Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-02-24

eNactly the proper way out Of the scrape
uhere would have been tragedy.
As by n Miracle.
The belly-bustin' boy, who is going II
alone, ealks. however. at giving himself
dumping for the purpose OF wriggling out
OF danger, and he takes almost unbeIiev-
able chances at lodging cars or wagons
that happen to be passing at the bottom
OF the nil. He sizes up the situation de-
cides whether it'll be possible for him to
pass in front or behind the passing OBJ
struction, measures the intervening dis
lance. together with the rate Of speed be-
ing made by his sled and the passing wagon
or car, with phenomenal accuracy of eye
and gets by, all right. top-side up with care
When II seems that he simply can't help
but butt into the forward edge of the cars
fei.der. or be stepped upon by the next
forward movement Of a horse or smash
INTO the rear wheel of a passing wagon
presto! ne Is past, looking back. and very
probably making faces at a pale car mo-
torman or n shuddering wagon driver The
luck OF boys is, of course SUPERNATURAL.
that iact has long been admitted: but even
So the average boy is a pretty difficult
proposition to rattle when he gets birnSs.is
INTO tight nix, and ne has pretty nearly ns
iluch nerve and resourcefulness as his
daddy. as HIS
Multiplying the Fun
And. reverting to the matter Of belIv
ousun' there is a variety of that sport that
may aptiy be termed multiplex belly
ptstin This is another weird performance
The boy who owns the sled makes his
start and lands top of the same with
the dun, sfckening thud above described
50 sraphically and with such literary finish
men men another boy, who doesn't own a sled,
uecioes TO nave a ride, anyhow and he
makes flying leap through space and
iahds on top of the original halIy-
buster This boy is generally much larger
Gnu Gnu nsd'ler tnan the boy who owns the
n is II
sequence Is that when the sledless bow lands
on top OF him grunt is forced out of him
inis We're not so absolutely nerve-racking
dd IL stop there. But sometimes N doesn't
Sun another larger and heavier hoy shuts
ms eyes, claws the air, makes a lean into
me circumambfent air, and comes down ON
1Soh OF NO. whereupon there are two
Involuntary grunts. And then about a
quarter OF the way down the track an
otner siediess boy suddenly feels aggrieved
because ne thinks he isn't getting as many
rides as he is entitled to, and he clutches
az nothingness, puts his teeth down hard
makes a few preliminary running stems
POUNDS INTO the deep empyrean-and he
lands on top of the other three in doing
which he compels three grl,nts that forn1
Veritable chord. Thus the sled goes on
It's course, reaching the bottom of the Hill
at length, maybe: in such cases the entire
puhcn Is more frequently ditched. The man
VINO is watching it all calmly steadies him
sell Tor the worst, If he is not perfectly
certain that the original bely-buster on the
DreatlpS.
at least expects to see that boy flattened
out ike a skin in furrier's window But
no. the four boys disentagle themselves
from each other, grin. brush off their
ciothes and start uD the hill again II is
all right; the boy on the bottom of the
heap still preserves his normal prprortfons
unhattened; and the man who has seen #
all rubs his eyes and wonders some mora
ABOUT the physical conformation of bows
LII four grown men even engaged in snort
were to maltreat each other that way or
IN any similar way, there would be a young
riot and hurry-wagon finish In truth
the things that boys complacentlv endure
az each others hands are wonderful to con-
template. The wonder is not great that
boys occasionally scrap; the real wonder
consists in that they do not beat each other
to pulp, considering the provocation they
give each other.
When He Takes His Sister
The small boy likes to get his elder sister
to go a-sleddfng with him-the one who is
just beginning to tuck her hair up and to
look dignified. 1t will forever be one of the
great mysteries of the race Just why il is
that small boy who has a sister at this
stage OF her growth likes to put her in
parlous predicaments-why he seizes every
opportunity to take a personally -conducted
swat at her newly-assumed dignity-Why IL
seems the funniest thing in life in his ewes
to make her ridiculous to the view of Just
the people she most wants to impress
Verify. the humor of the small bow hath
an ironic, iconoclastic twist The small
boy who takes his grown-up sister out
a-sleddlng with him is a picture of demure-
ness and innocent righteousness for the
space OF about three rides down thu, hill
But all the time he is sizing I'D the situ-
ton out of the tail of his eye. When at the
top of the hiA a considerable knot of his
sisters would-be worshipers are assembled
ne perceives his chance. He starts down the
hill and something happens TO the sled
His sister describes quite Incredible trigo-
"a al rif.al tgrT1p, -, 81,
alights on terra firna. totally bereft OF
every vestige of dignity. While she is hur-
r1edly adjusting her skirts the innocent
small brother stands by, locking like a
heapy-hearted martyr. while she berates
him and accuses him of having deliberately
caused her to look foolish He signs quite
heavily over the unwarranted accusation
The really wise grown-up sister of the
small boy only goes a-sleddng with him
once.
One Form of Happiness
The sledless boys who infest coast:ng
hills are a source Of good deal Of worri-
ment to the sled owners. 4 boy who hasn't
a sled. and who finds himself in the vicini-
ty of a coasting course, has got to do some
thing whereby to entertain himself. hasn't
he? OF course, he has! So he gets PIE
of rope sledless boy with a piece u
rope can find much deep contentment II
spirit. and extract quite an amount of con-
ISOLATION for his sledless lot, if he only uses
piece OIL rope the rlSnt way on the
coasting course. In the first place. the piece
of rope may be noosed Like a lariat. With
a lariat really skillful -sledless boy can
yank a boy who owns a sled off the same
when the thing runners is going down
hill at full speed. and this is favorite AMI
quite effective method 1t is better if the
rapidly descending boy the sled is
caught around the neck by the lariat
1t is fun to watch him gradually st-ang!e
with his eyes popping out, ana then to step
in and save him from an untinely death
just in the nick of time. Moreover t.is
method causes the yanked boys sled to get
lost. When the boy is pulled from the SEED
by means of the lariat the sled keeps Fight
on a-going down hill. of course and lha
prospects of the lar.ated boys ever &, ting
it back are of the remotest. This OF
course, adds to the bowling joy of the sit
uation. The sledless boy with the iariat IS
found in numbers around all of the coast
ing tracks and the fun he gets out of the
game is quite wonderful to observe.
Another Variation.
Another to which the sledless boy
may put his piece of rope is to throw It
across the track in front of advancing
sled In doing this it is always better 10
wait for led of he low raE 81