The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1907-05-11


advanced stage Of development, L
fear / shall never he enrolled in
the list of imnortals," remarked
the Sad-Eyed Man as he stood on
the courthouse square and thought
fully dropped an exhausted tobac-
60 quid on the pavement. "1lere
are neople who believe that men
are born to follow certain voca-
tions. If this is really the case. +
feel certain that any one who wit
messed my recent trlnmphal entry
into the local rink will be ready
TO admit that Divine Providence
never whitfield me out TO amaze
and startle the public with my
grace as roller skater. !"
cit all looked easy enough when
! / happened into the rink few
nights ago. My daughter, who
takes latin down at the High school
thinks she would be ready to take
her departure from this world If she
should be forced 10 give up taking
n whirl on the rollers two or three
times week. She is the one WI
led my footsteps from the paths of
innocence and peace and enticed
Tine to take chance at the game
| She led cre to believe that I
couldn't count myself u good ciii-
zen ;G / continued to take no in
terest in the science Of roller skat-
ING.
81 saw that mass of humanity
whlrlin@ over the floor and almost
iii an instant i could feel spirit
of devilishness coming over me.
Music that seemed to blend with
the movements of the skaters ;
swaying forms took me back about
twenty years to The time when
was as blithe and gay as any Of
those young folks. At the same
time j perceived that many Of the
skaters were not exactly what one
might be called young and I con
soled myself by observing tta. not
a few were probably lowering about
the same age as mine. | decide
without delay to go out and have
the time of my life.
I'm not certain. but + think
! must have been Just little bit
confused when wandered up Ia
the window and asked for skates.
| ranember, however. that before
going out on thc floor | hesiiated
Tor moment and meditated Will
skates IN liand, / calmly stood b,
and by observing the manner an,
movements Of those on The floor
managed TO map out system Of
action which / could follow.
II have always believed il
making logical calculations ant
considering every phase of pro
position before entering into it Sc
riouslv. That S lust what | did be
lore attaching my person TO a pai
OF roller skates. Even at thk LAT,
date, when my experience is scar
oely anything but hazy memory
] am loath TO believe that t1e svs
. tom Tor successful roller naviga
!. ton, which / had so carefully de
/. vised, is what might be called
r complete failure. I think Tim
: some one more agile and accom-
] lpli'hed than myself might find |;
:. a grand and glorious success.
: with all of mv plans CAREFUL,
laid, even TO having mentally pre-
pared a logical diagram of the Sc
rics of strokes which the way,
might also say that / had also de
, cided upon the proper angle a
, which the body should be carrie,
in order to appear Mt the best ad
| vantage and to satisfy the criiica
/ eve Of any connoisseur of refin
ed roller skating who might hav,
, been hanging around the buidin.
! at >tlie time for no other purpos,
, than to witness my debut.
Sorrow upon sorrow; thel
again, alas and alack; all of M,
profound logic went for naueht
AT the same time. Fate seemee
against me. Also the floor.
81 revolved part way down III,
enclosure before falling. Just VIII,
l was unsuccessful in my previous
attempts to get my acrobatic dis
play started, has always been f,
mystery to me. think, however
: that every time l started to gc
down. someone happened to be il
the way. For some unaccountablc
; reason, the diagram, which / ha,
so carefully ensconed in my brain
became nothing but q hopeless an,
lumbled mass. Likewise myself. II
anything was more hopelessly iumb
led that was for minute or so
| claim that it is tho greatest en-
rlositv ever created. AS for pre-
serving graceful poise, no sucl
thought ever entered nv mind af
ter had taken stroke number on,
away from the post which had beer
supporting amy frail figure.
- never believe in doing tli,o:
by sections, so instead OF meec,y
siilln@ down. as was afterwaF i.
told is the custom among nconIt
who understand tho art of MI,