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Editor's Note: The following is a verbatim transcription of a chapter from Spalding's Winter Sports by James A. Cruikshank, published in 1917 and part of the Ray Ruge Collection at the Hudson River Maritime Museum. Many thanks to volunteer Adam Kaplan for transcribing this booklet. Hockey, played on ice, is one of the most fascinating and spectacular games so far devised by the sport loving people of the north. It owes its origin to the Canadians, and was probably a development of Indian games played between Indians and white men. Perhaps no winter sport of the day draws such crowds of spectators or rouses such enthusiasm as a Hockey match between two rival teams from nearby Canadian cities, and the beauty of the game lies largely in the fact that even without technical understanding of the rules, the spectators fully appreciate the spirited play. Hockey may be regarded as the Canadian national game, and it is spreading very rapidly throughout the northern parts of the United States and among many of the winter sport centers of Europe. A hockey field should be 112 feet in length by 58 feet wide. At the ends of this field goal posts, 4 feet in height and 6 feet apart, are erected. Teams consist of seven players each. The necessary implements for the sport are hockey sticks with long handles and flat curved blades, disks of vulcanized rubber called the “puck,” 1 inch thick and 3 inches in diameter. The game is divided into halves of twenty minutes’ duration each, with an intermission. The positions of the seven players are indicated by the names goal-tend, point, cover-point, rover, center, and right and left wings. The rules are very simple. Minor changes in them occur from season to season, and the latest, as published in the Spalding Athletic Library on Ice Hockey, should be consulted. There is penalty for offside play, as in foot ball. Roughness which characterized the early history of the game has been almost entirely eliminated. Speed, endurance, judgement, and skill are now placed above strength, body checking, or interference. The best players of the day are the cleanest players, and are rarely injured or penalized. The game becomes faster and more scientific every season, and team play increases over former individual play. Teams made up of women are organized among skating enthusiasts and there is increasing interest in active participation in this fine sport by the skilled women skaters of the Dominion and of American and Swiss skating centers. The roarin’ Scotch game of Curling seems steadily to hold its own in spite of its age, the competition of many new forms of winter entertainment and the fact that it is far from spectacular. Among experts, it is claimed that the game is actually increasing in popularity throughout the northern climes where winter means good ice and steady cold. There are over twenty-five affiliated clubs in the Grand National Curling Club of the United States, and in Canada there are many hundreds of clubs, some under royal patronage. The Royal Caledonian Curling Club, with King George V as its patron, is the leading organization. A field of ice, which must be very smooth and 42 yards in length by 10 yards in width, forms the curling ground. Concentric rings, 3 in number, being 2 feet, 4 feet and 7 feet from the center or tee, are drawn on the ice 38 yards from each other. A central line is drawn from tee to tee, also cross lines known as “hog scores,” “sweeping scores,” “back score” and “middle score.” The “hog score” is placed one-sixth of the entire length of the playing field. The stones are of granite, highly polished, not over 44 pounds in weight, nor over 36 inches in circumference. There are two teams of four men each in a game and the absolute dictator of the play is the “skip,” or leader, of each team. The “besom,” or broom, plays a most important part in the game, for with it the speed of the stone may be increased or checked, and to a certain measure even the direction may be altered. With every stone played, a “head” is said to be completed, and an agreed number of “heads” constitutes a game. To the young people of this day, whose lives have not brought them into contact with this ancient and quaint Scottish game, with a written history running back nearly a thousand years, Curling may seem to lack the elements of physical activity and athletic movement, but it makes up fully in the charming humors of the game, merry sallies of wit and picturesque turns of speech. Nor is the handling of 40-pound stones the child’s play which the uninitiated may think. The latest rules and records of the game will be found in the Spalding Athletic Library volume devoted to the game of Curling. There are a number of interesting and sprightly games which can be played on an ice field in addition to Hockey and Curling. Every ocean traveler is familiar with the fun of shuffleboard as played on the Atlantic liners, and merely the suggestion of its usefulness as a winter sport is needed to bring it into its rightful place in winter sport programs. There are certain general customs in regard to playing the game which may or may not be followed. The very elasticity of the methods of play renders the game especially suited to those places where some sort of impromptu sport can be arranged in which everybody can take part. Shuffleboard, as played on the ice, would best please everybody taking part in the game if made simple as to rules and equipment. The only necessary equipment consists of a set of wooden disks, about 4 inches in diameter and at least 1 inch thick, and the sticks for shoving the disks, which should be about 5 feet in length and furnished with a Y-shaped or half round end which may be part of the stick or fastened to it securely. The disks are shoved, not struck, from a standing position at each tee, toward the concentric circles marked on the ice at the other tee, or into one of nine squares marked out as a tee. These squares may be numbered with reference to the difficulty of their achievement with the disk. Squares of penalty, or “minus” squares are often placed in front. Two, four or more persons may play the game, partners may be chosen, and so tees should be anywhere from 25 to 50 feet apart, the distance being determined by the condition of the ice. Women become very expert at this thoroughly interesting winter pastime. AuthorJames A. Cruikshank was an expert on outdoors sports during the first half of the 20th century. Born in Scotland but spending most of his life in New York, he was the editor of The American Angler magazine, Field and Stream, and wrote numerous articles for a wide variety of other magazines and newspapers throughout his career, including the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. He also published at least three books: Spalding’s Winter Sports (1913, 1917), Canoeing and Camping (1915), and Figure Skating for Women (1921, 1922). He also contributed a chapter on artificial lures to The Basses: Freshwater and Marine (1905). In addition to his writing, Cruikshank was involved in public speaking, doing talks on outdoor sports sometimes illustrated by motion pictures. An avid photographer, Cruikshank’s photos often featured in his illustrated lectures, his articles, and his books, as he encouraged readers to take their own cameras out-of-doors. He had a home in the Catskills as well as a home and offices in New York City, and in the 1930s he helped found the Hudson River Yachting Association. At one point, he managed the Rockefeller Center ice skating rink, and another in Rye, NY. His wife Alice was also an avid camper and hiker, and they often traveled together. In 1909, Alice went “viral” in newspapers around the country by being the first person to blaze a trail between Mount Field and Mount Wiley in the White Mountains of New Hampshire (James brought up the rear). James and Alice eventually moved to Drexel, PA and were vacationing in Lake Placid in July of 1957 when James died unexpectedly at the age of 88. If you enjoyed this post and would like to support more history blog content, please make a donation to the Hudson River Maritime Museum or become a member today!
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Editor’s Note: The following text is a verbatim transcription of an article featuring stories by Captain William O. Benson (1911-1986). Beginning in 1971, Benson, a retired tugboat captain, reminisced about his 40 years on the Hudson River in a regular column for the Kingston (NY) Freeman’s Sunday Tempo magazine. Captain Benson's articles were compiled and transcribed by HRMM volunteer Carl Mayer. See more of Captain Benson’s articles here. This article was originally published January 16, 1972. During the early years of the 1900’s, there was a stone quarry at Rockland Lake, a few miles south of Haverstraw. The Cornell Steamboat Company towed the stone from the quarry on scows to the metropolitan New York market. The winter of 1912 was very severe with heavy ice in the lower river. Cornell tugs, however, continued their efforts to break the ice so the stone could be towed to New York for use by the construction industry. One one particular day that winter, the Cornell tugboats "S. L. Crosby” and "Hercules" were in the river off the quarry breaking ice — trying to get into the dock to break out the loaded scows that were frozen in. First, one tug would slam into the ice, which at the time was seven to eight inches thick, until she was stopped cold by the solid ice. Then that tug would back off and the other tug would slam into the track until she was stopped dead. Gradually, the two tugs were working their way towards the dock. Two Good Tries On one try the “Crosby” went ahead a short distance and stopped. On this try, however, she made a good crack in the ice. Next, the “Hercules" came up astern, hit the crack the “Crosby” had made, and plowed her way right up to the dock. The general manager of the Cornell Steamboat Company was standing on the dock at the time. And, admiringly, he said, “What a great ice breaker we have in the “Hercules”!” Quite obviously, he had not noticed the crack in the ice made by the “Crosby.” When spring came, Cornell had the "Hercules" sent to the Cornell repair shops at Rondout and ordered extra stout oak planking and steel straps put all around her bow. From that point on, the “Hercules" was thought to be the greatest ice breaker of them all. For years after, whenever ice was to be broken, the “Hercules” was sent out to do the job. At the time of the ice breaking at Rockland Lake, Aaron Relyea of Bloomington was the captain of the "Crosby” and Mel Hamilton of Port Ewen was captain of the "Hercules.” Nearly 20 years later, I worked for Captain Relyea as a deckhand on the "Crosby" and he was the one who related this incident to me. Captain Aaron A l w a y s maintained the “Crosby” was the better tug of the two in breaking ice. In later years, I also talked to Captain Hamilton about that day at Rockland Lake. Captain Mel said, "Aaron was right. Between the two tugs, the “Crosby” was the best in the ice. But,” he added with a wink, "never argue with the boss.” AuthorCaptain William Odell Benson was a life-long resident of Sleightsburgh, N.Y., where he was born on March 17, 1911, the son of the late Albert and Ida Olson Benson. He served as captain of Callanan Company tugs including Peter Callanan, and Callanan No. 1 and was an early member of the Hudson River Maritime Museum. He retained, and shared, lifelong memories of incidents and anecdotes along the Hudson River. If you enjoyed this post and would like to support more history blog content, please make a donation to the Hudson River Maritime Museum or become a member today!
