Evening star., 1936-02-15
WINTER HERE A LA ST. NORTH
Thousands of Washington Residents Make Its Worst Winter
in Years One of the Best From Sports Standpoint
Skiing Madness Settles Upon Community

impulse of those who became familiar
with the technique in years gone by
and in far-away places and who, for
the first time in long while. are
sliding again.
There has been quite bit Of this
type of instruction, but not enough, as
the body-strewn hillsides testify. But
regardless of the wear and tear on the
spirit, the body and the wardrobe,
Washington is skiing as never before.
CT. NORTH weather, the city's
- earnestness seems to say. comes so
seldom to the shores of the Potomac.
Recent days have seen the ranks Of
the skiers augmented by hundreds
whose skating activities were curtailed
by the snow blanket covering the pools
and creeks where that sport f1ourished
for days prior to the big snow"
In connection with skating. there
was a Sunday when Potomac Park
probably represented the oldest spot
on the sports map of the world. That
was a day when thousands were gliding
over the Lincoln Memorial rejecting
pool on their brand-new skates, while
just across the street, tennis enthu-
siasts gave their CONCEALED muscles a
workout on the concrete courts. It
was the sight of lifetime and more
than one paSSerby was observed to
pause and shake his head ruminatively
over the freakishness of nature, human
and otherwise.
The most popular of all Winter
sports, of course, has been coaStlng.
To its capacious bosom it has clasped
persons of all ages, sexes, social posi-
ton and political faith The deep and
durable snow has provided that touch
of nature which has made the whole
city kin: sent it sliding down the same
hills; plunging into the same drifts;
and nursing approximately the same
bruises.
Those neighborhood hills which
have been cursed in the morning as
they defied the power of his automo-
bile have been blessed in the evening
by the citizen using them for coasting
purposes. Under the light of the cold
far-away stars, they acquire different
and altogether happy meaning.
ONES observation that coasting has
~ become a general sport is thor
oughly substantiated by those who dole
out the sleds in the sporting goods de-
partment of the city's larger, and
smaller, stores. To the items they
store in the apartment house basement,
| they say, many adult citizens next
Spring will add sled. That they are
buying these items today for them
selves is obvious to the clerks with
whom they deal The adult sled buyer
is much more naive than his, or her,
nephew or niece. The child buys such
an item on the basis of an unerring in
stinct; the grown-up with Judgment
which he rightly distrusts. So at least
say those who have been the guides
and counselors of the city's new and
larger crop of Winter sports enthu-
| SiaSts.
! 1t is out on the gay, snow-laden hills
| that one finds this. the other side OF
the story Of the worst" Winter the
National Capital has experienced in
years. The total story, therefore. is far
from being one of stalled automobiles.
frozen water pipes, numbed feet and
frozen ears.
These latter features are part of the
story, and q large part of it, but to be
an actor In the other chapters-as
thousands of washingtonians are-is
to encounter an experience that will be
long remembered. Skis, sleds and
skates that may stand idle next Win
ter will be tangible reminders that
when the city had its opportunity Tor
cold weather sports. it made the most
of It'll