Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1897-12-10
Russian Winter Sports.

Now I will tell you of two favorite
amusements. not games. INDUCED in by
both boys and girls in winter-time. The
first is this: Three or four horses are
harnessed to big sleigh. large enough
Tor several persons. and to the hind part
of this sleigh a small sled. called salazky,
and resembling your American toboggan,
is hitched. A second is tied to the first,
and when the young people have all TAX
en- their seats on these salazkyS-gener-
ally crowding them terribly-away they
go.
In the country, when the roads are
good. the track just wide enough for II
large-sized sleigh to pass. with soft.
white snow walls on either hand. and
three fresh. strong horses to puffs the
fun is great, especially where the road
turns. OF course the driver does not go
any slower at the sharp corners because
he has a youthful crew hanging on be-
hind. On the contrary. he just cracks his
whip and let's the horses fly. with the
natural result The small sledges be-
hind, going off in half-circle, upset with
an accompaniment of shouts and laugh
ter. pitching the youngsters into the
snow.
1t used to he the custom formerly. dur
ing the carnival merrymakings. to set out
with six or eight horses. going first to
some neighbOr. who would hitch on a d.
munitive sleigh: thence to some other
friend. who would do likewise: and so on.
until sometimes as many as fifteen could
be seen skimming over the roads in Indian
file. This. however. has been given up
now. it being a rather perilous expert
ment-as fall out of real sleigh can
never prove as harmless as the topping
over of a salazky. But it was great fun.
nevertheless.
The second pastime is more local. be-
longing chiefly to Southern or Little Rus
STA. 1t is called noidalka. and resembles
somewhat merry-go-around. only it is a
thousand times better fun. When Jack
Frost tor. to give him his Russian name
and title "Moros krasnnos'D has taken
the lake. pond or river well in hand. COW
ering it with Il solid sheet of ice more
than Il yard thick a stake is fixed firmly
in. and on this stake an old wagon wheel
is placed as on it's axle Two thin poles
some twenty-five feet long or more. are
then tied by one end to the wheel and
at the other end of each pole a salaZky
is firmly attached.
A wide circle is cleared of all snow. and
then some of the party. thrusting strong
poles in between the spOkes of the wheel.
run around it, giving it a rotary move
ment, and making the SalaZkyS spin along
at tremendous rate. The fun consists
in letting ones self drop. or rather. slip
off when in full career. and glide away
over the ice. Anyway. it is quite impos-
sible to keep ones hold for more than a
few rounds: and | remember. years ago.
doing my utmost to remain nearly lying
fat on the sled. and clutching onto it for
dear life-all in vain. If you do not drop
off of your own free will, choosing your
time and place for the final slide, at n
given moment; nolens volens you have
to let go your hold. You are forcibly
torn from the salaZky by strength far
superior to your own. and are made to
slide away in tangent-away from the
noidaka, along the smooth ice, to a great
distance: sometimes on your side, often
sprawling on your back. or sitting in q
lgnifed posture until you reach the linn
It's of the cleared space and the snow wall
beyond, when-up you fly, like a rocket.
all dignity thrown to the winds, heels in
he air, head foremost into the snOw-aS
though you were taking header!-P.
Kitty Kondacheff, in December st.
Nicholas.