he Omaha
unday Bee.
PART THREE
HALF-TONE
PAGES 1 TO 4.
FOR ALL THE NEWS THE
OMAHA BEE
CUT IN THE
VOL. XXXIX-NO. 31.
OMAHA, SUNDAY MORNING, JANUARY 16, 1910.
SINGLE COPY FIVE CENTS.
SNOW AND ICE AND SNAPPY WINTER WEATHER SPORTS
Youngsters Find All Sorts of Fun Outdoors When Mercury Is Hovering Around Zero, and Lake and Hill, and Pond and Boulevard Afford Ample Scope for Healthy and Happy Exercise
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IceJ2o&t S&tJors On Cc?rterJLke
WITH the coming of winter the out-of-door world Is trans
formed. The somber landscape that autumn has-left"
strewn with the ruins of a summer's burnt out glory Is
blanketed and burled hy the snow. The still, dark "
waters of the lakes and ponds, stained and cleared '
Into a transparent blackness by the tanning of many decaying
leaves that came tumbling down with the frost, become sheets of ,
translucent crystal ice. This new out-of-door world beckons to new
sports. The base ball diamond, the gridiron, the regatta course are
forgotten until another season.
Soil and water have been replaced and transmitted by snow and
ten. The new medium offers other diversions.
First of all, the sports of the winter demand motion and exertion.
The spectator is now no longer a part of the scheme of things. To
enjoy what winter has to offer one must be a participant. There is
no place for languor. The atmosphere Is charged with vim and dash
and go.
To naturally enough all the winter sports are varying expressions
of motion, just simple movement, the joy Is that of motion for Its
own sake. Skating, coasting, sleighing, they are all one and the same
in final analysis. These three are the accepted stapIes,of the amuse
ments' that belong to winter. In little differing forms they are the
property of all lands where winter touches.
When winter comes it is welcome for the new fields of sport that
it opens.
OUdlng along with even rapid motion over a snowpacked road,
the sharp tingle of clear cold air fanned against the face, an occa-1
slonal thrill from swift turns and billiwing swells In the surface be
neatn, bells jingling softly in rhythm with the swing stride of gingery
horses, always at a steady but heart-quickening speed that la the
t joy of sleighing.
To taste the pleasures of this appealing diversion of winter's out-of-doors
to the fullest one must get out away from the paved streets,
away from the conventional lines of the city. Out beyond the border
of the town where terraces and lawn are left behind and the wayside
Is lined with hedgerows and fences interwoven with the withering
weeds and vines of the summer gone, Into the stretches where there
Is elbow room and a bit of space in which one's thoughts and gaze
may wander undistracted, is where one finds winter at its best. It
Is there that your sleigh ride will lead you if you are wise.
The sleigh swings up to the hilltop and you pause a moment be
fore crossing the crest. Off Into the distance the eye meets only
restful stretches of snow broken here and there across the fields and
meadows by the brownish grey of the Bow d'Arc of the hedges or the
smoky tinge of the fringing woodland along the stream In the valley
below. Here and there a dried and tawny plume of blue stem or a
still defiant weed stalk rises from the white of the snow in memorial
to the feason that was.
Tben you cluck to the horses and are off down the hill. The suow
sprays up from the shearing runners as you advance with increasing'
speed dowu the declivity. The spurting streams of epray fly up to
settle In Utile drifted patterns on the even surface at the sides of the
beaten roadbed. A tiny puff of snow dust follows each quick, sharp
hoof strike. As you reach the bottom of the hill a short, sudden rise
caused by the bump the careless road workers left at the edge of the
crossing last fallxmakes you draw a quick breath as the sleigh halt
jumps from the earth. Then you glide over the bridge into the wood
land stretches. Here the roadway winds about on the level flood plaiu
left by the yer-- -' " 'ertng of the now frost stilled stream. The
winter wood? One plaintively peeping chickadee or a
vociferous sapsuckei un-mmlng about vainglorlously, or maybe drill
ing Industriously for hidden larvae terve but to magnify the quietude.
This Impudent little bird, however, cares not a whit for your intru
sion. He will give you no more notice than to flit across on your ap
proach to another tree stump. He is probably real busy, anyway, as
he Is occupied until dinner time getting his hard-earned lunch. One
is inclined to believe that he has paused Just the same to exchange
profane opinions with a chattering squirrel up in the oak at the edge
of the woodlot.
