At the New Hampshire Farm Museum in Milton (well worth a visit) I found a postcard depicting the famous Uncle Sam Sled, with this information: “The Uncle Sam, built in 1894 in Farmington, NH, by the B.F. Perkins Carriage Factoy for Hervey Perle. At 77 feet long, this was the longest sled in the world, carrying as many as 72 adults or over 100 children at 60 M.P.H. down Main street. The prevalence of the automobile sent the sled into storage in 1922. It is now on display at the New Hampshire Farm Museum.”
Years ago, I heard tell of the sled while collecting stories in Wakefield, and turned it into this small work of . . . fiction, but close to the truth.
The Sled
Royal says: “Did your grampa ever tell you about the most amazing object ever sighted in the town of Wakefield?”
Urban says: “Don’t get going on them UFOs again, Royal. Alma’ll have you put away, you keep that up.”
Joey says: “Is it the gigantic pike you caught when you were little?”
Royal says no: “That’s the second most amazing thing. The first most amazing thing was Mr. Pearl’s sled, the biggest double-runner sled in the world and also the fastest because the more people you put on a sled, the faster it goes. You put one person on a sled going down a steep hill and it goes pretty fast. You put on two or three or four, it’s whizzing. You put on a hundred, you’re flying.”
Joey says: “Grampa and I go really fast on my sled. Don’t we, Grampa?”
Ezra says: “We get up a good head of steam on the hard-pack.”
Royal says: “You could put a hundred people or more on Mr. Pearl’s sled because it was 78 feet long. Loaded and with the snow just right, it could get going so fast that when the one in front screamed, the one in back never heard it. The sled was going faster than the scream. Now, that’s fast.”
Joey says: “I bet you were scared.”
Royal says: “No. Hardly. Well, a little. The one steering had to pay right attention, that’s for sure. One time I got elected to steer and had a lapse. I guess I had a lapse, because the next thing I knew, instead of going down hill, we were sluicing up a knob—"
Joey says: “Did you have an accident? Did the hundred people fall off?”
Royal says: “Thinking quick, I yelled, 'Lean back,' and everybody leaned back. It pulled up the nose of that sled so the knob acted kinda like a ski jump and the whole business went airborne.
“Started out in Union. Landed in Milton. And skidded almost into downtown Rochester before we brung the thing to a complete stop.
“Luckily, in those days, Joey, there wa’n’t much traffic.”
Years ago, I heard tell of the sled while collecting stories in Wakefield, and turned it into this small work of . . . fiction, but close to the truth.
The Sled
Royal says: “Did your grampa ever tell you about the most amazing object ever sighted in the town of Wakefield?”
Urban says: “Don’t get going on them UFOs again, Royal. Alma’ll have you put away, you keep that up.”
Joey says: “Is it the gigantic pike you caught when you were little?”
Royal says no: “That’s the second most amazing thing. The first most amazing thing was Mr. Pearl’s sled, the biggest double-runner sled in the world and also the fastest because the more people you put on a sled, the faster it goes. You put one person on a sled going down a steep hill and it goes pretty fast. You put on two or three or four, it’s whizzing. You put on a hundred, you’re flying.”
Joey says: “Grampa and I go really fast on my sled. Don’t we, Grampa?”
Ezra says: “We get up a good head of steam on the hard-pack.”
Royal says: “You could put a hundred people or more on Mr. Pearl’s sled because it was 78 feet long. Loaded and with the snow just right, it could get going so fast that when the one in front screamed, the one in back never heard it. The sled was going faster than the scream. Now, that’s fast.”
Joey says: “I bet you were scared.”
Royal says: “No. Hardly. Well, a little. The one steering had to pay right attention, that’s for sure. One time I got elected to steer and had a lapse. I guess I had a lapse, because the next thing I knew, instead of going down hill, we were sluicing up a knob—"
Joey says: “Did you have an accident? Did the hundred people fall off?”
Royal says: “Thinking quick, I yelled, 'Lean back,' and everybody leaned back. It pulled up the nose of that sled so the knob acted kinda like a ski jump and the whole business went airborne.
“Started out in Union. Landed in Milton. And skidded almost into downtown Rochester before we brung the thing to a complete stop.
“Luckily, in those days, Joey, there wa’n’t much traffic.”
Awesome! I don't think we'll ever had that fun..
Posted by: AnaVar | November 11, 2010 at 02:43 AM
I know -- doesn't it look like a total blast!
Posted by: Rebecca Rule | November 11, 2010 at 12:12 PM