To a man who simply makes skating an excuse for an outing and a jollification, the Acme is the best skate, because it is easily carried, easily put on and off, and with it he is enabled to do the little skating he is capable of as well as if he had the most expensive and elaborate pair.
To the enthusiast who looks on figure skating as a science to be studied, it is essential that he should have what he conceives to be the best skates that can be made.
Assuming, then, that the skater will not object to carrying a bag large enough to hold a pair of boots and skates, we think that the “Mount Charles” is the best, as it is the simplest, lightest, and neatest. It consists of a skate blade attached by means of plates screwed to the sole of the boot. The front plate is under the ball of the foot, and the heel plate at the heel, and if a very thick-soled boot be used, the absence of support between the two points of attachment, is not practically felt. But a heavy boot is not only unsightly, but fatiguing. If a thinner-soled boot be used, the heat of the foot softens the leather of the sole, which, bending, no longer supports the instep, and fatigue and cramp ensue. Gillett and Co., of Sheffield, hit on a plan which obviates the necessity of a thick and heavy boot, by making the sole of wood instead of leather. A Mount Charles skate with Dowler blades, fitted to wooden-soled boots or clogs, is perhaps the most comfortable, effective, and neat skate produced.
Next in merit to the Mount Charles come the “Barney and Berry.” These also are skeleton skates, being fastened to the boot, either with a T plate for the heel and movable clamps for the toe (the clamps worked by a key), or having movable clamps at both heel and toe. The mechanical arrangement of the Barney and Berry is a great advance on the Acme; but, as the toe clamps catch the sides of the welt, and do not lap over it as in the old club skate with toe clamps, it is necessary to screw the toe clamps somewhat tightly, and this has a tendency to curl up the soles of the boots, especially if the sole be rather thin, or when it gets soft from the heat of the foot or from skating on wet ice.
Skaters, as a rule, use the boots they skate in simply as skating boots, and never attempt to walk any distance in them; a rigid sole of wood would therefore be no disadvantage. If a piece of oak board the length of the boot be shaped so as to touch the footstock of the Barney and Berry all along the iron plate, which extends from the instep to the toe, and the board be attached to a thin pair of well-fitting laced-up boots, all the discomforts of the clamps pinching the sole will be obviated, and the heavy thick boot may of course be dispensed with. There is no doubt that a rigid-soled boot is a distinct advantage, whether the Mount Charles or the Barney and Berry skate be used.
It sometimes happens that the skater has to change his boots some little distance from the ice and walk down in his skates—a proceeding that in nowise improves them; and under these circumstances the Barney and Berry has a decided advantage over the Mount Charles, as the skater can put on his boots and walk down in them to the ice, and then adjust his skates.
It is unnecessary to go into the merits of the “Dowler” blade, as its advantages over the straight-sided blade were duly chronicled in The Field of Oct. 11, 1879. Since that time the new form of skate blade has been gradually growing in favour. There was some difficulty at first in getting these blades properly made; but Hill and Son, of the Haymarket, and Walter Thornhill and Co., of New Bond Street, turn out Dowler blades in a way that leaves nothing to be desired.
There are, of course, numerous skates other than the Mount Charles and the Barney and Berry, most of which display considerable mechanical ingenuity; but, if we were asked to point out the skate we considered “the best,” we should, without hesitation select either the Mount Charles or the Barney and Berry. (Field.)
Swimming.—This can never be learned from books; it should form a part of every boy’s school training as much as reading or writing. A few hints to non-swimmers will be acceptable, and may prove highly valuable if kept in mind.
The human body weighs 1 lb. in the water, and a chair will carry 2 persons—that is, it will keep the head above water, which is all that is necessary when it is a question of life or death. One finger placed upon a stool or chair or a small box or board will easily keep the head above water, while the two feet and the other hand may be used as paddles to propel toward the shore.