Today's Media Monday post continues coverage of the bitter cold winter of 1934. This short film from British Pathe/Reuters features aerial photographs of snow bound Manhattan after the blizzard. Roads and automobiles were snow bound and ports were frozen over due to the Blizzard of 1934. If you enjoyed this post and would like to support more history blog content, please make a donation to the Hudson River Maritime Museum or become a member today!
Editor's Note: The following is a verbatim transcription of a chapter from Spalding's Winter Sports by James A. Cruikshank, published in 1917 and part of the Ray Ruge Collection at the Hudson River Maritime Museum. Many thanks to volunteer Adam Kaplan for transcribing this booklet. After a trial of all the sports of all the year, from running foamy rapids in your own canoe to sailing over the earth on the wings of an airplane, the honest critic will award the palm to Ice Boating for its unrivaled excitement, its unapproached speed and its glorious intoxication. No man ever believed that he had been nipped by the frost while he was making his first trip in an ice yacht; his fast beating heart was pumping too much red blood through his delighted body to permit any such thing! Ninety miles an hour is credibly reported as the occasional speed of the ice yacht. The greatest authority on the subject is of the opinion that no real limit can be set for the speed of the craft, since ideal conditions of wind and weather and ice, and ideal construction of the craft for utilizing these conditions have never been combined and probably never will be. It is known beyond the shadow of a doubt, however, that the ice yacht can and does sail faster than the wind which is blowing at the time, strange as this statement may appear to the uninformed. For the absolute beauty of motion, with least sensation of striving after speed, with smallest appreciable evidence of friction, and almost utter absence of that noise which is the general accompaniment of all fast traveling, the ice yacht is absolutely unique and unsurpassed. An initiation trip of a few miles will furnish sensations so novel and so fascinating as to be incomparable with any other sport the winter lover has tested; he will be a hardened and blasé soul if then and there he does not vow further acquaintance with the thrilling pastime. The ice yacht is a development of the ice boat, which was a square box set on steel runners and propelled by a sail. It may be said that for purposes of easy definition the only differences now existing between an ice boat and an ice yacht are differences of cost; like the “pole” of the country boy angler and the “rod” of the city angler, both the ice boat and the ice yacht have the same uses and furnish the same sport. If the craft is simple and perhaps home-made it will probably be an ice boat; if it is made by professionals, with due reference to the “center of effort” in the placing of sails, has red velvet cushions and that sort of thing, you are privileged to call it an ice yacht. Either one will give all the sport any reasonable man is entitled to in this wicked world. Ice yachts cost between $500 and $5,000, although there is said to be at least one which cost over this latter figure. Ice boats cost from $5 up, depending largely upon who does the work of making them. Along the lower reaches of the Hudson River there are any number of successful ice boats which cost less than $25 apiece, and they furnish magnificent sport. Any small boy with a knack for mechanical work can make himself an ice boat that will serve every purpose and teach him the rudiments of steering and managing the craft; and he will find many surprises in learning the new sport, even though he may be a clever small boat sailor on water. The handsomest and finest ice yachts in the world are found along the Hudson River in New York State, near the city of Poughkeepsie. There are also many fine ice yachts used on the Shrewsbury River in New Jersey, on Orange Lake, Newburgh, N.Y., on Lakes George and Champlain, and a very considerable interest in the sport among the winter-loving sportsmen of the northwestern United States, especially Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota. With that daring characteristic of the western folks, the ice yachts of the Northwest seem to be planned more with reference to general use under all conditions of smooth, rough or snowy ice than some of the more highly perfected eastern craft which are seldom used unless conditions are perfect. Thus the westerner gets a much larger amount of sport out of the season than the easterner; fourteen days of good sport is all that some of the eastern yacht enthusiasts expect during a full season. While there are several interesting designs of ice yachts in general use among the experts of the sport, and any number of “freak” designs, some of which have demonstrated their ability to walk away with handsome prizes, there has come to be comparative uniformity as to the general lines of construction. And from these lines it would be best for the ice yacht builder not to deviate too much, although minor constructive details still leave considerable room for experiment and originality. The generally accepted design of the fastest and best ice yachts is that of a cross, in which the center timber, also sometimes called the backbone or the hull, running fore and aft, is crossed, just a little forward of half its length, by the runner plank. A successful western design consists of two center timbers spread apart several feet in the center of the craft and joined at the forward end, or bowsprit, and at the extreme stern, where the rudder is located, The best material for the backbone or center timber is either basswood or butternut. Oak is generally used for the runner plank; clear spruce for the mast and spars. The cockpit or seat is merely a place for the steersman and guests to half lie or half sit, and is generally provided with a combing and rails. Cushions of hair, cork, moss, or hay are provided. All running gear, except the main sheet rope, is of plow steel rope or flexible wire. Sails are of cross-cut pattern used in racing water yachts. The most important items of the ice yacht, after the frame, are the runners and the rudder. Here great care should be exercised to get the right thing. Certain fixed standards of material, design and hang are almost universal. The runners and the rudder, which are almost identical in shape, are of V-shaped castings; the very best grade of cast iron seems to be the most preferred. The fact that, after a few weeks of sailing, these runners have to be sharpened, and that the friction and heat developed in their use gives them a dense hardening which it takes considerable filing to penetrate, warrants the use of runner material not too hard at the start. Tool steel, Norway iron, phosphor bronze and even brass have been used; the best results seem to come from good quality castings. There is difference of opinion whether there should be rock to the runner or considerable flat area, but the consensus of opinion favors a slight rock to the runners and less to the rudder. Between the rudder and the bottom of the cockpit a large rubber block is inserted to take some of the jar and vibration. The runners are permanently fastened to the runner plank, allowing play up and down, while the rudder is set in a rudder post which has a Y at the lower end, allowing the rudder vertical motion. The tiller should be a long iron bar wrapped with cord, lest some thoughtless guest, with perspired hand, comes to grief. Cockpit rails should be similarly wrapped. The craft to which reference has so far been made is of the general Hudson River pattern. No dimensions have been given, but for the further information of the interested reader planning to enter the sport, the following dimensions of a successful ice yacht of this type are here appended. The figures will be useful to those planning smaller craft if the same proportions are observed, although the size, known as the Two Hundred and Fifty Square Foot Area Design, has proven itself especially useful as an all-around fast ice yacht for the largest number of days. Backbone, 30 feet over all, 4 1/2 inches thick, 11 inches wide at runner plank; nose, 3 1/2 inches; heel, 4 3/4 inches; runner plank over all, 16 feet 8 inches; cut of runners, 16 feet; length of cockpit, 7 feet 6 inches; width, 3 feet 7 inches. Mast stepped 9 feet 6 inches aft of backbone tip. The rig is jib and mainsail; dimensions of jib, on stay, 12 feet; leech, 9 feet 9 inches; foot, 7 feet 3 inches; mainsail, hoist, 12 feet; gaff, 10 feet 3 inches; leech, 24 feet; boom, 18 feet. Sail area, 248.60. Such a craft as this can be built for about $200. The ice yacht sailor will learn many things about sailing which he never learned from handling water craft. The sails are trimmed flat all the time in ice yacht sailing. There is no such thing as “going before the wind” with free sheet, in the manner familiar to water yachtsmen, for the excellent reason that no ice yacht will hold its direction sailing in this fashion, in wind of any considerable speed. The marvelous ease with which the craft is steered will amaze every yachtsman, especially those familiar with the hard helm of the average catboat. Many a beginner at the Ice Yachting game turns his tiller too sharply and finds himself flung off and sailing away over the smooth ice while his craft spins on her center. The ordinary way to stop the craft is to run up into the