The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1886-11-07
TOB0GGANING.
The Rage in Chicago the Com
ing Winter.
DESCRIPTION OF THE SPORT.
The Base Ball Park Remod eIed- Show
shoe Club--Ihe Costumes Worn
Another sport
CncAeo. Norember l -

/
The canadian sport Of tobogganng
promises 10 be exceedingly popular II
Chicago during The coming winter, and
ere the season IS over will douD tless have
spread 10 many points throughout the
Northwest.
= radical change Is 20 lie made in the
character OF the Chicago Base Ball
Para during the coming month. Instead
OF remaining idle and deserted, as twas
last winter, # Will be the scene OF many
i rtvel after the snow falls. The plan
is 10 turn it into one immense rink for
winter sports, Of which ice skating and
tubOgganing will be the most important
The IobOcgan slides will probably be six
in number. and will extend from the top
OF the grand stand, at the southwest
corner OF the grounds 70 ihe carriage
gate, 81 the northeast corner, giving
a slide OF something over UOU feet
Three or four of these slides will be
given over 10 public use, ana the re-
naming Two or three will be rented 10
tOboggan clubs or private parties. The
height OF the starting point will rroha-
| bly, be forty or more ;eri lIVal. 49,
ground. 50 that all the speed any one
cOulo desire may be attained. he car
rage gate Will be removed irUIu us
present location 10 i more advantageous
one IL the center vi the north wall, 50
| that those NishlLg 20 view the sport
from their sieighs or Carriages may do
so. The greater part o. the south half
of the para viii be flooded, and the sur
face kept IN goOu condition for ice
81 oil - in a n
east corner of the grounds will be en-
larged and added 10, so as 10 accommo-
date several hundred people, and Will be
we'll Eested, lighted and supplied with
skates and toboRgans for the use OF
those who may have none Of their own.
The grounds, of course, will be brilliantly
lighted by electricity.
ZINE SPORT.
To Canadians, or TO those in this
country who have spent a winter in
Canada, the rare sport OF tObogganing
as now enjoyed in nearly every town OF
city of any Importance within the
Dominion, Is doubtless familiar but in
the United States, and particularly in
Chicago, the sport is only OF very recent
date. The first slide erected in this
before last, and at the carnival of the
ST. Paul Ice Palace last year the fast
toboggan slides ever seen in the west
were constructed. Now, however. the
sport is popular throughout all OF the
New England States, and IN the cities OF
Boston. Providence. New York. and
throughout the States of New Jersey,
New York and Pennsylvania. The firsf
slide erected in Chicago was put up by
the Kenwood Toboggan Club on the
Lake shcre near the foot of Forty
seventh street, and the frolics of the
club mem bers on their slide attracted
much attention last winter. The
toboggan itself may pehaps best be
descr bed by being termed a sled with
out runners. being simply strip OF bass
wood or hickory, Two feet WIDE and
from three and q half to say six Ieet
long one end being steemed and curled
like the dashboard of q sleigh. The
upper side If the conveyance is strongly
created and on top of these are dashed
the side rails TO winch the rider clings rs
he is whirled through the air at more
than railroad speed. Until late years
natural declivities such as may be found
in any billy country were used BY
tObogganists. but the artificial slides
were found far superior in that they
were perfectly free from jOlting places
or cGhOts, as the Canadians call them,
and at the terrific rate of speed at aimed
by the toboSgan such jolts or depres-
sions are exceedingly disagreeable il noty
dangerous, for the effect is to throw the
togogganist high into the air, letting
him get back as best he may. Although
the starting point upon a tobOggan slide
is from forty to fifty feet from the
ground, the chutes in which the tobog-
gaus slide are so constructed as TO
render accident practically impossible.
The toboggan starts from a platform at
the top OF the slide and runs in a chute
two or three feet wider than the tobog-
gan itself. Tire chute is protected on !
each side by flooring boards so that the |
riders cannot get out of the chute |
laterally. The chu.e, and indeed the |
entire track for a distance Of several |
yards is carefully gradeU and
solidly filled with snow, over which |
water is poured until il becomes one |
long, icy roadway from start 10 finish.
Several tracks, of course, may run
parallel TO each other upon the same
structure. From two TO four persons
form the load OF a toboggan,
and when so loaded the speed attained
IS marvellous. A loaded toboggan upon
an ordinary slide rarely moves at a less
rate of speed than one mile per minute,
and the manufacturer OF 3 celebrated
make of this style of conveyance in
Vermont openly advertiSes that upon 1t
a speed of three miles a minute may be
obtained with perfect safety"
THE COSTUMES.
Not the least of the attractions OF
.obogganing lies in the picturesque
beauty of the costumes worn. They are
made from soft wool blankets
Usually scarlet or bright blue. The
read Is protected By hood or togue of
ome brilliant hue, aud 4 sash Of the
anne color bound about the wearer's
waist confines the garments as the
ider flies over the icy stretch. Upon
he feet moccasins are won instead of
hoes, and when a large party of tobog-
,auists tnus appareled are climbing up
II flying down the slide by the glare OF
orches or the brilliant rays of the
lectric light, the scene * not one 10 be
Don forgotten. The toboggan Is Steered
y the trailing foot Of the man upon the
ear emo, and when the conveyance has