Bisbee daily review., 1917-04-03

 1 ago to recognize a general in the
 skater he had accidentally overturned.
 Down in the children's corner at the | Ice Club rink is the little seven year old Princess Juliana. Mounted on | Frisian skates, she glides and shufiles and slips among the other small "krabbelaars" ('scratchers" or scrap ers') as the beginners are dubbed Glowing with health and laughing heartily at her own and her compa- nions' comical efforts, the little heir ess goes up and down the run, Queen Wilhelmina occasionally coming to watch her progress. A day or two ago the Royal family went up to see and | join in the skating in Lbe northern province of Friesland. so famed for the sport, the little princess helping
 to present the prizes awarded at
 Leeuwarden and being the recipient of a bouquet when she went to join the Frisian children on the ice.
 IL is m the Frlesland that the la nous eleven towns tour ana race nas lust taken place-one oI nnumeraUle races and ngure-SkaunS ana otner com petitions Of all kinus Jnat are taxing place in every part ot the country. rhe tour dates back to antiquity. That the FrIsians used to take 125-
 skating trips in the dim past when
 oX-ribs served as skates. seems a lit
 tie improbable but the eleven towns
 tour is certainly very, very old, and
 mas become a f'rislan institution that
 is the subject oI innumeraOie family
 traditions. One countryman proudly
 related that he had done the tour tour
 tlmes-twlce as a young fellow with
 a couple of friends, then as a young marrled man with his wife, who was
 likewise tieet on skates, and next in the company of a grandson. This tune
 forty-slX actually tCCK part in the com petition, which started from Leeuwar- den before five o'clock in the morning, and los others participated in the tour, including six women. The winners proved to be a sturdy fellow named C. C. J. de KOning, haIltng from a small place called Leur, near Breda. The same man won the last such race in the winter of 1912, but in more favor able conditions he now beat his own record by nearly two hours, covering the whole 125 miles in eight hours fifty-three minutes twO-fifths seconds, and arriving back at the starting point fresh and fit. His closest rival, Swier- stra of Ofingawier, was nearly half an hour behind him. Yet another well known tour is the fifteen villages trip of the Alkmaar region, wherein l5l persons, including thirty-three wo- men, this year participated The championship of Holland. which was decided at Neendam, fell to J. H. Bak- ker, who won the Queens medal on points in races of varying distances. lie covered 5000 meters in ten minutes forty-fOur seconds, and 10000 meters in twenty-twO minutes. nine one-hfth seconds
 The mobilized troops of Holland have been carrying out various eXer- cises and competitions on skates, for the army authorities consider it in the COuntry's interest that the men shall be thoroughly at home on the ice The problem of Hollands defense normally based, as it is, on the method of flooding a certain protective zone known as the new water line-wOuld be entirely transformed should inVa- sion occur during such a frost speii as the present. The Netherlands have to this day not forgotten their fore fathers dismay when their water gates were in the year 1795 thrown open to the invading French army by just another frost, which enabled the enemy to easily cross the rivers and other water barriers on which Holland had been counting. Hence the pres ent exercises being carried out on the ice, here and there under the eye of the Queen herself (also on skates), and for which her Majesty has offered medals and prizes. In one competi- tion. for instance. four parties of fifty men of the Grenediers and Chasseurs brigade started of at fixed intervals. from a point just outside the Hague. They had first to skate about fifteen miles, then proceed on foot tor four miles. and give evidence on arrival at their destination of complete march ing and fighting fitness. In another case eight patrol parties of 10 men, each led by an officer had to cover a distance of twenty-seven miles, in- Cluding about q mile and a half on foot The winning patrol did the lat ter trip in three hours six minutes. The Queen has further provided medals for public competition in eyery separate province.