The Montreal slide was just one-third of a
mile long, and the time occupied in the descent on good ice was
about twenty seconds, working out at sixty miles an hour. Every
precaution was taken against accidents; there was a telephone from
the far end, and no toboggan was allowed to start until "track
clear" had been signalled. Everything in this world is relative.
We had thought our Ottawa slides very fast, though the greatest
speed we ever attained was about thirty miles an hour, whilst at
home we had been delighted if we could coax fifteen miles an hour
out of our rough machines. The Lansdowne boys were very expert on
toboggans, and could go down the Ottawa slides standing erect, a
thing no adult could possibly manage. They had fitted their
machines with gong-bells and red and green lanterns, and the
"Ottawa River Express" would come whizzing down at night with
bells clanging and lights gleaming.
I can claim to be the absolute pioneer of ski on the American
continent, for in January, 1887, I brought my Russian ski to
Ottawa, the very first pair that had ever been seen in the New
World.
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