The somber grey barked tree trunks which go sweeping past as
telegraph poles pass a train la your quick gait along the quiet, cold
driveway, work a curious fretwork of shadows across the roadway
when the sun strikes his winter afternoon angle. The scene gives
little hint of the verdure that June will coax out of the tightly sealed
buds. But never mind; it's winter now and a bit too chilly to be
mooning about In the woods a hen the restive team Is anxious to keep
going.
V Up over the next hill and on down the long declining sweep be- school, the young folk are gathering in merry sleighing parties. The
yond into the city again. The first arc light's bluish radiance contrasts bis wagon box is set on the sled runners, which have been pulled
strangely with the cold distant shimmering light of the early evening down from a summer of storage in the barn loft or Implement shed,
ietars way off there In the blue of a few millions of miles of attenu- With the wagon bed filled with hay, plenty of robes and blankets and
ated ether. Yoaare on the edge of the city again. Pull up your horses two sturdy farm teams hitched cn ahead, they pile in to ride rolster
and turn about to take a look into the country landscape fading into inS and singing along the country highways and byways in the stimu
the nlehtfall. SDeed 'em ud Into the busv streets onr mnr to dnde lating cold of the night. The Nebraska farmer boy, of course, owns
automobiles and cars again. It is night and there is dinner waiting smart cutter and llke as not a motor car llke h,a clty C0UBln but
and the theater yet to add to the day's amusements.
Sleighing Is a sane, wholesome sort of sport, If one may call sport
It's the old farm sled for gregarious sociability.
There's likely to be mugs of cider and some home-made dough-
auch a pastime so curiously blending varying components of pleasure. nut8 at the cnd of 019 ou ' 0maha' wlth butter
The easy, gliding swing of the sleigh as it moves over the snow which 40 cenU a pound ad renday c?.mto 'Tn- t th. Uk. nd
. , , x . The skaters throne the cold, glased surface of the lakes ana
presents a surface velvety and yet firm, soothes with a peculiar mes- f ,"L- aw, -,hni ho,,r.
merle Influence, but you are kept awake and alert by the tingling. pouu8 avaui-luo vll, lu ." "T. , , . vl " w
frnt idn ft.r hrniv fr Jm b. . v,.- LJ, and on Sunday afternoon the skating carnival is to be seen at Its best.
frost laden air, so sharply refreshing, like a draught of bitter sweet
wine. There Is enough chill to keep the sense active and give the
blood work to do.
The horses themselves get the contagion of It. The beaten snow
gives a resilient footing for the sharply calked shoes and the snappy
The skaters whirl and glide and Jostle with many a good nature!
bump and laughing fall. It Is a crowd of widely variant people. The
little tots of barely 7 are there mingling with the grown-ups. Here
and there one sees strange foreign faces In the throng of skaters,
faces that show plainly the delight 'of a new sensation. The lmml-
air supplies the Impetus to long, powerful strides, following In sure g from th(J Bhore8 Qf tn(J Mealterranean are becoming Ameri-
.yu-yruuucu.g succesa.un. xne jangling oeus oi Deiu seem, too. to can,zed ,n the,r tg afl well work In interesting contrast are
have a part In giving the prancing team a spirit of pride. hom Btern ScandanavIan face8, fr0m a land where climate has en-
The horse is secure at least in his position of honor as the mo- gendered long familiarity with the Ice.
tlve power of the sleigh. The gasoline motor has tried to encroach The crowds on the ice present some interesting figures. There
even on this field of equine endeavor and a score or so of slalgh ls lDe mtle gjri wno can-t 8kate, much a burden to her big brother
motors, motor devices cunningly arranged with toothed wheels and and tne Dlg glri ln whose progress he seems to be much more lnter
complicated "pushers," have been patented. They have not been e8ted Tne fancy BtUnt man is always the center of a flock of less
successful, however, and the horse stands supreme ln this one winter proficlent admirers, who follow him about in his antics on the Ice.
pastime. Ju(jt ag tho wake of a COUntry circus is marked by a series of
Perversely enough, despite the unusual generousity of the winter barn loft trapeze accidents to amateur acrobats, so the small boy
season ln its advantages for sleighing, Omafia has taken but little comes to grief and bard knocks trying to repeat the figure skater's
Interest Out on the boulevards and through the parks the motor cars performance in a secluded corner of the pond.
