Chapter VI

COASTERS, SKEES, AND SNOW-SHOES

All real boys welcome the approach of the winter season with its glorious opportunities for sport on the snow and ice. Toboggans, double-runners, skees, and snow-shoes—the very words make the blood tingle in one’s veins, and happy is the boy whose home is in the Northern climes where there is real winter for at least four months out of the year.

Nowadays it is possible to purchase almost everything for winter sports, but the boy who is handy with tools and of an inventive turn of mind will take more pleasure in constructing his own things than in buying them out of a shop.

Very few boys would care to make their own skates, as the modern steel-clamp skates are superior in lightness and durability to anything he could construct; but the various varieties of sleds, coasters, and snow-shoes are quite within the measure of his abilities, and their making will fill most pleasurably the leisure hours after school and on Saturdays.

All the cold-weather countries have their distinctive and peculiar forms of winter amusements. Tobogganing and snow-shoeing are particularly popular in Canada; skeeing is the national sport of Norway. But it is the American boy who has reduced coasting to an exact science, and the Yankee bob-sleds and “jumper-coasters” are now pre-eminent wherever the snow flies. To take the best wherever we find it is the sportsman’s motto.

Toboggans

There is no more enjoyable winter sport than tobogganing, and in many parts of America, notably Montreal, large and expensively constructed artificial slides are in constant use throughout the winter season.

For ordinary hill-coasting most American boys prefer bob-sleds and coasters, but in the extreme Northern States and throughout Canada the plain toboggan is the favorite coaster.

A boy who is at all clever with tools can make a good toboggan from three or four thin hickory boards, a few cross-battens, and some rails. For the bottom quarter-inch hickory should be employed, as that is strong and will bend easily when steamed.

To make an eight-foot toboggan with a width of twenty inches, obtain the hickory boards and batten them with three pieces of hard-wood two inches wide and three-quarters of an inch thick. Make the fastenings with brass screws or copper rivets having the heads countersunk in the bottom. At the front ends rivet on a wood batten long enough to project two inches beyond the boards at each end.

From a curtain-pole cut six pieces two inches long and bore a quarter-inch hole through each one from end to end. Cut two hickory rails three-quarters of an inch square and plane off the sharp corners; then with copper or iron rods, to act as long rivets, attach the rails to the toboggan so that they are separated from the battens by means of the wooden blocks, as shown in the illustration of the plain toboggan. Fig. 1.

At both ends of the rod-rivets place washers or burrs to rivet on, as otherwise the rivet would pull through the wood, tearing the hole larger and at the same time making the anchorage insecure. Cut notches in the projecting ends of the front stick as shown at the right side of Fig. 2, so that ropes can be lashed fast to the stick as shown at the left side of Fig. 2.

Steam the boards between the front end and the first batten, or pour boiling hot water over both sides of the boards; then bend the wood up and with the ropes as a help to hold the boards in place continue the wetting and bending until the proper curve has been gained, as shown in the illustration. Lash the ropes fast, and when the wood is dry sand-paper it smooth and give it several good coats of varnish.

A sled-toboggan (Fig. 3) is made from two hickory boards eight feet long and a quarter of an inch in thickness. If the toboggan is to be twenty-two inches wide each runner should be several inches wide.

Three hard-wood bridges twenty-two inches long and four inches high are cut, as shown in Fig. 4, and attached to the runners with screws (Fig. 3). They support a seat eight inches wide which is screwed down to the top of the bridges.

In front of the first bridge and behind the last one short bracket-braces are attached to prevent the bridges from rocking, and these as well as the bridges can be cut from wood about an inch and a half in thickness.

The front ends of the boards are attached to a batten, and by steaming the boards may be curved up as shown and held in place with a stanchion-rope lashed fast to the batten and to the front bridge. A supporting bridge should be used to give it additional power. Fig. 3.

When the varnish wears off the bottom give it another coat, as the smooth, hard finish helps the toboggan to slide easily over the snow.

A Rocker-coaster

A very good coasting-sled is shown in the illustration of a rocker-coaster (Fig. 5), and for short hills a sled of this sort will prove very fast and easy to steer.

It is from four to five feet long, twenty inches broad, and seven inches high at the middle. The lower edge of each runner is curved from end to end with a long, sweeping line, and it is grooved to receive a round runner of steel, which a blacksmith will make and attach.

The frame of the coaster should be made of hard-wood five-eighths of an inch in thickness, and the three cross-ribs are one inch and a half in width and one inch in thickness. Laps are cut in the top edges of the sides, and the cross-ribs are let into them and made fast with screws. Wooden brackets or cleats are attached to the sides and to the under side of each cross-rib to strengthen the construction, and at both ends a piece of round curtain-pole is made fast as shown in Fig. 5.

The ends of the poles are trimmed off so as to form dowel ends, and these fit into holes made in the ends of the sides.

Hand-holes are cut with a bit and compass-saw at the ends of the sides; a deck of half-inch wood is laid over the ribs and held down with screws. Have the blacksmith flatten the ends of each runner and bend them over so they will lie on top at the end of each side.

A few good coats of paint will finish the wood-work nicely, and the rocker-coaster will then be ready for use.

A Single-runner Coaster

A few years ago the boys of New England invented a new kind of sled and called it a single-runner coaster or jumper-coaster. They sit upon it, keeping their balance with the feet, and it is remarkable how rapidly and easily they go downhill on this queer-looking affair, and without the slightest danger of toppling over. Fig. 6.

The coaster is very simple in construction and any boy can make it from pine or hard-wood, the latter being preferable as it has more body and is heavier. The runner is forty-two inches long, one inch and a half thick, and four inches high, curved at one end and cut at an angle at the other. The upright is of wood the same thickness and width, and eleven or twelve inches high, so that with the top board or seat and the height of the runner the coaster is sixteen or seventeen inches high; and for taller boys it can be made still higher. The seat is ten inches long and seven inches wide, and attached to the upright with screws, as shown at Fig. 7. The upright is cut from wood about ten inches wide, so that, with a compass-saw, a broad foot may be shaped at the bottom which will give a better bearing on the runner than would a narrower one.

From wood two inches wide, make two side-plates or braces to run from under the seat down half-way over the runner as shown in Fig. 7. To steady the seat at the top of the uprights cut two angle-brackets and attach them as shown in the figure drawing. A blacksmith will fashion a runner from quarter-round or thin tire iron and attach it as shown in the illustration. The runners can be held on with flat-headed screws countersunk in the iron, and after a few trips the surface of the metal will be worn bright and smooth, insuring easy and rapid running.

A Bob-sled

Every boy wants a double-runner of his own, for there seems to be nothing quite like bobbing on a sled carrying from six to ten boys—enough to give it weight and a good impetus on its downward course. A bob-sled is not at all difficult to construct, and a very satisfactory and substantial one may be made from inexpensive materials and with the tools that nearly every boy possesses. Fig. 8.

For the seat obtain a clear spruce plank ten feet long, ten inches wide, and one inch and a half thick, planed on both sides and edges. The front sled is thirty inches long and fourteen inches wide, with the sides five inches high. The rear sled is forty inches long from prow to end of runners, and is the same width and height as the front one. The sides are of hard-wood seven-eighths of an inch in thickness, and braced with cross-pieces of hard-wood two inches wide and one inch and a half thick.

Laps are cut in the top of the sides, and with screws the ends of the braces are securely held in place. Under each cross-piece and at the sides brackets must be securely fastened with screws as shown at Fig. 9, to strengthen the sides and take some of the strain from the cross-piece fastenings. Eight inches from the rear end a stout block is set in the runners through which the king-bolt passes that fastens the seat to the sled. This is of hard-wood fourteen inches long, two inches and a half wide, and four inches high at the middle, as shown in Fig. 9. A similar block two inches high is attached to the under side of the plank and bears on the lower block. Between the two blocks and on the bolt, two large, flat iron washers are placed, so that it will be an easy matter to turn the sled when there is a heavy weight on the plank.

The head of the five-eighths-inch king-bolt should be embedded in the top of the block that is fast to the plank before it is attached, and the bolt should be provided with two nuts for safety. In the summer-time, when the bob is stored away, the forward sled can be removed by unscrewing the nuts from the lower end of the bolt under the sled.

To steer the bob a hard-wood cross-bar piece is let into the runners as shown in Fig. 9. It projects six inches at each side, and foot-notches are cut at the rear edge as shown in the illustration. The rear sled is attached to the plank by means of a block and bolts.

Two triangular hard-wood blocks one inch in thickness, with the grain running vertically, are screwed fast to the inside sides of the runners as shown in Fig. 10, and through holes in the upper end a long half-inch bolt is passed from side to side. This bolt fits in a groove made at the under side of the block that is attached to the plank; and across the groove in several places straps of iron are fastened as shown in the inverted block at Fig. 11. A hinge-joint is the result, and to prevent the rear sled from dropping too far when jumping over a bump a rope should be passed under the forward cross-piece and attached to a staple driven at the under side of the plank.

The plank can be padded with hair from an old mattress and covered with a strip of carpet nailed all around the edges of the board. Cross-pieces screwed fast to the under side of the plank will serve as foot-rests, and with a coat or two of paint this bob-sled will be ready for use.

Skees

Skee running and jumping is one of the favorite winter sports in Norway and Sweden and is steadily growing in favor both in the Northern United States and in Canada. On very steep hills it is a dangerous sport, but it is perfectly safe to use the skees on either short hills or on long ones that are not too steep. Once you start you must go to the bottom, and a good skee-jumper should be as agile as a cat, for he must always land feet down when jumping.

A skee of the right proportions should be seven feet long and four inches wide. Hickory, oak, or other hard-wood three-quarters of an inch in thickness will be the best material from which to make the skees. Two or three grooves cut in a straight line along the entire bottom length will hold the skee slider on his course, as the keel does a boat.

The skees are tapered and bent up at the front ends as shown in Fig. 12. This can be done by steaming and bending until the proper pitch is obtained; but if a high curve is desired it would be well to attach a thong to the end and draw it back to the body of the skee as shown in Fig. 12A.

At the middle of the skee a foot-block is attached and provided with a toe-strap as shown in Fig. 13. This strap fits under the block and can be removed if necessary as a lap is cut at the under side of the block.

A shorter and broader skee is shown in Fig. 12B. This is safer for smaller boys to use as it is five feet long and six inches wide.

Many of the Norwegian skees are beautifully carved and ornamented, and the boy who has some decorative ability can embellish the tops of his skees and varnish them all over to improve their appearance and make them smooth, so that they will slide easily.

A skee made from a hogshead or crockery-cask stave is shown in Fig. 12C, and a great deal of fun can be had with this makeshift on short hills.

Snow-shoes

For travelling over the snow the most widely known and useful appliance is the snow-shoe in one form or another. The Esquimau and the American Indian do all their winter travelling on snow-shoes, and through the Alps and in the snow-bound parts of Europe and Asia they are commonly employed as a means of locomotion from place to place.

The long snow-shoe shown in Fig. 14A is the one commonly used by the Iroquois Indians, and it measures from three to four feet in length and from twelve to fifteen inches in width. It is usually made from one long strip of hickory bent while green and dried in the desired shape, then braced and interlaced with thongs of rawhide or deer-gut.

The rim is usually from three-quarters to seven-eighths of an inch square and is rounded on the outer edges. The braces or spreaders are let into the inner edges of the rim as shown in Fig. 15A, and are held securely in place with a thong passed through a hole in the end of the piece and wrapped around the rim as shown in Fig. 15B. The spreaders are of seasoned hickory two inches wide and five-eighths of an inch thick. The edges are bevelled slightly, and near the centre line two rows of holes are made through which to lace the thongs. Two smaller sticks are arranged at each side of the broad spreaders, and the lattice weaving is caught around them as shown in the illustration. Some of the thongs are caught over the rim while others are passed through holes made in the edge similar to the manner in which a tennis racket is laced. Foot-laces are fastened at the front spreader to which the shoe-toes are lashed, for when travelling the heels should be free to lift while the ball of the foot and the entire snow-shoe remains flat on the snow.

The shoe in the form of a tennis racket (Fig. 14B) is the shape commonly used by the Esquimaux and is about thirty-four inches long and fifteen inches wide. It is made somewhat similar to the Iroquois shoe but the mesh is more open.

The oval shoe (Fig. 14C) is made from two U-shaped rims lashed together at the middle and provided with two spreaders. Two stout pieces of rawhide are laced in the ends, and through the middle a lacing of thongs is woven across between the spreaders and sides of the rim.

These and many other forms of snow-shoes can be made by the boy who is interested in snow-shoe travelling. The wood can be procured anywhere and the rawhide thongs may be purchased at a hardware store. They are sold as belt-lacings for machinery, but they can be easily split and so made available for snow-shoe use.

