Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1897-12-24
Russian Winter Sports.
How the Boys and Girls OF Russia
Amuse Themselves.

How the Boys and Girls OF Russia
Amuse Themselves.
In the December St. Nicholas there is
an article on "Some Russian Games" by
Z. Kitty Kondacheff. The author saws:
Now / 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 for
several persons, and TO the hind part of the
sleigh a small sled, called salazky. and re-
sembling your American toboggan, is
htched. a second is tied TO the first, and
when the young people have all taken their
seats on these salazkys-generally crowd
ing them terribly-away they 60,
In the country, when the roads are good,
the track just wide enough for large
sized sleigh to pass. with soft, white snow
walls on either hand, and three fresh.
strong horses to pull, the fun is great,
especially where the road turns OF course
the driver does not 60 any slower at the
sharp corners because he has youthful
crew hanging on behind. On the contrary.
he Just cracks his whip and lets the horses
fly, with the natural result. The small
sledges behind, going off in half-circle,
upset with an accompaniment of shouts
the snow
1t used to be the custom formerly. dur
ing the carnival merrymakngs, to set out
with six or eight horses, going first to some
neighbor, who would hitch on diminutiye
sleigh; thence TO some other friend, WHO
would do likewise and so on, until some
times as many as Is could be seen skim
ming over the roads in Indian file.s This,
however, has been given up now, it being
rather perilous experiment-as fall out
OF real sleigh can never prove as harmless
as the topping over of a salazky. But il
was great fun, nevertheless.
The second pastime is more local, belong
ing chiefly to Southern, or Little. Russia.
II is called NOiddlkd and resembles some
what merry go round, only it it a thous-
and times better fun. When Jack Frost
tor, to give him his Russian name and
title, "Moros krasninos'') has taken the
lake, pond, or river well in hand. covering
1t with solid sheet of ice more than a
yard thick, stake is fixed firmly in, and
onthis stake an old wagon-wheel is placed,
as on its axle. Two thin poles, some 25
feet long or more, are then tied by one end
to the wheel, and at the other end of each
pole salazky is firmly attached.
A wide circle is cleared of all snow. and
'HSN sOuV VI tuc party, lnTuslng strong
poles in between the spokes of the wheel,
run around it, giving it a rotary movement,
and making the salazkys spin along at a
tremendous rate. The fun consists in let-
ting ones self drop, or rather slip, off
when in full career and glide away over the
ice Anyway, it is quite impossible to
keep ones hold for more than few rounds:
and remember, years ago, doing my ut
most to remain on, nearly lying fiat on the
sled, and clutching on to it for dear life
all in vain If you do not drop off at your
own free will, choosing your time and
place for the final slide, at given moment,
notenS rotenS, you have to let go your hold
You are forcibly torn from the salazky by
strength superior to your own, and are
made to slide away in a tangent-away
from the noldalka, along the smooth ice,
to great distance; sometimes on your
side, often sprawling on your back, or sit
ting in dignifed posture until you reach
the limits of the cleared space and the
SNOWFALL beyond, when-up you fly, like
a rocket, all dignity thrown to the winds,
heels in the air, head foremost into the
snow-as though you were taking a header!