Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 22, Number 26, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 December 1900 — FINE WINTER SPORTS. [ARTICLE]

FINE WINTER SPORTS.

CANADIAN PEOPLE ENJOY VIGOROUS OUTDOOR FUN. Skating and Tobogganing Are Popular Diversions in Season—Advantages of a Straight- Away Skate—American's Nervy Exploit in Montreal. Ellsworth Hague, of Montreal, waa speaking at the Hotel Imperial recently of Winter sports In Canada. "Yon have little idea here in New York,” said Mr. Hague, “of what winter really means—that is, the ‘sporty’ side of it You never know here what a love of virile life it is that fires the blood in your veins and spurs you on to increased effort when you feet the smooth ice under the sharp blade of your skate and know that that ice stretches aw'ay for miles and miles. A straightaway skate like that kills rink or pond skating for you. With the wind in your face or at your back, as the case may be, the Are in your blood and the glory of It all fiflve you on and on, and you feel no fatigue. No! Give me skating in the open and over a long stretch to get at the true Inwardness of the sport. v "of snowslioeing, tobogganing, and skeeing you know nothing and all these are sports to make the bipod leap and to cause one to cry aloud for the pure love of being alive. In Montreal tobogganing has been carried to its ultlmra thuie. Nowhere else can slides in such perfection be found. Take that lightning slide—l had almost said drop —for a long distance! The first time it is experienced it is something to make the heart stand still. Our perfectly constructed slides are high, banked at the sides with snow to prevent the toboggan from jumping or accidentally going off. .The carefully watered center is a sheet of glare ice and In running over toboggans get up a speed that is simply terrific. “Some of the slides have Jumps in them and when the toboggans go off one of these jumps they cover with their human freight an incredible distance before alighting. The Jump slides, though, are only for the stoutest hearted.

“One of the nerviest things ever done m Montreal,” continued the speaker, "occurred there in a winter season some fifteen years ago. it was perpetrated by a countryman of yours, and was the result of an after-dinner wager made in one of our clubs. The American laid a heavy amount that he would go down one of the straight toboggan slides on skates. It was a thing that had never been attempted in Montreal and one I do not think is likely to grow popular, for a fall would result in almost certain death or In Injury so frightful as to make death seem preferable by comparison. “The American took all bets, and when the time arrived for the trial he appeared with a pair of old-fashioned skates, generally called ‘rockers.’ You probably know the kind—where the steel is In the form of a half moon from toe to heel, the blade is all circle and affords no semblance of an angle to offer resistance. They were very popular In the ’oos and ’7os, but no on© but an expert could use them. It was an exceedingly wise choice, for a skate with a straight runner would have deflected or Jumped at a small obstacle, which the rocker, on the other hand, would pass safely over. “When the appointed hour arrived and the man appeared, far away at the head of the slide, all present held their breath. It did not seem possible that he could make that fearful descent in safety, and a majority of those present looked for him to pitch over the low sides and to be killed in the falL With hardly a moment’s delay-he started. At first he seemed to move slowly, and then his speed rapidly increased. Everybody waited for the fall that did not come. Stiffly erect, that black figure descended quickly. Half way down his speed was so great t' at it seemed to the onlookers beyond human endurance for him to retain his balance longer.

“Yet, flying ever faster and ever standing erect, he held on until he struek the level at the foot. Shooting out on this like a cannon ball he crossed to the soft snow like a streak of light. Then his speed materially decreased, and when his snow-clogged skates finally pitched him headlong he received no injury. lie was up in a trice without assistance, and Ids first words were a request for a drink. About twenty were handed him. Beyond a slight pallor he showed no sign of the great strain he had undergone, qgd I never beard that he afterward it “Without exception It was the most wonderful feat of balance and simonpure nerve I ever read of or saw. When the dinner came off, that was part of the bet, it was what is politely termed an event It began with oysters and ended with the next morning’s breakfast Anything that chap wanted in Montreal he had but to ask for. He could have lived there all the rest of his days free of charge. But after two weeks of it he packed up and went away. He gave as his reason that, while it was pleasant to have the freedom of a city and everything supplied to you gratis, he thought that if he stayed his demise would occur In about three months; he, therefore, preferred to go off somewhere else and by supporting himself be able to live to a hoary old age."—New York Tribune.