SO SIMPLE!

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 686, 11 June 1929, Page 7

SO SIMPLE!

Meet the Professor J On Skates “BUMPS” AT PONSONBY “You do this with this leg and this with the other—and there you arel” said the Professor, disentangling himself from a fierce gyration amid the screech of protesting skate-wheels.

rpHE scene of action was the Star Skating Rink, Ponsonby Road, last evening, when the opening session of the season was held at* 8 o’clock. Scores of enthusiastic skaters turned out to try their skill, and resounding bumps could be heard all over the hall as the less practised bit the dust. Gramaphone records supplied the music, which was amplified through a Magnavox Amplifier for the first time in New Zealand. Lured by the seductive strains, skaters fell like ninepins all over the hall. Beginners, with looks of intense concentration, crept slowly around waving their arms like penguins in an endeavour to keep “afloat.” Rounding corners was ticklish work. A raw beginner would edge around easily, his mouth working convulsively with the effort. Then something would happen to disturb the centre of gravity. With a fierce clanking of skates, his arms and his body would fly back, and his feet heavenwards.

The hero of the evening was Professor Raemanoff, who, as floor instructor, performed weird and terrible evolutions on his skates. Between spasms of flying round the room at 40 or 50 miles an hour, he did Maltese crosses, figure eights, long jumps, tailspins—everything. A Sun man donned wheels and after a fierce chase, succeeded in cornering the Professor, who was doing a doubleheaded gyration in the middle of the floor.

“No, I am no relation to the Russian Royal Family,” said the Professor,. “There is a slight difference in the spelling of the name. I will admit there is no royal blood in nse at all, but I certainly can skate.”

He'grasped the Sun man and they flew around the hall at 200 miles an hour —at least it seemed like that. “Here, do some stunts,” said the Professor, as he released the Sun man, who dropped into a nose dive and crashed. The Professor disappeared in a blur of revolving extremities. A young couple skating past were unable to stand the shock and fell heavily. “It’s so simple,” said the Professor, as he emerged from the haze again. And so the fun went on all evening.

“All skate.” Partners,” “Reverse” — girls and youths took the floor for every phase. Skating in Ponsonby Road is a popular pastime.