Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 88.djvu/462

 �Improving the Old

DURING this winter, when socie- ty's revival of ice skating has caused many dance hall managers to turn their polished hardwood floors into ice rinks, manufacturers have stud- ied the patent office files in search of novelties in skates which might be of- fered to the public.

It is a surprising fact, that a large pro- portion of patents which have been awarded to inventors have described skates which are capable of being trans- formed from ice to roller skates at a moment's notice. j\Iany and weird are the skates described in the patents, and hardy indeed would be the skater who would offer to experiment with them on hard and unyielding ice.

A skate which may be used as a ski is shown in Fig. 1. It may be used sin- gly or in pairs, and is designed to be used on a thick crust of snow. The run- ner projects over the front of the skate, and forms an adjustable handle by which the skees may be steered. A turn of the handles guides the runners in any de- sired direction.

In Fig. 2 is shown a skate which is claimed by the inventor to have most un- usual advantages. The lever which ex- tends upwards from the skate contains a mechanism for clamping it tightly to the shoe. By turning the top, the position of the clamps is changed, and when the lever is swung to an upright position, as illustrated, the clamps are drawn tightly to the shoe. A gaiter is furnished with the skate, and when the lever has served its other purposes, it is fastened to the gaiter, and forms an ankle brace. .

When one thinks of the blade of a skate, it is natural to believe that it must be absolutely straight. Should we see a blade that had several kinks in it, we would be tempted to take it to a black- smith and have him hammer it until it became straight. To do this, however, would be to defeat the purpose of a Ger- man inventor, who has patented in this country a skate which has several curves in the blade. Each of these curves is de- signed to correspond with the natural movements of the skate in use, or with the curve or figure which is described

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