Evening star., 1939-12-17

been equaled in any sport. He has
held practically every world record
from feet to so miles and today,
over the three-score mark, is as good
as ever.
Aiding him in the instruction staff
is dainty, graceful De Lories Zieg-
field, slim edition of Sonia Henie,
who can do unbelievable stunts on
the curved blades of figure skates
and who firmly believes the answer
to good skating is "poise."
1T is the combination Of fine
equilibrium, good body control,
physical coordination, relaxation
and confidence" says Miss Ziegfeld.
who is niece of the great show
producer.
Riverside Stadium. at Twenty
sixth and D street NV, near the
Bryan Memorial Statue, has as the
head of its instruction staff youthful
Robin Scott, a California boy, who
has won national figure-skating
championships and who probably
will wind up with one of the big ice
shows before long. Scott also claims
balance and poise are the things
needed, and the things that will be
acquired in ice skating. So if you
are beginner and hesitant about
taking up skating. you can get
plenty of instruction of the best
brand.
Both rinks have organized figure
skating clubs for experts and begin
ners and have regular classes in the
intricate measures that go into fig
ure skating. Both have special
classes for youngsters, particularly
those in high school. Before very
long the youngster who doesn't know
how to skate will be rarity in
Washington.
| Becomes Performer.
Lillian Tribby, a pupil Of Baptie
for only few months last year, be-
came so proficient on the ice that
she was a performer in the Sun VAL
ley show at the New York Worlds
Fair last summer This after only
two months on ice. Skating is no
sport where you have to spend
long and arduous apprenticeship to
be able to keep your balance. 1t is
natural just as walking is natural.
You can be as strenuous or as
gentle about it as you like. Watch
those hockey players as they come
into the box after hard session be-
hind the puck. They puff and blow
and look like men who have run
mile at top speed-aS, indeed, they
have. But they work hard at it.
Such strenuous stuff won't go for
most people, who like to glide around
the ice couple. of dozen times and
let it 60 at that.
The ice itself? Yes. it's real ice:
synthetic, of course, but nevertheless
real ice. "The best ice I ever have
seen," said Robin Scott of the sur
face at the Riverside rink. Baptie
says the same of the ice at the
Chevy Chase rink, where the opera
tors recently have spent several
thousands of dollars improving both
the ice and the facilities for making
it.
Looking at the ice at the two
Kinks. you'd guess it is certainly sew
eral inches-maybe a foot or more
thick. But it isn't. Actually, the
ice is between ~ and inches thick.
But that is plenty. So quickly can
new ice be made by the modern
methods of artificial ice making that
IN 20 minutes an entire new surface
can be put on the ice. 1t can be
made diamond-ha or it can be
made into a delicate skating soft
ness that won't upset the tyro.
Diamond-hard ice, under the steel
blades of the hockey boys soon is
converted into softer ice, but they
need hard ice at the outset. B.
tween periods of the hockey games,
sweepers go all over the ice, taking
of the frosty top and pushing it
down hole. When the players
take to the ice again, after 10
minute interval, they have q new
surface. And after the game is over
tractor drawn scraper goes over
the entire surface Within a few
minutes the ice is ready for the
figure skaters and the speed boys.
Through miles of pipe, laid side
by side under the covering ice sur
face, goes brine, the essential in
gredient of artificial ice. Over and
around the pipes is laid many tons
of sand, layer by layer, impregnated
with water and frozen in layers, un-
til solid surface of frozen sand
covers the pipes. Then water is laid
on top and frozen. This concrete
hard sand base makes a perfect,
crack-free surface for the water
which will become ice.
To be honest about 1t, ice skating
in an indoor rink isn't as fascinat-
ing a sport as ice skating on pond
or river, where new views of winters
magic open up with every stroke of
the blades and where you have the
feeling OF exploring new worlds as
you glide over the surface where
only boats and canoes can 60 in
milder weather. But rink skating
is Washington's closest approach to
the conditions in the North. We
don't have rigorous winters here and
rink skating will have to do unless
the weather cycle changes and the
Potomac freezes over as 1t did q
few years back. Meanwhile, Mr..
and Mrs. Washington are taking
their ice skating indoors-and Mk-
ing 1t.