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Show A BROKEN LIFE-PRESERVER Homer Davenport Tells About His Experience Ex-perience In Learning to Skate on Rollers. When Mr. Homer lavenport was a boy roller skating reaentd Silverton. la his book, "The Country Hoy," h tells of his plan to learn without get. ting hurt, as he thought falling about the skating rink was no Joke. He borrowed bor-rowed a pair of overalls of the stoutest stout-est man In the village, and a long pillow pil-low from his mother's bed, and believed be-lieved the game as good as won when he entered the door of the rink. I lowered the pillow Into the seat of the overalls after I had put them on, and then gut a boy to hold the pillow tip against my back while I put my vest over It, and I dived out Into the thick of th- skaters. To my astonish-nient, astonish-nient, 1 didn't fall. I leaned back and tried to fall once to tee. how it would be, and I really couldn't. I'd been skating fifteen minutes when I did fall, but fell forward and s'.ammed my hands on the floor. An elderly lady, who had had some troubles of her own that afternoon, skated up to me and told me she thought perhaps we went at It too fast; so we were leaning against the wall talking over (lie scientific points of It, when I gave the audience a rare treat. Whl'e leaning there talking, all at once i y fret, that were close together, togeth-er, started, and rolled out toward the " Irtd'e nf !' rr'imi 1 don't think I bint a fit : -. ! t : f. i x ru t ly like a j f- , I'M! 1 it "A 1 . '..:' !' the pillow I Ihi;-'. P - u. t have hern five niln-j niln-j titi k I r'(, they got through laughing nil over the house. In that time the feathers were so thick they followed In a boiling Hrcnk after every skater. The manpger declared a recess of ten minutes while they swept out the hall, and ut this point came another big laugh, as three men had been sweeping twenty minutes and they hadn't got over three featheis out Into the street. Some fellow BuggRted sprinkling, so they did; but most of them were In the air, and wouldn't come down to be sprinkled, so they had to close the rink for the afternoon. The manager of the rink tried to collect damages from my father, and I think there wis a comprouilbo made. Youth's Companion. |