Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1901-03-06
TOBOGGAN GONE
c1ss Popular Winter Sport No
Longer In FavM.
TAe ksAnsriess slsAs Are ssiAsm
sees Evea 81 eAe snow-CAAA
HILL OF the North-pAsasAr
% by sesasSy.

Reliable reports come from Mime
sofa and other far north states where
they have hills and things that they
can slide on when there Is enough
snow that the toboggan is a dead
one!" The long fat board with the
turned-uP nose which used to fly
down the steep frozen decivities with
the speed of a cannon ball will fly no
more, at least for the present. 1t has
been relegated to the walls Of dens
and clubrooms, where it sticks silent
~ an alleged article Of decoration Of
the relic pattern.
Society went back on the toboggan,
and when society goes back on a bit
OF sporting goods the goods might as
well hunt for Its sarcophagus and
crawl In and let society seal ON the
capstone. Time was when the erst-
while toboggan was the warmest win
ter favorite that ever eavorted among
the frozen hills Of the northern states,
but 1t has gone the way of all other
favorites that have reigned with too
much popularity. But q few short
years ago winter without the tobog-
gan In the billy country would have
been like Fourth Of July without
fireworks. The season would have
been nought but bitter patch of mel
Ancholy. In those days the young
folks would have gone into spasms Of
indignation and vexation If they had
been deprived Of the privilege of to.
bogganing. But now the toboggan
has gone down the slide. and there Is
no evidence that It Is going to come
back up, says the Chicago Chronicle.
A few winters ago the toboggar
Juror that reigned in the parts where
the sport had any show whatever at
tracted the attention of the entire
country. The daily newspapers, the
weeklies and the magazines displayed
long, profusely illustrated articles on
the sport, and the popular indulgence
in 1t time and again and people who
had no more prospect Of ever seeing o
toboggan than they have Of seeing
the north pole, talked Of the runner
less s!eds and their awful flights with
breathless interest. Stamped In the
mind Of every reader is the picture
Of the long snow and ice embank-
ment, with torches down the sides and
in the middle of the slide, the big to-
bogRan filled with boys and girls n.y.
ing down the declivity at the rate Of
. mile a minute. When the reader
saw this time-honored old picture for
the first time he always held his
breath and calculated. in low. smoth-
cred tones: "My, isn't that Just
awful?" and at the same time he had
a secret longing to be on the spot and
try one whirl down the chute. 49,
It used to be said that IL required
long persuasion to induce the extreme
ly timid to ever board a toboggan. but
after they had once taken a trip they
hungered for more of 1.-THE same"
with greater avidity than anyone else
on the hill. When the sport was at
the height Of its popularity In St.
Paul and Minneapolis it was well
worth trip to the Gopher cities to
see the amusement In full blast on a
cold winters night. Everybody owned
. toboggan or belonged to a toboggan
club. At night the frozen hills and
snow and ice-covered entertainments.
built sometimes especially for the
sport. were lighted up with great
torches until they were as bright as
day, and swarming about on every
hand were men ard women. young
and middle-aQed, dressed in their fan.
tastic red. white and blue blanket cos.
tunes and streaming from their
heads were the long points Of the
knitted caps that were pulled down
over their ears like nightcaps.
And the great slides prepared for
the use of the tobo0gan meant n mile
Q minute ride down a steep incline.
every foot Of which was fraught with
peril. Many wild tumbles ensued
many ears and noses were frozen. and
yet the tobogRan dropped in popu
2arity with as sudden and hard a thuS
~ the roller skate. Just as In the
esse OF the roller skates. when the to
bogpan was at its height. the sales
made bv srorting houses were enor-
moue. considering the size Of the cit.
lee. One Arm alone In the city Of 81
Paul sold in a few months in this
siqhborhood Of $4,000 worth Of TO-
boggans.
The advent Of the tobo0ean brought
skis into high fcvor. The first ones
made Of Norway pine. had a monopoly
for awhile. but American ingenuity
and INQUIRY spcedily disposed Of the
sbsurdity OF sending all tire wav to
NORWAY for skis. Some genius discov-
cred that Georgia pine was Just as
good for the purpose. and that wood
10 now used almost exclusively for
che manufacture OF skis in the Unit
Cd States. From the peculiar charac-
GER OF the Georgia pine snow will not
adhere TO Il.
AL L. ALI