SOLDIERS ON SKATES.

Otago Witness, Issue 1478, 13 March 1880, Page 27

SOLDIERS ON SKATES.

The corps of skaters, a force peculiar to the Norwegian army, has been reorganised, and.oonsists now of five companies, eaoh of 110 men, whioh in time of war, can be reinforced by calling in 270 skaters belonging to the 1 andwehr. The men of this oorpß are armed with rifles, and can be manoeuvred upon ice or over the snow fields of the mountains with a rapidity equ&l to that of the best trained cavalry. The skates they use are admirably adapted for travelling over rough and broken ice or frozen snow, being six inohes broad and between nine and ten inches long. In ascondiug steep slopes the men take v zigzag course, tacking up the mountain side as a ship does againßt a head wind. As an inetaace of the speed at which they can go, it is mentioned that last winter a me&senyfcr despatched from Roeraas at 3 o'clock in the morning arrived at Drontheim Bt 9. 30 in the evening of the same day, haying, consequently, accomplished 120 miles in 184 hours. It must be added, however, that Rouraasi ib some 2000 feet higher than Drontheim, so that the course oi the skater was down hill all the way. o<i the return journey the same man took 54 hours to reach Roeraas f torn Drontheim, but tho route ho took led him over very rough and broken snow fields, which rendered great caution andi'slow skating neoesßary. — From Galignani's Messenger*