“How to do it,” might very well be the title of this new
handy-book for American boys. It is first and last a
practical guide, based upon the experience of those who
have done what they describe. Results are wanted, not
theories in a book of this kind, and careful tests have been
applied to secure working results and the certainty that
everything will come out all right.
Another point, which has had the most careful attention
of a board of editors, is that of selection. It would be easy
to include a quantity of sports and games, and also plans
for elaborate contrivances neither particularly amusing
nor necessary when done. But the object of this book is
to show boys how to do accurately things which are quite
within their powers, and things also which will be a satisfaction
when they are done. The plan followed is to develop
a boy’s ingenuity and mechanical ability along lines
which will reward him. In short, the book is intended to
help a boy to think and act for himself and to have fun in
doing it.
The plan of arrangement which is followed is the natural
one—to begin at home. The back yard lies immediately
at hand. Let us see what can be done there. The aquarium,
pet shelters, windmills, and many other contrivances
are identified with the home.
XIIGoing farther afield we learn the making of coasters and
skees, ice-boats and snow cannon, and all that enters into
winter sports. There is the air, also, with its invitation to
kites and aeroplanes, and there is water, with all the
chances for the use of water-power and sport. Fishing
itself is something best learned by experience, but the
choice and management of tackle afford a most instructive
theme. And water naturally has an importance which
requires an entire division of the book wherein boat-building
and boat-management of all kinds are thoroughly
and practically explained.
Camping out, which appeals to every healthy boy, is
treated from every point of view in the fourth division of
the book, which includes also trapping, taxidermy, and tree
huts and brush houses.
In all these general divisions the aim of the editors and
author has been to show in the simplest and most accurate
way how to do things which are amusing to do and valuable
when done.
The principal contributor to this book is an amateur carpenter,
boat-builder, and mechanician as well as an artist
and writer. One editor has had a wide practical experience
in almost everything that has to do with out-door amusements.
Another has camped and fished in the four corners
of our country and in Canada. All their experience has
been combined to prepare a convenient out-door handy-book
free from unnecessary words and details, and filled
with the latest and best methods, which will be indispensable
to every American boy who likes the fun of doing
things for himself.
Part I IN BOUNDS — Chapter I BACK-YARD PLEASURES — A Wigwam — A Square Tepee — A Ridge-pole Tepee — A Fountain — An Aquarium — How to Manage an Aquarium — A Merry-go-round — Chapter II PET SHELTERS — Martin Boxes — Bird Shelters — Pigeon-cotes — Dog-kennels — Guinea-pig Houses — Chicken-coops — Rabbit-hutches — Squirrel Cages — Reptile Pens — Chapter III SUMMER-HOUSES AND PERGOLAS — A Simple Summer-house — A Back-yard Pergola — A Toadstool Tree Canopy — A Rustic Pergola — 57 A Circular Pergola — A Summer Shelter — Chapter IV WEATHER-VANES AND WINDMILLS — A Pinion-wheel Weather-vane — A Wind-speeder — The Arrow Weather-vane — Wooden Vanes — A Wind-pennant — A Basket-ball Vane — A Merry-go-round — A Wind Turbine — 72 A Barrel-hoop Pinion-wheel — A Pumping Windmill — 78 A Windmill and Tower — Chapter V AËRIAL TOYS — The Elastic Flying-machine — Self-acting Aërial Car — Aërial Boat-sailing — A “High-flyer”
1
3OUT-DOOR BOOK FOR BOYS
Since home is the natural centre of life, it will be most
helpful if we find out what we can do just outside
the house. In large cities there is usually no front yard,
and even where such space exists its use as a play-ground
is apt to be undesirable. But the back yard even in cities
often affords some chances not only for gardening on a
small scale but also for making and using a variety of
things which will furnish constant amusement.
For boys who like to “play Injun” in the back yard, here
are some ideas for tepees and wigwams that may easily be
followed cut at a very small cost for the poles and canvas.
Canvas can be bought at a dry-goods or country store,
and poles may be cut in the woods; or one-and-one-half-inch-square
spruce sticks may be purchased at a lumber-yard
and dressed round with a draw-knife and plane. When
4cutting poles for a wigwam it is necessary to select very
straight ones, preferably of pine, for crooked or knotty
poles are unsightly and make an uneven exterior.
