El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-02-18

happens that skates are broken, and a.
a precaution against accidents of this
kind those who take part usually have
finely sharpened duplicate pairs In
their dressing rooms
There is one point concerning skat-
ing which should be noted. It does
not follow that an athlete who is an
exceptionally fast runner will be an
equally swift skater, in fact the rule
seems to be rather to the contrary.
Skating is an art in itself, the knack
Of which some possess naturally and
which others cannos attain with any
amount Of practice.
TobOgEan Sliding
Another popular form OF amusement
in Canada during the winter season is
the tobOggan slide. the parent of the
: exciting aquatic diversion known as
the "chute-the-chutes." The best slides
are natural hills, with a short, steep
drop at the beginning TO give momen-
tum, followed by long gradual
descent leading TO a lAel plain below.
There is a slide in Montreal following
this description which is mile In
length. and the entire course has been
made in SO seconds
Unlike the chute-the-chute there is
no mechanical arrangement for trans
portation up the incline. and it takes
fully half an hour to retrace the
ground that may be covered in less
than a minute on the way down.
When there is large crowd on the
course three or four trips are all that
a party can make in an evening.
1t is needless to say that this wild
flight down the slippery surface of the
incline is intensely exciting After .
start is made there is no turning back.
and the girls have no time to think
Of their back hair or anything else ex-
cept to hold on for dear life. OF course
when such terrific speed is attained,
spill" might result disastrously, but
such accidents as occur infrequently
are due entirely to careleSsnesS- A
sled may be capsized If the weight is
not properly distributed. and rear
end collision may occur II a heavily
loaded sled is started after a lighter
one without allowing ample time TO
elapse- The steering is done by stick
ing one foot out behind like a rudder.
The big slides are very carefully man
aged fin order 70 provide good service
and prevent unpleasant occurrences. A
corps OF care-takers are in charge, and
season tickets are sold to only as many
as can be conveniently accommodated.
SnOw-ShOeing.
Snow-shoeing is another standard
winter pastime OF the Canadians. and il
frequently is resorted TO for purposes
OF utility as well as pleasure It is not
so difficult to learn as skating. The
novice can start right off, provided his
shoes are properly strapped on. The
trick Of successful snow-shoeing is
not so much in the stride as in being
correctly ''hitched up
The act is not one of sliding as in
skating; 1t is merely walking on the
framework bottoms which are wide
enough TO prevent sinking into the
snow One cannot go forward as
rapidly on snoW-shoes as he can walk
over hard ground in ordinary foot
wear, but he can pass rapidly over deep
soft snow in which he would certainly
become stalled without them
Experts at Curling.
Curling is another sport in which
the Canadians are expert Although
originally from Scotland as far as can
be learned, the game has reached a
greater perfection in Canada In Scot
land it IS played in the open. while in
the Dominion it is played in covered
Kinks, usually as an evening pastime-
The superiority of Canada's players
over those OF Scotland was fully Illus
trated last year, when for the first
time, team visited Scotland to play a
series OF match games. and returned
victorious
leg Yachting.
Ice yachting has numberIess de-
voices For this sport Toronto is the
headquarters The yachts are light
frameworks set on three skates. To
time the speed Of these craft Is a diff
cult matter What is considered TO be-
the fastest time made on Toronto Bay
was some years ago when John Han
Ion sailed 20 miles in 21h minutes.
Another record run was a mile in
minute and half, which time included
starting, covering the distance, and
rounding up. Even II there are a few
inches OF snow on the ice the Yachting
is not affected, broader runners being
used
Montreal and Ottawa are headquar-
tiers for horse racing on the ice, as in
both these places it is possible to law
out circular track The vehicles used
on these occasions are similar TO those
in other races. except that runners ara
substituted for wheels.