The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1922-01-21
Rv JULIAN H. STERLING.

port, an Gold inhabitant'' is apt t' | meet acquaintances and frlends l long ago, whose persons and person
 alities have changed with Time, per haps but whose memories are stil 1 in good trim. In the exchange O. greetings, often old times are recall
 ed and laughed over' with great gusto ! Here is a case in point: Recently MT. Green, cashier of th' First National bank, asked the writer | "Whatever became of your double ripper? When I was a boy hac
 many a good slide on it!" and letter carrier on Golden Hill stopped and exclaimed, with a smile: You prob. ably don't remember me; but l used
 to slide down hill on your double ripper when I was a youngster. I'm ] gray now, but I'd sure like to take | another slide just as we did in 1S1t and TIP
 | Those years, with several to follow, l were festive seasons while the snow
 was on the ground and sielghlng was 1 good. The streets and hills are very different now than they were then
 Even styles in landscapes change | What were high hills then are mild little hummocks today, and sliding down hill feats were performed which now would be impossible. The sport was fascinating, even though danger lurked in every inch of ground. Double rippers were from 25 to 35 feet in length; built of tout hickory plank, with bob sleds, each about five feet long, under the front and rear ends. The pilot. who steered, sat at the front end of the ripper. and by the use of pulleys di- rected the position of the front bob sled. If he had good fortune, he carried his load of shouting hu- manity safely down the dangerous declivities. If he didn't, he didn't.
 works of art" costing $200 or more 60 build. The more expensive ones were elegantly equipped with huge 18-inch gOngs, brakes and grooved troughs running the full length of the rippers at each side, which were used as foot rests. These long s1eds car ried about 25 adults. all of good weight, or about 30 boys and girls.
 land hill. By the time one of the big sleds reached Fairfield avenue, at the foot of the hill. it had >devel- Oped momentum that carried the load down to State street and around the corner as far as Lafayette street. There were no car tracks on Fairfield avenue at that time, so there was no danger of collision there. A sentinel standing at the corner of State street and Courtland street waved a red lantern to warn the joy riders of the approach of a horse car. As they ran about once an hour in those days, there was little reason to fear them. - Accidents did, however occur The
 
 one night and as a result of it pr. Stiles Whiting broke his leg. He was guiding an impromptu ripper made of a 4O-foot ladder with bob sleds rfgged up by Steam Fire Engine Company No 1. and loaded with fire men. Dr. Whiting lost control of the steering apparatus, and the big of Jacob Klein's house in the Court land block. This unfortunate oc- forced Chief of Police Will jam F.. Marsh to issue an order pro- hill. This caused great grief among a large number of prominent citizens who wanted to slide down hill whether they lost a leg or noti But Chief Marsh was adamant.
 West avenue was the next best hill. | The coasters loaded up in front of the home of William D. Bishop on W Washington avenue and started the | drive down Washington avenue | swinging into West avenue down l across Fairfield avenue and over state stret, then gliding along as far | IS the residence of William Trubee | whose grand daughter later was mar ried to Henry P. Davison, now of the | House of Morgan, in that very house
 Present-day residents of Bridge port can hardly realize what this dou- Ole ripper craze meant. Some of the ipperS were owned and operated bv
 
 0f the elite of the city to catch a -ide' became quite the fashion. A ew minor accidents led to the closing If West avenue for double ripper ac- ivitieS and then clubs were formed o assault the hills fringing the sur 'ounding suburbs. John Orr, we'll lnown newspaper man, often came Town from the Castle" his fathers amily pair of coach horses These would drag a couple of the long rip | ,ers from Washington avenue up to he top of Holland Heights.
 Large parties, as many as could be eated on the big sleds, had a sleigh idle up and back, and during an ev- ming of coasting kept warm by trudg ng uphill after every slide-down.
 The accompanying cut illustrates what happened al the foot of Holland Heights hill. when the big ripper. Pegasus, upset. Mrs Charles Wood vss thrown over to the side of the nd injuring her arm. pr. Sydney Bishop was also coasting at the same tme with his sled The Avalanche" nd he gave first aid to Mrs. Wood isking other spills. "Pegasus"f was he property of the writer and was teered by him on that mem orab1e light.
 Upper named Slim Jim" MT. Sur evant of Stratford owned ''The Ter or" Charles Gerdinier of the gas louse, son of Charles A. Gerdinier, hief of the Fire department had a ,ood ripper called Chief Henry -yon operated an easy-running rip | er which he named "Corsets" be- ause all those riding on it got queezedi At that time MT. Lyon was iead of a corset manufacturing con ern on State street which probably Xplains his choice of name S. H. Hopkins also owned a ripper. fr. Hopkins and his father sold toveS on Main street in a building HN-ilSnr, i, l1