wind; sometimes the rudder is turned square across the direction after this position is attained, and a quick stop can thus be made, but it is a severe strain on the craft. Ice yachts are “anchored” by heading them into the wind, loosening the jib sheets and turning the rudder crosswise. Frequently passengers or crew are carried on the extreme cuter edges of the runner plank, and the sensation when this runner gradually rises in the air is thrilling indeed. It is not generally regarded as good sailing, however, to have the runners leave the ice much. It is much better and much safer for the amateur at the sport to learn something of the handling of the craft from experienced friends before he ventures abroad alone; there are immense boulders away up on the dry land of the Hudson’s shores which have been the lodging places of some fine new ice yachts that the tyro sailors could not even steer, much less stop. The most interesting novelty in ice-yachting seen in recent years is the invention of Mr. William H. Stanbrough of Newburgh, N.Y., and consists of a cockpit which can be made to swing from side to side of the yacht, according to the point of sailing, etc. The cockpit rests on the runner plank and on a track, and is provided with wheels which permit it to run easily back and forth. The center of the cockpit is well forward, providing better distribution of weight and, by means of drums and cables, the steering is managed from a tiller post, much as the steering of the sailing canoe is done. The shifting of weight makes it possible to either keep the craft on three runners or to lift the windward runner in the air at will. The device has been tested for several seasons and is enthusiastically praised by those who have adopted it. The greatest authority on ice yachting in America is the noted sportsman, Mr. Archibald Rogers, of Hyde Park, N.Y., whose interest in the sport is not confined to the handling of his famous ice yachts, among which the “Jack Frost” ranks first, but includes as well scientific researches as to materials for construction of the ice yacht, and whose amateur workshop and ice yacht house is a storehouse of information on the sport. The most successful builder of ice yachts is George Buckhout, Poughkeepsie, N.Y., builder of the famous successes, “Jack Frost,” owned by Mr. Archibald Rogers, and “Icicle,” Mr. John Roosevelt, owner, and many Western ice yachts. THE GREAT SOUTH BAY “SCOOTER” Valuable as is the ice yacht as a gift of America to the sport of the world, it is probable that the craft known as the “Scooter,” which originated on the waters of the Great South Bay, Long Island, N.Y., excels it in value, for already this unique inventions been taken up not merely by the sportsmen of the world but by hundreds of others whose requirements for sport and work the odd craft seems exactly to fill. Many lives have already been saved by the “scooter,” and its growing popularity wherever open water, which wholly or partly freezes, is found, indicates that it has an important future. The “scooter” may be properly classed among ice yachts, since it truly sails successfully over ice. But it does much more than this, for it will also sail in water, safely go from ice to open water and back again from open water to ice. There is no craft or machine, so far devised by man, so nearly similar to the amphibious wild duck, and the simplicity of the construction of the craft, as well as its ease handling, renders it more than ordinarily interesting and valuable to seekers after novelties in sport that are worth while. The “scooter” is an evolution. It is a cross between the round-nosed spoon bottomed ducking boat rigged with sails and the old pioneer ice boat which was nothing more than a square box on iron runners. Some of the best “scooters” now in use on the Great South Bay were built by men who never did a stroke of boat building before. Some were built by boys. Anybody can build one, and the completed craft, sails and all, ought not to cost over $100. They are the safest, the most compact, the easiest stowed, the most durable, and the greatest sports furnishing toys for their cost and size which the winter loving folks of the world have so far been introduced to. Let’s get acquainted with them. Imagine the bowls of two wooden spoons 15 feet long, with a width, or beam, of 4 to 5 feet. The upper wooden shell, which is the deck of the craft, is curved over from bow to stern and from one side to the other like the back of a turtle. The lower wooden shell is almost a duplicate of the upper one, which makes the craft almost flat bottomed. There is no keel or centerboard or opening of any kind on the bottom. There is a cockpit about 5 feet long and about 2 feet wide, around which runs a heavy combing 3 inches high and very solidly built. The runners of the craft are 20 inches apart, along 10 feet of the bottom, are slightly rocked, 1 inch wide and 1 1/2 inch high. They are of steel or brass, the latter allowing of quick sharpening for races or hard ice. The mast, set well aft, is about 10 feet in height, and the handiest rig is jib and mainsail, the latter either with boom and gaff or sprit. A small boom for the foot of the jib is customary, and in the handling of this jib is the whole secret of steering and managing the craft. The bowsprit should be large and project about 3 feet beyond the hull. In many “scooters” the bowsprit is made removable so that larger ones may be substituted for changes in weather. The spread of sail in a “scooter” is lateral rather than high, and must be well astern since the canvas of the craft is all that is used to steer her, no rudder of any kind being used. A “scooter” of 10 foot mast will carry a mainsail having an 8 foot gaff and a 15 foot boom, with a leech of about 15 feet. The foot of the jib will be 7 feet and the leech the same, or slightly more. The material used for the making of the “scooter” is generally pine and oak. Additional items of the equipment consist of a pike pole having sharpened ends and a pair of oars. Steering is done by a combination use of the jib, change in the location of the skipper or crew, and occasionally by the manipulation of the mainsail. By paying out the jib sheet and hauling in on the mainsheet, the “scooter” will come up into the wind like a fin keel water yacht; she will do this even more prettily if the weight of the skipper or crew is moved slightly forward, throwing weight on the forward part of the runners. Like an ice yacht, the “scooter” does not sail well before the wind; one must tack before the wind as well as into it. Two is the customary crew, although three are sometimes carried. Open water must be dived into exactly straight or an upset will occur. Manipulation of the mainsail and jib is most important at this critical point of sailing. To climb up from the open water onto ice again is easier for the “scooter” than one would believe who has not seen it. The weight of the crew is shifted aft, there is a bit of helping with the sharp crook of the pike pole and off she goes over the smooth ice again. The headquarters of the “scooter” interest is found in the vicinity of Patchogue, Long Island, N.Y., and the picturesque events run off there every winter draw thousands of New Yorkers. The most noted designer and builder of “scooters” is Henry V. Watkins of Bellport, N.Y., on the Great South Bay, and the patron saint of the quaint new sport is the noted sportsman, raconteur and host, Captain Bill Graham, of The Anchorage, Blue Point, Long Island. The seeker after something novel in winter entertainment is strongly urged to make the acquaintance of the new sport of “Scootering” as practiced here in Great South Bay, where the sport was born. AuthorJames A. Cruikshank was an expert on outdoors sports during the first half of the 20th century. Born in Scotland but spending most of his life in New York, he was the editor of The American Angler magazine, Field and Stream, and wrote numerous articles for a wide variety of other magazines and newspapers throughout his career, including the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. He also published at least three books: Spalding’s Winter Sports (1913, 1917), Canoeing and Camping (1915), and Figure Skating for Women (1921, 1922). He also contributed a chapter on artificial lures to The Basses: Freshwater and Marine (1905). In addition to his writing, Cruikshank was involved in public speaking, doing talks on outdoor sports sometimes illustrated by motion pictures. An avid photographer, Cruikshank’s photos often featured in his illustrated lectures, his articles, and his books, as he encouraged readers to take their own cameras out-of-doors. He had a home in the Catskills as well as a home and offices in New York City, and in the 1930s he helped found the Hudson River Yachting Association. At one point, he managed the Rockefeller Center ice skating rink, and another in Rye, NY. His wife Alice was also an avid camper and hiker, and they often traveled together. In 1909, Alice went “viral” in newspapers around the country by being the first person to blaze a trail between Mount Field and Mount Wiley in the White Mountains of New Hampshire (James brought up the rear). James and Alice eventually moved to Drexel, PA and were vacationing in Lake Placid in July of 1957 when James died unexpectedly at the age of 88. If you enjoyed this post and would like to support more history blog content, please make a donation to the Hudson River Maritime Museum or become a member today!
