The herald., 1898-02-06

used by farmers for such purposes as
spring wagons serve for in the summer
time. The pungs were not brought out
many times each winter for coasting
purposes, and when they were, they
were generally hauled up the hill by a.
team of horses, the women who were
to ride down being taken up seated on
bundles of straw, as passengers. 1t was
no easy task to steer pung down the
long hill, and the biggest, strongest,
most self-possessed young men of the
village were selected to perform it,
They always lashed a big sled to the
front end of the tongue or pole to
which the horses were harnessed when
drawing the pung up, and the steering
was done on this sled. 1t was rare, in
deed, that one young man assayed this
task alone. Even with the most skill
full talent on the steering sled, there
were sometimes most diSheartening =
oversets, but serious accident were not
often met with. 1t was well worth a
whole evening of any ones time to wit
ness the jollity of a cargo of pung rid
erS, and to hear the chorus of femi-
nine screams from the crowd as a
clumsy old sleigh, guided by two husky
country lads, with clenched teeth and
every nerve set, swung down the long
curves of the hillside road.
RIDING OF THE CRUST.
Sometimes it would rain for a few
hours and afterwards freeze. Then the
snow on the hillside fields, ordinarily
too soft for coasting, would furnish a
most enticingly enameled crust. The
hill was so steep, however, that ride
from top to bottom on the crust was
almost never attempted. But one WIN
ter lot of us went mile east of the
village where there was no road in the
way, took down lengths of every fence
that could obstruct the course, and en-
joyed a more exciting and at the same
time more perilous sport than we ever
had known before. We began with our
small sleds only, but later we built
special sled for crust riding.
We took two pieces of joist, smoothed
one edge of each, and rounded one end.
Then we connected the two by cross
pieces. We put no iron shoes on the
runners, fearing that if we did so our
sled would get the better of us on the
steep incline and glaring crust. When
completed, we had a sled upon which
ten or fifteen could find places; and af-
ter making several experimental trips,
we induced a lot of the young women
of the village to become our passengers.
The two best steerers were put in
front, and we started down the hill
with bright prospects for a safe and
speedy ride. But about half way be-
tween the top and bottom one of the
runners struck stone that was just
below the surface and had not been OBJ
served. This slowed us clear around,
and the sled continued it's way back
ward and somewhat to the left of the
course marked out. OF course there
was a tremendous lot of screaming and
yelling, for every one was frightened,
and some rolled off upon the crust half
way down the hill. Before the mis-
guided coasting craft had gone far 1t
struck a sturdy oak tree and split
asunder,-one runner continuing its in
dependent course on one side of the
tree, and the other on the other side.
OF course everybody was spilled, and
some were slightly bruised, but no one
was seriously hurt. There were those
among the girls. however. who de-
clared the whole scheme a put up job;
which it was not, by any means. But
that trip ended crust riding from the
top to the bottom of the hill that VIM
ter. and very likely for all time.
Copyright, 1898, by Bachelor Syndicate