go whirring by, while the sleigh Is seen but rarely. It appears a The figure skater gives an impression of the unlimited possl
pleasure much neglected while the enthusiasm of the city folk ls bilitles of his medium. With but a stroke here and there he executes
wrapped up in the motor car. a dozen combinations of "back curves" with a dizzy spin like a
Out In the country, where distractions are not so many, the dervish and a long spiral sweep at the finish. 7 ' '
Nebraska farmer people have been making ihe most of the winter's On the ice the youngsters play the games that have been the
enow. Just as they did in the old days when you went to the district property of children for generations. There are-excited, screaming
Controlling- Trains Automatically
SEVERAL important devices ln rail
road signaling, intended to dimin
ish the human factor in railroad ac
cldents, come over from the old
year for development in the new.
The aim and Importance of these devices Is
explained, by a writer ln the Railroad Man's
Magasine. In part he says:
telephone on the train connecting with
distant cities so that a traveler can conduct
business from a speeding coach as if in his
own office is one of the striding features of a
three in one invention which Fred Lacroix, a
young railroad man of 24, has Just placed
in successful operation on twelve miles of
the Erlo railroad In New Jersey. The two
other parts to the combination are a cab sig
naling system and an automatic stop, and the
whole proved its efficiency before half the
signal engineers and many financiers of New
York.
The Inventor is staking his success on the
practical working of the safety appliances,
but the appeal to the general imagination 1s
In the telephone. For though the public at
large does not know when ft travels whether
the road Is automatically, controlled or oper
ated by hand signals, It can see a telephone
and feel a thrill of wonder when It Is possible
to sit In a car and talk with someone 1,000
miles away while the train Is whirling over
the country.
As to safety, Lacroix's system has all the
advantages of the automatic block in pre
venting collisions, and goes a step further
by stopping the train If the engineer does not
heed the signal. The fact that Its mt-thod
of cab signaling is simple as well as certain
is also worthy of comment.
Up to the time Lacroix appeared with his
device the most advanced form of signaling
Included only cab signaling and the auto
matic stop. This combination has been used,
moreover, only on a few miles of road in
England and is not thoroughly established
as i yet. The difficulties encountered have
been chiefly with the weather conditions,
necessitating, the uae of steam heat to melt
the ice and snow at the points of contact be
tween the engine and the signal arrange
ments ou the track.
With Lacroix's system a third rail ls
used, and there is only such inconvenience
as ls caused by ice on a third rail anywhere,
and that is not too great to obviate, as shown
by the success of third-rail systems in the
open country.
The telephone in the cab Is entirely new
ln signaling, and has Immediately com
mended Itself as a time saver. It provides
a quick and direct means of communication
between engineer and operator and permits
the issuing of orders to trains on the move
at a distance from a station.
A light third rail does the work. It con
veys the signals, applies the brakes when
necesuary and acts as a telephone wire. Tho
mechanism is on the engine, where it ls
brought into the roundhouse for inspection,
and all that can get out of order along the
track Is the track circuit, containing a bat
tery and a track relay. If anything should
happen to these the train will be brought to
a full stop,
The engineer receives his Information aa
to the condition of the track ahead from a
green light, which shows ln his cab as long
as the right-of-way is clear. Directly under
It ls an electromagnet, which derives Its mag
netic powers from a shunt-wound dynamo
driven of steam pressure from the engine.
When it has its full energy it is sufficiently
powerful to hold a heavy Iron arm, which,
when ln contact with the magnet, does not
affect the air brake valve.
If anything happens to the current so
that the magnet loses its power the heavy
- iron arm falls, opening the valve and setting
every brake ln the train. And, as the air
escapes it passes through a whistle which it
blows ln warning. A the current also sup
plies the light It goes out simultaneously
with the dropping of the arm.
In the same circut with the light and the
magnet is a shoe of steel brushes, made to
scrape the third rail and communicate an
electric current to its surface. As long as
the third rail ls In a closed track circuit not
broken by the presence of another train the
current which ls local to the engine flows
out through the third rail, making a com
plete circuit of the track wires and returning
through the wheels and body of the engine.
If there Is another train on the track and
the 'circuit is not closed the engine circuit is
abruptly broken by the same opening ln the
track circuit which interrupted .the track
current, the magnet loses its power, the arm
drops, the brakes are set and the train stops.
