"SLIDING DOWN HILL.

d Jolly.

Coasting in tlio nnino applied in cities ■nil towns to tlmt northern winter sport which in its moat liioileni evolntion is termed tobogganing mid ri-qnircs n spe­cially constructed slide for its practice.* “Riding down hill" is what it nsed to be called in certain country districts 20 or 30 years ago, and by this term it is still known in many localities. Its narno doesn't matter anyway. If there is a more thrilling earthly amusement, I have yet to enjoy it or hear of it.

It is only in certain places that the sport ever rises tp the dignity of a science, or that it can be practiced with compar­ative safety. In cities or towns or their near vicinity there is room only in the streets, and there the danger from col-

"in.iing cui.r.All agreed, however, that tho runner inst 1* supplemented by a good “shoo,” , od concerning this important i»oint I lero was again a -great diversity of j

opinion. Thick cast iron shoes were fa- j vorite with those who lived cast of tho millpond: thin, Mender steel shoes with those who lived west. Singularly enough, thongh the matter of sled shoes had been argued every winter for -10 years when I j first knew The Hook, it was ns fur frern ] settlement as ever when I left tho place. | Victory would jiorcli on tho banner of ] tho "enstironers" lifter an exciting.rnco down north hill, only to shift to that of tlio steel contingent tho next day after an equally exciting trial of Sliced down i west bill. It was tbcgencrnl consensus of Hook oirtnion at the close of tlmt season,I believe, that the steel shoes weicbest on road work, while the cast ones wero bet- j

for crust riding. But the next win- ... the controversy broke out anew with all its original virulence and intensity.

There were then and still ure three . avs of steering a sled—bellvgnt. ostrid—straddle. Hookers called St­and kurntx. I am not sure nlxint the proiier spelling of this word, which can only be arrived at when its derivation ' s learn discovered. It is not in any . .'ti^kry so fur as I know, and I have

spelled it phonetically. Tho kumtz steer- er sat on his doubled under left leg. swung his right leg behind the sled like a rudder, grasped tho roller of his sled firmly with his left hand and the rear

lit tho board with his right. Each

OOIXO DOWN TOT! CHEST "STRADDLE." litions with aieigbs and foot passengers U obvious. .Tlio roll of its victims, as published from day to day in tlio north­ern newspapers, some winters is long and npiurtHug. Tho length of this roll is contrlbnted to by tlio use of tlio “dead­ly bob,'' a clumsy contrivauco fit only for short, uncrowded inclines.

The best coasting country ia not too broken. The hills nmst not bo too high or too steep. The configuration of ter­ritory mnst bo of the sort that is called “rolling," and the slopes must be long as well ns comparatively gentle, so that a ride of n mile or lnoro may be enjoyed. Given such territory, plenty of boys and girls and a good winter, nml ••riding down hiU" will flourish to tlio enjoyment of everybody, the deepening of chests, the painting of cheeks, the brightening of eyes and tlio lutrdening of muscles. In fine, there is no iloabt that it is a* beneficial as it is thrilling.

Tho unparalleled six weeks of skating that were vouchsafed to tho yonngsters and their elders who inhabited tho vil­lage called The Hook during the win­ter of 1866-7 were followed by a full month of such excellent conditions for coaching as brought into being a craze only less pronounced and widespread than that which was manifested on the ice. Tho snow foil to tho depth of aliont two feet at first. Every day it thawed jnst a little, and onoo or twice a week an inch or two of fresh anow fell. The Winter winds that year wero singularly mild, and the drifts were corresponding­ly easy to manage. There were two favorite rides that winter. One was down the long, easy "west hill" road and the other across tho fiehla and down the steeper "north hill"

Tlie west hill road led from the village to a woods surrounded plateau, whereon dwelt half n dozen families only. Be­cause these inhabitants wero6ofev " traffic over the road was small and the danger from collision between sleds and sleighs and cutters slight. The road liad

sharp turns, no high and dangerous banks on its lower sido for careless steersmen to rnn off and break their necks or their arms or their legs. It was a good mile and a half long, gently slop­ing most of the way, but with au i aional “pitch" to lend excitement, tv three curves that rendered good steering desirable and about n dozen of those “water turners" that are coinmonlv called “thank ye, ma'ams." If you liavi ever role down hill in a good coasting conntrv, you will understand jnst what the west hill was like.

