Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1894-02-17
T'HR AGILE BOB SLED
WAS STRICTLY EN- REGLE AND Az FAIf
LAST NlGiT.
A Coasting Ssancs Unparalleled in Local history.
Thousands of People Out-A Few
Slight Accidents.


Slight Accidents
otis sport most rare
To speed adown the inclined aud Icy way
Win moonbeams playing Ger the glistening
'HO"' Shakespeare
"Mellcsn man heap d-n foolee Whiz!
Whit and walk back miles,
ats fun, but oh, what difference next dayl"
Doc Recter.
IT could never ssa much in it mySelf--es-
pecially when my girl was there with anothef
Fellow BIZ Eye.
Coasting is a time-honOred and pop1-
lar sport in Wheeling, and has been
popular 10 these many years, but last
night easily passed all previous records
for the number OF people engaged in
the fun, and the amount Of fun ex-
tracted.
There were two main centres OF at
traction for the coasters-Fourteenth
street, between Wood and Main, and
Twenty-second street, from point out
the "cut road" to Main street.
Between the hours Of seven o'clock
in the evening and one o'clock this
morning at least q thousand people,
voung ana old, actively engaged in
Shedding upon these two tracks, while
probably two thousand spectators stood
about In the cold for hours, watching
the sport, and regretting that they
could not take an active part In 1t.
Accidents were few, by the
special Intervention Of 8 kind
Providence, but narrow escapes were
many, and no small element
in the excitement, for both spectators
and coasters, was the constant expec-
tation that half dozen people would
have the brains knocked out through a
collision with a gas post or a telegraph
pole, or by the upsetting OF mammoth
sled going at the rate Of twenty-five
miles an hour. How the doctors es-
capped having a fine crop OF broken
bones and Commissions to dress is little
short of marvellous.
There was fairly good coasting on
both Fourteenth and Twenty-Second
streets, Thursday night, and a big
crowd took part 10 the fun. The news
of the coaSting spread throughout the
town during the day, and
in all parts Of the city the con-
struction OF mommOth bob sleds
was urged with feveriSh haste In order
that they might be- in readiness for last
night, while about every other girl in
town had an invitation to ride. AS q
result, when evening came Fourteenth
street was filed with rollicking and
fun-loving crowd OF about fifteen hum
dred people, about equally divided be-
tween the sexes, and from seven o'clock
until after midnight the street resounded
with shrieks, laughter, screams OF jismay
and shouts OF Joy or warning. 1t was
a merry aud an exciting scene, AID at
Chapline, Eoff and Jacob streets large
crowds assembled to watch the big
sleds flash by, At Wood street, the
head of the course, fully five hundred
people were cOngregated for hours,
while the windows of almost every resi-
dence commanding view Of the street
were filed with ladies aud gentlemen.
The sleds were OF all sizes, from the
modest vehicle OF four or five feet long
up TO the elaborate and heavy bOb-Sed
OF twenty feet, equipped with brakes,
steering apparatus and chairs, and
capable of holding twenty people. The
coasters were as varied as their Slads,
and the procession was constantly
changing one. A sled would fly by filed
with young people Well-known in the
most exclusive social circles, followed
by another with eight or ten cOlored
men and women on board, and that would
be followed by an assortment Of tough
Young men and they by a
bevy of girls, while shouts aud screams
OF laughter were heard necessarily.
The sleds were equipped with all man
ner of danger signals. One contained
a well-knOwn young man who would
sound cavalry calls on key bugle;
another had mammoth tin horn; sew
eral sleds were equipped with ten-inch
gongs, while others carried dinntr-bells,
cOw-bells, strings of sleigh-bellS, etc.
Police were stationed along the track
at Intervals TO regulate the sport and
prevent accidents, and by their direc-
ton, during the early part Of the even
ing, when there were good many veh-
cles on Market street, the coasters made
a turn into Chapline street instead Of
going down the steep grade to Market.
This turn was very short, and about
every other sled was upset in attempt
ing it, this always OccaSiOning a great
screaming among the girls and
a great shouting from the
men. Every once in a while a sled
would strike the lamp-pOst or telegraph
poles az the corner Of ChaDline street,
or would hit the curling with re-
sounding whack, which would jar
everyone of the sled, while collisions
between sleds were not infrequent
None Of these were productive Of any
very serious results 10 the coasters,
however, although sled would occa-
siOnally be broken. Later the coasters
we're allowed to run clear to Main
street.
The sport was not confined TO
young people by any means.
Staid married men, wives with
families Of grown children, bachelors
of forty aud maiden ladies' Of uncertain
age all Joined in the fun, which ragged
fast and furious for hours, and was
fully as lively at eleven o'clock as il had
been at eight, although the number Of
spectators was then reduced by some
hundreds.
The scenes at Fourteenth street were
repeated at Twenty-second, where the
element OF danger was somewhat
greater, owing to the steep grade. The
most serious accidents Of the evening