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Page: of 430
An illustrated Journal of Mining, Popular Science and Progressive Industry.
BY DEWLY & CO., =
Patent Solicitore. “ SAN FRANCISCO, SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 1874,
! VOLUME XXVIII
Number 1.
Snow-Shoeing in the Sierras.
{Written for tho Pares by 0. W. Hervey.)
Near the snmmit of the Slerra ’ Nevada Monntains, on the’ borders, of the ‘conntics of
Sierra and Plumas, are the towns of La
Porte, Howland Fiat, St. Louis, noted during the “flush times” of California for their
enormous yield of gold dust, and still retaining .
fixed characteristics
The-climate is very salubrious; most deaths
oconr from greatintemperance, éxposnre, accidents and violence, “The spring, gumimer and.
autnmn months. will compare, favorably with
the climate of ‘northern! Italy. . The excessive
heat prevailing jn‘ the valleys lasts for ‘a few
days, and ‘only for a few honrs during each,
afternoon, The winter months are often very
severs, but even duting the prevalence of the;
great, storms, thes cold ‘is::not,.so severe.as in.
the Eastern States in the same latitnde at a less
altitnde, while the snow falls to a great
of the typical ‘honést,
depth in these high altitndes. It falls as mnoh
as 60 to 125 feet during. onc season In some
places; thongh generally there is bnt little in
the lower valleys.
When the snow attainsa considerable depth
in the Sierras, locomotion can only be accomplished by means of the celebrated ‘‘Norwegian snow-shoes,”’ or ‘“‘Norway skates,’’
withont which travel would be nearly imprao= _——— SS
» SNOW-SHOB RACING
ticable, sincs it becomes.almost impossible ‘to
break roads or trails,"where the snow often
covers buildings evsn two stories high, so that
people can only make their -exit ,from their,
honses throngh the upper windows.'; It sometimes-happeéns that a resident had to climb ont
throngh his chimney, after pnnohing a hole.
throngh the. snow above iti: 6 ii 14 L
' ~ Bnow-shogs’ for-'traveling are from 8 to ‘1
feet long, 34 to 4 inches, wide, ahd'134 inches}
thick in the center.; They .ars tapered at tha
‘top from “hear the middle to one-fourth of an
inch in thickness at the toes, and nearly flat.
The toes are turned np like sleigh rnnners,
. feet im length, from 3% to 434 inches in width,
They are nearly of nniform width from end to
end—as little wider, if any, on the front—and a
spring is worked in, so that withont welghts
they rest on the heels and points; bnt when
the rider stands on them, the weight is somewhat evenly distributed, and'a concave groove
is made at the bottom, beginning near the toes
and running to the heels, similar to the bottom:
of the skates. The bottoms are highly polished,
MOUNTAINS OF CALIFORNIA.
and tar is barned and robbed in natil a full,
mahogony-like finish is obtained, which hardens the wood, makes a smooth surface, and at.
itracts heat when exposed to the snn—the latter being a desideratum in pntting on the’
“dope” when traveling. § . %
“Shoes made for racing are from 10% to 138%)
wider on'the front part than‘on the back.
‘Where the turn commences to, the heel, or back
end of the shoe, there is a ,finted or; concave
groove abont % of an inch deep at the heel
and taperingin depth from the tnrn at the
point. This groove is abont 1% inch wide, narrower at back end ‘than in front. On top of
the shoes, 4 littleback'from the oenter, there
is ahout 18 inches of wood left flat, and toward
the front they are shaved and planed, tapering
snfficiently to leave the point springy. Thsre is
coneiderable wood left behind from the ' center
to the snd, which makes the proper balance~little or no spring being reqnired on the baok
part—the most essential being the front. The
t S oa T
‘object of thigis, that in running ovsr rongh
‘places, there will be'nosndden jerk endangerng the equilibrium of the rider, who often attains a speed of 60 to 80 miles an honr on
these shoes. They have a tendency to “‘bnek’*
when going over nneven snow, and the rider
loften finds that they are as uncertain as. all
other things are here below. So great have
heen the imptovements made in racing shoes,
during the past faw years, from. the original
style, first introdnced 20 years ago, that they
now appear to Have redched perfection.
The rider stands a little back of the center,
[Continued on Page 9.]