A Skating-sail

Sail-skating is a very enjoyable means of getting over the ice, and with properly constructed frames and sails a very respectable rate of speed can be maintained. In using a sail the boy is the boat, and by his manipulation of the sheets he can go where he pleases, either before the wind or tacking, as in a boat.

The skating-sail shown in Fig. 1 is an improvement over the old style of attaching two diamond-shaped cloths to the ends of yard-arms. To make the frame obtain two clear pine or white-wood sticks twelve feet long, one inch and a quarter square, and taper them slightly towards the ends with a plane. At the same time round the corners at the top of one stick and bottom of the other as shown in Fig. 2C, which represents a sawed-off section of both sticks. With linen line wind the sticks for an inch or two for every nine or ten inches of their entire length to strengthen them. Paint these windings a dark color and then varnish the sticks or color them with a stain.

Now procure two other sticks, each five feet six inches long and seven-eighths of an inch square, and plane them smooth, at the same time tapering the ends slightly. These are for the cross-arms, and at the middle of each one lash fast a block five inches long and seven-eighths of an inch square having a pin driven in each end as shown in Fig. 2A. These pins fit in small holes made at the inside of the yard-arms four feet and six inches from either end.

The yard-arms are lashed together at the ends, then sprung apart at the middle so that the cross-arm blocks will fit between them. To properly hold the arms in place a strap should be drawn around the sticks at the middle, and to insure a good prop a block six inches long, two inches wide, and seven-eighths of an inch thick is to be cut and provided with two pins at each end as shown in Fig. 2C. The pins will fit into small holes made in the long sticks, and when the strap is buckled tight the block will be held securely in place.

A large flat hook should be lashed fast to this block, and when sailing along before the wind this can be caught over a stout leather belt to help support the weight of the sail.

Two twilled-cotton sails are made in the shape shown in the illustration and provided with snaps at the three outer ends so that they may catch into eyes lashed fast to the ends of the arms and to the long sticks as shown in Fig. 2B. The sails should be drawn taut at the inner ends with rings and a strap or light rope. If there should be too much sail-area for the wind that may be blowing the sail can be feathered—that is, bent down or up so that it allows some of the wind to pass under it instead of pressing against the sails with its full force.

A Square-rigged Ice-sail

In Fig. 3 two square sails are supported at the ends of crossed yard-arms fourteen feet long. Four cross-sticks of equal length are made, the same as those for the skating-sail first described, and at the middle a long block is attached to two of them as shown in Fig. 2A. Pins in the ends of the blocks fit into holes in the long arms, and when the ends of the long arms are bent in they grip the pins and blocks.

Short blocks provided with a single pin are lashed to the outer cross-sticks eight inches in from the ends. Holes made in the outer ends of the long sticks will receive these pins, the spring of the stick holding both inner and outer cross-sticks in place at the same time.

Heavy sheeting or unbleached muslin sails may be stretched and bound to the cross-sticks and when detached they can be rolled up on the sticks. This sail is handled the same as the skating-sail but is more powerful as the sheets are larger.

A Snowball Mortar

For snowball fights a mortar is an effective weapon for it throws a shot upward into the air. It may be mounted on a hand-sled.

Make two triangles of boards as shown in Fig. 4. The bottom strip should project far enough below the two legs to permit of screwing it firmly to the edge of the bottom board, which is the width of the top of the sled and is attached to it by straps.

The pivot-bar or axle-tree rests in grooves cut in the points of the triangles. The propulsion-bar (A) is a stout piece of oak fastened securely to the pivot-bar and at right angles to it. Two uprights (BB) fastened to the bottom board by screws or nails driven from underneath and braced to the legs of the triangles support a cross-piece which keeps the propulsion-bar horizontal when the spring is attached. A small tin basin is secured to the extreme forward end of the propulsion-bar.

To use the mortar place a snowball or other missile in the basin and strike the other end of the bar a hard blow with a long-handled wooden-mallet.

The range may be regulated by the force of the blow and by moving the sled to and fro and right and left. Dimensions of mortar shown in diagram: Length of bottom board, three feet ten inches; length of legs, two feet six inches; uprights, two feet three inches; propulsion-bar, four feet two inches by two and one-half by four inches; width of frame, thirteen inches.

Should the snow be too dry to make compact snowballs a small piece of sheep-skin or cotton-batting should be inserted in the breech of the gun or the basin of the mortar and tacked in place. This will tend to prevent the snowballs from breaking.

Fig. 5 is an end-view of the mortar and Fig. 6 is the wooden mallet used in firing.

The Ship Kite

The ship kite (Fig. 1) is an odd shape for a wind-toy but a good sailer in any breeze. It is quite easy to make and requires but one mast, four yard-arms, a keel, some thin, strong twine, and the necessary covering materials. The mast is thirty-six inches long, the lowest spar twenty-four inches long, the top one twelve, and the two middle ones proportioned in length to the two side-strings tied at the ends of the top and bottom sticks—that is, at A and B on both sides of Fig. 2.

The keel of the frame is made from a thin piece of hard-wood that will spring and keep its shape, such as hickory, oak, or birch; and after soaking it in boiling hot water for a few minutes lash it fast to the bottom of the mast and draw up the ends with the strings C, C (Fig. 2), and carry the ends up over two yard-arms so the pressure of the keel will not draw the lower yard-arm out of shape. The sticks should be of good clear and tough white or North Carolina pine, spruce, or white-wood, three-eighths of an inch square for the mast and the same size but tapered at the ends for the yard-arms. Use strong cotton or linen twine for the connections between spars and mast and draw them taut but not so tight that they would spring the sticks out of shape.

From the ends of each yard-arm strings DDD are stretched and tied to the mast so as to make an opening at the bottom of each sail. In kite-making it is found a much better plan to have a number of planes against which the wind can act instead of one large one that is often unwieldy and difficult to handle.

This frame should be covered with thin paper muslin, sewed all around the edges over the string-ribs and to the frame-sticks with strong cotton thread. Do not have too much muslin overlap the edges, and after going around the edges twice with the needle and fine cotton thread it would be well to cut away all the unnecessary material as it only adds weight with no benefit to the kite. Do not use paste or glue to fasten the fabric covering on a frame; it only adds weight and does not stick well.

Arrange the yoke as shown in the illustration of the ship kite (Fig. 1), and to balance it make two funnel-drags or wind-anchors from thin wire or wood hoops, nine inches in diameter, the funnel proper being of paper muslin twelve inches deep. Use hickory or green birch for the hoops and lap the ends for three inches; then bind them together with strong linen thread.

Make the funnel-shaped bag of paper muslin and drop the hoop into it, taking care to get an equal space all around from point of cone to edge of hoop. Then sew the bag fast to the hoop and cut away all surplus material. The yoke is made of two strong, thin cross-wires or strings and the drop-string is fastened where they cross, as may be seen in Fig. 1.

The Chinese-junk Kite

The Chinese-junk kite (Fig. 3), is made in a similar manner to the ship kite, but there are two masts, as the kite is broader and larger; consequently the frame should be braced so that it will not rack in a strong breeze.

The masts are forty-two inches high, the lowest yard-arm thirty-six inches long, and the top one thirty inches in length. The bottom of the hull is made from a piece of green hickory or birch sprung into place and lashed fast with linen line. There are three inches of space between the hull and lower sail and from two to three inches of space between the other sails.

The masts and spars may be of any light, strong wood, the masts half an inch square and the yard-arms three-eighths of an inch tapered towards the ends. The spars and masts are bound securely with fine linen line as shown in the junk kite-frame (Fig. 4). It would look well to cover the sail-frames of all these boat kites with white or very light-colored muslin and the hulls with dark-brown, green, or black goods so as to lend contrast and make the kites when in the air appear more like real boats.

Arrange the yoke to this kite as shown in the drawing (Fig. 3), and add as many funnel-drags as may be found necessary to steady this kite. Instead of placing these wind-anchors close to the foot of the kite it is often better to drop a cord five or ten feet with the funnel on the end of it. While the funnel weighs but very little it is acted on by the wind and is better than a heavy tail. As the wind blows stronger the funnel is forced back and holds the wind, thereby dragging on the foot of the kite and automatically shifting it to different angles so that the wind will pass down along the planes and out through the spaces underneath.

The Schooner Kite

The schooner kite (Fig. 5) is an attractive one when sailing up in the wind, and for a kite the shape is very close to a real schooner in proportions. The frame is built on a deck-stick thirty-seven inches long, and six inches below it is the keel-stick twenty inches long. The main-mast or aft-stick is thirty-three inches long and the foremast is thirty inches from tip to tip. The foremast is set in twelve inches from the bow end of the deck-stick and the main-mast is ten inches from this. The gaffs are each nine inches long and are caught to both mast and a top-stick, which is in turn lashed fast to the upper part of each mast. Strings are run from place to place on these sticks as shown at Fig. 6, then the sails and hull are cut from muslin and sewed to the strings and spars.

The yoke is composed of three strings as shown in the drawing (Fig. 5), and from the muslin cut two pennants and float them from the top of the masts.

When up in the air this schooner kite will have a very real appearance as the breeze will bulge the sails and give it the effect of tacking on the wind. If the schooner is inclined to pitch or roll too much attach two wind-anchors, one at the foot of each mast, and pay them out about five or six feet.

A Balloon Kite

From four sticks and a long hickory rib the balloon kite-frame (Fig. 7) is made. The cross-sticks are three feet and three inches long and the uprights are each four feet long. The uprights are set apart six inches at the foot and eleven inches at the top, while the cross-sticks are twelve inches apart at both sides of the frame. Where the sticks cross they are to be lashed and bound with linen twine; then the hickory rib is sprung into position and lashed fast at the ends of the cross-sticks and upper ends of the vertical sticks. A thong is to be bound to each end of the rib and drawn down to the foot of the frame so that the curve over the top formed by the hickory rib is even and symmetrical.

Cover this frame with dark-gray or green paper muslin, then make the car from a hoop fifteen inches in diameter and a muslin funnel twenty inches deep. Suspend the car on four strings attached to the foot of the kite, and having arranged the yoke from the places where the sticks cross, as shown in Fig. 8, this interesting sky-scraper will be ready for an ascension.

An Air-ship Kite

The air-ship kite (Fig. 9), if large and well made, will present a very realistic appearance when well up in the air.

The frame is made from dry spruce or pine sticks half an inch square for the long ones and a trifle smaller for the shorter ones. The frame as shown in Fig. 10 is seven feet long from A to A, and at the middle the balloon is twenty-eight inches—that is, from B to B. The middle upright stick is four feet long and the end sticks CC that support the car are forty-five inches long. The middle upright BB is first lashed to the middle of the long stick AA. The ends of the curved sticks are then brought together and lashed to ends AA, and at the same time the unions are made with sticks CC. After that the sticks between B and C are set in place and securely lashed fast. The long sticks DD, forming the top and bottom of the car, are four feet and four inches long. One is lashed to the lower ends of the three long drop-sticks and ten inches above that the top one is made fast.

With thin spring or hard brass wire bind the forms of the two occupants of the car and make them fast to sticks DD with string. Then cover the entire balloon and car as well as the men with dark-colored paper muslin. Make the yoke of linen thread so that the kite will balance well.

Bat-wing and Crown-top Kites

Of the many odd shapes in which kites can be made perhaps the bat-wing and crown-top are the most unique.

The bat-wing (Fig. 11) is made up on a frame composed of half-inch square sticks for the longest ones and three-eighths-inch square ones for the cross-ribs. The two long sticks (Fig. 12, AA) are six feet and six inches, slightly tapered at the ends and separated about eight inches. The long uprights BB are four feet and three inches and are separated fifteen inches.

These two sets of sticks are lashed fast where they cross and the horizontal ones are bound at the outer ends with short sticks twelve inches in length. Fifteen inches up from the bottom a cross-stick, C, four feet long is lashed fast; then the shape is described with stout cotton or linen cord. This frame is to be covered with muslin and sewed at the edges, and when ready to fly it arrange the yoke as shown in the illustration (Fig. 11).

The crown-top kite (Fig. 13) is three feet and six inches wide, three feet high, and one foot across the bottom. These sizes are for a kite of medium size; if a larger one is desired it can be made five feet and three inches wide, four feet and three inches high, and eighteen inches across the foot. The sticks are from a quarter to half an inch square and bound together with strong, thin cord (Fig. 14). Muslin is the proper covering for this frame, but if thin, strong paper is preferred it can be used to good advantage.

