Evening Republican, Volume 23, Number 109, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 May 1920 — TROY GETS CLOSE-UP OF OUR SKATING FAMILY [ARTICLE]

TROY GETS CLOSE-UP OF OUR SKATING FAMILY

“Bat” Wright, writing -4n the Troy; (N. Y.) Times under date of May 3, has an article .which will prove of interest to our readers, telling as it does of the visit of our skating family—Reynolds and Donegan—to that city. This is what the author plucked in passing: “Down near the railroad station yesterday I though I saw a familiar face coming through the rain. Could it be “Skater’.’ Reynolds, the pioneer skater, who has skated all around the world? It was the old “skater” himself, the man who has held more world for ice and roller skating than any living person.. After greetings were exchanged, Reynolds, whose first name is Earl, introduced his wife, who -is- known all over the world as Nellie Donegan, and who holds a few records herself as a skater. Then the writer met the Reynolds twi® Helen and Maude, who, with their parents are appearing at Proctor’s Theatre, the first part of the week, in a roller skating act. In June they sail for Europe to fill contracts. They have skated in every important city on the globe and have just returned from a trip which included Australia and India. “Skater” Reynolds confesses to fifty-one years “young” and is still going strong. He has always been an athlete and looks to he about thirty-five. He says skating keeps him young. His one ambition is to beat Mathieson in Norway and bring the world’s championship back to this country. Donaghue was partly successful m 1893. Then Reynolds went over in 1899 and won all of his fourteen races, defeating Edan of Holland, Wertz of Switzerland, Chase of England, Vei of France and Larsen of Sweden. Edan was world’s champion for eight years before he "lost the title to “Skater” Reynolds. Reynolds still hold’s the world’s record for 100 yards on ice, eight and four-fifths seconds, made at Detroit in 1898. Two World’* Record* on Ice. At Silver Lake, N. Y., in February, 1898, Reynolds made a world’s record of one minute fourteen and four-fifths seconds for the half mile. At the same tournament he skated fifty yards in three and three-fifths seconds, the fastest time any human being had ever traveled the distance through his own motive power at that time. This fifty-yard record stood in Spaldings Guide for twenty-six years before Bobby McLean was able to cut off one-fifth of a second at Pittsburgh. Reynolds is a pioneer roller skater and started skating on rollers m 1878 N He won the world’s Championship on rollers away back in 1886. He was the national champion the year before. Ori ice he won the national ana international championship in 1896 and 1897. He again became wodfs champion in 1899, as previously noted. ~ ■ . A search through the Spalding Guides shows that Reynolds held many skating records. His marks for the half mile and 100 < yards still stand. He is the author of many of the skating rules under which the-tournaments were held at Saranac Lake arid Lake Placid last winter. He is also the originator of many figures in fancy skating. He was at the New York Hippodrome for two seasons. ' Reynolds 'became famous as. the “skater who carried his own ice. He originated the plan pf the ammonia freezing tank. / “Skater” Reynolds is as well known in Paris, St. Moritz, Moscow or Christiania as he is in New York or San Francisco. He was skating in Berlin when the war broke out. Asked if he had any trouble getting out, Skater” smiled and said: “No. I just put on a pair of big Rollers and skated right out of Germany. He recalled that Jackson Haines, the originator of fancy and figure skating, and who became one of the world’s greatest stars steel blades, was born in Troy. He died in Copenhagen and Reynolds visited his grave a few years ago.