A Rival to the Switchback

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXIII, Issue 7541, 23 January 1896, Page 4

A Rival to the Switchback

tesf&JStr&osß you were to go down to th echute Hl'tat; Ooriey Island^ :• jfop w£uld see something §•*'! like, this :. There is a big enclosure, with iyS (ft, high board .fence around it, from -which K^a^oge incline stretches up. It looks like lAv a. -.toboggan' slide, only., far ''bigger than sH^iribafc., '-The. man., at.-tfie stile^ate says %■■;.;'" Tioketa, please." So you pay 200 for j^y-eaoh ticket, admitting you to the grounds and one ride each on the chute. Just as fh J 'iypvt go in you. hear a roaring, rattling £v sonnd, and a boat comes rushing down g$ the slide into the lake in front of you. ji^Xotl see the boat leap 40ffc ab a jump over |t;i the surface of the 'water) like some ocean IJSyJclemon, until it finally quiets down and itself to be paddled' easily up to |!J y. the bant. • As the people in the boat are SjlKy helped oubby several of the fifty atfcendi^i'.farits' dressed in sailor suits you expect jr ; :>';thfiin to. cry outaoine expression of disapproval, for, you certainly heard them |s<-;ri qhquting out in a frightened manner as '&"£ they.rode down the chute. But no. £.£■'.■ '■ "Wasn't ib perfectly splendid?" says £; ; - \ one woman. ■ Sj; .. "."•:;** lt. beats tobogganing I" exclaims fi- ■ . another. fel ' ; ' "kst's do it again," says a small boy. j|:<v\ '.A Hbtlo reassured, you move around §i-' w^thth© crowd to the entrance to the jjjY. elfde, and, after giving your tickets to the you all get into little cars — sjj,* similar to those' in use at Niagara Falls p£ \ running down to the ■whirlpool rapids — %'s• attached- to' endless chains, which drag "f^jrquXup to the top of the chute as slowly & .V. as* the' boats in the other part go rapidly. "AY- As you get.a little more than half-way up £?.'• a boatload of people rattled by within 10ft £v\.'6f voji t ;and y° u wonder again whether ,?"4 you aate the courage to make the first fe-i trial.- _• - ?<j '. Onee 1 lip, you follow the others- around ■;py 'to the other side of the chute, where' boats *>;*• .are sanb down every fifteen seconds. V ' Ypuglance;down the slide. It looks very '?■ long, and. the water, which the steersman .'.;■, says is only three feet deep, seems very i;'; far away and very deep. At; last with a [-'.'■-- jaudden I',1 ', gulp of courage, you jump in, ';.; /holding tight to the railings as the guard <j? : >bids you. You see little streams of water |f '^-.bubbling np' and trickling down every few &|'ov inches or so along the slide, and 'way Sjjif^belew'the big pool of water looks yawnS?|: lugly upward. The boat dispatcher has aSv jus ' hand on the lever which holds the ?|.*'!b4)at back. And now that is turned. If.;,- "Hold fast; ; ladies and gentlemen. i s£;--Hats under the seat.! Now, then, you're W'A' , QuJokly the boat rattles into the incline. :;.'.-' ;A fraction of a" second, and you are rush- . '^ 'ing along so fa9t that you almost scream. : A second or two more, and you are going ! I] / at the rate of Beventy-four miles an hour. ;■, y .'You have lost your breath, but the fresh 5; ■ ; ai?.thab. rushes into your lungs gives you :,-'■ a delicious sensation. You feel as if you ; wera ; flying through the air. %0: y Boom !' Splash ! The boat strikes the p^'water,> almost jolting you off your seat, J=V',-and whirling. the spray high into the air. J^.'The people tori the banks of the little pond list, whizz by, 'for the speed is still terrific, p]?; . and" the . boat . jumps forward in crazy Sfi.leaps. 'After two or three of these [Jfe'?: spasmodic' efforts the boat glides to the oi\ landing, thanks to the assistance of the ?■?;(.■; man in the stern. Your breath comes pj.back. Yon find you weren'b hurt a bit, fe'-.'.or Cven •wet. You feel as if you jumped top of the barn into the lowest i>i .bub softest haymow. You give an ecstatic p.y i gasp, this time of extreme delight, and if^lead with papa or Uncle Tom to " try ib &fcagairi:" S^..'T oa " * r y *' a g»' n »" an ,d this time you P^f lire not scared a bit, just simply delighted. §|||iAs ,yoUi are being paddled over to the iftfliili'oto' after the last violent plunge of the gl^ndW you jtake, a look at the boat, and g^aptigg^thjit .'it, is very strongly built — of ||fcj«hiokory and oak, the boatman says, and igffiijosting over a hundred dollars. It has a Sl^long slope upward in the prow, less sharp yaoht's bow, and thus the danger S^J. of . i getting wet is almost entirely done SV.away with. Each boat has .four seats, ft,; seating eight people altogether, besides ?t&'.the man who steers.— Harper's Round livable.