Sandwich Islands Bird Kite

One afternoon in the village of Paihiihi, on Maui, one of the Sandwich Islands, I saw, at a considerable distance from me, a curious object floating in the air and at first mistook it for a large bird. It would glide about in graceful curves or dart suddenly towards the ground only to soar upward just as suddenly, or poise motionless save for a slight flapping of its wings.

But my blissful ignorance was soon dispelled by the laughter of a friend who assured me that I was gazing at one of the kites of the cannibals—a name sportively applied to a number of natives of the Gilbert Islands who immigrated to Maui some time since. They are a more barbarous people than the Hawaiians but seem to be amiable, and I have never known them to eat anything worse than a shark.

Wishing to see this new variety of kite, I started immediately for the scene of action, and was soon in the midst of a dozen or more men and women about half of whom had kites, which were larger than I had supposed, being from thirteen to fifteen feet wide and two to three feet high. When I arrived several were floating high in the air almost directly over the men who held the strings—sometimes, indeed, sailing directly over them.

I watched for some time their graceful, birdlike motion and then tried to buy one. They seemed loath to part with them, however, and it was only after I had exhausted nearly all my persuasive powers and all the small change in my pockets that I succeeded in obtaining one. My awkward endeavors to carry it away with me were greeted with much laughter until one of the cannibals showed me the proper way to handle it.

The drawings which I have made of one of these kites will enable any enterprising boy to make one. As no tail is used great care must be taken to make it perfectly symmetrical. It is also desirable to have the kite very light and yet as stiff as possible.

The proper construction of the frame is shown in Fig. 15. The total width of this kite is thirteen feet and the height at the middle is thirty-two inches. First cut the middle stick CC thirty-two inches long and lay it on the floor of a barn where a few nails can be driven in temporarily to hold the sticks while bending them into the proper shapes. Cut sticks DD, EE, and FF, and place them on the floor either side of the middle one. The long, straight stick AA is twelve feet in length, of half-inch basswood or pine, and slightly tapered with a plane at both ends. Lash this to each of the cross-sticks, then with a long stick bend the bow around nails driven in the floor as indicated by the dots under the bow-piece in Fig. 15.

This bow-piece is half an inch square and tapered with a plane at both ends. It would be well to pour boiling water on this stick for a distance of three feet at both ends, so as to make it easier to bend. Leave it in this position for a few hours until the water dries out and the wood is shaped, then lash the top ends of the cross-sticks to the bow-piece.

While bending the bow the two lower sticks may be shaped at the same time. They should be of hickory or birch and tapered at the outer ends. These must be shaped over nails the same as the bow-piece, then when they are dry they are to be lashed to all the cross-ribs and the ends of the bow with fine linen line. The cross-sticks need not be more than three-eighths of an inch square, but the middle and top sticks should be half an inch thick for strength. Draw cross-strings from the top and lower ends of sticks DD, as shown in Fig. 15, to act as braces; then cover the frame with thin, strong paper or muslin, sewing it fast to the ribs with linen thread. The construction of the yoke is clearly shown in Fig. 16.

Box Kites

High up in the air, much too high for the boys on the ground to see the mechanical details, several queer-looking but powerful kites, or “gigs,” were tugging at their strings in a stiff breeze. When these flying-gigs were hauled down a big crowd of boys gathered to see them at close range, and here are the pictures of them as well as the plan-drawings showing how they are made. Any bright boy can easily follow these plans and produce equally good and powerful kites.

The construction of the box kite is shown in Fig. 17, where the oblong measures thirty-six inches high and twenty-four inches wide. These oblongs are held apart at the top and bottom by sticks AA which measure twelve inches in length. At the middle of the framework the corner sticks BB are braced with two cross-sticks C, which are notched at the ends, so that the inside corners of the sticks BB will fit snugly and can be securely held with a slim steel-wire nail. This frame is made of light pine sticks about three-eighths or half an inch square.

Eight inches below the top of the frame tie a cord, and nine inches below this tie another one to the front upright sticks as shown at DD. Cover the front, sides, and back of the frame with strong, thin Manila paper or light, closely woven muslin, having the top and bottom open, also the space at the front between the strings DD. A yoke caught at the top corner of the box, as shown in Fig. 18, will be sufficient in a light breeze, but for a strong wind add another from the side-sticks where the top or bottom cord D is tied; this will steady the flying-box and prevent its pitching.

The “paralleloplane” is another powerful kite which is easily constructed according to the plan shown in Fig. 19. The front frame is thirty-six inches high and twenty-four inches wide and braced with cross-sticks HH. The rear frame is forty-four inches long and fifteen inches wide and is held in place ten inches behind the large frame with sticks II. Strings are tied to the top and bottom cross-sticks of the large frame, and eight inches apart, as shown at JJ, to which one end of the paper or muslin is made fast. Fig. 20 will show the three fields covered with cloth or paper, and when the paralleloplane is in the air the space between the front planes admits the wind to the rear plane with the extending tail, which tips the kite to the proper angle.

If these kites need balancing in very strong breezes, a yoke at the bottom of the kites from which a long string may be suspended will take some paper cross-bars, as shown in Fig. 21, or the wind-anchors can be used. One or two of them may be hung from the bottom on a long string or one at each lower end of the paralleloplane.

A messenger that will travel and travel fast is shown in Fig. 22, and as they are very easy to make a number of them should be prepared for use. Two thin sticks twelve inches long form the top and bottom yards for a strip of muslin or paper six inches wide. From the four ends some thin wire such as florists use is connected with a cork about twelve inches in the rear of the sail, where it is bound fast with a few wraps of the wire. A pin is passed through the middle of the top yard to the sail and is bent over forming a hook, and in the cork another one is arranged in a similar manner. The messenger can be hung on the string, and if there are no knots to intercept its progress it will quickly speed away to the kite.

The Flying-wedge and Double-plane Kite

Flying-wedge or double-plane kites are made in several shapes and sizes with the planes arranged at different angles and in broken surfaces.

The flying-wedge is an interesting gig to make and hold when up, for it is a strong puller. Its construction is shown in Fig. 23, and like the box kite the frame is made of half-inch pine sticks. The front frame is forty inches high and twenty-four inches wide, and the rear one two inches longer but the same width. The frames are attached at the top but held apart at the bottom by the sticks EE, which are eighteen inches long. Twelve inches below the top a cross-stick F is attached, and from the side-sticks down to the centre of the bottom cross-stick the sticks GG are made fast. Strings may be substituted for these sticks but they will not brace the framework so well. Diagonally across the back frame and at the bottom strings are made fast to brace the frame, while the back ones also help to relieve the strain of the wind on the paper or muslin drawn across the framework. Figure 24 will show the fields covered with paper or muslin, which are arranged so the wind passing through the triangular opening in front presses against the back plane and out at the sides and bottom, while some of it is forced up in the top behind the upper plane and helps in the lifting power. Small flags on sticks at the top add to the appearance of this flying-wedge which is an exceedingly unique sky-scraper.

The double-plane kite (Fig. 25) is another form of the wedge. The general plan and sizes for the frame of this wedge tally with those just given, but the slight changes in the arrangement of sticks can be seen in Fig. 26.

The plane at the front is just half the height of the kite, and at the back it would be well to use two cross-sticks from corner to corner as braces rather than string as suggested for the flying-wedge. Use paper muslin for the covering and stretch it taut; then sew it fast. Rig up two small flags on sticks for the top corners and arrange the yoke as shown in Fig. 25. If the wedge is inclined to wobble or dive hang two wind-anchors on the corners, preferably the front, as the action will be better than if hung at the back.

The wind strikes the front plane and upper part of rear bevelled plane, also the outer edges of the rear plane, and in this manner a double kite is made that will be found a strong and steady puller.

Kite-reels

Kite-reels are always useful things to help haul in long lengths of string, and particularly if the kite is a strong puller and in a stiff breeze.

A reel for kites with a good pull is shown in Fig. 27, and a boy with a hammer, a saw, and a few nails can quickly put it together from some box-boards sawed in two-inch strips. The reel is made of two thin boards half an inch in thickness, cut circular with a compass-saw, and the hub is shaped from an old rolling-pin that perhaps has been discarded from the kitchen. It is impossible to give exact sizes owing to the possible difference in the lengths of rolling-pins, but the round sides should be at least six inches in diameter and placed twelve inches apart. One end of the pin, or the handle, should be sawed and cut square so a crank may be cut and nailed to it as shown at A in Fig. 28. From wood seven-eighths of an inch thick cut the crank B, and attach a handle to the outer end of it. Bore a hole with a bit in the end that fits over the axle, and with a compass-saw or small chisel cut the hole square so that the axle will fit snugly into it. The flanges are to be made fast to the ends of the rolling-pin hub with nails or screws, and this revolving barrel is hung in the inverted V-shaped frame of the reel. To hold this reel down when winding in a line make several hard-wood stakes as shown at C. These are cut out with a saw; and to protect the head and prevent it from splitting off, bore two small holes through the head as indicated by the dotted lines and slip steel-wire nails through them. Place burrs over the pointed ends, cut the ends off, and with a light hammer rivet the nail-ends down on the burrs so as to bind the head securely. This is much better than winding wire about the head, since the nails act as pins and will prevent the head from splitting while the stake is being driven into the ground. The overhanging end of the head laps on the end cross-plates forming the platform of the reel, and two or three at the end opposite that at which the string is being hauled in will hold the reel securely to the ground.

Another form of reel is shown in the illustration of a chest-reel (Fig. 30). This is made from two flat, good barrel-hoops, some braces, and the reel and shaft as described in Fig. 28A and B.

Two good, broad barrel-hoops are selected and cut so that they will measure eighteen inches on the segment or twelve inches across the line AA in Fig. 29. Two out-riggers BB are cut from pine or white-wood ten inches long, two inches wide, and three-quarters of an inch thick; these are bevelled at the end towards the hoop, where they are made fast with screws. The outer ends of these sticks are bound with the stick C, and near the inner ends and close to the hoop a binder-piece D is fastened with screws.

The reel should be made first and clamped in place when the frame is put together. The lower hoop is made fast to the short upright pieces CC, shown in Fig. 30, and braced to the main out-riggers BB with bracket-strips. All the unions are made with screws or long copper rivets securely fastened at the blunt end with burrs over which the copper end is beaten and riveted.

Near the hoop-ends holes are to be made with a bit through which stout cotton line can be passed and made fast so as to tie the reel to a boy’s body (Fig. 30). The hoop-end should be bound with linen line at either side of the hole so as to prevent the hoop splitting and the lashing-thongs tearing away. This is a very convenient form of portable reel and is easily carried about without having to touch it. A friction-brake can be made from a piece of sole-leather that will bear against the edge of one large end of the reel so that when paying out cord it may be regulated as the kite draws on it.

Leather or metal washers should be placed between the reel-ends and the frame that the axle is hung in so as to prevent friction and the consequent wearing of the wood.

Fig. 31 shows a simple, home-made box-reel that will wind up a thousand feet of line in short order. It consists of a box, to which the cover is hinged, and two sprocket-wheels from an old bicycle. One large one has a handle for turning it, the other, a smaller wheel, is fastened firmly to a spindle (Fig. 32) that runs through the box. The box is of pine or white-wood fourteen inches long inside measure, eight inches wide, and ten inches deep. The wood may be from one-half to seven-eighths of an inch thick, and the points should be made with glue and nails or screws to hold them securely and prevent the box from racking.

Find two old sprocket-wheels and a piece of bicycle chain and make the wheels fast to iron axles that will pass through holes made in the sides of the box. The ends of these axles should be threaded and provided with a nut so as to hold the axles in place when run through the box.

The arrangement of these wheels and the chain is clearly shown in the illustration of a box-reel (Fig. 31). The large wheel should be attached to an axle and one of the pedal-cranks made fast to it. Instead of the pedal a wooden handle will slip on the pedal axle where it can be secured by the nut that held the pedal in place. The relative positions of wheels, axles, and other parts of this reel can be seen at Fig. 33. A represents the crank, handle, and large wheel; B the axle that passes through the box; C the axle and flanges made fast to the small sprocket-wheel; and D shows how the wooden roller-wheels are arranged over the slot in the box so that the string can be drawn in without its touching the edge of the slot. The edges should be flared at the under side so that the cord will wind on a fat reel without touching the wood as shown at E.

Two wooden flanges should be cut from thin wood and made fast to the axle C to prevent the cord winding on the axle close to the box and thereby clogging its action. Leather washers separate the flanges and the boxes so as to reduce the possibility of friction.

The slot cut in the top of the box should be as long as the available winding-space on the axle, and protecting it at both sides are rollers cut from one-inch curtain-poles or broom-sticks. Steel-wire finishing-nails are driven in the end of each one, taking care to get the nail exactly in the middle.

