At Lake Placid

The beady eyes of the Japanese popped with disgust. Astonished Norwegians mopped their faces and unbuttoned their sweaters, too polite to mention the weather. The Swedes, disconsolate, nibbled brown beans, salt herring, oatmeal and knackebrod which they had carried all the way from Stockholm. An unprecedented thaw at Lake Placid, N. Y., had spoiled the ice, melted the snow, made practice for the Olympic Games, which begin Feb. 4, impossible. Undiscouraged by this dismal turn of events, the Olympic Committee announced the full schedule of events.*

Figure skaters were cheered by the dedication of Lake Placid's new $220,000 indoor rink, built of brick, concrete and steel, with nine miles of brine pipes and seats for 3,000. The new rink, where curling, figure skating and hockey will be played next month, was one of many improvements made at Lake Placid since the Olympic Winter Games, held at Chamonix in 1924, at St. Moritz in 1928, were awarded to the U. S. Budget for this winter's games was over $1,000,000 of which $200,000 came from Lake Placid, $500,000 from the State of New York. Improvements on the bob-sled run cost $225,000. Designer Stanislaus Zentzytski, imported from Berlin, built into the side of Van Hoevenberg Mountain a deep stone-lined trench, a mile and a half long, with 22 minor curves and three major ones, on which Olympic bobsleds, which weigh 500 Ibs. and cost $700, average 40 miles an hour.

First of the sixteen foreign teams /- to arrive in the U. S. were the Norwegian skiers, who won the championship in 1924 and 1928. Sigmund Rudd, whose 265-ft. jump three years ago is the world's record, was one of the 18 members of the team, as was Johann Grottumsbraaten, clothes dealer of Oslo, a slight, baldheaded man of 32, whom most Norwegians consider the greatest skier in the world. The Swedes brought a woman to cook their food, a crack team for the 50-kilometer ski-race.

* Feb. 4--Opening ceremonies, hockey, curling (demonstration), 500-meter and 5,000-meter speed skating.

Feb. 5 -- null and 10,000-meter speed skating, hockey, curling (demonstration).

Feb. 6 -- 10,000-meter skating (finals), hockey, dog sled races (demonstration).

Feb. 7--Hockey, dog sled race (demonstration).

Feb. 8--Two-man bobsled races, men's figure-skating (school figures and free figures), hockey.

Feb. 9--Two-man bobsled races, women's figure-skating (school figures and free figures), hockey.

Feb. 10--18-kilometer ski race, figure-skating (couples), hockey.

Feb. 11--Four-man bobsled races, ski jump, hockey.

Feb. 12--Four-man bobsled races, ski jump, hockey.

Feb. 13 -- 50-kilometer ski race, award of prizes and diplomas.

/- Austria, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Norway, Poland, Rumania, Sweden, Switzerland, Hungary, Belgium.

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