfectly still as the
slightest movement ofa passenger when
a sledis making suel fearful speed is
likely to result in Disaster. Disaster
means mntilation, ana perhaps death.
SO perfect is Mr.. Filke in the art of
steering that he can nun his sled with
in a hairs breadth Of line, and he
ayows that with single movement he
can upset the sled in an instant, If it
is necessary to avoid collision. As
every passenger Is in danger of being
killed in case Mr. Fiske' upsets his sled
when going at brealneck speed, he has
not been able TO carry his theory into
practice One of the passengers on the
trial trip, on "Wednesday evening, said
10 the writer that il was. his first expe-
rienee, and would be his last. at was
perfectly still night" said he. '|rhe
hill descends steep, you know, at first,
for about fifteen rods As we began t1
descend that pitch We seemed to be
floating in the air. There was no sound,
we moved so swiftly. | didn't think
that we were going fast. But in an
instant a perfect gale was blowing; the
road was q white mist; there was a con.
slant buzz In my ears. | couldn'
breathe, knew when we reached the
Preston Village, which begins at the
foot Of the first descent, by the wall
that was on one side of the road. That
was all l could see; the rest was all 3
blank. q white mist. never expected
to reach the foot OF the hin alive. In o
second, almost. we began to slow up,
and in another got off the sled for the
last time.p
Mr., Fiske is about twenty-five year