Bend two L-pieces from stout sheet-iron, and having punched or drilled holes in the right place through the upright ear, make these bearings fast to the top of the box with screws as shown at D in Fig. 33. By turning the box slightly from side to side when winding in the string, the incoming line will travel from end to end of the slot so that the coil on the shaft will be equally thick from flange to flange.

A leather trunk-handle may be made fast to one end of the box for convenience in carrying.

This form of direct gearing with sprocket-wheels and chain makes it impossible for the cord-shaft to slip as it will do in the grooved wheel and string or leather-belt connections. It is simple and sure and quite as easy to pay out from as to wind in with.

Choice of Tackle

Every boy knows how to go a-fishing, but an intelligent boy is not long in learning that the mere getting of a lot of fish is a small part of the pleasure. That is why he prefers the rod to the seine, one big fish to many smaller ones, one cunning old trout or pickerel outwitted to a basket of stupid fish that contended for the bait. Presently he begins to desire more delicate tackle, and understands that he is fishing for sport, not fish. I take it that the whole art and mystery of angling is how to get the most sport and enjoyment out of it. But how?

To begin with, no one will destroy a fish which is not dangerous to man, nor will he fish just for amusement; in other words, he fishes only for desirable fish. The chief things that make a fish desirable, in the sense of a game or sport fish, are that it shall be good food, not too common and not too easily caught. If, besides, it be beautiful and found in beautiful places so much the better. It happens that by common consent certain fish—salmon and trout and their kindred—are in Europe and America esteemed above all others, and the opportunity to angle for them is not open to every one, and most boys must get their sport with other less-esteemed kinds. “Boys’ fish” they are sometimes slightingly called, but they have lots of sport to give to the boy who knows how to get it, and he will get more sport if he takes pains to make the fish better worth catching and better worth having after it is caught. It is better worth having, for instance, if you have caught it from the cleanest water you have access to. Clean water makes sweet fish. If a fish is to be kept kill it at once by a blow upon the back of the head where the backbone joins it. This is not only more merciful but makes firmer meat. If one is fishing from a boat or not moving about much the fish may be kept alive in a floating live-box or basket, and at the end of the fishing the best may be chosen for keeping and the rest let go. Fish are sweeter, too, if cleaned as soon as possible; besides, the cleaning is done more easily if done early. Learn to do it well yourself, and try to be at home in time to do it before supper. Cleaning fish by candle-light goes far to spoil the sport of a pleasant day. Do not clean fish with your pocket-knife. Have in your kit a stout one for the purpose which will also cut bait. Such knives made expressly are sold for a small sum, but a veteran kitchen-knife or a broken table-knife if kept in order will do excellent service.

Do not throw your fish in the dirt nor let them lie in the sun nor string them upon a twig or line if you wish them to be sweet. Have a basket with a cover, even if the cover be no more than a newspaper. Wash this basket and dry and air it in the sunshine if you can after every using. All these things you should do if you wish what you catch to be as good as it can be.

Now, how are you to increase the sport of the catching? Of course you want the largest fish and these are usually the oldest and the most wary. This wariness you do not expect to change, but you hope to defeat it. Study the habits of the fish, where and when and upon what it feeds or what it seeks. Let your fishing be governed by your discoveries. And while you are offering him what he wants and when and where he wants it, remember these old fellows are fussy about their table-service. They do not feel hungry if a boy throws his shadow across their table, or shakes it by rushing up to it. Stalk your fish, then, as quietly as you are able, and if you have alarmed it in any way stay out of sight and remain as quiet as possible for a long time until your clumsiness is forgotten, and then let your lure, whether bait or fly, drift into the fish’s sight as if you had nothing to do with it. And remember that the finer your tackle the more likely this pretence will be to succeed.

You want also as good a fight as you can get. Remember that the fighting qualities of fish are as a rule best developed in those which live in rapid and turbulent water, and in those which pursue their prey and catch it by their own nimbleness. But any fish will fight better if you make the struggle more even by using delicate tackle. You win then only by dexterity of handling, which is one of the great charms of angling, and about the only one, as regards the mere catching of fish, on which the experienced angler sets much value. The secret of success with delicate tackle may be told in two words—care and coolness. Care in the preparation of the tackle, coolness in handling it.

When you put your tackle together you will make it far safer if you consider it as one apparatus or machine from hook to reel and if you let the rod top, or “tip,” be the weakest point of all, because by it you can best determine the strain upon the whole gear. For instance, a good line for fresh-water fishing will usually lift at least ten pounds, a good snell at least three pounds if new, the hook more than the snell, while the top of an ordinary light rod will rarely bear more than two pounds of dead weight, so that you may know by the strain upon the top joint just what the tackle is bearing; and if the joint is safe the whole is likewise safe.

By testing your tackle you raise your fishing from a rough-and-ready guesswork to something like certainty, the one point of doubt being always the security of the hook in the fish’s mouth, and even of this you soon acquire the power of judging. But this testing is not done once for all. Good tackle which is put away wet to mildew, or gut which is frayed or put in the sun to rot, does not long remain sound. Therefore dry your line, carefully unwinding it from the reel if you have one and winding it upon a chair-back, for instance, when you come home. Look over and test your tackle every time you are going fishing—yes, and every time it gets caught on a stone or stump or in the bushes—if you wish to escape the loss of your best fish. All this means that tackle to be safe must be sound—that is, good all through. A line, for instance, which is strong in one place and weak in another will give you more trouble than one which is not so strong but uniform.

The strain upon the tackle is equalized by the elasticity of the rod, which to some extent makes up for want of dexterity. But never have a rod so flexible that it will not control the tackle, and, above all, avoid one which is weak in the middle.

Lastly, let the fish do the pulling if you wish to safely handle it. No angling-tackle is as strong as a boy. But if the rod be so held that its spring keeps the line taut and a gentle, steady pull upon the fish the latter soon exhausts himself fighting this elasticity. Any excess of line not easily controlled by the rod alone should be at once taken up by the reel. Draw the tired fish out gently, without “yanking,” or if heavy lead it into the landing-net.

Rods vary according to the kind of fishing, and the “all-round” fisherman will probably have, without being finicky, as many rods as a golf-player has clubs. But the boy for whom this is written must make his pocket-money go as far as possible, and he will probably have but one. Rod-making is an interesting amusement, but it would better be deferred until one knows fairly well the use of a rod and just what kind he wants. The making of rods is not very economical, since nowadays factories turn out really good ones at prices little above what one must pay for reliable rod-wood. Roughly speaking, there are two kinds of rods, bait-rods and fly-rods. Bait-rods are nearly always stiffer than fly-rods; the latter must have sufficient flexibility and elasticity to throw a line quite a distance, often several times the length of the rod. But in choosing a bait-rod a different selection will be made according to the particular sort of fishing within reach. Thus if one fishes ponds or wide streams from the bank, a rod a dozen feet long would not be too long; but if from a boat, a shorter rod not above ten feet will be more convenient. Still, shorter rods are better if bait is to be cast long distances, as is done in minnow-casting or some kinds of sea-fishing. A jointed-rod is convenient for carrying, but if one lives within walking or driving distance of his fishing a rod in one piece, such as is easily made from a slender bamboo with an elastic tip of good wood spliced on, is as good for bait-fishing as any. If besides bait-fishing one desires to use the fly, then the best rod is a rather stout fly-rod about ten feet in length, because it can be used for bait-fishing, while a bait-rod cannot be used to cast a fly.

Beautiful and excellent rods are made of split bamboo, and some of moderate cost, but avoid very cheap ones. But for beginners’ use the writer prefers a solid-wood rod of good quality, because it is less liable to injury and because of the greater ease with which it is repaired; the boy himself may do it if he be handy. Whatever rod you have, let the line-guides be of the sort known as “standing-guides” rather than rings, if you have the choice.

Lines should be sound and strong but not too heavy for the rod; twisted lines are more easily found of good quality but braided lines kink less. Twenty yards are quite enough for any fishing of the kind we are considering and half as much would usually suffice. In fly-fishing for large trout or bass the reel usually carries forty to fifty yards.

Hooks should be of the best quality to be had. Good hooks are still practically all made in England. Shapes which have received names are many, and most of them have advantages for particular kinds of fishing. Among the best are O’Shaughnessy, Limerick, Sneckbend, Aberdeen, and Sproat. The last-named we think will meet more kinds of need than any other one. As to size it should be remembered that the hook is to fit the bait, not the fish’s mouth; a very small fish can take any ordinary hook.

A reel is not so absolutely necessary as the rod, line, and hook, but it is a prime convenience. A well-made single-click reel is better than any multiplier except for the one matter of making long casts from the reel, which a beginner is not likely to do.

For fly-casting a leader or casting-line of gut between the fly and the main line is necessary for making a light cast, but for ordinary bait-fishing the gut-snells which are nowadays so generally sold attached to hook are bottom line enough. If, however, you can get some white, gray, or cream-colored hairs from the tail of a young stallion you can make bottom lines or leaders for light fishing without expense.

A gaudy float is pretty sure to form part of the first angling outfit, and it is useful to keep the bait out of the weeds and to notify the inexperienced angler that a fish is biting. Choose one that is slender in shape and not large. A dry stick makes a good enough extemporaneous float, and if fish are shy may be better than a more showy one.

For sinkers split shot BB size and buckshot or strips of thin lead, such as comes from tea-chests, wound around the line are as good as any and very easily gotten.

Do not buy a bait-box. It is not so good as a bag with a draw-string, which will allow your hand to be inserted and will also close the aperture snugly. The same string will serve to fasten the bag to your button-hole or creel-strap. The bag is best made of flannel. Wash it after using.

Worms are much better if dug a day or two before using and “scoured” by putting them into soft moss wrung out of water. They become brighter and firmer by scouring and are more attractive to fish. If live minnows or small fish are used for bait, of course they must be kept in water, which must be changed from time to time. A pail is the most convenient vessel to carry them in.

A landing-net is convenient if you fish for game which is heavy in proportion to your tackle—say for fish upward of a pound in weight with a light rod. Very low-priced ones are now sold in the shops and sufficiently good ones can be made at home.

We give no details about flies as their name is legion. A beginner would better have but few kinds and of moderate size; a few hackles will probably be all he needs.

There are a multitude of things sold in the tackle-shops which are tempting but not at all necessary, not to mention many which could have been devised only by a person who was no angler. Those already spoken of are all that seem essential.

Bait-rods and Fly-rods

Probably most boys are too sensible to fall into the error which seems to beset many adults—namely, that the possession of tackle makes an angler. It is necessary to know how to use it.

Begin by putting your rod together properly; put the tip into the middle first, and then the middle into the butt. See that the ferrules are well “home” and that the guides are all on the same side so that the line will run freely. Place the reel, if you have one, in the reel-seat and see that the reel-bands are snug and will not slip. Then lead off the lines through the rings and the tip-ring. These details are the same whatever kind of fishing is in hand; the others depend upon what is to be done.

Let us suppose that you are to fish with bait and that bait a worm. If you have a short gut line—two or three feet long—it will be well to fasten it to the end of the line and to the other end of the gut attach the snell of the hook. But when seeking many fish which are not very shy, the snell may be fastened directly to the line. In fishing in a gently moving stream no lead may be needed; if the current be quick a little will probably be required to keep the bait near the bottom. In pond-fishing or reaches of a stream which are very quiet a float as well as lead may be convenient. Some veteran anglers still enjoy the bobbing of the float. The hook may be put into the side of the worm as shown at A, or into the head as at B (Fig. 1). A is rather more attractive to the fish; B more likely to be taken in such a way as to insure that the hook is in the fish’s mouth. When the worm is dead or has slipped down into a bunch at the bend of the hook no fish that you want will be likely to take it.

Now, do not make a splash when you put it into the water. If you have to cast it out into still water do not use your rod and line as if it were a thresher’s flail. Holding your rod nearly straight up, give the line a gentle swing forward, and when the bait has swung well out reach after it with the rod so that the bait (and float, too, if there be one) shall fall as lightly as possible. Do not be in too great a hurry to change its place. If you are fishing in running water, drop the bait quietly into the water and so manage the rod that it shall neither hasten nor hinder the movement of the bait, which should travel as nearly as possible as it would if it were not upon a hook. All the time you are to keep as much as possible out of sight. When you feel the pluck of the fish drop the point of your rod and wait a second or two before you attempt to strike the hook into the flesh.

