The Emmett index. [volume] (Emmett, Idaho) 1893-1925, 1895-08-03
THEDUTCH0N SKATES
THE CHIEF ENJOYMENT AMONG THE
PEOPLE OF HOLLAND.
Canals Run Everywhere, Which Makes Wis
iting Liveiy-skating In slippers-The
Famous Dutch RoII-A Dozen In Line
with n swim Leader.


Famous Dutch RoII-A Dozen In Line
with n swim Leader.
II you have lived in Holland, In vii
laRc, we will say, you know how the first
frost seems TO quicken everybody. You
have been asleep all through November:
thick heavy mists all day: quiet, quiet,
no sound save the drip from the moisture
laden boughs and the sad fall OF leaves
all the world dying. But on sudden ev-
erything IL changed. You awake one
morning. Outside your window a warren
IL singing song with but two notes. The
sun has come out; the mists have gone; 1t
~ crisp and cold the wuter crackles in tho
/ jug ns you pour II out.
Down stairs everything Is warm; the
maids are singing and attentive. sit froze
last night, Mevrouw," they say.
You know now the frenzy Is beginning.
The man comes In from the stable. at
froze last night, Mevrouw." The post
man comes. st frozc last night, Me
vrouw, tho pot is full, now we will have
the cover"
All Of which means that tho canals nre
full, the holders are covered with water,
and now good, hard frost will make life
worth living.
II You miss tho maids, you may know
they nre trying the ice on the moat with
pebbles. Out on the one villago street the
little boys nrc whistling around the black
smith shop, where the big boys nre hay
ing their skntes sharpencd or bargaining
for new ones. BY the cannl-and what
/ Dutch village Is without its cunalg-there
] Is n crowd. II IL were not Holland, you
might think something dreadful was hap
pening, and indeed there Is, for the skip
per who goes TO tho market town with his
trckschint every day il being hnrangued
and scolded because no bad some thought
OF spelling the ice by pulling his boat
through. at Is closed. Let II stay closed, "
they cry, and be gives in, whether to public
opinion or his own desire who shall sayi
And so It freezes steadily for n week,
quietly and snilingly, without wind, the
one and only enemy to skating in IIol-
land. Several boys, In the meantime, too
venturesome, have been lugged out of the
canal and kicked and cufied for spelling
the ice. And then ono morning 1t is fro
zen solid, and all tho Hollanders are hap
Ply.
In the summer for the peasant, It has
been nothing but grind, with the excep-
tion Of few days kirmess, which leaves
an aching head and empty pocket. Now
there IL pleasure without paying You
may 20 to the uttermost parts of the
earth or Holland, which Is the same to
them, for nothing, and so there are happy
junketings on the ice, distant friends and
relatives TO be visited-else never seem
and engagements to be kept which were
made the winter before.
Tho whole country is n network OF ca
nails, and they serve three purposes-no,
four-ns means of communication, one
canal leading into another; as drains to
keep the land dry and habitable; in place
of walks or fences or hedges, and, the
fourth purpose, to skate upon.
Herein lies the fascination of skating in
Holland-you can go somewhere, any
where, everywhere. And incredible is the
speed and endurance of the Dutch on
skates although Donoghue did beat
them. Donoghue, like Ohmns, is genius
all Dutchmen cannot win the diamond
sculls-but | doubt II in long distances
any American can outspeed the Holland
or. We skate better-that is TO say, VIC
do things on our skates Dutchman would
never dream of doing, hut for long dis
tances the Dutch would outlast us.
Near the village it is like scene from
a comic opera. Girls and boys. men and
women, all gay and boisterous all in n
maze of delightful color-gold and silver,
lace covered head dresses--surmount
alas, too often by hideous modern bonnets
bright skirts, gaudy aprons and colored
cloaks among the women. The men more
somber, but none the less picturesque.
Most OF the men are in slippers. II you
are new to the sight, you " i'll look with
amazement-red velvet and black, emf
broideries and carpet cut slippers-slippers
everywhere. You wonder il they are go
ing to skate In this footgear. Watch them
and you will see that they nre. You will
see them bind on, some with straps and
some with strings, skates so long and low
that they must have descended from the
Finnish snow. Skates-and all so loose
you wonder how they can skate on them.
They are on their feet now, trying them,
and as you watch you sec the real Dutch
roll.
Near by lot of young people are wran-
Cling over long pole, like n barber's pole
and rs gayly painted. with knob on one
end of 1t. They are trying to decide which
is the strongest. They are all the strong
est, apparently. but finally the owner Of the
pole is elected leader. lie takes the pole
under his right arm, his left hand firmly
grasping the knob Behind him 10 or 10
people-men and women-are ranged, all
grasping tho pole in the same manner,
with n strong man In the middle and an
other ON the end.
The end man gives the signal, Ready,
awayw And AWAY it is. with one great
curve to the right from one side of the
canal to tho other. Then for little while
you hear the leaders rechts, linksi" and
watch the line OF swaying bodies gliding
farther and farther down the canal until
II becomes merely n gray wrggle.
As we have said. the only enemy to
skating in Holland Is the wind, which al
most always blows. Going with the wind
Is of course delightful. but II is the return
ing In the teeth OF IL that is unpleasant.
IL is in skating against the wind that
the long poles are especially useful. The
leader OF course takes the wind and bears
The buffet, while those behind get little
or uone. and the combined impetus sends
them on almost without effort.
IL would not do TO tell the speed the
Dutch say they attain with these poles,
but Il Is very great. II you take long
trip with n lot OF good skaters. you will
find. moreover. delight In this manner
OF skating which no other can give, but
you will need great power Of endurance.
There Is no falling ont Of line, and you
will have learned at the end OF the day
that Il Is best when you are in Holland to
do fha al IL