Editor's Note: The following is a verbatim transcription of a chapter from Spalding's Winter Sports by James A. Cruikshank, published in 1917 and part of the Ray Ruge Collection at the Hudson River Maritime Museum. Many thanks to volunteer Adam Kaplan for transcribing this booklet. The Canadians, winter lovers that they are, have given the world one of its finest implements for winter sport in the light, dainty, and marvelously swift toboggan. Probably no device of equal weight ever invented by man has attained such speed with such a load of valuable human lives. And when the end of the run is reached the thing can be picked up, tucked under an arm and carried back to the starting point; in fact that is the way in which many of the toboggans are returned to the starting point of some of the greatest runs in the world. “Zit! Walk a mile!” said a traveled Chinaman in describing his first impression of the sport. The strictly Canadian model toboggan is now made in the United States as well as in Canada. There have been practically no changes in the design which the Dominion first chose for the famous slides at Mount Royal, Montreal, Quebec, or Ottawa. Since the Indian fashioned the first toboggan with which to drag his winter’s catch of furs out to the nearest Hudson Bay post, the method of construction has changed but little. The uses of the frail chariot are distinctively different, however; now it serves to convey precious freight of charming, red-cheeked women down precipitous artificial slides on pleasure bent, where once it stood for carry-all and moving van for the taciturn nomads of the great white silences. Basswood or ash strips, from four to ten in number, are used in making a toboggan. The length may be anywhere from 5 to 9 feet and the bottom may be either flat, or there may be runners of wood or steel, usually three in number. Steel shod toboggans are a comparative novelty and fitted only for slides where ice is used; they are barred on many slides, owing to their speed, and they are not adapted to general use on snow. Toboggans can be successfully used on ordinary natural slides found on snow clad hillsides, either on crusted snow or even on loose snow if it is sufficiently packed. But the customary use of the toboggan is now found on artificial slides, or slides in which the natural slope of the land is combined with an artificial starting incline. Many country clubs have erected such slides, the most famous being that erected by the Ardsley Country Club, Ardsley, N.Y. Another very interesting illustration of how natural and artificial conditions may be combined to furnish a successful field for this fine sport, is found in the arrangement which prevails at the Lake Placid Club, Essex County, N.Y. This famous Adirondack club may be said to be a pioneer in winter sports, since it has been serving its members with such entertainment during every winter since 1902. The toboggan slide here starts from the roof of the golf house, an effective and novel way of getting immediate elevation for a good start, and the run is over a quarter of a mile in length with a drop of 114 feet. The slide at Quebec, which starts from the Citadel and runs down to the Dufferin Terrace, in front of the magnificent Chateau Frontenac, is the best illustration of a wholly artificial slide in this country or perhaps in the world. There are many private artificial toboggan slides in the United States, one of the most successful being that on the property of Mr. George D. Barron, Rye, N.Y., which was erected for the pleasure of his two daughters. The framework is of steel; a drop of nearly 70 feet is attained before the level of the field is reached and then the slide runs off in a board trough until it comes to a spreading meadow. The slide at the Ardsley Country Club, Ardsley, N.Y., has been extremely successful and has been liberally copied elsewhere. Here the plan of renting the privilege of using the slide for less than a dollar an hour per person has been the means of paying the entire cost of the experiment besides furnishing great sport for the members and their friends. Wherever possible the Canadian plan of having at least two slides side by side, separated by a snow bank of about a foot in height, will be found to greatly add to the interest. Toboggans can then be started simultaneously and the zest of competition in speed added to the thrill of swift descent. On the Mount Royal slide in Montreal there are five slides along each other, and when five toboggans loaded to their capacity start at once the sport is fast and furious. It is important that no toboggan be started on any slide until the party ahead sic seen to be out in the open field or free from possible collision. The bob-sled or “double runner” consists of fastening together two low sleds by means of a board. The cost of such an outfit ranges from five to five hundred dollars, and the five dollar rig will give almost as much sport as its expensive cousin. Steering is done by means of a wheel, like an automobile, controlling the front sled, or by means of ropes run through pulleys and held in the hand; this latter is the custom on Swiss slides. There are very few natural slides adapted to the bob-sled in this country, although there is great sport every winter in the competitions held between the coasting teams of several towns on Long Island, N.Y., and there is no reason why the sport should not become widely popular where towns are willing to devote certain roads or streets to the sport, as they do abroad. Handsome bob-sleds, cushioned in velvet and steered like a motor car, are drawn by horses and are capacious enough to carry twenty or more persons. The greatest bob-sled sport in the world is found on the famous “Cresta Run” in St. Moritz, Switzerland, or the equally famous “Kloster Run” in the town of Davos, Switzerland. Both of these wonderful coasts are over two miles in length, are on ordinary post roads set aside for the sport at certain seasons, and attract thousands of visitors from all over the world. Usually there is plenty of snow during the winter season at these resorts; when there is, the courses are built up at certain curves with great embankments of snow on which water is sprayed and then the resulting ice makes the course for much of its length a sheet of glass. At all intersecting roads there are danger signals set as the coaster starts from the top, and even the mail sleighs respect the sport. Speed of over ninety miles an hour is made on certain parts of these runs. The “Cresta Run” is regarded as the most difficult and the most interesting; one place in it known as the “Battledore and Shuttlecock” is probably the most superb piece of coasting ever built. At the close of the run there is a wonderful leap through the air which carries sled and rider 50 to 60 feet. The start and finish are timed by threads broken by the sled which thereby starts and stops a timing clock. Single sleds, of the pattern known to Americans as skeleton or clipper sleds, are generally used, having steel runners, open sides and big cushions set well back toward the end of the seat. Bob-sleds are also used on some of these runs and are occasionally steered by women. Pet dogs can be trained successfully to drag small toboggans or sleds just as the famous “huskie” dogs of Alaska do. The use of dogs for dragging snow vehicles is by no means limited to the wild wastes of Alaska, however. There are many dogs so used in the Adirondacks and in Canada. The famous dog team owned by Lord Minto, which was kept in Quebec several winters, was the means of initiating thousands of Americans into the sport of Dog Sledding. And the world famous races of dog teams dragging great loads, which Jack London has immortalized in his dramatic stories of the far north, are recalled by every lover of winter life in the silent places. A small dog sled is useful not merely as a vehicle for dogs to drag; it is the easiest way for man to carry any considerable load. The simplest pattern is a flat toboggan, generally of three strips of very thin basswood, ash or cedar, and in the case of the Indian made type is put together entirely without nails or screws of any kind, rawhide thongs taking their place. A one-man toboggan should not be over 4 feet in length and about 12 to 14 inches wide at the front and 2 inches narrower at the tail. The Indians make such a toboggan, and of this size, which weighs less than 3 pounds. A very simple and very efficient sled for either man or dog to drag is made from a couple of barrel staves on which a flat board is fastened in such fashion as to permanently preserve the full bend of the staves, then a back piece is fastened at right angles to the bottom board and braces run from the front of the bottom board to the top of the back board. A cross piece should be fastened at the front end of the staves and on this a whiffletree can be set; not until a man tries dragging a load with and without a whiffletree does he realize its value. AuthorJames A. Cruikshank was an expert on outdoors sports during the first half of the 20th century. Born in Scotland but spending most of his life in New York, he was the editor of The American Angler magazine, Field and Stream, and wrote numerous articles for a wide variety of other magazines and newspapers throughout his career, including the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. He also published at least three books: Spalding’s Winter Sports (1913, 1917), Canoeing and Camping (1915), and Figure Skating for Women (1921, 1922). He also contributed a chapter on artificial lures to The Basses: Freshwater and Marine (1905). In addition to his writing, Cruikshank was involved in public speaking, doing talks on outdoor sports sometimes illustrated by motion pictures. An avid photographer, Cruikshank’s photos often featured in his illustrated lectures, his articles, and his books, as he encouraged readers to take their own cameras out-of-doors. He had a home in the Catskills as well as a home and offices in New York City, and in the 1930s he helped found the Hudson River Yachting Association. At one point, he managed the Rockefeller Center ice skating rink, and another in Rye, NY. His wife Alice was also an avid camper and hiker, and they often traveled together. In 1909, Alice went “viral” in newspapers around the country by being the first person to blaze a trail between Mount Field and Mount Wiley in the White Mountains of New Hampshire (James brought up the rear). James and Alice eventually moved to Drexel, PA and were vacationing in Lake Placid in July of 1957 when James died unexpectedly at the age of 88. 