The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1895-09-26
Shooting the Chute.
from Harper's Round Table


Suppose you were to go down to the
chute at Coney Island, you would see
something like this: There is big
enclosure, with a high board fence
around it, from which huge incline
stretches'up. 1t looks like a toboggan-
slide, only far bigger than most. The
man at the stile gate says Tickets,
please" So you pay twenty cents for
each ticket. admitting you to the
grounds and one ride on the chute.
just as you go In you hear a roaring,
rafting sound. and boat comes rush
ing down the slide into the lake in front
of you You see the boat leap forty
feet at a jump over the surface of the
water, like some ocean demon, until it
finally quiets down and allows Itself to
be padded easily UP to the bank. AS
the people in the boat are helped out
by several Of the fifty attendants dress
ed in sailor suits, you expect them to
cry out some expression of disapprov-
al, for you certainly heard them shout
ing out in frightened manner as they
rode down the chute. But no.
Wasn't it perfectly splendid?" says
one woman.
ut beats tobogganing exclaims an
other.
Lets do it again. says small boy.
little treasured, you move around
with the crowd towards the entrance to
the slide, and, after giving your tickets
to the gateman, you all get into little
cars-similar to those in use at Niagara
Falls running down to the whirlpool
rapids-attached to endless chains,
which drag you to the top of the chute
as slowly as the boats in the other part
go rapidly. AS you get little more
than halfway up, a boatload of people
rattles by within ten feet of you, and
you wonder again whether you will
have the courage to make the first trial
Once up, you follow the others around
to the other side of the chute, where
boats are sent down every fifteen sec
onds. You glance down the slide. 1t
looks very long, and the water, which
the steersman says is only three feet
deep, seems very far away and very
deep. At last, with a sudden gulp of
courage, you jump in, holding tight the
ratings as the guard bids you. You
see little streams of water bubbling up
and trickiing down every few inches or
so along the slide, and way below the
big pool of water looks yawningly up
ward. The boat-despatcher has his
hand on the lever which holds the boat
back. And now that is turned.
Hold fast, ladies and gentlemen.
Hats under the seat! Now. then, you're
off"
Quickly the boat rattles into the in
cline A fraction of a second, ana you
are rushing along so fast t&at you al
most scream. A second or two more,
and you are going at the rate of sew
enty-four miles an hour. You have
lost your breath, but the fresh air that
rushes into your lungs gives you a de-
lcious sensation. You feel as if you
were flying through the air.
Boom! Splash! The boat strikes
the water, almost jolting you
off your seat, and whirling the
spray high into the air. The people
on the banks of the little pond whiz
by. for the speed is still terrific, and
the boat jumps forward in crazy leaps
After two or three of these spasmodic
efforts the boat glides to the landing.
thanks to the assistance of the man IN
the stern. Your breath comes back.
You find you weren't hurt bit, or even
wet. You feel as if you jumped from
the top of the barn into the lowest but
softest hay-mow. You give an ecstatic
gasp, this time of extreme delight, and