Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1910-02-07
The JOYS OF
BOBSLED RACING
An Exhi|drdiirg and Fascinating
Sport INDUCED In by Many.
WONDERFUL FAST time MADE
The Yankee, Winner Of Race at Hunt.
ington, N. ", Went Mile In 81 As
Seconds-SwitzerIand the Ideal Place
For Great Winter Sport.

SecondS-SWitzerian the Ideal Place
For Great Winter Sport.
In an early day. some time after the
landing of the pilgrim fathers. but be
fore ones waistband grew permanent
ly great, there was simple outdoor
amusement known as "slidin' down.
hill" At that day sleds were roughly
Of two kinds. high sleds for girls and
mollycoddles. who sat TREMENDOUSLY on
the seat while some one started them
with gentle push. and low sleds for
boys who took the hill with run and
flung themselves down on the sled.
Belly bumper" was the word to de-
scribe this method Of descent. There
were. Of course. many variations Of
the simple sled.
What genius first got the idea of
connecting two small sleds by long
plank history does not record. We
are told that bobsled is n sled con.
sisting of body resting on two short
sleds, called hobs. one behind the
other"
In its early stages the bobsled was
still crude. Often 1t was made from
two old sleds and an ordinary board.
and the carpeting Of the plank was re-
garded as bordering on the effeminate.
Even with these crude materials the
simple sport of "sleddin' downhill' be-
comes exciting and even dangerous.
The real refinement of the bobsed
has come In late years with the in
crease in the number Of winter resorts
whose attraction is cold fresh air and
not warm fresh air. Switzerland
makes specially Of them, and in
Switzerland the bobsled is highly
developed speed machine
No longer Is old fashioned foot and
rope steering gear in use. That did
we'll enough for the old timer, which
was we'll loaded with half dozen
venturesome boys and girls. The new
machines have steel hobs made for
that purpose. with specially arranged
connecting board, which seats between
sixteen and twenty-five. and it is
steered by wheel like an automobile.
Even searchlight has been added by
one builder eager for novelty.
Races for these deliberately made
sleds are a regular feature Of the win
ter carnival at many resorts. In the
east Huntington. N. Y, is the center
of the sport, and there each year con-
tests for speed and for the sled with
the longest fetch are held. In fact.
a big carnival is planned to be held
in Huntington Jan. 81. Several prizes
are offered. among them gold cup
valued at $3.50. The Yankee, owned
by S. f. Townsend Of Oyster Bay. N.
Y, captured last years event and es-
tablished a record for mile that will
probably stand for some time. that of
37h seconds.
In Huntington the course Is especial
ly prepared for the races. Water is
sprinkled along the billy road chosen
for the contest, and it freezes until
the route is glare ice. Start on a
heavy grade over course of this kind
a sled built for speed and manned by
a crew of sixteen taught to act as one.
and you have the iceboat's greatest
rival.
Owing to the inconsistency of the
weather in this country majority of
people know very little Of the POSSIBLE
tiles of the sport. 1t is not until one
gets over In Switzerland, in one Of the
valleys of that mountainous land, that
one finds the sport Of coasting carried
to the highest point of perfection. 1t
Is there in the valley with the poet
ical name Engadne. at st. Moritz. that
coasting becomes an art. In this val
ley, it's floor as high above the level Of
the sea as the crest Of Mount Wash
ington. where winter reigns for half a
year and people go to regain health,
there is slide nearly mile long
which has descent of $50 feet. At
some points in the course the sleds
travel at the rate Of eighty miles an
hour. There is sport!
Skill has greatly reduced the time in
which the course can be covered. In
the early days the average speed was
about thirty miles an hour. Recent
winners Of the contest have averaged.
however, more than forty miles. On
the straight run at the foot of the
course speed verging on eighty miles
has been attained. The same kind Of
sport may be had with bobsleds. but
the single racing sled is the favorite
for coasting at st. Moritz. The sweep
Of bobsled loaded with several per-
sons around one of the curves Is an
exciting spectacle. The man at the
helm. with eyes fixed ahead and mus
cles at high tension, keeps the front
bob in its course. Those behind lean
toward the inside Of the curve. two
or three of them digging into the
snow with sticks. which throw up the
snow behind like cloud of dust. Like
an express train it sweeps around the