The Saint Paul globe., 1904-01-24
HOW THE TOBOGGAN
WAS INVENTED

Ii THE world over the toboggan has
"a been regarded as an American In
dian invention. The name, too is of
indian origin, and the first introduction
OF the horseiess sleigh was when the
red men used it to convey their proyi-
sions from camp to camp in the winter.
Snow being slippery, it generally occur
red to the aborigines of this continent
that a horseless carriage was the most eff
fective to slide down hin. AT first a fiat
slab of wood was used, and after while
it was curled up in front OF course it
might be said that in countries remarka-
bic for long winters and an abundance of
snow, the toboggan came Independently
into existence.
Though no pastime is more popular in
this country while the snow is on the
ground than tobogganing, the sport has
not been cultivated to such degree as
in Switzerland. This is due to the Eng
lish people who have been wintering at
st. Moritz and Davos since about 1880
First the toboggan was improved for rae
ing purposes. and instead of sitting on the
machine and steering it with sticks, the
tobogganerS now lie flat with the head
foremost and steer with steel toecap
fastened to their boots. Then the great
Cresta course. /, 400 yards long, was con-
structed at st. Moritz and the monster
was instituted. Tobogganing on the Cres-
ia is perhaps one of the worlds most dan
gerous sports, but in defense of this Eng
lshmen who are habitues of Davos and
ST. MoritZ are apt to quote the stirring
lines of Adam Lindsay Gordon:
No game was ever yet worth rap
For rational man to play
Into which no accident. no miShaD,
Could possibly find its way.
There AFRO Soma narcope, N, O,,, n r,,,, on
the Cresta frightens and some it exhila-
rates, but all who essay the tortuous run,
with its 500 feet of a grade, are experts
at falling. If they lose their balance they
twist clear of the toboggan and never fall
over the bank. OF the records made on
the Cresta the Field comments as follows:
Mr.. L. A Cook has described how the
Cresta run is annually cleared for action;
how the deep snow is first tramped down
for the nights frost to harden, how the
trampled snow is beaten into frmer con-
siStency by great wooden sht ces, how
the banks at the side of the run are care
fully carved out to what seems to be the
proper angle. how the accuracy of the
angles is tested by the engineer on his
toboggan, how the run is sprayed with the
hose until it is an even surface of hard
polished ice. Such is the course which
is 1.400 yards long, with fall of $50 feet,
tiiouSH II was originally SoHlSWHdC longer.
The pace at which competitors descend
this tortuous but slippery incline can be
imagined; and equally, of course, it has
been recorded the time being taken to
the decimal fraction of a second.
Practice and the Improvement of the
toboggans and of the run have caused a
constant breaking of the record. Be
tween 1889 and 1894 the time diminished
from l minute 80 3-5 seconds to / minute
13 2-5 seconds. while the average of miles
per hour was accelerated from 31.6 to 49,.
In 1897 the run was done in / minute Is
seconds, and on March 6, 1900, Herr f.
Thoma did it in l minute 6 7-10 seconds,
which is at the rate of about forty miles