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Editor's Note: Editor's Note: The following is a verbatim transcription of a chapter from Spalding's Winter Sports by James A. Cruikshank, published in 1917 and part of the Ray Ruge Collection at the Hudson River Maritime Museum. Many thanks to volunteer Adam Kaplan for transcribing this booklet. Please also note, this historic book chapter contains damaging stereotypes of Indigenous people. Like most inventions having to do with physical comfort, probably the snowshoe was a lazy man’s gift to the race. We can imagine how he found that by bandaging boughs on his moccasins feet he could get about with less trouble than his fellows; the idea spread, the boughs took form, then webbing was run across bows of wood and the snowshoe came into being. Every locality has its own special snowshoe, ranging from the eleven foot models of the Alaskans to the flat boards with cross pieces of the Italian dwellers of the Apennines. And each special model, far from being just subject for ridicule by the folks of any other locality, proves itself to be peculiarly adapted to the needs of the place in which it is found. Therein lies the lesson of all the new implements of the now popular winter sports; they must be adapted to the special localities in which they are to be used or the fullest measure of sport cannot be had. The Indian of the north prefers black or yellow birch for the bows of his snowshoes. Failing that wood of the right quality he selects ash, out of which the best of the snowshoes sold in large cities are generally fashioned. The webbing is preferably of caribou hide, but as there is very little caribou hide available the webbing is generally made bow cow hide for the important center and lamb skin for the filling of toe and tail piece. Properly treated and regularly painted with a good varnish these materials are entirely satisfactory for the most critical of snowshoe users. As a matter of fact the best snowshoes today are made by white men, not by Indians, just as the white man has come to make better canoes than the Indian ever made. The snowshoes sold at fair price by the leading dealers are thoroughly equal to any service they could be asked to give and will outwear several pairs of the Indian make. The webbing of the center is carried around the bow of the snowshoe, while that of the toe and tail is passed through small holes bored in the bow. Where the webbing is passed through the bows, little knots of worsted are used to break the knife-like cut of the crusted snow- not because they look pretty, as many folks think. The making of a pair of snowshoes takes the best part of several days, even with the aids of civilization, while among the Indian tribes of the far north several months elapse between the time when the first tree was felled for the bows to the day of the finished product, including stretching of the skins, warping of the bows, lacing of the webbing and drying out. The size of the snowshoe as well as its pattern depends largely upon the size and weight of the wearer, and the uses to which the snowshoe is to be put. For racing purposes the Alaskans use a snowshoe of 11 feet in length. The Montagnais beaux use a snowshoe of 36 inches in width. The trappers of the Rocky Mountains use a small “bear paw” snowshoe almost round in shape, and the best general snowshoe for the eastern part of the North American continent is the Algonquin or “club” pattern ranging from 40 to 50 inches in length and from 12 to 14 inches in width. The “bear paw” pattern is excellent for brush and hill country. The size of the mesh is governed by the average quality of the snow; when the snow is fine and dry and feathery a small mesh is desirable, while in damp and moist snow the mesh should be larger. Fastening the snowshoe to the foot is an important matter. Even the Indians and the trappers of the far north wanted to borrow or buy the ingenious American snowshoe sandal which I had attached to my snowshoes during a recent winter wolf hunting trip. These firm practical bindings are far and away superior to the lamp-wicking thongs or leather strings formerly used, especially when the walking is over hilly country, and the sag of the binding causes slipping of the foot on the snowshoe. Moccasins should be worn with snowshoes; dry tanned when the weather is very cold, say about zero, and oil tanned when it is warmer and the snow melts during the day. The binding should not be so tight as to stop the circulation nor should it come above the toe joints. An excellent device popular with the Appalachian Mountain Club of New England, on its winter outings on snowshoe, consists of a leather piece about the size of the foot attached to the under side of the snowshoe and studded with long pointed hob nails for ice creeping. There will often be times when some such device will be of the greatest value, especially in climbing crusted hillsides. The leather can be permanently attached to the snowshoe or merely tied on with rawhide thongs so as to be detachable if one wants to coast down hill on the snowshoes or does not require the additional grip on the snow. Almost anybody can learn to use snowshoes with little trouble. An hour will generally suffice the average athletic young person in which to secure sufficient ease in the use of the new toys to warrant starting off on a trip of a day or more. There are certain muscles which the sport calls into play, such as the upper thigh and the lower calf, that some folks have allowed to become weak and almost useless, but after a few days of Snowshoeing these muscles will learn their right function and cause little trouble. Correcting a wrong impression, it should be stated that the snowshoe does not really keep the walker on the top of the snow. When the snow is fine and the weather cold the snowshoe will sink in from two to five inches below the surface of the snow and the next step requires that it be lifted above the level of the snow and dragged along. This is the work which many beginners find most tedious and exhausting. The best way to save the strength of the beginners in such case is for the experts, whose muscles for the sport are in good trim, to “break trail” most of the time, thus reducing the work of the others who follow. But of course all plucky students of the sport will want in time to do their full share of the pioneering work of the leader. When the sport has been fairly learned, it is amazing how easy it becomes. Greater distances can be traveled on snowshoes in a day than any member of the party could walk on a macadamized road. This is due partly to the increased length of the stride, and partly to the easy cushion on which the foot comes to rest. Fifty and sixty miles is not an unusual day’s run for the expert snowshoer of the north. Thirty will be a good day’s work for the amateur, even after some years of experience. If packs of any kind are carried they should be of the Alpine ruck-sack pattern, consisting of a sort of loose knapsack swung over both shoulders and resting low in the back, so as not to interfere with the balance. A moonlight snowshoe walk over the hills such as is customary in Canada or in the Adirondacks, to a rendezvous where open fires are provided, either indoors or out, and hot meals are served, is a journey never to be forgotten. One of the special delights of such a party is the “Grand Bounce” which consists of tossing some member of the party into the air from the center of a blanket, the edges of which are held by a score of friends. Sometimes the blanket is dispensed with and the member thus “honored” is flung up by catching hold of arms and legs and body. One of the most famous of the pictures of this sport shows the late Frederick Remington being thus flung heavenward by his admiring friends. No sport of all the winter combines such a variety of picturesque costumes or such an international array of suitable material for the sport. For instance, the red and white and parti-colored blanket costumes are strictly Canadian in origin and history; the stockinette caps or toques are French; the socks, which are as indispensable as the snowshoes themselves, are German; the moccasins are Indian and the snowshoes, nine chances to ten, are American! AuthorJames A. Cruikshank was an expert on outdoors sports during the first half of the 20th century. Born in Scotland but spending most of his life in New York, he was the editor of The American Angler magazine, Field and Stream, and wrote numerous articles for a wide variety of other magazines and newspapers throughout his career, including the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. He also published at least three books: Spalding’s Winter Sports (1913, 1917), Canoeing and Camping (1915), and Figure Skating for Women (1921, 1922). He also contributed a chapter on artificial lures to The Basses: Freshwater and Marine (1905). In addition to his writing, Cruikshank was involved in public speaking, doing talks on outdoor sports sometimes illustrated by motion pictures. An avid photographer, Cruikshank’s photos often featured in his illustrated lectures, his articles, and his books, as he encouraged readers to take their own cameras out-of-doors. He had a home in the Catskills as well as a home and offices in New York City, and in the 1930s he helped found the Hudson River Yachting Association. At one point, he managed the Rockefeller Center ice skating rink, and another in Rye, NY. His wife Alice was also an avid camper and hiker, and they often traveled together. In 1909, Alice went “viral” in newspapers around the country by being the first person to blaze a trail between Mount Field and Mount Wiley in the White Mountains of New Hampshire (James brought up the rear). James and Alice eventually moved to Drexel, PA and were vacationing in Lake Placid in July of 1957 when James died unexpectedly at the age of 88. Tune in next week for the next chapter!
