The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-05-02
BAD o GIRLS.
The Perils of the Skating Rink and the Profits
that Keep the Craze Alive.

The Perils of the Skating Rink and the Profits
that Keep the Craze Alive.
Philadelphia Times.
There is $40, 900, 900 invested in Kinks and
roller skating in the United States, said Samuel
j. Byrne, of the Christian-street Rink, yester-
day, 'and an average OF one patent a day, ap-
plicable to roller skating, is issued at Washing
ton" In the absence of actual statistics, the
correctness of Mr.. Byrne's estimate is questioned
in other quarters, though there are
the rink has not found a foothold. Six
months ago there was but one rink in
Philadelphia: now there are over twenty in full
blast. Like most popular crazes, the rink cpl
demic is mostly manufactured, and IS got up en-
tirely to make money out of roller skates. Little
money is spent upon the rinks-the principa!
expense in the best of them being for a smooth.
hard floor. Generally some large, old building
is selected or a hall rented, and in several in
stances in this city the Kinks are nothing more
than the upper floors of stables. In two cases
have been turned into Kinks.
1t is said it was a Frenchman named Tyers
who first invented skates on rollers, but the
man whose name is most generally associated
with the roller skate is a Boston Yankee named
Plimpton, who retired with several millions
from the invention. He was a furniture man
ufacrurer, and Is said to have got the idea from
seeing the chairs and bedsteads spun along
the floor on castors. One of the very
latest inventions is an ankle corset. to lessen
the danger from sprained ankles, which
is always great. Each rink has a large
supply of skates, which are rented for fifteen or
twenty-five cents for a stated period. Where
thousands engage daily this becomes quite an
Item. Very many, of course, buy their own
skates, which are three -fourths profit to the
manufacturer. The Kinks, principally the
larger ones, are, to a great extent, connected
under the same management. and are run by, or
nave some business connection with, tic skate
makers.
Another odd circumstance is that the mana
gers and men at the head of the Kinks are in
hardly any instance men belonging to Phlla-
delphia. They are nearly all strangers here, and
the men they surround themselves with-the
teachers, the exhibition skaters, the ushers, and
even the so-called special polcemen-are also
men whom nobody knows anything about,
though many of them are unfortunate
in having a style of appearance that does
not recommend them. They are generally
we'll dressed, however, have a sporting
air, and wear imitation diamond studs to capti-
vate the feminine eye. In some cases they wear
uniforms with numerous brass buttons. The
teachers and exhibition skaters nearly always
dress very fancifully, with velvet breeches and
bright stockings, and often wear a lot of medals
on their breasts. The charges made FOR teaching
how to skate in the better class of rinks is So for
fifteen lessons, or so cents for q single lesson.
AS a matter of fact there is little teaching
and the so-cailed professors" are really kept
as ATTRACTIONS" to keep up the interest among
the girls. The professors" are, as a rule, good
ROCKING, Well Dullt, gfaceIul young fellows, ana
they can hardly ever be seen with an ugly girl in
tow.
Wherever the professor is seen skating he is
almost certain to have a pretty girl, whom he
supports with a scientific balance peculiar to the
expert alone. 1t is not a tiresome exercise, and
almost any one can skate for several hours
without fatigue. The Kinks are open all
day, as well as night, and it is a very
common occurrence for a young girl to go
to a rink with a young man at 2 o'clock in
the afternoon and skate continuously until 5 or
6. During all that time he holds both her hands,
one of his arms braces her in front above the
waist, and they lean upon and brush each other
with every swaying motion. The position is diff
6cult, and has to be learned. The man, with the
girl on his right. puts her left arm in front of
him, and holds it firmly as a brace, with her left
hand in his left hand. His right arm he puts
through under the elbow of her left arm, and
with her right hand in his right hand she holds his
arm against her as q brace. Thus braced, and
shoulder to shoulder, they move well together,
the mans right foot following between hers and
her left between his, each intermediating.
Either some young man or one of the attendants
puts on the girls skates and straps them and
takes them off again, and also adjusts the high
ankle ~corsets" when they are worn. AS a rule,
when a young man meets a girl at a rink and
skates with her he winds up the evening by
treating her. at some of the numerous drinking
places and restaurants that have sprung up ad-
lacent to these places.