The real Indian tepee is made from buckskin or other
strong hides lashed together with rawhide thongs; but as
this covering is beyond the reach of the average boy, the
next best thing to use will be heavy twilled canvas or stout
unbleached muslin that can be had for about ten cents a
yard. The regulation wigwam is perhaps the most satisfactory
kind of a tent, for it is roomy, will shed water, and
it is about the only tent in which a fire may be built without
smoking out the occupants. The tepee will not blow over
if properly set up and stayed with an anchor-rope, and it is
easily taken down and moved from place to place.
5
A WIGWAM
For a party of three or four boys the wigwam shown in
Fig. 1 will afford ample room, and it is not so large as to
be unhandy. Select thirteen straight poles, not more than
two inches thick at the bottom, and clear them from knots
and projecting twigs. They should be ten feet long and
pointed at the bottom so as to stick into the ground for a
few inches. Tie three of them together eighteen inches
from the top, and form a tripod on a circle five feet and six
inches in diameter. Place the other poles against this tripod
to form a cone, as shown in Fig. 2, and lash them fast
at the top with a piece of clothes-line. From unbleached
muslin or sail-cloth (light weight) make a cover as shown
in the diagram Fig. 3. Lay out a sixteen-foot circle on a
barn floor, or the grass, with chalk, and indicate an eighteen-inch
circle at the middle. Around the outer circle or
periphery measure off nineteen feet and chalk-mark the
6space. From these marks to the centre of the circle draw
straight lines, and within these limits the area of the wigwam
cover will be shown. It should correspond with the
plan drawing in Fig. 3. The muslin should be three feet
wide and with it this area can be covered in any direction,
sewing the strips together to make the large sheet; or the
muslin may be cut in strips three feet wide at one end and
tapering to a few inches at the other, as shown in Fig. 4,
the seams running up and down the canvas instead of across
it. The outer edge of the canvas cover should be bound
with clothes-line or cotton rope, sewed securely with waxed
white string; then thirteen short ropes should be passed
over this rope so that the canvas may be lashed fast to the
foot of each pole to hold the cover in place. The doorway
flaps are formed by stopping the lacings three feet up from
the ground. With short ropes and rings sewed to the cover
the flaps may be tied back, as shown in Fig. 1.
The real Indian wigwams are decorated with all sorts of
emblems, for even the uncivilized red men had their crests
and totems, and the boys who make these tepees can easily
invent some mark which will distinguish their tent abode
from all others. The ornamentation should be done with
paint and should be carried out before the canvas covering
is stretched over the poles.
A square tepee, as shown in the illustration Fig. 5, is
another form of rear-yard tent that is easily made. Twelve
poles are selected and four of them are lashed fast and spread
7apart on a square of six feet. Two poles are added to each
side and all are lashed together at the head. Four pieces
of canvas or heavy unbleached muslin are cut and made on
the plan as shown in Fig. 6, the strips being cut from goods
a yard wide. These pieces are six feet long, one foot wide
at the head, and six feet at the foot. The seam through the
middle of one piece is left open for three feet to form the
doorway flaps, then the four sides are securely sewed together
with waxed white string. This cover is slipped
about the pole frame, tied at the front, and held down
by means of short ropes that are lashed fast to the foot of
each pole. The cover is decorated with paint to give it
the Indian appearance, and when the flaps are tied back it
is easy to go into and come out of the tepee.
A ridge-pole tepee is shown in Fig. 7, and is a very
easy and simple one to make, for it is of one piece of
8canvas with two flaps sewed at each side to form the
ends.
