The Wichita daily eagle., 1898-01-09

king of winter sports; and who shall
deny that the exhilarating pastime-
the beautiful, swift. gliding motion
over the smooth surface of a lake sur
rounded by trees covered with snow
and frost, and the keen, cold wind, do
not make up a delightful outdoor
amusement? When to these delights
is added a companion with strong
arm and skillfulness, surely there are
few girls who will not give skating the
palm over all winter sports and many
summer ones as well.
In these days, when there is no
theme of such vital interest TO women
as physical culture in all its forms,
any sport which will give good. health
full exercise is sure to have plenty OF
followers. Now, the prettiest and most
graceful exercise in the list, and one
which doesn't involve any sacrihces IN
the way of corsets, or heroics, in the
line of heeIless boots and bIfurcated
garments, health waists, or any OF the
other notifications of the i1esh, is
skating. Woman may shine on the ice
in her usual belongings, provided the
skirt be made a convenient length.
She may glide in single solitude or en-
ter into dual or triple alliances. All
that is demanded of her is that she be
at home on her skates and have
graceful figure Then the eyes of every
man-aye, and of every woman-in
sight will follow her with admiring
and in the latter case often with enVl-
GUS glances. What more is needed TO
make skating popular?
Or If Mother Nature has been unkind
and denied that lack of grace of mo-
tion that is of greater charm even than
fairness of face, the best possible way
I'm the world to acquire it is fearless
skating by learning to balance when
executing daring and intricate curves
hnd complicated movements.
The girl who skates knows all about
this. She found out all about it first by
taking just the opposite course and ex-
ecuting headlong plunges and striking
unexpected and far from graceful at
litudes on her skates. Thus she learned
the true meaning of the word poise.
The shining steel blades that the man
she likes best--just then-tightens on
her snug little feet suddenly seem in
spired with diabolical purpose directly
she attempts to stand on them. She
takes sudden and totally unprepared
for postures, sitting and otherwise. with
The skates waving in horribly undig-
nified way in the air in manner never
advocated by teachers of Delsarte.
If only she knew whether those skates
were going to slide backward or for
ward. she would manage better. she
thinks, with despair.
Then that same nice fellow comes up
with a curve as graceful as swallow,
takes both her hands in his and glides
backward as she follows. He talks all
the time to her of something or other,
looks into her eyes. laughs, makes her
blush with a compliment on her color
ing, and all at once, if she be the right
kind of girl, she is skating and knows
more about poise than all the big waist
ed physical culturists in the country,
though she couldn't explain it to save
her life. And that's another reason why
girls love skating.
The only scientific way to skate is out
of doors on frozen river or lake, with
the dazzling winter sunshine above
your head and just enough of the ele-
ment Of danger to keep some one who
is very solicitous for your safety and
comfort quite near your side. And in
the evening, when the smaller boys
kindle the big bonfires on the shore. and
the little coves and inlets where the
smoothest ice has been left lie in shad-
ows like those of painting by some
Ole master. what finer place in the
world to get out Of sight of hard heart
ed chaperonS and give a little pleasure
TO the big fellow who has been helping
You all the afternoon and now guides
you thither with seeming accident, but
with his heart beating so you can al
most hear il? And what better time to
say the things You know he has been
on the point OF saying many a time,
but could not get up the courage tc
say in a conventional drawing room
under the glare of electric lights?
But perhaps the one thing that will
make skating more popular than il
could otherwise ever become is the
fact that that great and powerful dame
Society, whose magic wand. much as
we may claim 10 ignore il. rules US all.
has looked on skating with a pleasing
eye and taken il up. The fashionable
girls in New York and other places. in
stead of spending all the winter months
In the city wishing that Lent were over
nowadays HE themselves TO country
Eeats belonging to their parents. taking
along jolly crowd of young people OF
both sexes, and skating and toboggan-
ing and sleighing parties occupy their
time. And as Mrs. Society has smiled
on this form of amusement, why, that
is the most potent reason OF all why
women must skate.
Those, however. who do not care to go
TO the country for any period of time or
who cannot afford the luxury OF a coun-
try place have solved the problem of
lxaf in, f,- Nff hx-f h.
of Paris which for many years has had
ats Palais de Glace.
The Palais de Glace is simply a cir
Gus where ice replaces the sawdust
floor, and the walls are paneled with
mirrors and painted with scenes from
the Mediterranean. Electric light pours
down from the chandeliers. gas lamps
keep the building at a comfortable tenn
perature. and the chemical fluids flow
ing through innumerable pipes below