SKATE. 



735 



zigzag up a steep hill, coast with great rapidity, 

 or progress rapidly on a level. 



Prize snow-skating contests are held in Nor- 

 way and Sweden, and the royal family frequent- 

 ly attend to witness the sport. One of the 

 tests is to go over a hummock or lump on a steep 

 hill-side, and an English visitor records a clear 

 flight of sixty feet with a descent of thirty-six 

 feet as having been accomplished by some of 

 the contestants. In Sir Arthur De 0. Brooke's 

 "Winter in Lapland and Sweden" (London, 

 1827) there are two fine lithographs showing 

 the Skielobere or skating regiments at drill; 

 also portraits of mountain Laplanders on skees. 

 The New York Geographical Society has ia 

 its collection a very beautiful pair of skees, 

 presented by Mr. Paul du Chaillu, who brought 

 them from Norway. 



ANCIENT BONK SKATES. ELEVEN INCHES LONG, FOUND 

 NEAR LINCOLN, ENGLAND, FASTENED WITH COEDS. 



Blunt or bone skates have gone wholly out 

 of existence, save as relics. They were used, 

 so far as known, with the aid of a staff or 

 pusher, and were merely the precursors of the 

 present steel-bladed skate, whose birthplace 

 was probably the canals of Holland. 



DUTCH LONG-DISTANCE SKATE (ABOUT 1840), STRAP- 

 FASTENINGS. 



mon. These are readily adjusted by means of 

 simple levers and thumb-screws, and are rap- 

 idly superseding all other fastenings. Some 

 of the most popular of the skates at present in 

 use are shown in the engraving, but new de- 

 vices are continually introduced. Clamp-fast- 



TORN-OVER SKATE (PRIOR TO 1850), STRAP-FASTENINGS. 



Most of the skates of 1850 or thereabout had 

 some kind of a projection in front, sometimes 

 involuted, which was very dangerous, and of 

 not the slightest use. They were often per- 

 fectly straight on the " keel," or only slightly 

 rockered, and had frequently a longitudinal 

 groove in the " keel" to give a keener holding 

 edge. They were uniformly fastened with 

 straps, which had to be drawn very tight, and 

 often became extremely painful through check- 

 ing the circulation. 



In 1839-'40 an Englishman, F. L. Jeffcoats 

 by name, invented a strapless skate, described 

 in the London "Field," Dec. 11, 1875. This 

 was probably the earliest instance of fastening 

 skates by means of clamps, or similar devices, 

 which in an improved form are now so com- 



AMERICAN CLUB SKATE. 



ACME CLUB SKATE. 



enings necessitate rather firmly fitting shoes ; 

 and it is sometimes necessary, in the case of an 

 easy-fitting shoe, to pass a strap around foot 

 and plate to insure firmness. Skates are now 

 almost universally ground flat, with a very 

 slight bevel, making the inside edge a trifle the 

 sharper of the two. 



The accomplished skater can do almost any- 

 thing on ice. For figure-skating, the reader 

 is referred to Swift & Clark's "Skater's Text- 

 Book," sold by Peck & Snyder, New York ; 



CAPE VINCENT SKATE-SAIL. 



and for the scientific aspects of skating, to 

 three articles on "Speed-Skating," in the Lon- 

 don "Field," Dec. 23, 1882, Jan. 6 and Feb. 3, 

 1883, by F. W. Foster ; and to " The Dynam- 