One ridge and two upright poles make the framework,
and they are held in place by the canvas, which is drawn and
lashed fast to stakes driven in the ground, as may be seen
in the drawing. The ridge-pole is eight feet long, one and
a half inches thick, and four
inches wide. Two inches
from either end a half-inch
hole is bored to receive the
iron pins that are driven
in the ends of the uprights
as shown at Fig. 8 A and
B. The upright poles are eight feet long, and when set
one foot of the lower end should be embedded in the
9ground. The sides are in one piece of muslin made by
sewing widths of it together. The sheet measures seventeen
feet long and eight feet wide; and when stretched over the
ridge-pole and fastened down at both sides an inverted
shape will be the result. It is ten feet across at the bottom,
seven feet high, and eight feet long at each side. For the
back it will be necessary to make a triangular piece of canvas
the right size to fit the opening, or two flaps may be
cut, divided at the middle, and tied back, or laced, to close
the tent. The apron or part enclosure at the front is
formed from pieces of canvas two feet wide sewed along
the edges and caught together at the middle over the
opening.
Ten pegs eighteen inches long and two inches wide are
cut from hard-wood as shown at Fig. 8 C. These are
driven in the ground at an angle and ropes attached to the
lower edges of the canvas sidings are lashed fast to them.
This tepee is long enough to swing a hammock from pole
to pole, and on a warm summer night makes an ideal place
for sleeping out-of-doors. The covering, like that of the
other wigwams, may be decorated with Indian emblems,
and if a party of boys are going to camp in the back yard
their tepees can be inscribed with different crests and totems
to indicate individual ownership.
A practicable rear-yard fountain may be made with a
brick or concrete basin, an underground pipe-line and an
overflow, thus insuring a continuous flow and discharge.
10In Fig. 9 the basin, pipe, and trap are shown with the
inlet pipe fitted for a hose connection. Three plates of
different sizes are used for the traps, and if care is taken in
drilling the holes an opening may be made in the bottom
of each plate so that it will slip over the stand-pipe. Tin
or enamelled iron plates will answer the purpose very well
for a while, but the tin plates would soon rust unless frequently
painted. The white earthern-ware plates will present
the best appearance and will last indefinitely.
Dig a circular hole thirty inches across and twelve inches
deep, and with cement and sand make a hard bottom or bed.
Use a trowel and smooth the cement so that the top surface
is smooth. With some bricks form a circle, as shown at
Fig. 10. With a cold-chisel and mallet cut away the edges
of two bricks so that the overflow pipe will pass between
them, as shown at A in Fig. 10.
The pipe should be half or three-quarter inch galvanized
water-pipe, and it may be purchased at a plumber’s shop for
a few cents a foot.
The supply-pipe is three-eighths-inch galvanized water-pipe,
and should be set in place under the concrete bottom
of the basin before the cement is poured in. The upright,
or stand-pipe, is thirty-six inches high from the elbow, B
(Fig. 10), in the ground. The cross-pipe leading out is
eighteen or twenty inches long, and the short upright that
comes to the surface outside the basin is fifteen inches long
and is to be provided with a hose connection so that a
garden hose may be attached to it. The stand-pipe in the
basin and the cross-piece should be embedded in the cement
concrete, and when it is dry and hardens around the pipes
11it will hold them securely in place. When the circle of
bricks is complete, fill in the crevices with equal parts of
cement and sand mixed into a mortar. This will lock the
bricks together; then plaster the cement all around the inside
of the circle and some at the outside so as to make a
water-tight basin.
Earth is to be put back into the hole outside the circle of
bricks and the sod replaced, so that grass will grow right
up to the edge of the basin rim, which should project an
inch or two above the surface of the ground.
From a plumber or gas-fitter obtain some old pieces of
brass tubing an inch in diameter, cut one of them fourteen
12inches long, and slip it down over the stand-pipe. The
lowest and largest plate rests on this. Next cut a piece
of tubing nine inches long and slip it over the pipe. The
second plate rests on this and the top plate is supported by
a piece of the tubing cut six inches in length and slipped
over the pipe. If porcelain dishes are used, make the first
hole in them as follows:
Obtain a stout, three-inch steel wire nail, a block of wood
about three inches square, having an inch hole bored at one
end, and a small hard-wood mallet. Place a plate on the
block of wood, inverted so that its centre will be exactly
over the hole. Place the point of the nail on the plate,
taking care to get it in the centre; then give it a sharp, quick
blow with the mallet. If this is properly done a small
piece of the porcelain will be driven out, but remember that
if the blow is not properly centred it will break the plate.
