The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1901-01-13
ccmc, and in perfection he has been a
such pains to acquire.

such pains to acquire.
The solitary man takes his pleasure
sadly, but with Others he gains in cneef-
fitness. and is spurred to greater e1orts'
he feels a kind Of emulation. wish, at
least, to he no worse than the others, and
also a pride in the good performance OF
his company-as at a cricket-of which ne
is working unit. And thus II IS that
two or more skaters join their forces. ana
skating with and for ono another, form
the combined figure. Hero is opportunity
for Individual skill. and also for more
for the skill shown in accommodating
ones self to the powers Of others. The
skater can no longer make his turns dell
beratey, but has to do them almost I'M
cxpectedly at the sudden order. perhaps,
OF some other skater. True. they are the
same turns to which nc is accustomed but
now his mistake becomes the mistake
Of the combination, and thinking of the
others and of his opinion in the figure,
he cannot concentrate his attention on
that single turn. and so is much more
liable to so wrong.
COMBINED FIGURES"
Combined figure skating may be said
to be the beginning and the end CT al
true English skating. IT has its own pecu-
liar jargon, which to one uninitlated
sounds absolutely unintelligble, but which
to the expert explains and commands,
and does so in as few words as pos
sIble. In this combined ska ting. four per
formers. say there may be more or less
skate the same arrangement of edges ana
turns at the same time round some 1Xed
centre. They all revoIve the same way
round this centre and should always
divide the circle in which they lie at amy
given moment into four equal quadrants-
One of the skaters is termed the caller,
and he issues MS orders in the peculiar
language of combined skating; every
skater knows from this what he IS eX-
pected to do. Sometimes the skaters form
two or more pairs, starting from the tour
points of the compass, and crossing the
ceptre in pairs every time they return to
the centre to leave it. In another method
Of skating these figures, the skaters tol-
low one another round, as it were. always
preserving their relative distances. but
making every stroke and every turn at
the same moment In this case the skat-
ers never cross. but all arriving at ana
leaving the centre together do so at a
tangent to a small aginary circle drawn
round the centre. In combined skating
there is every opportunity for fast and
bold skating, with a new and vivid JOY
gained from some slight element of dam
ger otherwise than that to which the skat-
cr is accustomed a moments hesitation,
some lack of control over the edges,
swinging foot, and instantly there Is
collision between two Of the skaters,
maybe bringing all four to grief. The
very turns, too, somehow seem different;
no longer made for their mere individual
merit, but become parts of an artistic
whole. producing changes Of curve in
beautiful ordered design.
The skaters also gain in combined fig
ure skating what before they lacked they
become interesting to watch, and give
pleasure to the onlookers. Even one who
knows nothing of the art can appreciate
a good combined figure The strength,
bo,dness. smoothness were there before.
but now all skate with an almost machine
Ike regularity at the command of one,
and that they should be able to make such
designs, intricate in themselves in such
harmony, from an apparently meaning
less order, seems a little short of marvell-
Gus. The skaters are become even as
weI-trained band sWayed by the VIII OF
TIER conductor The element of danger,
too, is very evident. Four or perhaps
more men are skating from opposite points
of the compass. straight at the same
mark, and are skating fast. AS they close
up t. one another the spectator expects
q huge collision and ineXtricable confus-
ion: tlc hardly dares to look. when sud
denly for no apparent reason each man
miSSe:. the otha.s. by a hairs breadth
only 1t seems. and all diverge again from
the certre in perfect time and good or
der. Or it may be That al the c-ilcal mo-
Lent there is a sharply-ca.leI Turn
and With a Kaleidoscope otlanse all are
off on a new curve. leaving one another
as rapidly as they had approached. and
the imminent disaster is averted. Ihe
spectator breathes again, is full of adj
u,ira:cni-and disappointment.
The most noticea BILE thing about good
English iisure-skatirg as compared WIKI
Continental skating is the way the differ
ert turns" are done. Continental skaters
make them by the swing of the arms
and of the unemployed foot, using the
body itself very little, and not paying
much attention TO its position. In good
English skating the turns are done al
most entirely by t.le body; the unemploy-
cd foot and the arms are, as it We're, eN
ternal aids which should not be used. Be
fore the turn the body is placed. as far
as possible. in that position which it should
have after the turn is made, and the
actual turn itself is due to a conscious
flick of the employed foot. The skater
then finds himself already set in the most
comfortable and correct position for hold
ing the new edge.
"SCUDS"
There is another legitimate province Of
English skating. namely 'scuds.' These
are figures shated hand-in-hand by two
or more skaters. Nalstllg can hardly be
included under this heading, as it can
be done by a very Indifferent performer
ana with little attention TO the rules of
correct form These ''scuds' can be skat-
sd in very many different ways, in all
of which the performers will have to
observe their form, and make their turns
partners TO grief The simplest form of
this skating is perhaps where two skat-
crS each holding one hand Of the other