If you enjoyed this post and would like to support more history blog content, please make a donation to the Hudson River Maritime Museum or become a member today! Editor’s Note: The following text is a verbatim transcription of an article featuring stories by Captain William O. Benson (1911-1986). Beginning in 1971, Benson, a retired tugboat captain, reminisced about his 40 years on the Hudson River in a regular column for the Kingston (NY) Freeman’s Sunday Tempo magazine. Captain Benson's articles were compiled and transcribed by HRMM volunteer Carl Mayer. See more of Captain Benson’s articles here. This article was originally published January 21, 1973. Back around 1908, there was a stone quarry at Rockland Lake south of Haverstraw and the Cornell Steamboat Company towed the quarry's scows to New York from early spring until hindered by ice the following winter. At the same time, the steamers "Homer Ramsdell" and "Newburgh" of the Central Hudson Line were carrying milk on a year round basis between Newburgh and New York. In early January of that long ago time, the Cornell tugboats "Hercules" and "Ira M. Hedges" were sent up river to the quarry to bring down five loaded scows of stone. Ice had been forming in the river and, as any man who has worked on the river soon finds out, the river sometimes closes over night. He also discovers that at times salt water ice is harder to get through than fresh water ice. When the tugs arrived at Rockland Lake, the river was covered with ice from shore to shore and making more ice rapidly. It was now about 5 p.m., very dark with a northeast wind, and it looked as if a storm was brewing. Captain Mel Hamilton of the "Hercules" telephoned Cornell's New York office and suggested they stay there overnight. He knew by waiting until daylight to start down, he could better find open spots in the floating ice and that the "Ramsdell" and "Newburgh" on their milk runs would be breaking up ice and perhaps keep it moving. The Cornell office, however, would not listen to Captain Hamilton's suggestion and told him they wanted him to start out immediately and get the tow to New York as soon as possible. Trouble at Tarrytown On leaving Rockland Lake with five wooden scows, the "Hercules" was in charge of the tow and the "Hedges" was supposed to go ahead and break ice since she had an iron hull. The ebb tide was about half done and everything went all right until they were about two miles north of the Tarrytown lighthouse. The "Hedges” wasn’t too good as an ice breaker and she would get fast in the ice herself. The "Hercules" with the tow would creep alongside and break her out. After this happened a few times, both tugs tried pulling on the tow. Finally, the tide began to flood, jamming the ice from shore to shore, and the two tugs couldn't move the tow at all through the ice. The only thing to do was to lay to until the tide changed. After about an hour it started to snow from the northeast and the wind increased to about 20 m.p.h. Captain Hamilton of the "Hercules" told Captain Herb Dumont of the "Hedges” to go back to the tail end of the tow and keep an eye out for the "Newburgh" he knew would be coming down. The "Hercules" lay along the head of the tow on watch for the ‘"Ramsdell" on her way up river. Both tugs started to blow fog and snow signals on their whistles, as they lay in the channel and knew the Central Hudson steamers would be going through the ice and swirling snow on compass courses at full speed in order to maintain their schedule and not expecting to find an ice bound tow in their path. Neither tugboat captain relished the thought of his tug or the tow being cut in half by the "Ramsdell" or "Newburgh." “Newburgh” Heard First The first of the two Central Hudson steamers to be heard was the "Newburgh” by the crew of the "Hedges." Coming down river with the wind behind her, the men on the tug could hear the "Newburgh" pounding and crunching through the ice and her big base whistle sounding above the storm. Both the "Hercules" and "Hedges" were blowing their whistles to let the "Newburgh" know they were fast in the ice and not moving. The snow storm had now become a blizzard. On the "Hedges" at the tail end of the tow, her crew was relieved when they could hear the crunching of the ice seem to ease off, indicating the "Newburgh" had probably heard their whistle and was slowing down. In a few moments, the bow of the "Newburgh" loomed up out of the blowing snow headed almost directly for the "Hedges." Above the storm, the men on the tugboat could hear the bow lookout on the "Newburgh" yell to the pilot house, "There's a Cornell tug dead ahead." The "Newburgh'' eased off to starboard and crept up along side of the tow. When abreast of the "Hercules," the captain, Jim Monahan, hollered through a megaphone to the "Hercules" captain, asking if he wanted "Newburgh” to circle around the tow and try and break them out of the ice’s grip. Boatmen always tried to help one another out, even though they might have been working for different companies. Moved and Stopped The "Newburgh" cut around the tow twice before continuing on her way to New York and disappearing into the swirling snow of the winter's night. The "Hercules" was able to move the tow about one tow’s length and was then again stopped. In about half an hour, the crew of the "Hercules” could hear the whistle of the "Homer Ramsdell" blowing at minute intervals as she was cutting through the ice on her way to Newburgh. On the "Herc," they were sounding her high shrill whistle to let the "Ramsdell" know they were in the channel. In those days, long before the radio telephones of today, the steam whistle signals were the boatman's only means of communication. The "Ramsdell" came up bow to bow with the "Hercules," backing down hard, the bow lookout yelling to the pilot house a tow was ahead. Coming to a stop with only a few feet separating the two vessels, Captain Fred Miller of the "Ramsdell" tramped out on his bow and yelled down to Captain Hamilton, asking if he could be of any help. When told the tow was fast in the ice, Captain Miller said he was ahead of time and would try and free the tow. Captain Miller took the "Ramsdell" around the tow twice and then continued on his way up river. This time, the "Hercules" was able to move the tow about two tow lengths and again came to a dead stop. All they could do now was wait for the tide to change. However, at least they knew no other steamers were moving on the river and they were relatively safe. Leaks Develop When the crew of the "Hercules" was sitting in the galley and having a cup of hot coffee, one of the scow captains hollered over and waving a lantern, said his scow was leaking and his pumps were frozen. Men from the "Hercules" then had to climb over the snow covered scow and try to find and stop the leak. One of the deckhands found the leak in the dark and patched it up. After about two hours, the same thing happened to another scow, the oakum having been pulled out of the seams at the water line by the ice. Finally, the tide began to ebb again and they were able to once again move the tow. Shortly after daylight the snow storm abated and the wind moderated. As the "'Hercules" and the "Hedges" moved further down river, the ice became more floes than solid ice. However, before arriving in New York, they were overtaken by the "Ramsdell" again the following night off Manhattanville. After the crews’ long battle with ice and snow and on arriving in New York, their reward was to have their tugs tied up and to be layed off for the winter. In those days their pay was extremely modest. As a matter of fact, the pay of deckhands and firemen was a bunk, food and a dollar a day, — for a twelve hour day, seven days a week. As the boatmen used to say. "Thirty days and thirty dollars." AuthorCaptain William Odell Benson was a life-long resident of Sleightsburgh, N.Y., where he was born on March 17, 1911, the son of the late Albert and Ida Olson Benson. He served as captain of Callanan Company tugs including Peter Callanan, and Callanan No. 1 and was an early member of the Hudson River Maritime Museum. He retained, and shared, lifelong memories of incidents and anecdotes along the Hudson River. 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Editor's Note: The following is a verbatim transcription of a chapter from Spalding's Winter Sports by James A. Cruikshank, published in 1917 and part of the Ray Ruge Collection at the Hudson River Maritime Museum. Many thanks to volunteer Adam Kaplan for transcribing this booklet. That the spelling "skiis" is original to the text. There seems to be no doubt that the ski originated in Norway. But it is now to be found everywhere snow falls, from the extreme limits of Greenland to the summits of the Andes where South American Governments employ expert ski runners to carry mail. First as an implement of communication between nations otherwise snow bound, and now as the chosen toy of winter loving thousands it has finally come into its own. Probably no one plaything has so rapidly forged into a leading place among the sport tools of the northern races as these long and curious “planks,” as the Austrians call them. Ten years ago the ski was an interesting ethnological souvenir found only in museums; today it is hard to supply the demand for them. With that imitative and inventive skill characteristic of the Yankee, some of the best skis are now produced in the United States. They have improvements and changes peculiarly adapting them to the climate and the snow of the North American continent, and are to be preferred to the imported article in every respect. The experts of Europe, who are without doubt far in advance in the practical use of the ski, for either business or sport, have come to regard them as superior to the snowshoe for covering distance and general cruising. The armies of Northern Europe have almost exclusively adopted skiis after competitive trials of them with the Canadian snowshoe. While Norway and Austria have settled this matter by the adoption of the ski for Amy use, Canada still maintains the supremacy of the snowshoe. The battle is still on and the wise lover of winter will contribute his mite to the controversy by testing both, since there are delights to be had with each which the other does not supply. The ski is generally made of ash of the very best quality, or hickory. Some of the skiis of Northern Europe are made of elm, but the imported skiis of that wood have not proven satisfactory. Spruce has also been tried out, in Michigan, but without improvement over ash. Few of the implements for sport require such care in the making and such accuracy of design. While the expert can manage to get along on poor skiis, or crooked ones, it is the height of folly for the amateur who cares about perfecting himself in the sport to learn on anything but well made, correctly shaped and accurately balanced skiis. Among the experts of the north the length of the ski is generally determined by stretching the hand over the head and selecting a pair that reach to the wrist. “Long” ski would be to where the fingers bend at the second joint; “short” ski to six inches over the head. For general use, hill climbing, touring, and even for jumping, the average or the short ski is the best. Short, stiff legged people should select a short ski, else the important kick turn cannot be executed, and on this movement depends much of the cruising ability of the ski devotee. Long skiis are best only on level stretches and flat country. There is a slight upturn at the toe of the ski made by steaming and bending the wood to a metal form. The farther north one goes, the higher this bend is generally carried. Four inches is a correct average for general use. The ski should be slightly wider at the front than at the tail. The wearer’s foot is placed