' .(Continued on Page Four.)
contests at "blackman" and "tag." Then the school boys have a
nondescript game which is neither hockey nor the "shtnnny" of the
country town lots. ,
There is something in whacking at an old battered can to watch,
It sail over tho ice that-appeals to a boy's ardent instincts. This
nameless game has no particular finish and no scoring, but there's a
lot of fun about it all.
Skating is in favor with many of the young womwi of Omaha,
too. They are to be seen on the fine days skating wlthJust as much
leisure grace as the jostling crowds will permit.
The most popular, because the most accessible of the skating
places ln Omaha, ls the lake at Hanscom park. From the vantage
of the hilltops about the little pond appears much like a carnival
ground as the throng of skaters surge about ln many colored streams
and blotches from the massing of gay sweaters and caps.
The available skating places ol the season have been limited this
season owing to the persistent fall of snow following the formation
of the ice. Carter lake, which ln seasons past has offered the best
skating of the locality, has been Impossible territory this year be
cause of the snow crust.
Hanscom park lake has been kept cleared for the skater through
the enterprise of the street railway company, which reaps many a
nickel from the carrying of the skaters.
On one chill, blustery day last week a lone Ice boat spread its
wings for a little spin across Carter lake. This boat ls the last of
a fleet of the ice craft that used to skim the lake at lightning speed
in performances of wonderful daring.
Ice boating ls the most dangerous but fascinating of winter
sports. The speed is but limited by the wind. Broad sails, with
hundreds of feet of pulling surface, mounted on light steel-shod run
ners, develop a velocity just a little faster than the wind Itself.
The possibilities of the Ice boat for producing thrills ls unlimited.
To ride an Ice boat before a winter gale ls to travel at a speed that
at times may exceed that of an express train. There ls just a narrow
seat to hold onto and there are sudden turns to be made ln the bullet
like flight over the Ice. To the experienced Ice yacbtman an air hole
or a bit of open water fifteen or twenty feet wide ls not an obstacle.
The speed is sufficient to shoot the. boat across to the firm Ice on
the other side. Of course, sometimes it don't and then. Sometimes
the front runners of the craft cross the gap and take the surface on
the opposite side, but let the rear runners on the speeding craft drop
below the edge of the ice. Then comes a shock. From sixty miles
an hour to a dead stop is enough to put the passengers of the Ice boat
all over the lake, but that's part of the fun. '
The encroachments of the ice harvesters and the dangers of the
- sport have operated as a discouragement, and the fleet of racers at
Carter lake have been abandoned. The same reasons have militated
against sail skating, which ls well near aa dangerous and quite as
exciting.
Equipped with a big triangular sail mounted on sturdy frame
the skater can execute maneuvers on the Ice that wonderfully re
semble the swooping flight of the swallow. It Is a sport for a strong,
sure skater. As with the Ice boat, the skater can veer and tack Ilka
a vessel, making a reasonable speed against the wind.
Clothed with a covering of packed snow, every inclining road
way and hillside offers the opportunity for sport to the coasters. Out
ln the districts where the crowded traffic ls not an Interference the
sleds are busy. A bully lot of exercise the coasters get.
It ls a long walk up the slanting course to the top. A rest at
the starting point, then a plunge oft with a suddenness like flying
through space, swiftly at first, dying slowly ln the long slide out on
the level end of the course, then trudging back again, dragging the
sled; that ls the endless circuit of the coasters. '
Perhaps the graphic description improvised by an old Indian is
the best way to express it. This redskin had for the first time seen
a full grown bobsled take a steep slide. He watched many trips In
wonderment and delight. The speed made a great hit with this
thoughtful brave. An attempt to explain his sensations to his fel
lows found his vocabulary uncomfortably deficient. Groping about
for some way to say it, he at last exploded;
"Swish, swish walk a milt."
That was the whole story down the hill and np again.
When a bobsled loaded with eighteen lusty boys gets Into the
grip of Ike 'ewton's law of gravitation on a slippery hillside it Is
bound to develop speed like a sixty-horse power motor car on Farnam
street's down grade, which Is generally admitted to be going some.
The steersman of the bobslod has a strenuous Job- He ls the
guardian of the safely of his passengers and the strain of a long slide
over an uncertain course puts a bicycle face on the man In front
A fw Inches off the beaten tracks and the treacherous sled will turn
turtle, which means that the Joy riders will pile into an ungraceful
tangle, with the possibility of some broken bones
