The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-01-16

The skate was first introduced on this
| continent by the English Puritans. They
| valued the skate for its utility, and would
| no doubt be hOrrified to know that they in
troduced one of our most popular pastimes,
| Ever since the days of the early settler,
| skates have been used, but more progress in
the graceful art has been made in the last
| dozel years than in all the time before.
| improvements IN the skates were made
| that resulted in the abandonment of the old
| wooden skate with a screw reaching an inch
! into the heels of ones boot, and straps that
| tortured the toes The skate of tod ~ is a
| marvel of lightness and beauty. 1t is at
tached or taken off in an Instant and enables
| great speed TO be attain and fancy figure
| skating to be produced. Graceful, rhythmic
| motion to the inspiring music of a band,
| brilliancy of illumination and costume, the
| excitement of a crowd, and the charm of
supporting or being supported by con-
| genial companion of the other sex are the
| main attractions of skating to-day. Modern
skating is easily learned, and not near as
| many bumps and falls, as the clumsy skates
| of our ancestors produced, now occur. A
| few lessons from n regular teacher, or from
q friend who has experience, will enable a
novice to understand the t.
Canadians claim the supremacy in the true
| science of skating. Whether the claim is
| just one or not, they must be accorded with
| giving more attention to the sport in their
| cities and large towns than the residents Of
| the states do. There is hardly q town of
| any size in the Dominion without one or
more skating Kinks, and in Montreal, Que
| bee and Ottawa the Kinks are large and
| handsome structures. Old Quebec is cred
tied with the honor of having erected the
| first skating rink. The Montreal Skating
Club built the first rink in Montreal in 1859,
| and in 1862 the Victoria Skating Club was
| for med and rink was opened tuat is even
| now considered the finest ice rink in the
world. The structure IS of brick with a
metal roof in the shape of an arch. The
span rises to hight Of SO feet The skating
surface is POP feet long by so feet wide, and
it urrCunded by a promenade 10 feet wide
Above the promenade are commodious gal
| eries with seats for those who care only to
| look on. There are numerous dressing
rooms with lockers for keeping boots and
| skates and every cor enience that cviliZa-
ton can suggest, The rink is lighted by
electricity and the scene on a Carnival
night is brilliant indeed. Fully 500 skat-
ers are on the ice in all varieties Of costumes,
| and the crush Of spectators amount to 5000
or 5000
The cheapnass of skates has much to do
with the increasing popularity Of the sport.
| Only few years ago patent skates cost
from 81 to $l5, and very clumsy wooden
affairs were s. a pair. Now skates N Y be
pair. The patents on skates have run out and
lively com clifton has brought the price SO
low that every one can afford to own a pair.
Boys skates capable OF doing good service
cost % cents a pair, nickel-plated club ska,es
are 81 and So, and the best skates made are
| only s. and SO pair.
Skating will have a boom in New York
city this winter. The Manhattan Athletic
Club have decided to transform the grounds
into mammoth skating RINK. Exhibitions
| of fancy skating and speed racing viii be
given and on special gala nights fancy dress
skating will be INDUCED in. The rink will
be lighted by electricity and band Of music
will lend inspiration 70 the sport. The
National Skating Association will have a
number Of skating events in the vicinity Of
New York during the winter, and efforts
will be made TO break the records at the
regulation distances. Joe Douoghue of
Newburg the young American champion,
has gone abroad with q. NJ. .. Sacks TO
meet the champion skater Of England, Hol-
land, Germany and Norway. Although
only Is years OK age ne has beaten SculliOn,
of New Windsor Craft Of st. John, and
Gordon of Montreal His performance
abroad will be watched with interest. His
place here in the races will be taken by his
brother, Tim DoDoghue, Jr, who won en-
during fame by skating a mile straight
away in min. II 3-5 seconds, the fastest
authentic time on record. The other anna
teur skating records are 100 yards straight
away, q. d. Phillips, 80 40 seconds; 220
yards straight away, c. Plat. 10 seconds;
one-quarter mile straight away, S. Tebbutt,
England, 80 Is seconds; oue.halt mile
straight away; q. ID. Phillips. / min. "a As
seconds. Axel Pauseu, the Norwegian who
came TO this country in 1854 and attracted
80 much attention by his wonderful skat'
ing, has the best records at all distances
from IA miles 70 - miles. His records
we're made around quarter mile tract in
Brooklyn. 5. j. Montgomery is champion
a. all distances from from % to 80 miles,
aud /. Tebbutt, the Englishman, did l04.47
miles in IL hours and 40 min
DAVID WEcHsLER.
No Safer Remedy can be had for Coughs and
Colds, or any trouble Of the Throat, than