The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-01-13
WINTER SPORTS
 IN CANADA
Great North Country the Rival
 Of Switzerland.
A Nights Ride from New York One Finds Whole Communi ties DevOting Themselves to the Cultivation of the Bright Side of Winter-Old World Quaintness and the NeY9 World Play Spirit.

Quebec, Gan, Jan. 13-While the waving palms and balny breezes of the South and the charms Of Cali fornia, are beckoning at the period of the annual southward Hitting. the call of the North is becoming more and more insistent, and red-blooded folk with a genuine love for sport of the more strenuous kinds respond to it eagerly.
 For many years, before Americans became so interested in winter sports, Canada was a strong rival of Switzer- land. Indeed, the success of Switzer- land as a. winter resort is largely due to a. certain little coterie of English people who at Davos and Dapos Platz. preached the gospel Of the open te a. congregation that grew so steadily in size that presently all Switzerland awakened to the fact that winter was as great an asset as summer.
 The British love of sport is a great factor in the steady growth of winter sort in Canada
 Indeed, in Canada there is even more variety than across the sea. and while there are not, perhaps. so many experts or so cosmopolitan a company as at thea Swiss resorts, Canada feels that she is not be hind any other coun- try. She certainly has thoroughly
  ; America has many centres for win ter sport. and each resort or section seems to specialize in it's own parti- cular variety. At Lake George ice- beating is the sport par exceIlence.i Mountain Climbing seems to belong particularly to the White Mountains, where the many. winter pilgrimages of the Appalachian Mountain Club have made the White Hills famous winter play-grounds. Tn certain Maine .resorts, Poland Springs, for instance, sls5ghing and coasting play an inn portland part Tuxedo is a sort of headduarters for bob-sleighing. The Paul, peopfed with Scandinavfans as it is, is the accepted centre for skiing.
 The Lure of Winter Canada.
 But the lure Of Canada is strong, for there all known winter sports cornbine,. and one may particip pate in the society life of town and at the same time lose nothing of sports Mon- treal, Quebec, and Ottawa. and of course Toronto, Kingston, Hamilton, and many other Canadian cities in eastern Canada contribute in a large degree to Canada's reputation for winter sport;S while from Halifax to Victoria, Canadians and their English cousins welcome the first snowfall and begin to make then their plans sLoJT,l q " WlHlerssssto or goutuoor sporFss lhal makes of them the sturdy, vigorous folk they are.
 Within night from New York one may elect to drop down at Ottawa Montreal. or Quebec. Or perhaps, if he be so ardent a nature-1over as to wish to penetrate farther. he will find sn the Laurentian Hills and the Lake St. J ohm country many an inn or camp in readiness for hts coming. AIgon- quin Park. to the north of Ottawa, has a famous little inn, open all the. year, where all sorts of sport and shooting are provided, and in the many camps in the Lake St. John country, north of Quebec. there is ample opportunity to enjoy hunting from the quarters of the many fish and game clubs that abound in that section. This affords the widest sort Of winter life. There is, however, lit- tie opportunity for more than snow s1oeing and shooting, as the SHOW covers the ice and makes skating i'm possible.
 E At Ste. Agatha, the largest colony in the Laurentian Hills, where many of tMontreals s wealthy people have large estates, there is keen sport. and the only bolb-sleigh run in Canada on strictly Swiss Hnes,i with Swiss sleighs specially imported and Swiss guides to teach the rather difficult art of prop er1y steering one of these huge affairs. The Cresta Run at St. Moritz is scarcely less interesting, and when one reaches the foot of the run there is in waiting a. great sledge and plenty of strong Canadian horses to tow the sliders back up the long hill. Sports At Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec.
 When Parliament is in session in Ottawa, it is one of the most interest ing places in Canada, and a Mecca. for skaters Not even at Quebec can one see better figures skating and dancing The presence of the Duke and Duchess of Connaught svithSthe vice-regal suite adds much, of course, to the gayety Of the season, and the skating parties at Rideau Hall, the official residence of the Governor General, where there is delightful little lake. bring to- gether some of the st-known4 per- sons in Canada. The Duke of Con- naught is an ardent lover of wint CT sports. and so is the Princess Patricia, who skates delightfully."- There Is al so tobogganing, plenty of hockey matches, and other sports; but skating is the sport par excellence. The looking the Parliament buildings is to be flooded this season, and there so- ciety will meet in the afternoon for "thes des patineurs," going inside with the dusk for a final chat before going home.
 At Montreal, as IS inevitable in so large a city, society congregates for it's skating chiefly in a rink, where privacy is secured. The largest to- began slides in the world are on Mont Royal, and the news comes as a shock to all sport lovers that the invasion of a railroad with it's tunnel, and varous improvements in real es- tate, will shortly deprive Montrealers of their favorite location for this pas time.
 In city of Montreal's size there are naturally many societies and clubs for the centraIizing and enjoyment of sports, and from the poor boy whose skates are tied on with bits of rope to the rich with the most expensive and complete equipments, it is keenly en- l joyed, and sport is in itself a great Iexeller hrine.ing all sorts and condi-