The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-08-15
NOW COMES THE ORDER [. A. S.
THE LEAGUE OF AMERICAN sTILTs-
MEN AND THEIR sTILTS.

Are maue OF hardwood. W lrh steps
CIampcd On and ornamented-XiII
BE the Rage This Autumn.
Boston, Aug. H.-If you happen to wheel
past a summer residence and note in the
distance a group of very tall young men
and women walking very rapidly, with
an animated expression of countenance,
do not think that you have discovered a
group of Amazons or colony of giants
and giantesses out of a freak museum for
a weeks vacation. Oh, no. You are mere
ly looking at a party of young people en-
joying the latest outdoor sensation-stilt-
walking.
stilt-walking was a pastime in the days
of Queen Elizabeth, and had she and Mary
Queen of Scots been the dutiful cousins
they should have been, doubtless they
would have gone stilt-walking together.
while their admirers, the Lords of Leices-
ter and Essex, rode to hounds or sped the
falcon.
Stilt-walking was also a sport much
later, when English girls learned it in
their boarding school athletics and en-
ployed stills for their early rambles, hunt
ing the four-leaf clover from that lofty
height.
This is about the first year, however,
when you can go into your favorite
sporting goods store and say, "Show me
a pair of stills" You can do it this
year in a great many localities. for stilt-
walking is as yet something novel. The
girls of Beverly and all arouad Boston
are walking them. and you see stilt girls
back in the country where there is no bay
nor any river for their amusement.
The stills that are commonly used are
homemade ones-or, perhaps, it is better
to say they are carpenter-made ones. 1t
is a pretty hard thing to make a pair of
stills yourself unless you have studied
carpentry in one of the trade schools or
are a member of an evening class in am
ateur carpentry.
The proper material for a pair of stills
is hard wood-the harder the better. The
wood must be light. There are strong
pieces Of cedar and there are straight
lengths of pear and crab-apple that are
very fine The crab-apple stills are the
ones that are used in the White noun
tains by the young ladies who go there
for a months run among the hills They
say crab-apple has Spring and is light
but III the SeiGCtlOn OF the KIM OF WOOD
1t is best to consult the carpenter, for he
will see a knot or a flaw, a curve or
split when others would pronounce the
wood good enough; and in stills the main
thing is evenness and strength. A slight
warp will be as unpleasant as a knock
knee, and if the stills dry unevenly the
walker feels as though the affection of
pair of bowlegs were suddenly thrust upon
her.
The steps should be securely nailed on
with wire nails. Afterward little brass
or metallic decorations of some kind can
be put on if desired.
The writer saw a very pretty st. Louis
girl summering in a little resort on the
Ohio river get a horrible tumble off a
pair of elegantly finished stills They
were made of solid mahogany, strong and
durable past all question. They were a
little heavy, but for long-distance walk
ing they would Guido any other 1t is
easier to keep your balance on heavy
pair of stills than il is on a heavy bicy
Gle, though you can't go quite as fast
The steps in these stills were cut in
the side, all from one solid strip of ma
hogany.
They looked beautiful and were much
admired but one day as this young wo-
man took a long, strong step up hill
there was a loud cracking and the silt
split between the upright and the step.
bound to happen to any silt cut all from
one piece.
Opinions, however, differ on the sub
ject, and girl whom the writer met last
Monday on the train, en- route for the
mountains showed two pairs of stills in
her baggage belonging to herself and her
brother. They were plain pine, stained
CHEEKY and highly vanished except the
Steps which were brass covered. They
were cut in the side of the upright and
were reinforced with brass tips that were
both pretty and useful. They were strap
ped together for carrying, like very long
golf sticks; and were protected on the end
with a rubber bagging.
The hight of a stilt step varies according
to the persons. A very safe hight is as
tall as the knees, though people after they
have learned to walk like "A higher step
The higher the step the faster the power
of locomotion.
TIL writer saw a very touching sight at
Normandie-by-the-Se i'm June A little
boy the son of bank official in Philadel-
phia, was spending the summer there with
his parents. But the little fellow was anne
one foot being several inches shorter than
the other One afternoon a race was pro-
posed by the other boys, but of course the
little lame boy could not participate
Never mindr he called out, 81 can run
on stills. just the same, and when you fell
lows learn to walk stills, then II. race
you" Sure enough, a pair of beautifully
carved stills had been made TO order for
the little lame lad, and mounted on them
he could go as fast as the fastest. One
step was three inches taller than'the other
The length of the uprights vary also ac-
cording to the size of the walker. II the
step is a foot high. It is a good thing to
allow half that hight above the walkers
head The longer the silt up to that
length the easier II is TO walk.
The cost OF this little amusement is not
great A pair OF stills. bought ready
made do not come to over s.. 80, unless you
get something very nice II you get them
up yourself. selecting your own piece Of
wood and carving. or mailing on the step
yourself. you can probably achieve a very
acceptable pair FOR 81. There come very
handsome brass ornaments for mailing on
You can get big fieurs-do-lys. long anchors
square main heads. big, round ornaments
and all sorts Of pretty things for decorat-
ing the ends and the sides OF the step
There are also stilt clubs. You form
yourselves into bands for various pur-
poses. one band pledges itself 20 scour
the fields FOR botanical treasures An
other explores the native country for
fishing streams and good hunting An
other corps calls itself the Erraud Bat