North hill had no road. " It was not available as a riding place most years, for generally the high winds swept it

____________! “KCRNTZ."nearly bare of snow, which was piled in I high drifts aronnd the stnmps and the fences. This winter the snow lay still, and each day's snn would melt tbe top a little, which would freeze .at night, and in time tlie hemntifnl, white, smooth ex­panse was covered with n ernst strong enongh to hear a man and even a horse, and over which a good sled wonld glide with snch a speed ns to take away the breath of an inexperienced rider. The farm owners kindly consented to have a few lengths of fence taken down so os to gtve the pleasure seekers fall swing, and a ride of about half a mile over the crust, which terminated at the pond, was secured that wks far more exciting than tho ride down west hill, tliongh not so prolonged.

There were no "deadly bobs” in Tlie Hwk. There were to my knowledge but two “bonghten" sleds. The owner of a gayly painted and fancy sled from a store was jeered at by his companions as a “girl boy." Tlie best sleds were constructed by the village wagon maker, and about half of them were ' “kneo sleds" and tbe rest “boards." There was a great diversity of opinion ns t projicr shnjie of a sled runner. Some held that it should be low and sharp, with a slight, long curve, others that it should be high and with a rather short

a few critic, who would rather liavo t i ­the senator'', stalwart form draped in a Roman toga or something else that is “classical."

Mrs. Conkliag. tho il-nutor's willow, caw the model In tlio sculptor's stmlio many times, and shortly before her death, which occurred in October last, wrote to Ml-. Ward complimenting him on his success in securing n lifelike rep­resentation of her husband. Mrs. Conk- Hng' took the greatest interest in tho completion uf lift) memorial, and many times expressed tho wish that there might bo u-> ceremony of any kind when it was unvi-lli d. Her desire was carried out to the letter, and the slat no was set epand unveiled, without a wonl of eulo­gy or a note of music, in tho presence of but n small nsscmblago of pauersby who bed stopped to sco what v.-*a going

Tho bronze represents Senator Conk- ling in an nttitmlo Mr. Ward remembers having one:' seen him assume while ad­dressing the senate. Tho pose is grace­ful and natural, and tho likeness is re­markably good- The statuo is 8 feet in height and weighs 1,203 pounds. Tho pedestal l. of grayish red marble, and the only inscription is tlie name, "Roe- coc Coukling."

COLORED CATHOLICS.

boys because tho riderYould Hot Ms- well and was iu danger of batting Ids brains ont, nod among the parents because it was n great deni linnler on shoo leather than tlio other two methods. It wits used very litllo on either of tho long rides.

"Straddle" steering was safest if more_jut ooo passenger was to be. taken ontbo sled, but kurntz waa tho general fa­vorite. It certainly possessed decided advantages when, tho steersman was a sturdy yonng fellow, booted to tbo knee, broad shouldered and deep chested, and tlio passenger a star eyed, pink cheeked, carmine lipped Hook girl. The kumtr

Father Augustus Tollon, who lias tho distinction uf being tbo first Roman Catholic 'priest of the negro rnco or­dained especially for missionary work among the colored people of the United States, ia now engaged in tbe erection of a clmrch for his congregation in Chicago which promises to be an ornament to tho city. It is dedicated to St. Monica, tho mother of St. August!ne.iuid is expected to bo completed iu J uly next. Tlio struc­ture will be of Gothic architecture, with two spires of unequal _height, and tbo material pressed brick, trimmed with Bedford atouc. Tlie seating capacity of the church proper will ho 830. and tho Sunday school rooms will accommodate 500 more. The interior woodwork will be of whito oak, and tho building will be heated by steam and lighted with elec­tricity.

A uniqno nml interesting lifo hii is Fatln-r Tolton's. He was liom a slave on a Missouri plantation, anil on outbreak of tlio war his parents escaped to tho north, taking their children with them. They reached Illinois in safety and located at Quincy, where tlio father of the family soon died and Augustus ’

Thk dea cox's pcxu. stcersuuin'o passenger nsed to sit on tho front of tlio sled Tnrk fashion, well pro­tected by the half encircling arm tlint was extended forward to grasp tlio roller, the only disadvantage suffered being the fact that such proximity of lips tis this manner of riding allowed sometimes distracted the attention of tlio young man from the road ahead.

