Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va) 1886-1890, 1889-12-26
ALLAB0Ul' TIE I'0B0GGAN
a STYLE OF coAsTINe WHICH is
GROWING IN POPULARITY.

OlS.sl|NG IN t0OtC (!Nhl 7.
Enjoyed in the Sandwich, Islands Before
the Bob SLED Was Heard cr-The Natives
Played Sort Of Game or Which They
Frequently rct Heavily.
The toboggan may NOW be fairly ranked
as representative American anuse-
ment. 1t has been claimed by several
notable writers on sports that it is essen
TALLY of In;iiau origin and therefore may
be clasged Us purely American phase
OF sport. 1t is Il representative sport
among the best known nations, although
no other civilized nation than our own
makes leading feature Of ii, or carries
it 10 such perfection.
TIE FIRST ToBoGGAN.
The earliest mention of the primitive
toboggan is fooni in the history of the
inhabitants of the Sandwich Islands, in
the Pacific ocean. The game rs prac-
ticed by them WAS called ''holua." and
was undoubtedly the forcrunncr Of the
coaster and the tobossan slide. 1t WIS
participated in by several PLAYERS, each
Of whom was furnished with a kind OF
sleigh called a papa. This WAS composed
OF couple Of rather narrow runners,
varying from seven TO eighteen feet IN
length. according to the skill and caprice
of the p!ayer-;he runners being made
of hard, sound. seasoned wood, about
three inches Ia thickness, and curved up
ut one end 50 Is not 10 catch III the
ground ana to better enable the sleigh to
rise over small Obstacles encountered in
the run. or slide. \ curious point OF
construction. however. WAS that these
runners Were no: placed in q parallel po-
sitioa like those on sleigh hut diverged
slightly at tne rear end, being about
seven inches apart, and conversed at the
front where they turned up, until ihey
Were within two inches of each other.
The idea was to render the sleigh more
easy Of guidance. These runners were
b.;lged across with pieces Of board to
render them rigid. and the bridges were
covered with q mat OF native fiber.
To form q slide the side of steep
mountain was chosen and narrow
trench cut cX,eu.tng from the summit
10 The h..Se. and Frequently milo or
more on the flax, ,!.c distance varviac &C.
corLirS to tie nature Of The surrounding
country. THIS trench was always kept
clear of vegetation when not in USE. and
could be- plainly seen from . CONSIDERS
Bile distance. When the season came for
the game the trench WIS lived with dry
grasses SO as % make tAe s.e.5h' run
faster. ihe players assembled at the
top Of the mountain ana one OF tAeM'
drawing back some hs-.e distance from
the trench, raised his sleigh IN ms hands,
and running ~ iGA speed threw himself
Bodily ln,o tire trench Wl,A his s.elSh
underneath hla. Falling upon the
slippery. dry grass. 1t shot forward
dOwn The inC!iae It Z terrific pace. rs
the angle w@s frequently . high Is
forty 10 forty-.ive degrees, 1t is = mat
ter CT wonder That scores Of riders
were rot killed in that headlong flight.
The winner was the man who Travelled
The farthest Sooxcited did the players
become that they frequently wasered
their hats, their lands-evcrytl'iag they
possessed, even 10 Jhe.T "iTes and chil-
dren-on tae result ot tie sport Cases
are recorded where. siXt$ years ago, men
who had lost everything also st&ked their
own bones. 10 be made into fish HOOKS
and arrow heads after their death.
TIE ctSAD1ay oDABoGaAN.
The rastj,oe has existed for centuries
.a,non.[ lhesa ,1eal,le. and the listorv of
If, cvontfuI Introduction INFO America
and is subsequent Development is ve~
interesting. Tie first use Of .tl,r iobog-
can in this country is ssia 10 have been
as q EU...s sl- ual BIZ the Indians
when on Snow Shoes. On which 70 pacl; 4.
their pel.s. es4 >.ejshs were used ex-
tensjvelv Il aarl9 war5 between the /
French, I'm i and Indians, and were
found ilyal al.- in transporting camp
bagca=e t,.yu-h tic northern wildS.
French rriters call them the train
sauvaSe, The Indian name was oda-
bos5an. Il s,o.5h was tarned up at
Do-A e.,'s Vie 'le not,eTn one turns
n - a. 80 ~ - ~ eiI7 '!2 .iie
- - ,'-,i - -; -; -. e'l'.,'''eN '''
''.-,,T - - - --,,-l 80 w I'D 81 0-
10 80 -, -, - 49,. 49,.
go, -- La ~, fc5lI,. c,ssoJ ,,,c $50
r. - - ~. - y. $50
60 49, ,.' - - 60. ~
t.-Il' i-t, ,| - 80. VIC iO ,to
ca ortifiri. slide vbicb sin r9,,l.s as