It sometimes happens that the place you wish to fish is so encumbered with bushes that it cannot be approached. In such a case, if you can find an opening in the bushes you may get at the water by shortening the line and winding what is left around and around the top of the rod. Then pass it through the opening, and, reaching out over the water, roll the rod over and over in the hands until the line is unwound and the bait goes dropping down to the water, as a spider lets himself down from his web. If you have a bite, give the fish time to make sure of the bait. Strike, and, when you can, shorten your line still farther if necessary and draw your fish out.

On the other hand, if in a fairly open place you wish to reach a point at some distance, you may throw your bait out by pulling sufficient line from the reel, and, gathering it in coils upon the left hand, swing the bait out with sufficient force to carry the coils of line after it and so reach the desired point.

To tell in a few words how to cast a fly is hardly practicable. It is not done by force but by knack. A cast consists of a back cast which carries the line upward and backward, and a forward cast which propels it towards the desired spot. The knack consists in giving with the wrist such a quick motion to the rod as shall set its elasticity to work, and this carries the line. One must not thrash with the rod.

As useful a way as any to help the reader will be to describe how the writer has tried to help lads who are learning to cast. It is in this way: The boy takes the rod, fitted with its reel and line only, to a water’s-edge free of bushes or trees or to a lawn recently mowed. If the grass is slightly damp all the better as it holds the line more nearly as does the water. He pulls off from the reel enough line so that the free part shall be once and a half or twice the length of the rod. This he throws out in front of him as well as he can. He then is told to keep his elbow close against his side to prevent moving the arm above the elbow. He then tries with a quick movement of the wrist, and with as little movement of the forearm as possible, to lift the line upward and backward until it straightens out behind him, and then with another similar motion to make it go straight out before him.

The accompanying drawing (Figs. 2 and 3) show how the wrist and thumb really do all the work, and how little the forearm really moves in good casting. They show, too, what should be the limits of the motion in the butt of the rod. If it goes farther back the back cast is apt to be low and the line if not the rod may get into trouble in bushes or grass. If it goes farther forward the line is apt to go down with a splash.

After this restraint of motion has become habitual the rule of holding the elbow against the side may be relaxed a little, especially in making long casts.

Do not try to lift a sunken line suddenly from the water. Coax it to the surface, as else the resistance of the line will probably snap your rod.

Do not try to make the forward cast on just the same plane as the back cast for fear that the end of the line should snap like a whip-lash, which if you were actually fishing would crack off your flies pretty certainly. Therefore make the lift of the back cast with a slight sweep (generally inward towards the body is the more natural), and deliver the forward cast straight out towards its destination. But always aim about your own height above the spot on the water you mean to reach to insure the line falling lightly.

In all your practising remember that the key-note of good casting is in getting a good, clean, high back cast, and in never sending the line forward until it is quite straight out behind and above you in the back cast. If you have with you some one to guide you as to when it is straightened out it will be a great gain, particularly as the time required for the straightening varies with the length of line that is used.

Do not try to cast a long line until you have learned to cast a short one well; and well means not only with a high back cast and straight forward, but also accurately as to aim and delicately.

Repairs, Knots, and Splices

As has been said already it hardly pays nowadays to make one’s own tackle, at least for a beginner. But a few things it is useful to know so that repairs and supplies of a sort can be made in an emergency. But emergencies are to a great degree prevented by care—by cleaning and looking over the rod and the reel whenever you come home, and keeping it safe. The reel may need a drop of oil now and then, and it should be always kept out of the dust, in a box or drawer, and above all from falls or blows.

The repairs most commonly called for are the splicing of a broken rod, the replacing a lost tip-ring or guide-ring, the knotting of gut, and the putting a hook to gut. The repair-kit, to use a cyclist’s phrase, consists of a piece of shoemaker’s wax, some moderately stout sewing-silk—number A being the best suited for quick work of all sorts—some bits of flexible brass wire, and a pocket-knife. As the method of wrapping used in all repairs is essentially the same let us begin with the simplest, the putting the hook to gut.

First wax well a piece of silk half a yard or more in length. Choose your hook and the piece of gut (or line if you do not use gut) to which it is to be fastened. Take the bend of the hook firmly between the left thumb and forefinger and with the right take two or three turns of the silk about the other end of the shank (Fig. 4A). Then lay the gut on the under side of the hook, reaching two-thirds down the shank, and wind the silk snugly, coil against coil, over both hook and gut towards the bend of the hook B. When the gut is nearly covered make a loop as at C, but relatively larger than in the figure and keep on winding so that the part a covers in not only hook and gut but the part b, clearing the silk from the bend of the hook at each turn. When four or five turns have been taken draw on c and pull it snug. (D shows the loop not quite drawn down.) When snug cut off the end and you have the “invisible knot” or “whip-finish” universally used by fishermen. The same whipping and finish are used for the other repairs mentioned above.

Suppose that a joint of the rod has broken with a slanting break. It may be that the surfaces can be fitted together neatly. In this case they may be joined at once, but if any part has been lost or broken away, then the broken surfaces must be trimmed and smoothed with the knife until they do fit. They are spliced thus: Rub the surfaces with your shoemaker’s wax, press them together, and if you cannot easily hold them, tie them temporarily with a piece of string, or perhaps still better, make open coils over the joined parts as at A in Fig. 4. Then wind back over these coils and the joined parts, making close, snug coils just as you did on the hook. The whip-finish must be managed a little differently. Fig. 5 shows how this is done. When ready to finish drop a loop and make four or five loose turns. Carry the end under the beginning of the loop, wind down the loose coils firmly, and pull the end through as before.

A lost tip-ring or guide-ring can be made good by a piece of wire bent into proper shape and whipped on with well waxed silk thread.

We need say but a few words about knots. In order to knot your gut it must be first softened, which is done by laying it in water; it softens much more rapidly in lukewarm water than in cold. Two lengths of gut are joined together by lapping the end of one by the end of the other and making a knot in both together. Fig. 6A shows this knot, only the end is put through twice for greater security. If the fishing is such as does not need strong tackle a single knot will suffice.

A loop at the end of a piece of gut is made by making the knot as at B, which is the commonly used knot.

A better knot is that shown at C, which looks complicated as drawn, but really is not so, as in tying it the two loops a and b are made, the end c laid between them, and then b is drawn through a.

D shows the ordinary simple method of fastening a line to the loop of a leader or of a snell. It is the “becket hitch” of the seaman. It explains itself. Its great advantage is that it cannot slip if drawn down snugly and can be instantly loosened by pushing the main line back a little way.

Aids for Young Anglers

How often has it happened that on reaching a camping-ground, hotel, or boarding-house near river or lake where pickerel, bass, and large perch abounded no provision is found for the angler’s sport but a boat—no lines, sinkers, or floats; no nets for catching live bait, and no bait but worms. For sunfish, catfish, and small perch, worms are very fair bait; but for pickerel, bass, and large perch live bait is best. Here are some makeshifts and aids that may be gotten up at short notice and at small expense.

Fig. 7 is an end-section of a mosquito-net seine for taking live bait. The length of the seine is thirty-eight feet, depth five feet. The “cork-line” AA consists of a small-sized clothes-line. Corks not always being obtainable, I have used pieces of thoroughly seasoned white pine three inches in length and one inch in diameter (CCC). Through these rounded pieces of wood holes are bored through which the clothes-line passes. These floats are placed eight inches apart and are kept in position by the clothes-line fitting tightly in the holes. At the bottom of the seine another clothes-line is sewed to the netting (BB). This is called the “lead line” and is for the purpose of keeping the lower part of the seine close to the bottom of the water. In the lead line pieces of sheet-lead one inch in length are fastened (HHH) twenty-eight inches apart. The “staff” D is a well-seasoned piece of hickory six feet long, to the lower end of which sheet-lead is also fastened at E to keep it down. To the staff is attached the staff line FFF, thirty feet long, which is for the purpose of drawing in the seine after it has been cast.

A seine of this size is generally worked by two persons and two boats. Each person takes one of the staff lines in his boat, and rowing towards the shore with the extended seine describes a semicircle between the boats. As the shore is approached each boat closes in, thereby causing the two staffs to meet and imprison all the fish that have come within the bounds of the seine. When one person works the seine one of the staff lines is tied to a rock or stake on the shore and the other line is taken into a boat, or the operator wades out and causes his end of the seine to describe a circle until the two shafts meet. Great care must be taken to keep the lead line close to the bottom otherwise the fish will escape. In the selection of the seining-ground always avoid stony bottoms, snags, and brush, which will cause the seine to “roll up” and tear.

The cost of the above-described seine ranges from three to four dollars, and is capable of lasting two seasons if carefully handled and spread out on the grass to dry after using it. A much superior article to mosquito-net is bobinet, which will last several seasons.

Fig. 8 is a bait-boat for keeping the bait alive. It is towed behind or kept by the side when fishing. The top and bottom pieces consist of half-inch pine; in the centre of each piece square openings are cut; that on the top is protected by a door made of wire-cloth or quarter-inch mesh fastened to two small staples which answer the purpose of hinges; over the opening in the bottom piece wire-cloth is nailed to admit of a free circulation of water. Under the back end of the top piece a cleat is nailed, also two cleats on the bottom piece as shown in the drawing. At the bow of the boat an upright piece of wood is fastened to the top and bottom of the bait-boat by means of screws. The sides of the boat consist of one piece of wire-cloth, the ends of which meet at the upright piece of wood at the bow and are nailed with broad-headed galvanized nails. The top and bottom of the wire-cloth are also fastened with nails to the edges of the top and bottom of the boat as shown in the drawing. A tow-line is fastened to the bow and the boat is complete.

When handling the bait a small hand-net (Fig. 9) is used, consisting of a stout piece of wire as shown in the drawing. The straight parts of the wire are bound together with fishing-line and constitute the handle; to this frame netting is sewed to form the net-bag.

For a makeshift float nothing is better than a good-sized bottle-cork into which a cut has been made with a sharp knife or razor extending from the side to the centre of the cork. Into this cut the line is drawn as shown in Fig. 10A.

Sheet-lead is always a useful aid in makeshift fishing-tackle, and for light lines makes excellent sinkers when bent and compressed around the line as shown at Fig. 10B.

For cleaning out a boat a stiff whisk-broom made of fine birch twigs bound together with wire or fishing-line, as shown at Fig. 11, will be found very useful.

Fig. 12A and B are hand-made sinkers beaten and carved out of old lead pipe. The carved one, B, is first roughed out with a jack-knife and finished up with fine emery or sand paper. A is beaten into shape with a railroad spike on an anvil or smooth stone. This beating and carving of lead is very pleasant work, the lead being of such an easy and good-natured temper.

For a cheap and easy-obtainable bailer make use of an empty tomato or corned-beef can as shown in Fig. 13. A hole sufficiently large to admit of the handle is punched in the side of the can; the inside of the handle is chamfered off so as to fit close to the inner side of the can. Through the can and into the end of the handle a stout nail is driven as at A.

A good bait for large fish is a strip cut from the under side of a small pickerel, perch, or sunfish, which is placed on the hook as shown in Fig. 14.

Baits, and Where to Find Them

As a rule, the young fisherman naturally considers the angle-worm to be the only bait he need have when he goes fishing, and, taking a spade, he seeks a moist, loamy spot in the garden and proceeds to fill his box. But there is a choice even in worms, and those of a clear, dark, amber color are the best.

Just at night, and after a soft, warm rain, worms of the size of a lead-pencil will be found crawling over the ground. These are excellent bait for bass, chub, perch, and large trout early in the season. If you step very lightly, so as not to jar the ground, you can easily pick up a box of these large fellows.

It is well enough to have worms with you on all occasions, but there are many other baits. Frogs, crabs, grubs, dobsons, minnows, June-bugs, grasshoppers, and crickets, as well as artificial baits, are more successful lures with certain fish. A few words telling where to find these baits and the proper manner of keeping them fresh and lively may prove of value.

Frogs are most plentiful on the shores of ponds or streams filled with plant growth, and in low, moist places in meadows. In searching for them in grass, wait till you see one jump, then catch it in your hands. They are not so easily gotten from the shores, as they are apt to take to the water at the first alarm.

Crabs are usually found under stones along the shores of a stream or pond, and in some localities in low, moist places in grass-lands. Seize the crab back of the pincers and it cannot nip you.

Dobsons are only found under mossy stones in swift-running waters. They are of a dark-gray color, have many legs, and when fully grown are about three inches long. The head is shield-shaped and armed with good, stout pincers, so handle the dobson as you would a crab. The best way to get a supply of dobsons is to have some one hold one edge of a fine-meshed net on the bottom of the stream while you turn over the stones above the net with a hoe. The dobsons, loosing their hold on the bottom, will be carried by the current into the net. Put frogs, crabs, and dobsons into a pail with plenty of grass and some water. If you are to keep them for some time change the water occasionally.