about two-fifths of the distance from the tail of the ski, by which arrangement the bulk of the weight of the ski is forward of the foot. The groove is now almost universally used and runs either the full length of the bottom of the ski or to a place slightly forward of the foot. This groove tends to keep the ski straight, to steer it, so to speak, and is most important on hill descents. The foot binding is of the greatest importance. It must be rigid, yet not bind the muscles of the toes or ankle. A heavy boot is essential, or one with a very heavy sole, which is crowded or drawn firmly into the toe fastenings and then the straps fastened so they will not give. On the firmness and rigidity of the foot binding depends almost wholly the ability of the beginner to make rapid progress in the sport. There are two forms of foot bindings, the toe and the sole patterns. The sole pattern is almost unknown in the United States, although it is ranked very high by the experts of the Tyrol and the Norway chutes. The toe binding consists of a firm metal piece which is run through the ski, bent up on either side of the sole and fitted to hold the foot rigidly in place. Straps run from this metal piece over the toes and also back around the heel, being kept from slipping off the shoe by a small leather strap passing over the instep. This is the best of the toe fastenings. The usual accompaniment of the ski expert is one or sometimes two sticks used to press against the snow on the level or to steer or brake in descending hills. When but one stick is used it is generally from 6 to 8 feet in length and of bamboo; when two are used they should not be over 5 feet in length. All sticks should be equipped with leather wrist thongs and have spikes at the bottom and rings of wood firmly attached about 6 inches from the bottom. It is better for the beginner to learn with one long stick and occasionally, as he progresses in confidence, to discard the stick for considerable periods of time, so as to increase his perfection of balance. Contrary to general belief, Skiing does not require great muscular power. It is a matter of skill of balance, a knack such as one learns in swimming. For this reason it is much better to secure a teacher, if that be possible, who will at least start the beginner right and save him from learning many things which he must later unlearn. There are nice points in the sport which no type can convey, but which the eye will instantly perceive as they are executed by the expert. Failing the advantage of a teacher note these points: Do not try coasting or jumping the first thing. Much better to learn how to get up the hill, either by the hard and difficult “herringboning” method, the easier “tacking” or the simplest of all methods, “side stepping.” When you do come down remember that if the snow is damp and sticky you must lean back, while if it is dry and frozen you must lean forward. It has been wisely said that when man starts to go down hill all nature seems greased for the occasion. No man appreciates that as much as does the ski amateur. Every tree is a magnet, every stump and every rock beckons your unmanageable “planks” straight towards destruction. Study the snow, its condition, the effect of the sun on it; sometimes there is fine sport to be had on north slopes when none can be had elsewhere. Learn the sort of snow that makes for speed, for difficult climbing, for easy touring, and adapt your work for the day to the conditions. The expert ski runner knows the changing and changeableness of the snow as few men do. Snow with breaking crust is dangerous, for many reasons, while a solid crust is great sport. Avoid tracks made by others, especially in hill coasting. The fundamental things to learn in Skiing are: Darting, which simply means running downhill with skiis close together and parallel; Steering, which is done by leaning toward the side one wishes to go; Stemming, or Braking, which is done by skiis against the snow, and Slanting, which means taking a hill on an angle, a sort of “tacking downhill.” All of these movements are of almost equal importance, and should be practiced faithfully if the beginner would achieve a place in the sport or get the most fun out of it. Stemming needs but a simple diagram to explain its meaning, and Steering cannot be taught by any book; its balance is a thing which can only be learned by experience and many falls. No amount of book learning will make a ski runner expert at the sport, and the best of all the foreign books on the subject, published in the home of the sport, entirely evades the subject of Ski Jumping; nevertheless it is probable that some advice as to that important department of the sport will be welcomed. But the beginner must look more to practice than to advice. Start first without any take-off. Learn every balance with and without a pole; poles are never used in serious jumping. Gauge the stickiness of the snow and adjust your balance on arriving back on the snow after the jump to the resistance; if sticky snow, lean backward; if slippery, lean forward. Do not practice where the take-off lands you on flat ground; it is dangerous. There should be greater drop after the jump than before it. Hold your arms rigid while in the air. On touching the snow, the right foot, or one foot, should slightly precede the other.. Have the tails of the skiis touch the snow first, so as to act as rudders and get correct position. And expect ninety per cent. of falls to jumps for the first hundred jumps. Clothing for Skiing should be hard close-woven wool. Hairy goods catch the snow and soon become wet. Neck and wrists should be fitted tight and a puttee or binding of cloth about the shoe top, enclosing the long trousers or closing the opening for snow in the shoe tops is important. There is an adaptation of Skiing which is great fun and consists of employing a horse to drag the ski runners about the country, or to the top of a hill where they may coast down. Long strings of ski experts are thus met with in Norway and Switzerland, and the merriest of sport is associated with the novelty. Trips to nearby towns or places of interest can thus be made, where a meal can be had, and the return trip can be done cross country or again by horse power. AuthorJames A. Cruikshank was an expert on outdoors sports during the first half of the 20th century. Born in Scotland but spending most of his life in New York, he was the editor of The American Angler magazine, Field and Stream, and wrote numerous articles for a wide variety of other magazines and newspapers throughout his career, including the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. He also published at least three books: Spalding’s Winter Sports (1913, 1917), Canoeing and Camping (1915), and Figure Skating for Women (1921, 1922). He also contributed a chapter on artificial lures to The Basses: Freshwater and Marine (1905). In addition to his writing, Cruikshank was involved in public speaking, doing talks on outdoor sports sometimes illustrated by motion pictures. An avid photographer, Cruikshank’s photos often featured in his illustrated lectures, his articles, and his books, as he encouraged readers to take their own cameras out-of-doors. He had a home in the Catskills as well as a home and offices in New York City, and in the 1930s he helped found the Hudson River Yachting Association. At one point, he managed the Rockefeller Center ice skating rink, and another in Rye, NY. His wife Alice was also an avid camper and hiker, and they often traveled together. In 1909, Alice went “viral” in newspapers around the country by being the first person to blaze a trail between Mount Field and Mount Wiley in the White Mountains of New Hampshire (James brought up the rear). James and Alice eventually moved to Drexel, PA and were vacationing in Lake Placid in July of 1957 when James died unexpectedly at the age of 88. Skiers, what do you think? Does Cruikshank give good advice? Stay tuned for another chapter next week.
If you enjoyed this post and would like to support more history blog content, please make a donation to the Hudson River Maritime Museum or become a member today! Editor's Note: The following is a verbatim transcription of a chapter from Spalding's Winter Sports by James A. Cruikshank, published in 1917 and part of the Ray Ruge Collection at the Hudson River Maritime Museum. Many thanks to volunteer Adam Kaplan for transcribing this booklet. The modern skate, briefly described, is of two kinds and several patterns. One is intended for speed skating and the other for figure skating. The best pattern for speed skating consists of a very thin, extremely hard, flat, steel blade, tapered from one-sixteenth of an inch at toe to one thirty-second of an inch at heel, fourteen and one-half and fifteen and one-half inches in length, set in a hollow steel tube, from which hollow steel supports or uprights run to the metal foot-plates, which are in turn riveted to a thin, close fitting shoe having no heel. Some of the fastest speed skaters still use the old fashioned wood top skate screwed to the heel of the shoe when the ice is reached and fastened over the toes with straps; but this pattern is rapidly going out of vogue. The hockey skate, used in that game and now of great popularity among skaters of all ages and classes and sexes, whether they play hockey or not, consists of a flat blade, with either three or four uprights or stanchions running to the metal foot-plate screwed or riveted to the shoe. The length of the blade depends upon the length of the skater’s foot. This skate is generally very slightly curved where the blade rests upon the ice, making quick turns and sharp curves possible. It is an excellent skate with which to learn the art of skating, but after the beginner has learned to feel fairly safe should be changed for the rocker skate or figure skate, if further progress in the sport of Figure Skating is an object. It is unfortunate that so many young people take up the flat-blade skate, either of the hockey or racing pattern, and then persistently stick to that pattern, since no general advancement in the achievement of curves and patterns is ever possible to the user of the flat-blade skate. Undoubtedly the best pattern for the figure skate is that which was taken to Europe by Jackson Haines, the American skater, in 1865, and adopted by almost every European skater of fame from that day to this. With the revival of skating in the United States, and especially the Continental or “fancy” style, has come a demand for a skate best suited to the graceful figures that render this form of the art so attractive. This old, yet new, skate has but two uprights or stanchions from the blade to the foot or heel plates, the blade curves over in front so as almost to touch the shoe; there is considerably greater distance from the skater’s heel to the ice than in former patterns, and larger radius of the curve of the blade where it rests upon the ice. The blade is splayed, or wider in the middle than at the toe and heel, and there are deep knife edge corrugations at the toe for pirouettes and toe movements. This is the skate which is now being used by the best skaters of the world, and the only pattern on which the larger, freer, bird-like movements so characteristic of the best skaters of Europe, are possible. It is an interesting fact that this skate is now the recognized standard of the leading instructors and experts in Figure Skating in all the prominent rinks and in theatrical attractions in which ice spectacles are a feature. Skating, whether the beginner has in mind speed or figure work, is best learned without human aid. An old, strong chair, to the legs of which have been fastened wooden runners, is the best of all devices for starting the young skater on the right balance and contributing to his self