St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-02-09

q u dE6. Htdtly all OI. US were more or
less expert. but that sort of skating is so
honeessly out of fashion that it's bad
Tor to remember that you ever knew
how. ..,.. .... .. ....
Ice skating is certainly the proper
thing in st. Paul this winter. Pm sure
of it. because nearly every yard in the
mnre aristocratic portion of the city has
its little rink, fringed with high bank
of snow and trimmed with evergreens
which look Ike defunct Christmas dec
orationS. I ~ hired man who kept the
lawn In or,ier last summer, now puts in
his spare time on the skating rink. 1t
must be flooded at least three times a
week. be swept each morning, and
sometimes in the afternoon also.
heard SnmeSkaters grumbting last Tues
day because the servant didn't keep
their little pond frozen when the wealth
er clerk decreed thaw.
These private Kinks are convenient
for the owners and their friends, also
providing against mixing with the
crowd of ordinary people who frequent
public Kinks. But whu finds fault with
our wealthy but plain-lookins society
girls for thatp No one except the girl
who would like to enter the magic circle
and can't. I'm convinced that most OF
us are not exclusive simply be-
cause we haven't the opportunity.
The people who skate simply for
amusement can't complain this winter.
There's the river, the ponds on the out
skirts of the city, the bitches and. tn inks
to the thoughtful carelessness of the
city fathers, even the down town side
walks and crossings usually have thin
coating of ice which would give an eX-
pert skater an admirable opportunity
"A .tril L @toN
age pedestrian gets mad about the icy
pavements. The men swear. The
women look as if they would like to. l
think it would be good idea for people
TO skate about instead of walking.
Think of the profanity saved, the ath-
letic culture Involved by such daily ex-
ercise. Then the area of Recovered
surface is so great that the occasional
bare spots OIL the pavement could he
skated around or Jumped over. The
fame of q citv, where people skate
about instead of walking. would spread
all over the country. There would be
no need of costly advertisements i'm
Eastern papers, of carnival that didn't
materiaiize and post morlem bill for
the city council to pay. A city of skat-
ers would advertise itself. But all
great reforms come slowly, and sup
pose ST. Paul people will continue to
slip along the icy streets as usual hop
ing for spring to come early and skating
will still he an amusement.
Speaking from experience, will say
that a teacher of the art would find
profitable business awaiting him in this
city; and the weather prophet says we
will have at least six weeks of good
skating yet. Ii there be such teacher,
he Oesn't advertise and / couldn't find
him. For this reason, perhaps, MY
views Of life have tinge OF deep blue
melancholy at present. All winter
have acted the stole, and refused to
skate. Last week tried it. The phre-
nologist says l have large bump of
prudence coupled with desire to gain
the good will and appreciation CT
friends. My preparations for skating
bore out this opinion. Acting under
the advice of friends. ] purchased
blouse and plain skirt of dark blue
clOth-piease distinctly understand that
it wasn't one of those braided jersey
costumes which aleading dry goods firm
have been selling all week at reduc-
ton. My costume was made to order.
| thought the skirt rather short, but the
mOdiSte said it was the correct thing.
and intimated that it was no fault of
hers that l hadn't a Cinderella foot.
That reminds me of the shoes. They were
that kind SD graphicly styled common
SenSe;" soleS three-quarters of an inch
thick, laced up the front, and gull tless
of high heels or patent leather tips.
I'll AUNT that they are comfortable. but
their ugliness ought to have some re-
deeming feature. A heavy cloth jacket.
blizzard protector cap, boa, muff and
mtteDS completed the outfit, except the
skates. Adjustable lever skateS'' is
what the clerk called mi ne. There are
no straps to get unfastened and no key
to get lost. Only the adjustable lever,
which simply won't adjust, fn spite of
my persuasive ways-or, If it does. the
skates fit so nicely that can't get them
off. Probably this IS the result of my
own stupidity. for other girls don't seem
to have much trouble with the same
style. But then. there is usually some
patient and polite man within sound of
ones voice. He will wrestie with the
lever. while you stand by and encour-
age him with sweet smiles and soft
tones. -a
HUNTED in vain for q public rink and
could find only the one at the foot of
Jackson street, near the union depot.
The river offers pretty good facilities
for skating, and it's SO romantic, you
know, on moonlight evenings like these
to skim over the smooth surface for a
mile or two, till the city looks only like
cluster OF twinkiing lights in
the distance. The wooded banks
loom up on either side, the stars shine
dimiy overhead, and far ahead the
| Ice glistens like silYery path TO some