The Warner weekly sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1885, 1885-04-10
HPalthful Pleasures.

vi ~ 49, ASAANA vi
a rink is n thing; skating on the ice,
w 4 long, straight-away course,
under cliffs, past meadows, among
hills, is quite another. The relation of
the former to the latter is the same
that shooting at clay-pigeons bears to
quail hunting in the stubble. In the
one case we find pleasure in dexterity;
in the other we get nea to nature,
and catch the spirit of adventure.
The writer never had but one thor
oughly satisfactory skating experience
in his life. 1t occurred on the Kentucky
River. He vas mi of a party of ten,
all young enough to be lively, all old
enough to appreciate the rare condi-
tons. The river was struck where a
break in the bluffs gave an easy de-
scent to the ice-the objective point
(and it is always we'll to have an OBJ
~jective point in life, whether n is
skating, soldering or sermonizing)
seven miles away. The sky was gray;
just a thought of snow in the air; the
wind with us; the scenery rugged and
picturesque. Here was felicity un-
mixed! We seemed to sink into the
embrace of nature. The region was
AS wild to the view as when Daniel
Boone first looked upon it. We gazed
down the prospective of the valleys,
that occasionally opened as we swept
out of one deile into another, half ex-
pecting to see a village of wigwams
in the distance. There was a charm
in every foot of the landscape which,
like a vast panorama, swept behind us
-. ~o A. De- AL1 49,
those hat hold us irresistibly when we
contemplate the .'deep solitudes'' of
nature, profoundly sensitive of the
AUGUST majesty of the Creators own
handiwork. We began with a whoop;
but, as the true sentiment of the
scene touched our souls, we grew sub
dued by the environing grandeur, the
pace conforming to the general mood,
and it was not until there was a sud-
den realization that the goal was near
that the wild halloo of the foremost,
himself abruptly aroused, awoke the
| spirit of frolic.
III skating were only attractive
under these circumstances there would
be few skaters in the world but the
same uplifting experience may be at
tanned in other ways and in all seasons.
The busy American needs the sugges-
tive diversion that sport in the open
air giyes-whe.her it be skating,
bicycling, hunting, fishing or tours
asoot. And he needs to open his soul
to the sentiment of the pastimes. To
play merely t o perfunctorily acquiesce
in a physicians prescription is not the
DOCTORS intention. We should learn
to enjoy hunting quite as much be-
cause we 60 to the fields and hills as
for the opportunity to fill a game bag.
Skating in a rink, shooting at a target
under cover, or racing against time
around the tan-bark circle, are well
enough in their way, but the better
thing is to a-spertingg where the
eve can discover a distant horizon.
The anise-bag has its proper use in
default of the fox.
That there is, at the present time,
a popular tendency to play out-of-doors
is very evident, Notwithstanding the
fervor with which some indoor
pnstimes are held. It Is giving as has
been noted by intelligent observers a
grateful element to American litera,
ture, and is awakening in the Ameri-
can youth an ardor in the pursuit OF
these healthful pleasures which arc
only to be found where Nature main.
tains something of her original con-
ditions. 1t was not many years age
when there were but comparatively
few resorts for the summer-tonrist IL
quest of an idiing-place. Now thes
abound everywhere. The eascn Lien
in the fact that people no longer, as q
rule, desire to 90 with the crowd, but
prefer the small groups In the places
to which the noise of commerce doc
not reach, and where the beat Of
Natures heart can be heard.-G. g
Matthews. in The Cufresk.