Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1898-02-18
KIfLKE CoASTlNG IN NORWAY.
Norwegian Letter In New York Even
ing Post


Norwegian Letter in New York Even
ing Post.l
A kiaelke il n low. moderately heavy
wooden sled. primarily intended Tor me
| use of fishermen on the Ice, ana buiit
| to carry two to four persons. the
steerer sits at the rear end, astriue'
guiding by means OF stout. neNlple
| sapling pole twelve or more feet long;
which, clamped under one arm ana
| grasped in both hands, he drags along
| tho track behind him. The passenger
| lies FIAT on his back, his head on the
steerer's knees. trusting TO luck anu
the law Of gravitotion to Keep MN
| there. since he has neither rope nor
rail nor any other thing to hold TO.
Just behind Chrlstania city rises
steep hill Frogner Sacter. This is the
kjaelke paradise for all winter long
the government reserves there eNclu-
sively for coasters and ski-runners a
/ certain excellent four-mile road wind
ing, partly in zigzag. from base 10
summit No vehicles are given m
gress. to block the way or to mar its
! even surface. II Is a stiff climb from
the town up. but one grows used 10
stiff climbs in Norway, and, moreover.
| the drngon-roofed "sport-room
perched at the top, with It's great
cracking birch-log fire and its BAR
barous old Norsk interior decorations,
offers restinE-place as coy as quaint,
where hot coffee. chocolate ana other
comfortable things are to be had for
| refreshment.
The coast starts from the sport
room" door. Fancy yourself embark
ing for the first time, stretched face up
ward on narrow board. your hands
lying useless at your sides. nothing TO
grasp anywhere about that can be or
the least service to you. The steerer
is in his place behind. Are you
ready?" he asks, and gives little
shove with his pole, whereupon the
board begins to move gently with slow
gliding. This you think. is going to be
delightful The pace gradually ac-
celerates-faster, faster You begin to
feel nervous. TO wonder Just what
would happen If you shot off. almost
TO wish you had stayed at home; and
then by degrees the speed drops to
comfortable moderation. You regain
your composure. and. sincerely trusting
that your companion does not guess
how scared you have been, devote your
mind to enjoying the situation and to
admiring the landscape.
But before you have fairly realized
how very odd that landscape looks,
seen from the bottom up, and all fly
ing, the kjaelke reasserts itself,
. Dangling for one sickenlng moment in
the air-whizzl-it is off, tearing down
what appears to your startled wits an
angle of As degrees This Is the upper
end of the zigzag; for the next mile or
more you are to he switched about cor
ners, snapped around curves and spun
along the ragged edge of preclpices at
/ n rate that will literally stiffen you
. with fright. You feel as you might IN
a runaway hand-truck let loose at the
top of Mt. Washington railway. If you
turn your head to the right, behold an
g imminent swimming wall of seamy
) gray-the bare granite cliff If you
look to the left, II Is only to see heav-
; ing, shapcless black-green mass-the
frs on the precipice edge-whrling
5 past in such wild confusion that you
+ are glnd to turn your dizzy eyes to the
I narrow strip of sky above. devotinp
such OF your senses as has not been
( scattered. like dust from n flying bull
let, to lying as limp as may be and
l hoping fnlntly that the next lurot
around the next curve YIN neither
T you down to break your bones in the
. rocky ravlne below.
G Everything however, ends In time
( even that awful zigzng, Presently tn,
J. pace slackens a bit, then flags anC
: nags, until an OCCASIONAL shove Is
needed to keep 1t alive at all. Finally
. 1t dies outright. and you. arising. lool
e at your friend the stcerer with a per
fectly new respect as you turn together
@ TO your homeward way on foot. Yoi
: have coasted two miles without inter
= that the grade of that coast is 700 fee
TO the mile, you known that 1t was no
: your imagination alone that lent wing
h to the kjaelke.
Q But not every ono that goe
1 kjaelkeaEning comes on 10 safely.
3 coating of lee on the Frogner Saete
e road makes the sport there eXtremel
z dang arous, and serious accidents ar
: of very frequent occurrence. Jude
a such conditions n kjaelle on the zig
- II
d ngement, get beyond control, AND
II Slowing around some sudden turn, can
e non In to a tree or boulder with ter
t. rifle force, A wrecked kjaelke lying o
n the truck often wrecks that coming he
VI behind it, with fearful results. Blu
l. despite the long record of broken bone!
of crushed skulls, and worst of all, c
5 transtiHions by steering poles. thi
y Berserker's pGstlme continues in hlg
II favor with the Christianians.
n a minor mishap that recently befe
l. two schoolhoys was sufficiently uncon
\, Portable. IL not tragic. These tw,
d coasting together. had Just gathere
" the full impetus Of the zigzag when tn
Al steercr saw In the I'D ahead pac
" OF dogs lighting. Thu Se beasts We're S
d noisy and so Intent on the business d,
le the moment that they did not motto
m the sled until II was fairly upon then
lt and as they covered the whole groun
1t was MS impossible to steer clear
N them ms 1t was to stop short. Cor
20 sequently the klaelke rammed straigl
ID into the thick of the fray. The con
L hatants for the most part. wei
& knocked aside more or loss damage
D hut one lll-starred animal scooped u
n and carried along for some moment
r sprowled on his back, on the passei
lie ger boys breast, yolping kicking an
l. paving the air in the terrific endeav,
II TO regain his balance. This passcnge
y warned by his friend. had had time
ID cover his head with his arms and
"a escaped injury. But the unfortunat
X. steersman. knowing that he could bo
er row Il hand from the pole IN so perllol
pr place only at the risk or dire ci
IL tastronhe, sat stlll and took the blow
A. of those madly plunging claws, whic
n. scored his face with marks that wi
lie last lifetime. But he brought II
NJ kjaelke safely to Il finish.