The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-12-12
TOBOGGANING IN CHICAGO.
AuspiciOus Opening of the Great Slides at the
Baseball Park-An Attractive Scene.

Correspondence of the Indianapolis Journal
CHICAGO, Dec. 10-Chicago has goae tobogean
crazy and young Montrealese, with whom I
was talking this morning said that he had never
seen city taken with quite so severe case as
that which has visited our own. mot even in
Montreal said he, ''do / remember having seen
30 much enthusiasm so generally INDUCED in
as one may see demonstrated here at present"
Every shop-keeper who wishes to attract atten-
ton to his place of business displays q gaily
decorated toboggan in his show window, and it
never fails to attract attention, as we'll as en-.
thusiastic ordinations from hundreds of fair
red lips Young women are purchasing them
and having them made into book cases, writing
tables, cushioned lounges, and every other ar
tcle which the feminine mind can suggest
while within the past two days people have
forsaken the billiard halls. theaters, and all
other places OF amusement. for the exhilarating
sport of tobogganing. The formal opening of
the great slides at the Chicago Ball Park, which
took place Tuesday evening, resulted in scene
the like of which that spacious Enclosure has
never before known. Over six thousand people
IN costume and winter dress poured through the
gates and the crash of music, the whirl of the
steelshod toboggan, the delighted cries aud
merry laughter of the tobogeanists. bright eyes
and happy faces, manly forms and brilliant cos
tunes, made the scene, so wholly new ana novel
to Chicagoans, one never TO be forgotten by
those who witnessed it. Not Only were Chicago
ans there, bat parties from nearly every suburb
and from outlying towns, who had been appraised
OF the opening, came down to the city, full of
expectancy and bright anticipation of the fun
ahead of them. Everything passed off in spien-
did style, and despite the marvellous speed of
the tobograns and the inexperenee of the rid
ers, there were no accidents of any kind, and the
success of the big slide, as well as of the sport
itself, is assured in this city Toboggan clubs
have formed, and continue TO FORM in each sec
ton Of the city, and it is safe to say that within
the next thirty days score of private and club
slides will be erected in our suburbs and on the
line of our broad boulevards and driveways.
The slide, however, was not the only attraction
of the evening, as the hundreds who circled
about upon the steel runners over the glistening
surface of the ice-skating surface can doubtless
testify
AT the east end OF the ball park, on the
Throop-street side, commodious waitngroom
had been built, and adjoining it Refreshments
room, and Offices whore skates ana toboggans
these was a platform, from which entrance
was made on TO a large sheet of ice. This
during the evening was crowded with skaters.
The ice was in splendid condition, and the
young men glided over the surface hand in hand
with their best girls in the most approved style
The toboggan slide has been built from above
the top of the grand stand, at the corner of
LOOMS and Harrison streets, and runs to the
corner of Throop and Congress streets. Big
Captain Arson, arrayed in a gorgeous scarlet
tobogganning suit. was in charge at the top of
the Slide and with him was Elwood Buell., of
vt Paul, more modestly attired in a white
blanket suit, with blue sash and tuque. The
Oakenwald Club, OF Kenwood had accepted
PRESIDENT Spaldlngs invitation to open the slide,
and its members were met at the Van Buren,
street station by an omnibus and driven to the
grounds, where they were received by the presi-
dent and provided with toboggans.
The gentlemen were nearly all in costume:
white blanket coats, colored sashes and tuques,
knickerbockers and moccasins. The ladies looked
bewitching in their winter attire.
The clno mounted to the top of the slide, and
the fun began, Mr.. and Mrs. Paddon, the presi.
dent OF the Oakenwad Club, and his wife being
the first pair to make the descent. At first the
Chicago girls were little timorous at starting,
but when one or two had pluckily made the at
tempt, and announced to the others that it
vas elegant, there was no holding them back,
and the tobo-- MS could not be dispatched fast
enough. The spectators enjoyed the fun as
much as the participants, and the first gentle
man that made the descent with tall hat was
numerically guyed. President Spalding made
the trip with another heavy weight, and the inn
petus of the party nearly carried away the bar
rer at the end of the slide, Notwithstanding the
little hill at the end, which had been built to
stop the speed. The view of the park from the
Il
electric lights threw brilliant luster all around,
and the sheet of ice, with the myriad of figures
gliding over it, sparkled and gistened like
large diamond. The toboggans, with their
gayly-dressed loads, shot down the slide and
along the smooth surface below while the frosty
air resounded with the shouts of the toboggan-
ers and the cheers of the spectators. The band
OF the First Cavalry played good selection of
music, and added not little to the gayety of the
occasion.
The weather in Chicago up to the present
time, with the exception of brief cold snap last
week, has been comparatively mild. but that one
snap was sufficient to get the ce-skatng sur
faces in our puc parks in splendid condition for
skating. and, with an even open winter, ice-skat-
ing and tobogganing can be INDUCED in for the
next three months at least Messrs. A. G.
Spalding ~ Brothers receiving innumerable
inquiries, the majority of them from Michigan,
Wisconsin, Minnesota, Nebraska and Iowa.
though many have come from faraway Dakota.
for information as to how to construct mount
ain-a slide. Throughout these States clubs are
forming and slides being erected, and the de-
mand for the interesting little book just issued
by Spaldlng q Brothers, THE Toboggan," in
which full information concerning the sport Ia
contained, is such that the firm have gone to
press for a second edition of 5000 copies When
American people become inoculated with craze
of any kind. they, as rule. arc pretty severely
attacked; and that the Canadian sport of toboc-
gaming will this winter become more of nation
al winter sport in America than it now is in Cam
ada seems altogether probable. Con.