The Portland daily press., 1895-03-02
TWO NILES
Down Mt. Pleasant Astride a Pole.
A LONG AND EXCITING SLIDE ON
NORWEGIAN SKIES.

The Genius of skee Enthusiast-How He
Bridled the Runaway Skees - Boiling
Eggs and Coffee In Below Zero Tenn
petature On Mountain Top-The Eu-
counter On the Bridge = The Smooth
Path Made By Fifty snowshoers-Why
We Couldn't Sleep.
We left Fryeburg village last Saturday,
three of us. in q two-seated pung. drawn by
one lively little horse. We had with us
three pair of Indian snow-shoes. three pair
| of skees. or Norwegian snow-shoes, long
narrow strips of wood, on which one can
| slide down hill. bountiful lunch and last.
but not least, a tin pail. dipper and spoons
| for the making and drinking of coffee. We
were bounG for Pleasant Mountain, eight
miles from Fryeburg village. rearing it's
triple-dome bulk on the edge of the town
ship in isolated grandeur and offering no
nean contrast to he While Mountains on
/ the other side of the valley.
/ We intended to climb the mountain on
| snow-shoea and took the skees along for the
purpose of a few slides on the lower slopes.
We left the village postofice, turned COR
ner and plunged immediately into a thick
and dark pine forest. The snow lay very
white and deep under the soInbre branches
and the road WAS trough. about Is feet
wide, three feet deep in the middle and
| with evenly cut sides. This trough was
made by huge wooden rollers. for they are
the snow-plows of Fryebnrg and vicinity
and are pecu liar TO that locality.
| Street Commissioner Walker. of Deering,
introduced the snow-roller there this win
Ter. because he was formerly Fryeburg
citizen. IN the middle of this big though,
made by the roller. were Two very small
rroughs. worn deep by the hoofs of spans of
horses and smooth by the runners of the
lfsleds drawn after them. A high ridge sepa-
| rated these two horse tracks, That was the
reason hat our single team was a set
over, THAT is, the shafts had been set over.
so TINT the horse was in front of the left
runner and could travel in one trough
while the runners ran in the two roughs.
The large number of heavy double teams
that traverse these roads in winter causes
1.-THE two horse-t racks and the resulting
''set-over' single teams. We were continu-
ally meeting and turning out for these
idnufle tral S, laden with sholt peeled pop
lar logs to be sent down river. either by
train OF by water in the spring. to feed the
great paper mills many miles away. After
Ea nile and half Of woods the road skirtad
l;close to the edge of uoyewell's pond and the
famous spot on its shore where SO many In
dams were defeated by so few English,ren
and where Gait Love veil slew the Indian
1schiaf s
s-oon after. We left. the woods and were
driving through tie farnlands with the
great solitary mountain looming up ahean
Of Us. We came to a long. steep hill with
"a covered 81 idee crossing the liver at its
food and the ei tlusiast of the party jumped
out and had l.-.o,ted his slippery hardwood
skees in Il tMinkling nd was off down the
hill, one of the Aorse-tracks
SERVING AS AN EXCELLENT SKEE-
| CHUTE.
| 1t was 4 bright clear day and biting cold
Just the kind Of day for skees to fly over
the frosty snow: for such snow. while it re-
tards the steel runner is like creased
track for polished wood.
1t was a glorious slide of nearly a quarter
of lie. The rapid pace and "a curve ct
| the foot rendered the safe entering of the
old wooden bridge something OF problem.
The skeeist solved it however. with the aid
of much distortion of his features. which
experience had taught lin is very effective
in the steering of skees. as it also is in the
DETECTING of IL miss thrown ball or stone
| that is about To- crash into window.
Thus faeially distorted, with arms waving
like wind-n ills and with the speed of sky
rocket. he da shed into the shadow of the
ols! covered bridge and into the face and
eyes of soberly ploiding old doblin. draw
| ing similar old native, wrapped to the
eyes in muff1e1s, as was also his good lady
| who si,t beside him.
| Luckily the sober old nag SHE'D like a
skittish youngster at the extraordinary APP
partition and tbs latter managed to sweIve
| little, else this narrative would now come
| to mela ncnoly end. AS he swept past
close to the worthy yoeman. he had flying
vision of the old man lodging away from
| him and heard his half scared, half ar CRY
exclamation
sWHAT'N TARNATION AIR YE UP
| TEW"
| The skeeist returned and there was ex-
PLANTATION and exhibition on his side and
much wonder and interest on the other.
| At little before two o'clock, they reached
| the neat lJblS FARMHOUSE aG UDe IOOU OF the
carriage road. up which one can drive in
summer to the house on top. distance of
two miles. In front CT the barn door was
the great wooden roller that had crushed
| down the snow over which they had just
| been driving. 1t is quite an Ella borate de-
vice-this snow roller. There are two roll
| lers. about six feet in diameter and three
feet in width of rim They turn inside of
a large frame about IL feet wide. At first
the two rollers are used close together and
| make Il path about six feet wide. Then
they are pushed apart and crush down the
snow upon either side of the path. making
it as wide the frame will admit. Of course
| il car be made wider by using only one
| roller on one edge of the road. The reason
of all this is because it is easier to haul a
small roller through big drifts than a very
large and wide roller.
"You won't have to use your snow-shoes
fill You get up quite piece" said Mr.. War
van the owner of the house.
"TaOSE APPALACHIAN FOLKS WERE
OUT
here from FrYeburg yesterday. more'n fifty
If ,em. and they made good path to wall;