reliance and confidence. Very early in the attempts at the sport, the beginner will decide whether he is interested in Speed or Figure Skating, and he is then urged to select the correct outfit rather than adopt habits which it will be difficult later to break. There are scores of skaters now using the flat blade hockey or racing skate who will never achieve satisfactory speed, but who are peculiarly adapted to success in Figure Skating. Speed Skating is interesting for a time, and hockey is a splendid athletic game, but the figure skater has a pastime and an athletic pursuit which will interest him for a lifetime, and in which there are intricacies as fascinating as a geometrical puzzle. There are excellent books on the new forms of Figure Skating now available, the latest of which, Mr. Irving Brokaw’s “Art of Skating” and “Figure Skating for Women,” published in the Spalding Athletic Library, should be in the hands of every lover of the sport. After the beginner has attained some measure of confidence, the skate sail will be found a most interesting diversion and addition to the sport. There are many patterns of skate sails. The simplest, as well as one of the best is the rectangular pattern, fashioned of two uprights at the fore and aft ends of the sail with a cross piece as spreader. The size of this sail will depend on the designer and the sport he seeks. The average size recommended for an expert skater would be 6 to 7 feet in height and 10 to 12 feet in width. The wooden spars at the bends should be of pine or spruce, squared, thicker in the middle than at the ends, and of one piece. The center spreader may be jointed or hinged. The best material for the sail is either unbleached muslin, which is very cheap, or the best sea island cotton, known as “balloon silk.” In the sail can be set an oval or circle of celluloid as a window through which the skate sailor may watch his course. The skate sail described can be made by almost any amateur, will cost less than five dollars, and will return more sport for its cost than almost any other winter sport implement. There are many other patterns of skate sails, the next best being the triangular or pyramid shape with the base of the pyramid parallel with the skater and the long end of the sail stretching out behind. The right dimensions for such a sail for the average person will be about 9 feet for the upright spar and 10 to 12 feet for the boom. The spars can be made of heavy bamboo, and by means of a small pulley over the forward end of the boom the sail can be stretched taut. There is another foreign pattern sail which has a boom stretching across the two end spars and projecting beyond them a foot or so. Such a model requires a larger field of ice than those which have been described. Uninformed advisers recommend the flat blade skate for Skate Sailing. They are wrong, because sharp turns and curves have to be made for successful Skate Sailing. The best skate for the sport is either the regulation figure skate or a hockey skate having a curved blade. The skate sail ought to be used only where there is ample freedom; it is not adapted to small skating ponds or rinks since high speed is frequently developed, even up to thirty miles an hour, and dangerous accidents may occur. Anyone can learn the use of the skate sail with a few hours’ practice. Unlike the ice boat, which it so much resembles, tacking is done exactly the same as with a small boat, with the exception that when the sailor is ready to “come about” he simply throws the sail up over his head, makes his right angle turn into the new course and the sail comes down in correct position. It is also possible to shift the sail forward while under full speed until it is past the center, then slip it from one side of the body to the other, make the turn into the new course, and continue on the new tack. Magnificent competitive sport can be had with the skate sail by organizing “one design classes,” just as in small boat sailing, so that every sailor has similar equipment and there are no odds. Differences in weight of the contestants will be about equalized by the advantage of weight in one position of sailing as against its disadvantages in another. Women pick up the sport readily and find it most interesting. Many a woman has learned from the skate sail, for the first time, that she really can handle a sail so that she is able to get back to the place from which she started by the otherwise incomprehensible route known in yachting as “tacking.” Warm gloves, tight fitting clothing, and some sort of face protection are advisable for this sport. AuthorJames A. Cruikshank was an expert on outdoors sports during the first half of the 20th century. Born in Scotland but spending most of his life in New York, he was the editor of The American Angler magazine, Field and Stream, and wrote numerous articles for a wide variety of other magazines and newspapers throughout his career, including the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. He also published at least three books: Spalding’s Winter Sports (1913, 1917), Canoeing and Camping (1915), and Figure Skating for Women (1921, 1922). He also contributed a chapter on artificial lures to The Basses: Freshwater and Marine (1905). In addition to his writing, Cruikshank was involved in public speaking, doing talks on outdoor sports sometimes illustrated by motion pictures. An avid photographer, Cruikshank’s photos often featured in his illustrated lectures, his articles, and his books, as he encouraged readers to take their own cameras out-of-doors. He had a home in the Catskills as well as a home and offices in New York City, and in the 1930s he helped found the Hudson River Yachting Association. At one point, he managed the Rockefeller Center ice skating rink, and another in Rye, NY. His wife Alice was also an avid camper and hiker, and they often traveled together. In 1909, Alice went “viral” in newspapers around the country by being the first person to blaze a trail between Mount Field and Mount Wiley in the White Mountains of New Hampshire (James brought up the rear). James and Alice eventually moved to Drexel, PA and were vacationing in Lake Placid in July of 1957 when James died unexpectedly at the age of 88. What do you think of James A. Cruikshank's encouraging women to take up ice skating? Did you ice skate as a kid? Do you still?
Stay tuned next week for our next chapter. If you enjoyed this post and would like to support more history blog content, please make a donation to the Hudson River Maritime Museum or become a member today! Editor's Note: The following is a verbatim transcription of a chapter from Spalding's Winter Sports by James A. Cruikshank, published in 1917 and part of the Ray Ruge Collection at the Hudson River Maritime Museum. Many thanks to volunteer Adam Kaplan for transcribing this booklet. Pry yourself away from that steam radiator some snowy day and take a winter walk! Put behind you the mellow charm of the open fire; it will be even more delightful when you return. Hunt up a few old togs, woolen underwear, close woven woolen suit, heavy sweater, mittens, cap with ear tabs, and heavy waterproof shoes and sally forth on the quest for a new sensation. Never mind that overcoat; you will never miss it after that first half mile. And don’t forget to stuff a few crackers in your pocket for that utterly unexpected hunger which will be waiting your arrival somewhere along the road. Now, strike out! Immediately after warming up with the vigorous exercise, you feel perfectly sure that there is some sort of curious exhilaration which the air of summer never furnishes. Your imagination is not fooling you. There is one-seventh more oxygen in cold winter air than in warm summer air. That is the reason the “fire burns brighter.” And by the same token every human faculty is keener and sharper. Incidentally the falling snow carries to earth with it all floating impurities and you breathe the purest air to be found at any time of the year. You have made but a few rods when you discover that snow is the greatest artist of nature. That unsightly shack which so distressed you, has taken on forms of unknown beauty; even that ash heap, eyesore that it was, now furnishes curves of unsullied purity; the snow, like a mantle of charity, has transformed the ugly into the beautiful. Nor is its gift to the world merely pictorial. It is nature’s warm blanket. This cold, frozen thing saves the wheat and the grain from freezing; fills up the chinks between ground and farmhouse, window and frame and makes the home warmer than it was before. Close to your home, no matter where you live, the records on the snow will be found interesting and fascinating. The average city park is full of their strange story. To the open mind of the nature-lover they start all sorts of interesting speculations. Mouse, sparrow, squirrel, rabbit, fox, dog- which are they and what story do they tell? You may even find pathetic tragedies writ clear in the snow, if only you have learned to read the winter book of nature. Here see the wide sweeping record of the wings of an owl as they touched the snow on either side of the tiny tracks of a mouse. Then the prints of the wings become deeper and clearer, and here, where a little tuft of bloody fur is found, and the snow is beaten down all about, the trail suddenly ends. Perhaps the story of the fox that dined upon squirrel or partridge is spread out there full upon the ermine page of nature. Here, indeed, is a new chapter in your reading of nature’s secrets; it is stranger than any fiction and dramatic as a novel. Then sunset across the fields of white, nowhere more exquisitely beautiful. Great bloody stabs of crimson athwart the western sky. The very “souls of the trees,” as Holmes called them, when freed of their summer bodies. Across the tiny brook hurrying to sea under its arching canopy of snow-laden willow and alder. Then the open fire! No blaze so bright, no cheer so real as that which greets a winter rover fresh from a brave little ramble over the fresh snow. Take a winter walk! AuthorJames A. Cruikshank was an expert on outdoors sports during the first half of the 20th century. Born in Scotland but spending most of his life in New York, he was the editor of The American Angler magazine, Field and Stream, and wrote numerous articles for a wide variety of other magazines and newspapers throughout his career, including the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. He also published at least three books: Spalding’s Winter Sports (1913, 1917), Canoeing and Camping (1915), and Figure Skating for Women (1921, 1922). He also contributed a chapter on artificial lures to The Basses: Freshwater and Marine (1905). In addition to his writing, Cruikshank was involved in public speaking, doing talks on outdoor sports sometimes illustrated by motion pictures. An avid photographer, Cruikshank’s photos often featured in his illustrated lectures, his articles, and his books, as he encouraged readers to take their own cameras out-of-doors. He had a home in the Catskills as well as a home and offices in New York City, and in the 1930s he helped found the Hudson River Yachting Association. At one point, he managed the Rockefeller Center ice skating rink, and another in Rye, NY. His wife Alice was also an avid camper and hiker, and they often traveled together. In 1909, Alice went “viral” in newspapers around the country by being the first person to blaze a trail between Mount Field and Mount Wiley in the White Mountains of New Hampshire (James brought up the rear). James and Alice eventually moved to Drexel, PA and were vacationing in Lake Placid in July of 1957 when James died unexpectedly at the age of 88. Stay tuned next week for the next chapter of Spalding's Winter Sports.
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