The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1891-01-17

last station on the Suited branch of the
Adm line, which is distant from Ousha
only six hours.
What Can Be Done on Snow Shoes.
Tappan Adney, in Harper's Young People.
Those who look for the first time on the
wide clumsy snow shoes that hang crossed
upon the wall of young bachelors apart
ment, or are exhibited in some museum
among other curious things from the North,
would regard them as an awkward sort of
shoe, and a difficult if not dangerous thing
TO use. The beginner is as i'll at ease as
cat with paper shoes on, and more certain
to come to grief With the abject humil-
ty that follows the first trial comes respect
for the snow shoer of only average ability,
awe and admiration for the expert who
shufies along unconscious of the great fiat
surfaces tied to his feet
In the northern part ofthe United States,
and in Canada, where it is said the year
consists of "eisht months winter and four
months poor shedding, the snow shoe is a
necessity for hunters, trappers, and those
who must travel the unbroken snow These
men begin as boys tramping about with
long narrow clapboards fastened to their
feet, setting wire noOses for the little white
rabbits that track the snow with their own
broad feet. As they grow older they get
their first pair of raw hide snow shoes, and
with these they go beating about the coun-
try on longer excursions with gun ON should
er soaring away everything but the noisy
squirrels and impudent chckadees. As
men, one must be with them to appreciate
the ease with which they can run, the mar
vellous way they slide down the steepest
banks, clinging to limbs and bushes, and
how they go, with a skip and jump, after
the long-legged, startled moose, through
the toughest places where the great trees
uprooted by the storms lie piled in endless
ping, never falling. As your Indian guide
tells you ''Sartin fall down, very poor
hunter" .
have heard from those who knew him
of a certain lumberman in Canada who was
so good snow shoer that there was not a
man in the whole country who, running on
a hard-beaten roadway with moccasins,
could beat him as he rau on his snow shoes
in the deep snow alongside.
As means of recreation and social en-
joyment, snow shoeing has been taken up
by Canadians and by Americans who visit
Canada. For many years snow shoe clubs,
especially those at Montreal, have held,
besides their regular tramps, tournaments
each year, which many people from the
United States have keenly enjoyed. These
earnivals have been initiated in our own
cities where there has been enough snow
and ice for those northern sports.
There are hurdle races also. 1t seems
to us impossible to jump a hurdle with
snow shoes such as are worn at Montreal
These shoes are the kind We see most COM
monty in the United States, and are notice
able for their long "heels" which would be
dreadfully in the way when jumping.
In the early wars with French aud Ind
ians many winter campaign could never
have been carried on but for the snow shoes,
which alone made marching possible. In
the winter attacks of the sayages upon the
settlements in northern New England and
in the expeditions of English and French
troops, snow shoes were necessary part of
their equipment, their baggage being hanled
on sleds or toboggans,
Long distances across country are accom-
plished as quickly and with less fatigue on
snow shoes over the snow than on foot over
the same ground after the snow has melted
away. There is something in the spring Of
the snow shoe and in the manner of the
long swinging step that makes it easier than
ordinary walking, especially if the ground
is uneven.
Nothing is more awkward for beginner
than learning to keep right side up on snow
shoes. It is not necessary TO walk with legs
stretched wide apart, for one shoe is lifted
over instead of around the other. The
tracks lie one in front of the other almost
as in ordinary walking. By taking long
steps one need never founder 10 the snow
as beginner does who lets the toe of one
shoe get caught under the heel ofthe other.
Spare moments are the gold dust of
time OF all the portions Of our life, spare
moments are the most fruitful in good or
evil They are the gas through which
temptations find the easiest access to the
soul
A man is in one respect ike a5ne. If
not properly cultivated aud pruned, his
moral nature gets gnarled and twisted, puts
out shoots in wrong directions, and becomes
deeidedlg unconth. If nothing wssss