Grubs are excellent bait for trout early in the season. They are found in partially decayed tree-trunks, stumps, and old timbers left in moist places. Cut into the wood with an axe, and if you find it full of holes of the size of a lead-pencil, knock it to pieces and pick out the grubs. Put them in a tin bait-box with some of the rotten wood you found them in.

Minnows of a size suitable for perch and bass fishing can usually be procured from a spring hole or the pools of a small stream. Take a rather baggy net with a small mesh, and after setting it at one end of the pool drive the minnows into it by striking on the water with a pole and punching about on the bottom. If you stir up the water the little fish will drive more easily. If your supply must be procured from a lake or pond, look among the shallows close inshore until you have found a school, then draw a small seine around them. Large minnows for pickerel or pike fishing can be caught with a hook and line. Those you are to use for skittering had better be packed in salt. The minnows you would keep alive should be put into the bait-pail as soon as caught. Bait-pails, as usually made, consist of one pail freely perforated with holes to be set into a tight outer pail. By this arrangement the water can be changed frequently without inconveniencing the little fellows. If the bait is to be carried some distance, and there is no chance to change the water, pack the space between the two pails loosely with grass. The water trickling down through the grass will take up the air needed by the fish.

Crickets are to be found under stones, loose sods, and old planks. Select the largest you can find. June-bugs, sometimes called May-bugs, hide through the heat of the day among the leaves of the trees, and sometimes by shaking a tree quite a number will fall to the ground. Grasshoppers are plentiful in meadow and pasture lands, and may easily be caught in the hands. Put June-bugs, crickets, and grasshoppers in a wide-mouthed bottle loosely stuffed with grass. Do not cork the bottle tight.

I never esteemed artificial baits, such as the rubber frog and crab, very highly. It is impossible to give the semblance of life to them in the water, and most game fish prefer live food to dead. The spoon-hook and the artificial fly, however, have proved their worth. The spoon should be of a size in keeping with the size of the game fished for, and it is well enough to have two—one bright, for use early in the morning and late in the afternoon and on dark days, the other dull-colored for use in the brightest part of the day. It is an excellent plan to bait a spoon-hook with a large worm, a minnow, or a piece of meat; then if the fish strikes and misses the hook it may get a portion of the bait and will strike again with truer aim.

There are many other things that can be used for bait, which are to be found only in your locality. What they are you can learn by observation and experiment. One can always learn something. Only recently I discovered that bass were fond of darning-needles.

Sometimes the fish have very fickle appetites, and it is well to have as many kinds of bait as you can conveniently carry. It is also a good plan to open the stomach of the first fish you catch, and offer to its companions the same kind of food found inside of it.

A Trap for Small Fish

Many of the boys and girls who live near the sea-side are interested in making and stocking aquariums, and many, no doubt, have experienced the same difficulty which I did when I used to stock aquariums myself.

I always found that the scoop-net which we use to catch the fish with is good enough for certain kinds of minnows, but there are others which are too lively or too shy to be caught in that way; so I set to work to devise some plan for their capture. I claim no originality for this trap—it is hundreds of years old; but as it answered my purpose better than anything else, I used it. The way I made it was as follows:

I took a piece of wire-netting about three feet square and bent it so as to form a tube three feet long and about one foot in diameter (Fig. 15). I then took two other strips of wire-netting, three feet long at the top, one foot wide, and two feet at the bottom (Fig. 16); these I bent into funnel shape. I sewed one funnel in about the middle of my cylinder and another in one end, as shown in Fig. 15, strengthening them in their position with strings from the small ends to the sides of the cylinder. The other end of the cylinder I closed with a piece of strong bagging so sewed on that there was a space left at one side which could be untied when I wished to empty the trap.

The manner of setting the trap is as simple as its manufacture. A handful of clams or mussels, crushed so that the minnows can get at the flesh, is thrown in between the first and second funnels. The fish, little crabs, small eels, and the like, go in, and when they try to get out they find it much easier to swim through the second funnel than to find the small hole in the first. I have had several of these traps, or “pots,” as the fishermen call them, in operation at one time, and have caught as many as half a bushel of small fish in one night.

The trap can be made by making a frame of hoops and lath and covering it with mosquito-netting, but it is not so desirable as the fine wire, being more easily torn.

A Water-turtle Trap

Some time ago, while spending the summer in the country, I began the pleasing amusement of making an aquarium. I used various methods to procure the inmates of the great glass box which I had made for the purpose, and was successful, except that I could not get a water-turtle. There they would lie on logs in the pond sunning themselves, but the moment I came within reaching distance, plump they would go into the water. At last I took an old soap-box, and after carefully removing one end I nailed on the cover. I then fastened the end to the cover by hinges, so that it would swing inward, and after throwing in a few bones and scraps of meat, I sunk the box in the pond close beside a big log where the turtles were accustomed to sun themselves. I put a heavy stone on the box, so as to keep it steady, and awaited the next morning for developments. Fig. 17.

Here I may say that this trap takes advantage of a peculiarity in the nature of the water-turtle—namely, if there is a log or stone that he cannot get under, that is just the place that he wants to get; and I calculated that the slight resistance offered by my swinging door would be just enough to make the turtles determined to get into my box. The next morning when I went to my trap I found several turtles of all sizes, from one tiny, yellow-spotted fellow, or mud-turtle, not larger than a half-dollar, to an ugly, great snapper as big as your hat, and so ill-tempered that I let him go again, glad enough at having got rid of so troublesome a visitor. After that I set my trap several times and caught a number of turtles. The smaller ones furnish a charming addition to an aquarium, and the larger ones, if properly dressed, make a capital stew.

An Eel-pot

All along the Atlantic coast eel-pots are made on the same general plan, a bottle-shaped basket having a funnel fitted at the bottom and provided with a hat that is held on by two straps of green oak.

Three forms are used on which to build up the basket-work. The large form is usually ten inches in diameter and shaped down to eight inches at the top or neck. This form is two feet long and has a round stick driven in the small end. This in turn rests in a hole bored in a solid piece of plank, so that it is held in an inverted position and revolves in the hole. Green oak is used for the ribs and bands. This is cut as straight and free from knots as possible, and is soaked in water for weeks before it is split and slivered. Green oak will sliver in an even and uniform manner if it is started right, and from the trunk of an oak-tree six inches in diameter enough material can be had to make several dozen eel-pots. The ribs are three-quarters of an inch wide and about one-eighth of an inch thick, while the bands are a trifle thinner and wider. A number of the ribs are tied around the form as shown in Fig. 18, and beginning at the bottom the bands are woven in and out around the form, turning it as the work progresses so that the immediate parts are always in sight. Where the ends join they are shaved down thin so that one laps over the other; then the weaving continues until the top is reached. The ends of the ribs are then shaved thin and bent back and slipped under some of the straps. A thin ribbon of the oak is sewed over and over around the edge to finish it. The top or small end of the basket is finished in a similar manner.

The cone or funnel form is fifteen inches long, nine inches in diameter at the large end, and tapers down to two inches at the bottom as shown in Fig. 19. Ribs are tied to this form the same as in the case of the large one, and the weaving begins at the bottom and is carried to the top, where the ends of the ribs are shaved and turned in as before described. The bottom or small end of the funnel is the trap, and here the long, thin ends of the ribs are left, so that the eel, when he goes through the funnel and into the pot, cannot get back again.

The hat is woven the same as a basket by crossing the ribs and adding a half-rib from the centre anywhere on the circle, so as to make an uneven number of ribs; thus the weaving will not duplicate after the first turn around the circle. This extra rib is shown at A in Fig. 20. A hat form, shown in Fig. 21, is made of wood and mounted on a block so that it will revolve the same as the other forms. When a part of the hat is woven it is placed on the form and two small nails driven through the ribs into the form to hold the weaving in place. It is then shaped down over the rounded edges of the form and carried one or two inches below the form so the lower edges of the ribs can be shaved and bent easily. A long strap of the green oak is passed under one of the ribs in the hat and caught under bands of the body as shown in the drawing of a complete eel-pot. Fig. 22.

The funnel is sewed to the bottom edge of the body with thin bands. As soon as the pots are finished they should be sunk in shallow water to keep them wet and get them thoroughly water-soaked.

Stakes or poles are to be driven or worked down into the bottom of the bay and the eel-pots made fast to them with ropes. To bait an eel-pot crack some hard-shell crabs or shrimp or put some pieces of fresh, raw meat within the pot and drop it overboard. Run the pots morning and night, and remove the eels by unstrapping the cap and dumping them into a barrel which may be carried on the boat.

A Scap-net

A scap-net for crabbing or landing fish on a hook may be made from a ring of heavy galvanized iron driven into the end of a hard-wood stick. Scap-nets may be purchased in most any general store near a bay or pond, but the ingenious boy can make one himself from a hoop and a ball of cotton twine. Hang long pieces of string over the ring and tie them fast with a square knot. Then tie one string with its next neighbor all around the circle. Begin lower down and tie them again, and continue in this manner until the net resembles Fig. 23. When it is seven or eight inches deep begin to shape it in at the bottom by making the meshes or openings smaller so that it will have a rounded bottom. The ends of the string should be tied together or over a small galvanized-iron sail-ring. All the strings should be tied in square knots so that they will not become undone after the net has been used for a while.

A Hoop Drop-net

A hoop drop-net such as shown at Fig. 24 may easily be made from three galvanized-wire rings and a mesh of tied string as described for the scap-net. The hoops should be eighteen inches in diameter and separated ten inches, thus making a net twenty inches deep. A mesh is to be formed across the bottom, and at the top six small ropes are tied and the ends brought together fifteen or twenty inches above the top ring.

Place some crushed crab or any good bait in the bottom of the net and slowly lower it until the rings rest on the bottom of the bay or pond, but keep the small ropes clear from the net. Watch through the water for visitors, and when the right subject is at the bait and within the rings give a quick jerk and pull the net rapidly to the surface. If fish are to be caught in this manner the hoops should be larger and one more added to the net, making it thirty inches deep. Fish are cunning and swift, and will often dart up and over the top hoop faster than you can haul it up.

A Land-yacht

A few years ago the only kind of yacht known to the boys were those that sailed in the water, but in this advanced time, when many unheard-of things have been made possible, the land-yacht has made its welcome appearance. Down on the Southern coasts, particularly Florida and California, where the sand packs fine and hard, the land-yacht is an important feature both for pleasure and business, and if properly handled in a good breeze it will run from ten to twenty miles an hour. No end of fun can be had with a properly constructed boat, and the ingenious boy may employ old baby-carriage or bicycle wheels for the running-gear.

A yacht of medium size can be made on the lines of Fig. 1 at a comparatively small cost for the timbers and sail-cloth, spars and hardware. The leg-of-mutton sail is used in preference to the square sail, as it has the greatest area close to the ground and is less liable to upset and much easier to handle.

To begin with, obtain some spruce joist clear-grained and free from knots. They should be two-by-four inches and twelve feet long. Cut one of them eight feet long and use it for the main cross-piece to which the front wheels are attached. Form a V of two twelve-foot joist, and fasten them to the cross-piece as shown in Fig. 2. About ten inches of each piece should project beyond the cross-piece. The timbers are bolted fast and at the rear end they are bevelled and brought together, then bolted through from side to side as shown in the plan (Fig. 2). Three feet back of the long cross-piece a shorter timber is set in between the V-shaped frame as shown at A. At the middle of this timber a hole one inch and a half square is cut and into it a tenon on the butt-end of the bowsprit fits as shown in Fig. 3.

The bowsprit is seven feet long and is bolted fast to the long cross-piece. Where the end fits into the timber A two angle-blocks are nailed fast. Seat-planking is cut and screwed or nailed fast to the V-shaped frame as shown in both Fig. 1 and Fig. 2. The boards should be ten inches wide and cut to overhang the timbers an inch or two at both ends.

If the wheels from an old baby-carriage are to be used the axle should be cut in half with a hack-saw and each part clamped under an end of the cross-timber with U-shaped clamps having the ends threaded and provided with nuts and washers as shown at Fig. 4. The rear or steering wheel is set in a fork that a blacksmith will make from strap-iron, and a round piece of the same metal, having a square-headed upper end, will do for the rudder-post as shown at Fig. 5. A short axle threaded at both ends and provided with nuts will hold the wheel in place, and when the post is passed up through a hole made in the timbers a tiller can be slipped over the square shoulder and bolted fast so that it will stay in place.

The tiller is of hard-wood two inches broad at the rear end, one inch in thickness, and tapered so that it will be about an inch square with the corners rounded where it is grasped by the hand. The handle part of it should be bound with linen cord to improve the grip. Give the deck wood-work and timbering a few coats of red, buff, or light-green paint.

