SKATING (from skate, from Dutch schaats, ODuteh, schadse, high-heeled shoe). One of the primitive methods of man's progression over the ice when it is free from snow. The earliest form of skate was a shin or rib bone of some animal, tied to the skater's foot. Skates of bone are in the Guildhall collection in London and in other museums. The wooden skate shod with iron appeared in the fourteenth century. With the development of a metal foot piece bearing a cutting edge the art of progressing without the aid of the stick was acquired, the blade being set within a base of wood, which was stra pped to the foot. Holland is still the paradise of skaters, and skating there, aside from its prac tical uses, is a national sport. Other notable skating countries of Europe are Russia, Norway, and Germany. Skating is very popular in Great Britain, and some famous skaters have been produced, especially from the Fens, on the east ern coast of England. The United States and Canada, with their long, cold winters, have pro duced many fast skaters who vie with the best of those abroad. Few outdoor sports in these countries attract so many devotees from the mass of the people. On the lludson River have been made some of the fastest skating records, although Minnesota and the Middle West gen erally now rank with it. Montreal is the centre of Canadian skating. In 18S4 a national ama teur association was formed, with W. B. Curtis as president, and this has held successful cham pionships ever since. Afterwards Eastern and Western sectional championships were instituted, and in 1899 the distances wire measured accord ing to the meter system, in accordance with the custom abroad. Foreign skaters in the United States have, as a rule, had to take second rank to the Americans.
The development of the skate used in the United States embraces three distinct periods. The old-fashioned skate had a straight, thick blade, sometimes with a double edge (gutter), affixed to a piece of wood, the skate being bound on by straps. Then came the club-skate. an im provement in that it was entirely of metal and could be instantly clamped to the foot. The
blades were of a 'rocker' shape from end to end, which allowed fancy skating. but which re duced the speed in straightaway skating. Fi nally the 'Hudson River' or 'Donoghue' skate was introduced, which at once found favor in the West especially. This 'was practically a return to the old-fashioned form, the skate being straight-bladed and having a wooden top. with straps. The blade is long, projecting behind and before the foot. and very narrow, and the 'club' or foot-piece, when properly made of apple-wood, is very light. With it has come into popular favor the Norwegian skate, the best skate known, which has a similar blade, fastened permanently to the shoe by three metal pieces screwed to the Its weight is but a few ounces. The hockey skate, a combination of the club and the sorw?.gian form, namely a short, thick, and straight-bladed skate screwed to the shoe, is another popular form.
The style of skating in America has been not a little influenced by the speed-skate, which by its nature has added considerable grace to the stroke. The principle of this stroke is a gentle falling of the body from side to side, as either skate takes its position for the beginning of a stroke. The foot is pushed almost straight ahead, the blade striking the ice flatly, instead of beginning, as in the club-skate, with the toe, and ending, at. the finish of the stroke, with the heel. In pushing off, therefore, with either foot, the whole length of the blade is obtained as a purchase instead of the toe only, as in the case of the club-skate. The re sult is the greatest imaginable ease in skating, while the length of the stroke is two to three times as long, saving considerable energy.
The competitions in figure-skating in the States are under the control of the Na tional Association, founded in 1885, which acts in conjunction with the Canadian Amateur• Skat ing Association, founded in 1888, and the compe titions for the championships are held annually, alternately in New York and Montreal.