The Penn's Grove record., 1884-01-26
NUMBER %.


Now that winter has fairly Sc. Iu and
Jack Frost, by a few gentle reminders,
has given us to understand that he in
tends locating himself here for a while.
lovers Of skating are busily engaged jill
shining up their runners Of steel. and
~auxiously await the frost kings pleas
ure TO give them the Il thing Hcce5-
sary TO complete their eujoymeu,-a
smooth and solid sheet Of ice. There
may, perhaps, be other sports equally
as enjoyable as skating, VIXEN INDUCED
III for pastime only, This, of course,
depends on the different ideas people
have Of amusement, but when resorted
to as a health-giving exercise it certain
ly has no equal.
When, where and how skating first
originated is unknown, for as far back
as we have any account Of it, it was
perfectly well known and practiced in
the North. Indeed, unlike most other
subjects, skating has no literature, if
We except n or two volumes of very
recent origin. 1t is most probable that
the amusement was one, which for a
long time, was confined chiefly to the
lower or middle classes, and never
reached among them the high pitch Of
art. 1t was probably looked upon as au
accomplishment, the summit of which
was reached when the performer could
succeed in running along swiftly on his
| skates, and finish off with a long, tri-
umphaHt slide on two feet in a straight
lineforward. "Outside edges, - '.spiu5,
toe steps, " and ''ringIets'' had no e2.
i]stence, and were not dreamed OF.
From analogy the art of skating must
have been derived from the practice Of
sliding with snowshoes on broad run
ner5, But these shoes were made OF
wood and resambled the present form
Of s~nowshoes which are used by Cana
dian hunters and the inhabitants of the
most northerly parts Of Sweden and
Norway in the mountain tracks, on
their journey across the immense snow
fields. They were also used originally
by the Finnish people in the North, for
whlch reason they were called ''Skrid
FinnaiN Sliding Finns)-a common
name for the most ancient inhabitants
of Sweden, both in the North Saga ana
by foreign authors. After iron became
known and was worked in the North,
iron runners were put on these snow
shoes, and in this way the present form
of skates was developed, as well as a
proficiency in skating ON Ice.
Most Of the important improvement
in skates haya been made within TWEEN.
ty five years. The first ice skates used
in this country were of German manu-
f~acture, and consisted Of iron or steel
runners, which eliminated in an arts
- twi.t z several windmgs in front Of
tn zoe, ne end Of which was urua-
mented with a brass knob. That part
of the runner which touched the ice
was grooyed with a ''gutter" and the
runner surmounted with a wooden toy,
in the heel of which was an iron point,
afterwards changed to q screw. The
mode of fastening the skates to the foot
was by several straps, which wound a
round the foot and ankle, and were often
stuck full of sticks to tighten them to
an excruciatiug degree. These skates
were called "turn-oyers," and they
fourished for a long period. The Eng
lish skate, the runner of which stopped
short at the height of the wooden top,
were considered dangerous on account
of the sharpness of the toe piece, but
were nevertheless adopted, as was also
the wide strap across the foot, with an
improved heel strap. Rockers calue
next in vogue; shoe skates We're popular,
and then iron tops made their way; and
as frosted feet became a malady with
tight s~trappings, and imprecatiOns loud
and deep were hurled at skating, man
|ufacturers found it necessary to devise
some new method of fastening the
skate to the foot. Genius finally III
vented clamps for heel and toe, clumsy
and mpracticable at first, but after
ward improved, until what is consider
ed nearly perfection was at last reached
in the ''club skate" The height, thick
ness, curve and length of the runner are
still matters of c~ontroyersary, but on
the whole it seems as if there were not
so much room for improvements left.
Certainly the club skate is a marvel OF
adaptation when compared with the
|outlandish Dutch ''tuTn over" but
who can tell if the time will not come
when our much admired skate vii not
be held up to derision, as we now hold
up the old style Of Dutch skate for the
amusement Of the present generation.
The art of skating, like thar of swim
ming, is one which, when learned, is
never entirely forgotten. To be a good
skater it is not necessary to have clever
ness, nimbleness. or strength. II is far
more important TO have boldness, and
most important of all to have plenty of
practice. The audacious piroutte1 the
marvellous quadrilles which delight The
spectator, are most successfully execu-
ted by men and women who have skated
for many years.
A branch Of sport much in vogue
twenty years ago in the ~nelghbOr-
borhood of Copenhagen and also at Cape
Vincent, New York, was that Of skate
Some Of the most skilled skate
were able to carry a sail, the
spar or mast of which measured from
to fifteen feet in length, and the
,prlt or spread about five feet. The
spar wa carried on the shoulder, as
carries his rifle, the spirit pass
ng down and resting against his back,
Great speed was usually attained 10y
his continuance, and the cause of its
layinp died out is unknown.