The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-04-28
700 From z to 70 Appear In National Roller Skating
Bartholomew Of Ice Seeks Speed Title
BY JIM HELBERT

tNEA SeEVACS St&N OOtEOSpUnuSnbD
 Cleveland. April 2s-Thanks to an inventive Hollander, thousands skin their knees every day and have a good time doing 1t.
 The native of the Netherlands missed ice skating so much in the summer that he attached rollers to stripes of wood on his shoes gave the world roller skating.
 It long ago became Americas most popular sport.
 There's vastly more to 1t than spills, however, especially when kings and queens and stars of rinks gather for the annual United States Amateur Rolling Skating Championships, held in Cleve- lands Public Auditorium for the second straight year.
 No fewer than 700-fron Boston to San Francisco-flocked here to speed, figure skate, dance and whirl their way to titles in trum- pet-trombone- background.
 Entrants ranged in age from 2 to 70, though the great majority of them were between 18 and p. A hundred were under 12.
 Prof. Charles D. Percira of Cleveland is past 70, but cut all kinds of fancy didos on skates. He used to be a fagician, but 1t would take more than magic for a beginner to circle-waltz on rollers as does the professor.
 WALTZ AND WHIRL
 TO VIENNA MUSIC
 Ken Bartholomew of Minneapolis, North American and national speed skating champion on ice, attempted to capture senior mems national roller skating speed crown.
 George Moore of Cincinnati de. tended the senior mems speed championship.
 Senior mems races are quarter mile, half mile, two and five miles.
 The track, of course, Is much smaller than an outdoor track on ice.
 Among tricks in figure skating is to assume a Sonia Henie pose on one skat with one leg stuck out behind and arms flying. If you suspect that isn't chofe, well, don't try 1t without knee pads mad e pillow in the right place.
 Dance teams of boys and girls waltz and whirl to Vienna music with the ease and grace of ball. room artists, but this isn't for be- ginners either unless they know how to skate and dance. Something like 100000 persons visit public rinks in this country annually. The best enter the na- tional championships conducted under the auspices of rink op- orators. There are rules and regulationsg and Q lingo peculiar to the pastime.
 About 90 per cent of school chil- dren won skates or hold part in. terest in a pair. You'd be sur- prised, too, to see the number of what clothes advertisements call stylish stout" persons gliding or sliding, as the case may be, over rinkS and sidewalks.
 CHAMPION TAKES UP
 SPORT FOR HEALTH
 Roller skating has even been mentioned as preventive for stom- ach ulcers. Pretty Mary Heating, 6 Massachusetts state champion from Weymouth, reports a physician advised her to tkae up skating when she was threatened with that ail- ment.
 Miss Heating did and now she's aS healthy an Irish lass as you could hope to see and dance skater de luxe.
 It costs amateurs about $50 to prepare for national meets - from $5 to 20$ for uniforms and 30 for one pair of skates. Maple wood rollersr cost $l25O a set. Bearings are more expenSvie.
 RINK OPERATORS DIETARY STAR SKATERS EXPENSES
 Skaters prepar for tournaments by slaing from four to seven nights a deep, depending on the condition of their bankrolls. Most rinks charge frAy1 3n tA 5G cents a Y,ipft oiitfit.