New-York tribune., 1896-01-09
SKATING ON THE LAKES.
RARE GOOD SPORT IN CENTRAL AND
PROSPECT PARKS.


CROWDS OF MERRYMAKERS ON THE fcE-bErlE'
ACCOMMODATIONS WILL EE PROVIDED
Another inch of snow and Central Park yesterday
might well have been called mdwnter paradiss
There was hardly enough snow for really enJoyaulc
slelghing although an occasional trm-iooKhs cut
ter darted through the drives at regular Intervals
There was fair seighng on these drives IL the
driver was not in too much Of a hurry.
The snow showed to better advantage on the
hills and In the valleys. and the small boy. with
his bobsled. in his glory-when the police
were not in sight. The surface for coasthg OH
those hills was excellent, but the hard-hearteu po
lcemen put stop to 1t whenever they were ap'e'
why these youngsters are not allowed 10 coast on
the hills, where they could not interfere with the
rest Of humanity, seems TO be one OF those fain
regulations which sane man can UNDERSTAND
Bu; IT was the skaters who had everything their
own way m Central Park yesterday. II Is not
often that all the lakes in the Park are open 10
the skaters but this was the case yesterday anu
the young and old who follow this heaith-gNlhs
sport had a royal time Of it. The smailer lakes
were thrown open on Tuesday. The merrymakers
were ordered off the ponds as soon as darkness hdd
set in because the Park officials had not made any
provision for lighting the lakes. The small lake
at Fifty -nnth-st and the one at the other emu Vi
the Park k'own Harlem Mere were thrown
open a, 10 o'clock yesterday morning anu ~sbe b
thronged with laughing, rompng youngsters all the
day long o., ~.
There practically no accominoua'ioin ioi Wv
skaters Yesterday except the ce Dut the iheiI
hrong 'did not seem TO mind this, for Doys anu snis
SAT on the fey banks or in the snow neapS anu
strained on their skates with the same easy grace
and apparent comfort that they would nave cone
had there been a comfortably heated sKate-house
for their use. r,. ,,..
The portable structure near the DAKOTA fdats,
which serves as skate house. was down all 70
pieces by the storm last week. About three-fourthS
of the lumber was blown into the lake only the
rear walls are left standing The structure may not
be ready for the skaters before the nldqie OF next
week The calcium lights were placed in position
yesterday afternoon about the large lake :.
There were merry throngs on van Cortiahdt'
Cretona and ST. Mary's lakes IN the Annexed Dis-
rlct I'm the afternoon. The skaters had better ac-
commolations in the way Of skate-houses az the
lakes above the Harlem The arrangem. MS, now
ever for lighting the lakes there are not - good as
are those at Central Park
The skaters IN Brooklyn are also in rare GOOD luck
and they want to that policeman VINO on sun
lay said that there would not be any skating IN the
Park until next week. All the lakes were open yes
eraay and for the first time in years there was an
unbroken surfac. OF strong ice from the boathoIse
10 the point of the lake near the southern entrance
OF the Park. ~, IT,,
one Of the largest crowds ever seen on the lakes
was present In the afternoon
The conditions have seldom. II ever. been better
for the perfect and the wea ner was In keep
Ing. Nobody thought Of the cold and nobody wanted
to 10 home they Ea0 the steel runners on their
feet and had started over the frozen surface