The hatchet. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1883-19??, 1900-06-17
SKATING.
The Past and Present Of a Vigorous
Exercise.


ing like them atpresent. They had deep
grooves in the runners and there was
a graceful circle i'm the end that curved
far over upon our boots. 1t was sur
mounted by brass knob like an
acorn. The skates were rockers" and
the way they were strapped upon our
thick cowhide boots was truly wonder
full.
The evolution of the skate was rapid
in the sense of change, but not in the
sense of Improvement. The cast iron
both skate and foot rest-skate that
followed ii did not prove satisfactory,
and then came various forms of CLUB
skates that are now in vogue, and the
modern racing skate that is at least a
foot and half long.
1t Is nearly impossible to fix OH the
time when skating became an accepted
pastime in the temperate zone, but
there is no doubt that 1t was intro
duced into England from the colder
countries, and in the north it was more
n necessity than pastime. TO the
| Scandlnavians and Germans. when
snow covered the ground and ice
the rivers, necessity suggested to them
| some easy means Of locomOtiOn and
| this first took the form of snowshocs,
| which were constructed with long run
ners of wood, such as those still in use
in some parts Of Norway for journeys
on the snow fields. Originally these
seem to have been used by the Films,
"fOr which reason" says a Swedish
writer "they were called Skrid Finnai
| sliding Firms" This was a common
name for the most ancient inhabitants
| of Sweden.
After use on ice the two runners
were soon found inconvenient, and
! they were followed by the one runner
skate and harder material took the
! place of wood First bone was substi.
! tuted, and this in time gave place to
| iron. According to archaeolOglsts the
present form of skate was developed
| about A. ID. POO.
Skates made of bone were the kind
first adopted by the English, for Fitz-
stephen in his description of the
amusements of the Londoners of his
day-the time of Henry II.-says that
"when the great fen that washes the
north wall of the city Is frozen over
great companies Of young men go to
sport upon the ice. Some, striding as
| wide as they may, do glide swiftly;
some, better practiced to the ice do
! bind to their shoes bones. as the legs
| of some beasts, and hold stakes in
their hands headed with sharp iron
| which they strike against the ice
These men go as swiftly as doth the
| bird in the aid or doth a bolt from the
crOssbOw."
/ Then he goes on TO say that some,
initiating the fashion of the tourna-
ment, would start in full career
against one another, armed with poles,
"they meet, elevate the poles, attack
and strike each other, when one or
both fall, and not without some bodily
hurt"
Specimens of these old bone skates
are occasionally dug up in the fenry
parts of England and some of them
now rest in the British Museum, and
others in the Museum Of Scottish An
Equities, and probably in other collec-
tons, though perhaps some of the
finds" are not nearly as old as FitZ-
stephens day, for there seems to be
| good evidence that even in London the
| primitive bone skate was not entirely
superseded by implements of steel I'M
til the latter part of the last century,
Mr.. Roach Smith, +. S. A., describing
one found about 1889 says that "it
| Is formed Of the bone of some animal,
| made smooth on one side, with hole
at one extremity for n cord to fasten
! in the shoe At the other end the hole
! is also drilled horizontally to the depth
! of three inches, which might have re-
ceived plug with another cord to Sc
cure it more effectually."
There is hardly greater difference
! between these old bone skates and the
| club skates of to-day than there is be-
| tween the skating of the middle ages
and that of the end Of the nineteenth
century. Skating as a fine art Is a
| thing of comparatively modern growth
and so little was thought of 1t as an
exercise for long after Philosophers
day that one finds few or no illusions
to it, and up to the days of the restor-
alton it appears to have been an
amusement confined to few. The ac-
me was reached when the performer
could succeed in running along quick
| ly on his skates and finishing off with
a long and triumphant slide on both
feet in a straight line forward. A man
of that day had no more thought of
trying to execute difficult figures on
the ice than would one of the present
day of dancing in the drawing-room
on the tips of his toes.
During all this time when skating
was struggling into notice in Britain
in its birthplace it continued to be cul-
tivated as the one great winter amuse-
ment. In Holland, where 1t was looked
upon as less of a pastime than n neces-
sity nothing has so frequently struck
travellers as the wonderful change the
advent of ice brings about in the bear
ing of the inhabitants. Heavy, mas
sive, stiff creatures during the rest Of
the year" says PLAT, in his Letters
on Holland" become suddenly active,
ready, and agile so soon as the canals
are frozen" and they are able to glide
along the frozen surface with the
speed and endurance for which their
skating has been so long renowned,
but these qualities are bought at tho
expense of the elegant and grace
looked for nowadays in an accom-
plished skater.
To the surprise of many, skating is
not a national amusement in Russia,
and no one ever thinks of awaiting
himself of the many ponds frozen hard
in cold weather except few who have
picked up the art in st. Petersburg.
Skating in this country came with
the settlement of the Dutch at New
Amsterdam and also with the settlers
~. D,ft III In hn