The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1886-02-05
THE DESERTED ROLLER RfsKs.

One by one the roses fade, one by one
the roller skating Kinks pass to that bourne
from whence no skating rink returns. At
the opening Of the present skating rink
season the Sun had a letter from a society
young lady asking advice of the old gen
tleman as to whether she had better accept
an engagement to travel with a conlbina-
ton giving exhibitions at Kinks on skates,
and she was advised to stay at home The
advice saved her walking home from La
Crosse or st. Paul in the snow The great
exposition rink closed its doors one day
this week for good, being unable, with all
its attractions, to draw paying crowd.
All over the land Kinks are being turned
into pickle factories livery stables, COW
barns and everything. while many are be-
ing sold at sheriff7s sale, to be torn down.
and thousands Of men are ruined by in
vesting Their money in sure thing y
What could be a surer thing for making
money than stock in a rink, up to last
winter? Money rolled in so fast that it
had to be shoYelcd away. With the in
ducemcnts held out TO capitalists. large and
small to take stock in Kinks, and the evil
dence before them that the stock would
pay dividend Of forty per cent. only men
with great heads, who thought they could
see into the future, kept out and saved their
money And what a craze it has been, and
how ashamed people Will be next year that
they ever allowed themselves to go wild
over riding around barn ON castors In
the past three years empty-headed idiots
who could skate well have been bowed
down to and made heroes and hcroines of.
The statesman. travelling, has had to sleep
in an upper berth. or sit up all night, that
champion skater might sleep. The
African explorer, who has added to civiIiz-
alton continents, and been the means of
eivilizing millions Of heathens, has had to
walk up a back street from the depot to
his hotel, carrying his grip-sack, alone,
unattended, while the champion skater has
been met by a coach and four, with band,
and escorted Ia the bridal chambers of
hotels attended by committees of eminent
citizens, cheered on the way like a con-
have fallen over each other and gone wild
to sec the champion split himself from Dan
TO Beersheba, and sit down on the floor
astraddle of himself, or float through space
about The barn, in agraeeful manner. The
lecturer ON scientific subjects whose brain
could be divided up and supply million
skating champions, and have plenty 10
spare, has lcctured to the janitors Of halls,
while the adjoining rink has had to turn
people away The general of our army
travelling from Washington to Chicago was
nine spot beside Professor Blank. the
great skatorial champion, and when crowds
at stations along the line would cheer the
train, and the general was proud Of him
self for moment, he would be saddcned
to find that the crowd had turned ont to
sec the skater and not the hero of many
battles. The champion got the big head,
/ as all brainlcss people who have suddenly
/ become great are sure to get it. and he
! looked down from his high position ON the
I
common herd who did him honor. Though
he came from variety theatre to the
championship, rich and noted people
in the mere common walks of life
had 10 be properly introduced to him before
be would speak to them, and he was easily
insulted by the familiarity of his admirers.
The skateress OF renown, the pretty, putty
faced idiot, who could not spell simple
words correctly, and who might have been
a restaurant waiter or n dollar-store fairy,
was advertised as a queen, and thinking
she was a queen, she tried 20 act as she
thought queen should act, and She put
on cheap airs, kicked at everything at ho-
tells, had carriage TO go to and from the
rink, and snubbed shoddy aristocracy that
tried 10 patranize her and seemed bored Al
attention, and made a little jiaekass Of her
SELF generally The rink owner became