The mast-step is rigged over the forward cross-timber. Two upright pieces of board twenty inches long and eight inches wide are attached to the outside edges of the frame-joist with screws. On top of these a cross-piece is made fast so that the step presents the appearance of a bench. Two pieces of board six inches wide are fastened from the corners down to the bowsprit and cross-timber to brace the step as shown at Fig. 6. An iron brace is made fast to the top of the step, behind the mast, and to the bowsprit, as may be seen in the illustration.

A hole three inches in diameter is cut at the middle of the step-board, and through this the mast is slipped. A half-inch round iron is driven into the bottom of the mast after a hole has been bored with a bit. It should be long enough to project out about two inches. This steps into a hole bored in the top of the bowsprit, and with the three wire stays that are caught at the top of the mast and into the eye-bolts, shown by the arrow-heads in Fig. 2, the mast is held securely in place.

A round pole fourteen feet long may be used for the mast, but if it is impossible to find one a very good mast can be dressed from a three-inch-square spruce stick that is free from large knots or cracks. The dressing may be done with a draw-knife and plane, and near the upper end it should be tapered.

The boom is sixteen feet long and two inches in diameter, and if it is possible to get a long curtain-pole it will answer very well; otherwise it will be necessary to cut it from a two-inch-square spruce stick.

The mast end of the boom is provided with a crotch made with two jaws as shown at Fig 7. They are cut from hard-wood with a draw-knife and compass-saw, and held to the boom with carriage bolts or screws and string bound round the three parts.

The sail is made of heavy, unbleached muslin that can be had at a dry-goods store for ten cents a yard. It may be sewed by hand or on a machine, and through the middle it would be well to take a lop so as to make a strengthening rib. The sail measures ten feet on the mast, fifteen feet on the boom, and eighteen feet on the leach. It is caught to the boom with stout cord and to the mast with wood or iron rings, and with a halyard and pulley at mast-head the sail may be raised and lowered at will.

In localities where there are hard roads and where the wind has a good sweep these land-yachts have become very popular. Of course they are much safer than water-boats for there is no danger of drowning, and it is quite impossible to capsize a land-yacht if the cross-timber is long enough to give the wheels a good spread.

Wheels with rubber tires will make the running motion easier and so add to the owner’s comfort.

A Sail-wagon

For level streets or sidewalks where trees do not interfere and where the walks are wide, a sail-wagon will afford much amusement.

In the drawing (Fig. 8) a sail-wagon of medium size and simple construction is shown. Obtain a pine, white-wood, or spruce plank fifteen inches wide and about one inch thick. It should be planed on one or both sides and measure eight feet long. Round the ends with a compass-saw and build a bridge for the mast, as shown in the drawing. This bridge should be twelve inches high, eighteen inches long, and eight inches wide, and should be braced underneath with angle-brackets. In the middle of the top board cut a hole three inches in diameter, and directly under it, in the plank, bore a half-inch hole for the mast-pin to step into.

One foot back from the front end arrange an axle-bar three feet long and two by three inches thick. Make another bar the same size for the rear axle but do not bolt it fast. This must be arranged on a king-bolt so that it can be turned by a post and tiller. The king-bolt and post should be in one piece, and this will have to be made by a blacksmith. Two round iron plates of metal one-eighth of an inch thick and five inches in diameter are provided with screw-holes at the outer edge and with round holes at the middle. One of these plates is to be attached to the middle of the axle, as shown at Fig. 9A, and the other to the under side of the plank in the middle and about ten inches in from the end. A hole is to be bored and cut three-quarters of an inch square in the axle-tree, and the holes in both iron plates are also three-quarters of an inch in diameter. Have a blacksmith make an iron post eight inches long and three-quarters of an inch in diameter. A piece of iron should be welded at the lower end so as to make it three-quarters of an inch square for a distance of three inches. At the top form a square shoulder an inch long, and above it have a short round shank threaded to take a nut as shown in Fig. 9B. Drive this shaft up through the square hole in the axle-tree, and to prevent it from dropping nail a piece of wood or tin over the end of it and to the under side of the tree. Slip the round post up through the plate and board so that it extends several inches above the top of the board. Make a tiller of hard-wood fifteen inches long and three inches wide at the post-end and taper it to the handle. Cut a square hole in the broad end to fit over the square shoulder on the iron post, then screw the nut on over a washer to hold the tiller in place. To prevent the tiller from splitting near the hole it would be best to bind the wood at both ends of the hole with copper wire as shown in Fig. 9C. When the wagon is in motion a turn of the handle will operate the axle and steer the moving vehicle easily.

The wheels should be all the same size, but if they cannot be had and only a pair of large and small ones are available place the smaller ones at the rear. The axle need not run the entire length of the axle-tree, but shorter pieces may be bolted fast to the ends of the trees. Give the wagon two or three coats of paint and it will then be ready for use.

From spruce or pine cut a mast five feet long and three inches in diameter, using a draw-knife and plane to shape it. Taper the stick at the top, place an iron band about the bottom, and drive a half-inch iron pin into a hole bored in the bottom so that two or three inches of it will project. The foot of the mast is to be slipped through the hole in the bridge and the pin stepped into the hole made in the long board directly under it. From two-inch spruce cut a sprit seven feet long and a boom seven feet long with a crotch formed at one end, as described in the boat chapter. The sprit acts as a gaff, and at the same time it does away with halyards and makes it possible to use a shorter and stouter stick for the mast.

From unbleached muslin make a sail three feet and six inches on the mast, six feet on the boom, three feet at the head, and seven feet on the leach. A sail of this proportion will set properly, and when the peak is jacked up with the sprit the boom will clear the boy on the deck when it swings over. To stiffen the sail bind the outer edge with thin rope or cotton line a trifle smaller than clothes-line.

A Pushmobile

The pushmobile (Fig. 10) is another interesting road or sidewalk car and one with which two boys can share considerable fun. In general appearance the pushmobile resembles something between an automobile and a buck-board, as there is a long reach between the fore and aft wheels. The body consists of a long board one inch and a quarter in thickness, eighteen or twenty inches wide, and seven feet long. Or two nine-inch planks may be fixed together with the battens that hold the axles and a shorter one under the seat. At the front of the body a keg is mounted and held fast with iron straps which go over the top of the keg and are fastened to the sides of the large board as may be seen in Fig. 10. This keg will represent the engine cover, and at either side of it and mounted on the board two tin cans arranged with glass at the front will serve as lamps. By perforating the tops and sides of these cans a candle may be used or bicycle lamps may be substituted for them. The glass is fitted to the cans by bending a piece of spring-wire in a circle and placing it within the can. Against this wire a circular piece of glass will rest, and to hold it in place another wire may be slipped within the can. If large baking-powder or coffee cans are used the greater portion of the cap may be cut away with a tin-shears, leaving a rim and flange just wide enough to hold the glass in place.

The seat is made from a box eighteen inches wide and high and arranged with back and sides which can be built up six inches above the seat as shown in Fig. 10. This seat is to be securely attached to the board with long screws driven up through the under side of the board and into the lower part of the box. The steering-shaft and wheel are arranged about one foot in front of the seat. This is a shaft of hard-wood (such as a curtain-pole or any good tough stick) about one inch and a half square or in diameter. It mounts on a block of wood which is screwed fast to the large board and provided with a hole through which the shaft will pass so that it will extend down through the large board. A collar of wood or iron is slipped down over the shaft and screwed fast to it so as to prevent it from slipping down too far. Another collar is provided and made fast at the bottom to prevent the steering-cable from slipping off. The arrangement of the collars and wire is shown at Fig. 11A. At the top of the shaft a small wooden wheel should be slipped on over a shank that may be cut down in size to fit the opening in the wheel; and with a screw the wheel is to be made fast to the shaft so that it is held securely in place.

The rear wheels are attached to an axle that in turn is bolted fast to a bar of wood eighteen inches long and two by three inches in thickness. These wheels are held in a fixed position, and the bar to which they are attached is located about a foot in from the end of the long board. The front axle is bolted to a movable bar which is held to another bar by a king-bolt, so that the lower axle-bar can turn in the same way as on a wagon. The bar to which the axle and movable bar are attached is located about one foot from the front of the long board. This arrangement can be seen at Fig. 12, which is a front view showing axle and fifth wheel, as the turn-plate between the axle-tree and the body of the wagon is called. The fifth wheel is made of two pieces of tire-iron, one fastened to the under side of the fixed bar, the other to the top of the axle-tree, so that when greased the lower part will turn easily.

Flexible wire-cable or very strong twine should be used for the steering-gear. The ends are made fast to the axle-tree as shown at A in Fig. 12. Several wraps of the wire or twine are taken about the lower end of the shaft, and the wire passes through a hole to prevent it from slipping. The wire should be attached first at one end of the tree, carried to the shaft, and given several turns, then passed through the hole. Several more turns are to be made above the hole, then the loose end should be attached to the other end of the axle-tree. If a small turn-buckle can be had, make it fast to the wire and axle at one end so as to draw the wire taut and hold it in place, for the tighter the wire the better the shaft will act when turned by the wheel.

A brake is to be made fast at one side of the car as shown in Fig. 10. Have a blacksmith turn a piece of one-inch thin tire-iron for you as shown at Fig. 11B, and bore two holes at the short end and two larger ones farther up as indicated in the drawing. With screws attach a brake-block to the short end, and with a square-headed lag-screw make this brake-bar fast to a block fastened at the under side of the long board so that the lever and brake-block will act on the tire of the wheel. The hand-bar is of iron twenty-four inches long and provided with a hole at the lower end and another one six inches above it. The upper end of the bar is drawn out on the anvil so that a wooden handle can be slipped on it, then it is bolted to a block attached to the lower front side of the seat as shown in the illustration. A stout wire connects the lower end of the hand-bar with the top of the brake-bar, so that when the handle is pulled back the wire and top end of the brake-bar is drawn forward and the block pressed against the wheel.

Several coats of paint will give this pushmobile a good appearance and it will then be ready for use.

One boy on the seat steers the machine, while another grasps the overhanging edges of the long board and pushes as he runs behind. On level sidewalks or streets a good run and push will send the car along at a good speed and the pusher can then jump on behind. When going downhill both boys can ride, and if the driver has his hands full with the wheel and shaft the boy behind can reach forward and operate the brake.

If coasting is done on very steep hills or roads it would be well to have a brake to operate on both rear wheels, for the momentum of a rapidly moving car will often drag a “dead” wheel if the other three are running easily; whereas if both back wheels are “dead” the car can be brought to a quick stop.

The Engine

Every boy is interested in fire-engines and fires, and in the absence of the real thing there is a great deal of fun to be had in playing fire. The regular steam apparatus is rather beyond a boy’s constructive ability, but the engine shown in the illustration (Fig. 1) can easily be made from an oil or pork barrel, a keg, a pump, and a set of old wagon wheels. A box may be used for the seat and a small force-pump may be had at a hardware store for a nominal sum. The pump should be fitted with a hose-coupling at both inlet and outlet, so that a piece of garden hose can be used for the suction and force.

The construction of the body part of the engine is shown in Fig. 2. Two rails six inches wide, seven-eighths of an inch thick, and six feet long are set wide enough apart for the barrel (representing the boiler) to fit between. These pieces are securely attached with stout screws to the barrel so that a foot of each rail will extend beyond the rear of the barrel. At both ends a rail corresponding in width and thickness is cut and fitted between the ends of the rails as shown at AA. These are to be held in position with long, steel-wire nails or with screws, which always make the best and most secure joints.

To prevent the side-rails from spreading, a cross-rib should be made fast to the under side of the side-rails about at the middle as shown at BB. This is a precaution taken to prevent the rails spreading and letting the heavy barrel full of water drop. In addition to the screws that are driven through the side-rails and into the barrel, it would be well to screw a batten fast at each side over the rail as shown at C. This lug will help the bearing and take the strain from the screws in the rails.

The truss which holds the keg, or imitation dry-steam chest, is made of strips four inches wide, seven-eighths of an inch thick, and built up so that the angle stands fifteen inches above the top of the side-rails as shown at D. These trusses are securely bound at the angle with screws or clinch-nails, then screwed fast to the inside of the rails as shown at EE. Cut a short piece of board and nail it fast between these truss-knees to act as a platform on which to stand the keg. Another small platform can be made between the truss and barrel on one or both sides of the apparatus to accommodate one or two pumps. The smoke-pipe at the top of the barrel is cut from an old stove-pipe and is shaped as shown in Fig. 1. With a tin-shears or snips the ears are cut at top and bottom. Those at the top are pointed and give a crown effect, but if the plain-rim top is preferred do not cut the pipe. At the bottom, slits are cut in the pipe two inches in from the edge, about three-quarters of an inch apart, and with a flat-nosed pliers the ears are bent out so that they will lie flat on the barrel-top when the smoke-pipe is set in place. A piece of tin or zinc is placed on the barrel-head under the smoke-pipe, and with large tacks the pipe is then made fast.