Tho rido down the long west hill oc­cupied from three to five minutes, nc- conilug to tho sled anil tho ability of tho steersnmu. Tlio rider firstat tho toplmil tho right to tho first start. Tlio next to follow hod not tlio right to start till the first curve, about 13 rods down, hsd been passed by tlie leader. This was to minimize the danger of nccidcnt incase tho leader upset or was thrown off his sled. Tho ride down tho uorth hill on tho ernst took up not more tlian a min-

aud sometimes not quite that. But sleds could be on that descent at the e time for like precautionary reasons.

Only tbe most skillful riders wero allow­ed to go down the crust, and passenger* wero mostly barred. As it was. most of the sleds going down with but one rider, there wero twice ns many accidents on the crust as on tbo road, bat serious hurts were rare, tlie worst ones being the result of stones sticking up through the crust. When li stono was struck by a flying slcil runner, there was immediate­ly some remarkable ground and lofty tumbling, with subsequent bruises nml black and blue spots and applications of

Tlie meteoric rapidity of the trip down the hills was quite offset by tho slowness of tlio tramping up hill. But these up­ward marches were not tedious. They were beguiled by song and story mid ru­ral jest and an occasional rough and tumble iu tho snow that added to the youthful spirits of the trnmiicrs mid pre­vented nil semblance of dullness.

Toward tlie middle of February tho older inhabitants began to take a hand, and the silver headed old chaps that had skated earlier in the season rode down

odco apiece just to show the youngsters how to steer. In this they did not succeed remarkably well, but they liked the fun that they had not before enjoyed siuce their youth so much that they finally got out Deacon Bixby's "pang," liad it lmuled about a third of the way up the west hill, had two linn deled* lushed to the pole, the two beat steersmen of Tho Hook took their placos on the sleds, and a dozen or more of -Urn old folks got into tho “pung," and down tho hill they went, shrieking and laughing like so many children. I. D. Mausuall.

©INKLING IN BRONZE,

Aa Art Nile Memorial of lb,- Villa* as New

A fino brouzo statno of Roscoe Conk- ling by J. Q. A. Ward, tho famous Amer­ican sculptor, was recently erected iu tho

coutheast comer

FATIIKIl Al'OUSTCS TOLTON.compelled lo go to work to hclpsnstaln bis mothir and sisters. His first ein- -ploymcnt waa secured in a tobacco fac­tory at 30. cents a week, and after that he worked in a collar manufactory and

Daring nil this timo ho devoted every leisure moment to study, being ambi­tions |o secure nn education. His prog­ress was good, and lio mastered Latin almost without assistance. Ho subse­quently entered S'- Francis college, and on tho completion of liis studies there was accepted us a student atthe propa­ganda in Rome, where he spent six years end was ordained, celebrating his first mass in St. Peter's on Esster Sunday. 1886.

Returning at unco to Quincy, Father Tollon was placed in chargo of St. Jo­seph's colored congregation, where ho remained for about tlireo years. Chica­go, however, offered a larger and

organized the congregation of St. Monf- ca's church. I!e is r. fluent aud graceful talker and has a singing voice of excep­tional sweetness, which shows to advantage iu tho chgflts>Kho high i It is no uimsnnl thing for many whito people to bo eccu among his cougroga-

! The British museum . ex head of 1.370 years B. C.. tho oldest authenticated iron implement known.

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' i. Trial liottles free r. Pharmacy. Large siz^

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of tho admirers of the late sena­tor, nmongjdiom wero Levi P. Mor­ton, q^l-ico pres­ident of tho Unit­ed States; Clar- cnco A. Seward, C. P. nmiting- ton. Henry Vil-lnrd and tlio Into August Belmont. These gentlemen

u the ccmittcc appointed to choose n sculp­tor and pa.-d iqion I ho model forthe ntatuc, aud tho

OOJnctJXo'n OTATCE. result of their choice is verv satisfactory to all except

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COLUMBIA LLAI-LaS, MOjSTTA.N-A-