Smyrna times., 1885-03-04
WHOLE NO. 1850.
ROLLER SKATING vAGARIEs.


Whir-r-r-r, click, click, bump, ha,
ha, bump, ouch ?" These were the
sounds that greeted the ears of a North
american reporter, as he entered the
Pennsylvania Roller Rink, Sixth street
and Columbia avenue, on Saturday
afternoon. About three hundred
skaters were chasing each other around
the smooth floor, while nearly two
hundred people occupied the chairs on
the south side, some resting after their
exercise, and others merely looking on.
ROller-skating has become very pop
ular of late, and deservedly so, for it
possesses all the advantages of ice
skating and but one of its disadVanta-
ges-the compulsory study of astrOnO-
my. The exercise is as healthful as
that of skating on ice, and there is no
sharp wind to make one shiver, no
danger of an involuntary cold bath or
risk of drowning, and no necessity for
a multiplicity of wraps as a protection
against cold. The male skater can ell
JOY himself without being encumbered
with a heavy OvercOat and thick scarfs,
and the lady skater can take off her
sealskin sacque-but she never does.
She would rather perspire than miss
the opportunity of Haunting the sacque
before the gaze of her less fortunate
/ sisters
An interesting hour may be spent in
watching the skaters, some of whom
are very expert. There is a fascina-
nation about the graceful eVOlutiOns of
a good skater which inspires in the
! spectator a desire to try it too. The
! clumsy skaters are also attractive, es-
| pecally those who are on the rollers
| for the first time. There are a thOus-
and different styles of skating Some
glide over the floor smoothly and
gracefully; others pant, swing their
arms and strike out as if prize in hard
cash awaited them at the end of each
lap some wobble over the floor in an
uncertain manner, and are continually
tripping up somebody else or falling
over their own feet. and others creep
around slowly, not daring to hurry for
fear of a fall. The latter generally
travel in couples and hold fast to each
other in desperation, remembering the
motto: United we stand, divided
we fall"
Sometimes a nice young man and
his best girl are so intently engaged i'll
saying sweet things to one another
that they become ObliviOus to to their
surroundings, and are only made
aware of the harsh realities of life when
the floor, which has become sick of
their gush, rises up in its wrath and
thumps them on the back of their
heads. A masculine grunt, feminine
, squeal, a demoralized amalgum of dude,
back hair and striped hosiery, and they
once more roll smoothly across the
rink and begin the "pOOtsy wOotsy -"
business afresh.
. The various modes of falling form an
interesting study. The average man.
for instance, when he finds himself
going lunges out wildly with his arms,
, gives three jumps, strides out side
ways four times with his right foot and
twice with his left, and then comes
r down with a crash, dragging with him
, the few unfOrtunates who happen to be
, within reach. Now the average wo-
man has a good deal more sense than
7 the brute who just fell. She takes in
, the situation at once. Knowing thai
f the thing is inevitable, she permits her
self to. drop in neat heap, quickly
7 tucks her dress around her feet anC
f waits for somebody to come and picE
q her up. As Romeo says of Juliet, "ShC
Q has level head" Some girls ge
Q foolish over the matter. They frs
= give little shrek, calling everybody
!. attention to the circus that is about Il
y take place, initiate sail-bOat in
y chOppy sea, and then strike the foo
/ with their bustles, displaying to tn,
s Mortified gaze of the men a number sil
n shoe an a hole in the stocking JUS
II above the ankle.
{, A fat man on roller skates is a miseT
: able failure. He pufIs like steam
c engine, strides out in a shOckingly un
;, graceful manner and rarely progresse
/ five yards without rubbing some of hi
# hair off on the floor and putting hi
a scalp full of abrasions which make lif
= a burden to him for a week to come
/ The thin man with weak knees ais
% makes a spectacle of himself First hi
], legs become bow-shaped, and he find
y to his horror that his body is slowly
il but surely, sinking dOwnwards. By
, supreme effort he raises himself; hi
IS knees thump against each other, hi
)f feet begin spreading apart, and-bU
II. the veil had better be drawn here, an
,e the rest of his misfOrtunes, for human
h lty 5 sake, had better be hidden trOI
he the rude and searching gaze of hear
~ less public.
=. While there is much of the ridicu
IS lous in the roller rink, however, theI
l. is a good deal that inspires admiration
n Nothing more graceful can be ina,
~ ined than the 1.-THE form of yOun
!. lady gliding over the floor, circling
So and ont of the rolling crowd, and NAL
~ ing difficult curves and figures withol
ly any apparent effort. Small childre
* acquire quickly the art of roller-skatir
is and the sight of them, with their brigl
o faces flushed with the glow of healt
le and exercise, would make a misal
H. thrope feel cheerful, and tempt him
,d throw off some of the gloom that el
IL compasses his narrow soul by taking
ID turn on the floor himself -PhilGdt
~ phid North american.