When running to a fire some shavings, chips, or cotton on which some paraffine has been melted is put in this smoke-pipe and lit, and as the engine is drawn along the sparks and smoke will shoot out from the top of the pipe in a very realistic manner. The seat is made of a box on top of which a back and side-arms are arranged as shown in Fig. 1, and when it is complete it is attached to the side-rails and truss. The upper edges of the side-rails are decked over in front of the box so as to make a platform, and at the front end of the frame a dash-board is arranged and held in position with battens.

A small, water-tight keg is fastened to the platform between the knees of the truss by means of screws passed up through the bottom of the platform and into the under side of the keg. One or two openings are made in the keg and a hose-coupling driven into them so that the long hose may be attached when at a fire. Short lengths of hose and couplings extend from the top of the pumps to the keg, so that when the pumps are in action the water is forced into the keg and out through the openings. There will always be a cushion of air above the water which is more or less elastic, and when the water is forced in faster than it can escape through the nozzles the air-cushion will take care of the pressure automatically.

Small carriage wheels and axles support the frame, and at the front a fifth wheel is arranged so that the front wheels can be turned. Back of the barrel the frame is decked at the under side so as to make a fuel-box where more smoke and spark making materials can be stored. It would be well to fasten a lid to this compartment so that sparks dropping from the smoke-pipe will not fall on and ignite the contents. If it is possible to obtain a force-pump it can be mounted on one of the bases arranged at the side of the barrel.

The suction-hose should come from the under side of the barrel and be attached to the base of the pump. The coupling to which the long hose is attached should be arranged at the side of the keg or it can be screwed directly on the outlet of the pump. A short length of the hose—a coupling and nozzle—may be supported on hooks and a standing Y as shown in Fig. 1. The hook on the barrel is made from a piece of iron bent as shown at Fig. 3A, with holes bored to receive screws. If the iron is too hard to work a wooden bracket can be made, as shown at B, and screwed fast to the barrel.

The Y may be made from strap-iron and a stick, as shown at C and D (Fig. 3), the iron being attached to the top of the stick which in turn is screwed fast to the truss. A pole is made fast to the forward running-gear to drag the engine with, and if several boys are to be members of the fire company a rope should be made fast to the axle at both ends or to the body frame, and the boy nearest the engine can steer it with the pole. All the wood-work should be painted red and the metal parts with asphaltum varnish, which will give them a good appearance, and as it is water-proof it will prevent the metal parts from rusting.

Trip-gongs and signal-lamps should, of course, be provided, for without these appurtenances the engine would be a flat failure.

The Hose-carriage

A hose-carriage (Fig. 4) to accompany the engine is made of wood and constructed on the same lines as the engine.

The frame is made of boards six inches wide, seven-eighths of an inch thick, and is five feet long by two feet wide as shown at Fig. 5. A dash-board is made and fastened to the front of the frame, and between the dash-board and seat the side-rails are decked over to make a platform. The remaining part of the frame may be left open. Across the under side of the frame fasten two cross-bars to which the axles are to be made fast. Baby-carriage or small wagon wheels are to be used for the hose-carriage, and if the axles should not be long enough a blacksmith will weld in a piece at the middle so as to make them the required length.

The reel is made from a round piece of wood and two circular sides and arranged so as to revolve in a supporting frame. One side of the frame is shown in Fig. 5. It is made from wood three inches wide, seven-eighths of an inch thick, and the pieces are securely attached at the inside of the side-rails with screws and clinch-nails. The sides of the reel are made from three pieces of matched boards and are twenty inches in diameter.

Drive three pieces of board together and lay them flat. With a pin, a piece of string, and a pencil describe a circle twenty inches in diameter using the centre of the middle board as a place to drive the pin. After the circle is drawn, separate the boards, and with a compass-saw cut the wood on the lines. Then drive the boards together again and band the outer edge with a piece of box strap-iron, driving the nails in about two inches apart all around the edge.

Attach one end to the flat end of the hub. The other piece should have a square hole cut in it so that it will fit over the square shoulder cut on the other end of the axle as shown at Fig. 6A. Attach both ends to the axle with long, steel-wire nails, then from a piece of hard-wood cut a crank and handle as shown at Fig. 6B. The crank is ten inches long and at both sides of the square hole the wood should be bound with wire to prevent its splitting. At the opposite end from the crank an iron pin half an inch in diameter is to be driven through the side and into the end of the hub through a half-inch hole bored with auger or bit and brace. This is shown in the drawing of the complete reel. Fig. 6C.

On the end of the hub and close to the square crank-shaft the hub is turned round for a distance of two inches. This is the part that will fit in the bearing cut in the supporting frame. To hold the reel in position at the top of the truss, straps of iron, as shown at Fig. 6D, are screwed fast over the angle when the reel is in place. With a coat or two of paint this hose-carriage will be ready for use.

The Hook-and-Ladder Truck

To complete the outfit a hook-and-ladder truck (Fig. 7) will be necessary, on the racks of which four hooks, three ladders, six buckets, and other paraphernalia can be accommodated.

The length of the truck will depend somewhat on the strength of the wheels that can be had, also on the size of the boys in the fire company; but for serviceable use for both small and large boys a truck eight feet long will be a very good size. The frame or body is made of boards six inches wide, seven-eighths of an inch thick, and is eight feet long by thirty inches wide. The frame should be braced across the bottom, at the middle, and near both ends to prevent it from racking. Two cross-timbers for the axles are made fast under the forward and rear ends, and to the forward one the fifth-wheel bar is made fast so that the front wheels can be turned.

The ladder-rack is constructed from pieces of curtain-pole and side uprights, six inches wide at the bottom and tapered to three inches at the top. The uprights are attached to the inside of the body frame, and the bars on which the ladders rest are let into holes in these uprights and keyed as shown at Fig. 8A. The end of the bar is cut across with a saw, and when this is passed through a hole in the upright a wedge-shaped key is driven in the cut to spread the end of the bar and expand it so that it will hold. Some glue on the wedge will cause it to stay in place after it has been driven in as far as it will go.

The ladders are made of two spruce rails three inches wide and one inch and a quarter thick. The rungs are let into holes made in the middle of the rails and keyed fast with wedges as just described for the ladder-rails. If a flat rung is preferred the rails may be cut in as shown at B in Fig. 8, and flat strips are to be laid in these laps and nailed or screwed fast. The sharp corners may be planed off so as to make the grip easier to the hands. The ladders may vary from seven to twelve feet in length and from eighteen to twenty-four inches wide, preferably the wider ones, as they are safer and will not slide sidewise as a narrower ladder is apt to do.

The dash-board and forward deck are supported on two bracket-plates made fast to the forward part of the body frame, and on the deck planking a box-seat with sides and back is to be made fast. Stout iron hooks are driven in along both sides of the body between forward and rear wheels, and on them ordinary wooden pails or buckets may be hung. Two sets of hooks arranged at the outer side of the ladder supports will hold the long handles of fire-hooks, and a scaling-ladder can be hung under the truck.

The goose-neck of a scaling-ladder should be made of tempered iron by a blacksmith, and all the wood-work should be of hickory. The plan for a scaling-ladder is shown in Fig. 9. The stick is three by one and a half inches and the rungs are three-quarters by two inches, driven through mortises cut in the stick twelve inches apart and held by a steel nail driven through the centre. The goose-neck base is divided like the front-wheel fork of a bicycle and with corresponding holes bored in each side. Bolts should be passed through them and the head of the stick so as to hold the iron straps securely. Good, strong hickory may be had from a wheelwright or wagon-builder, and care should be taken to cut the mortises accurately so that the parts will fit snugly together. Ladder-building is different from ordinary carpentry, and pains should be taken to have all the joints very tight so that they will not rack.

All boys like to play about the water, and dams and water machinery afford an endless amount of amusement. Moreover, the pastime has its useful side. Once you get a wheel in operation with a shaft and pulley attached, it is then a simple matter to harness your power and make it do all sorts of things, such as sawing wood, churning milk, operating a fan on hot days, and even turning a grindstone or light wood-working machinery.

There are three kinds of wheels, the overshot, breast, and undershot. The overshot is the most powerful, for it is not only moved by the weight of water that it holds but also by the force of the onrushing water from the sluice arranged to feed it. The breast-wheel is the next in power and is used where the fall of water is not so great. The undershot wheel is employed in a rapidly running brook or stream where there is no dam or body of headwater. This form of wheel is the least powerful and the most unreliable, for the height of the watercourse is liable to change according to seasons and storms. While at one time it may be flushed up to the hub, at another the water may hardly touch the blades of the wheel.

These forms of old-style wheels have become almost obsolete now as the modern turbine has superseded it as a means of employing water as a motive power. Less than one-quarter of the surface of the old-time wheels would be actively engaged at any one time, and the waste of power was appalling as compared with the sluice-box and pen-stock of the modern turbine where every drop of water is lending its influence to the blades. A turbine, however, is rather beyond the ability of the average boy to properly construct, and so we do the best we can with the old-style wheels. For a boy’s purpose they will answer quite well enough.

In the accompanying drawings several ideas for water-wheels are shown, and among them a boy should be able to find one that he can make from boards and sticks, at a slight cost, and which if properly rigged and adjusted will develop a considerable amount of power.

A Simple Paddle-wheel

The simple paddle-wheel, as shown at Fig. 1, is made from an axle three inches square, four spokes, and four boards. For a wheel of medium size that will develop about one-eighth of a horse-power the axle should be four feet long. One end is rounded for a distance of four inches as shown at A, and with bit and chisel two mortises are cut in opposite directions as shown at A. These holes are one inch and a quarter wide and three inches long. Into them the spokes are driven and held with screws or iron pins. Another pair of holes are cut thirty inches from the first and two more spokes driven in them. The spokes are thirty inches long, thus leaving thirteen and a half inches of each one projecting beyond the axle or hub.

The paddle blades are boards thirty inches long, ten inches wide, and seven-eighths of an inch thick. They are attached to the spokes with carriage-bolts and washers.

A rounded bearing two inches wide is cut in the axle beyond the spokes so as to correspond with the other end, and beyond this the axle is left square. Bearings for this wheel are made in the edge of a stout plank notched as shown at B, and held in place by iron straps as also depicted at B. Long screws or screw-bolts, commonly known as lag-screws, will hold the strap in place, and from the square end of the shaft the connection is made for power. In place of the iron strap another piece of wood may be cut and clamped down over the axle end as shown at C.

A Wagon Wheel

Another variety of water-wheel may be made from the hubs and spokes of two old wheels, preferably those from a buggy or light wagon. Fig. 2.

Remove the iron boxes from the hubs by driving them out, then cut a hole in each hub with a chisel and mallet, as shown at A, so they will be at least an inch and a half square. From hickory or other hard-wood make an axle the size of the holes and arrange the hubs on it so they will be thirty inches apart. One side of each spoke should be cut as shown at B in order that the blades may rest against a flat place instead of a rounded surface. The blades should be from thirty to thirty-six inches long and ten or twelve inches wide, and held to the spokes with carriage or tire bolts. This wheel may be swung in bearings as described in Fig. 1, and from the square end of the axle the power can be taken.

Both of these wheels may be used as over or undershot but not as breast-wheels, for a breast-wheel must have pockets to hold the water, and the overshot-wheel should have them too if all the available force and weight of water is to be employed.

A Barrel-wheel

A very simple and efficient device is shown in the drawing of a barrel-wheel (Fig. 3). This consists of an oil or pork barrel having tight ends and staves, a number of blades, and some siding-boards.

The blades are of hard-wood ten inches wide and the length of the barrel. One edge of each blade is cut to conform with the bilge of the barrel as shown at A, and with three or four long screws each blade is made fast to the barrel at the middle. The ends of the barrel are replanked so as to build their surface even with the projecting edges of the staves, then some matched boards are nailed or screwed to the heads to bind together the ends of the blades. Screws are passed through the boards and into the ends of the blades to make them secure, and in this manner a hollow wheel is made with pockets around the outside.

A square hole should be cut in each end of the barrel and into them an axle is driven. It is provided with rounded bearings and square end. When swung in a carriage and connected a powerful wheel will be the result if the force of water is sufficient to drive it.

WATER-WHEELS