For this reason it is best to practise first on a broken plate;
or if the porcelain seems to be impossible, the painted tin or
enamelled plates will have to answer. A perforated porcelain
plate is shown in Fig. 11 A. The ragged hole can be
smoothed out or chafed away with an old rat-tail or half-round
file. A brass reducer and a gas pillar should be
screwed fast to the top of the stand-pipe so that a jet of
water about a quarter of an inch in diameter will shoot
above the pipe.
If a little wooden ball is to dance at the top of the jet,
a half-circular basket will be necessary to catch the ball
when it falls, so that the stream of water can pick it up
again. This is made from brass or galvanized wire, and
where the wires cross bind the joint with fine copper wire
13and solder the joints so as to make them rigid. A small
brass ferrule or short piece of pipe should be soldered to the
bottom of this basket, so as to hold it in place when slipped
over the pillar or nozzle. This basket and its shape is more
clearly shown in Fig. 11 B. It should be six or eight inches
in diameter and three inches deep, with the wires close
enough together to prevent the ball from falling through.
If it is not possible to get the bricks of which to form the
basin, a concrete wall can be made instead. Dig the hole
as before described; then construct a cylinder of wood
twenty-four inches in diameter and eight inches thick.
Floor over the bottom of the hole with concrete, after the
stand-pipe is in place, and around the edge of the concrete
floor and outside the cylinder embed some small stones
so that the filling will hold fast. This is shown at c c in
Fig. 12. Slip the wooden cylinder over the stand-pipe so
that it will occupy the position as shown in Fig. 12. Make
a mixture of coarse sand or gravel and cement, half and half,
and add a shovel or two of small stones, preferably cracked,
such as are used for the under-dressing to macadam roads.
Tamp this down in the opening in the ground so as to fill
up the ditch or moat as shown at Fig. 13. The outside of
the cylinder should be thoroughly coated with lard or some
heavy grease before the concrete is poured in, so that the
wood will not absorb the moisture from the concrete and
cause it to bind in the hole. As a precaution it would be
well to make the bottom of the cylinder an inch smaller in
diameter than the top, so that it may draw out easily after
the concrete has set. The two slots shown in the top of
the cylinder are hand holes to grasp it by.
14With nearly clear cement, having but a small portion of
sand added, finish the inside of the basin and the rim with
a trowel so as to give it a smooth and even surface. The
force of water may be regulated with a faucet.
There is nothing difficult in the construction of a glass-and-wood
aquarium like the one shown in Fig. 14, and the
boy who is handy with tools and careful in joining wood-work
accurately will be able to knock it together in short
order. The best size will be twenty-four inches long, fifteen
wide, and ten inches high. This will be generous enough in
proportions to accommodate a dozen or so of small fish, some
baby eels, crawfish, a turtle or two, and some water-lizards.
15From a carpenter obtain a piece of white-wood twenty-seven
inches long, seventeen inches wide, and one and a half
inches in thickness. This must be of selected stock, hard
and free from knots or sappy places. Cut four battens of
hard-wood two inches wide, an inch thick, and fifteen inches
long, and with brass screws attach them securely to the
underside of the board to prevent its warping from the
action of the water. Obtain a stick one inch and a half
square and four feet long; cut this into lengths of eleven
inches each and also prepare one eight feet long, two inches
wide, and seven-eighths of an inch thick. With a groove-plane
having a quarter-inch blade cut into the square
stick on two sides as shown in Fig. 15 A. The edge of the
stick between the two grooves may then be planed off so
that an end view of the stick will appear as shown at Fig.
15 B. A groove should be cut at one side of the long stick
three-eighths of an inch from one edge so that when turned
groove side down an end will appear as shown at C in Fig.
15. This stick is to be cut in lengths fifteen and twenty-four
inches respectively for top rails.
In the four corners of the white-wood board cut a hole
with bit and chisel three-quarters of an inch square as
shown at Fig. 16. Saw the bottom of each square stick
so as to cut away about a quarter of an inch of wood on
each side as shown at the lower part of A in Fig. 15. This
is made so that the uprights will fit snugly into the holes
and the shoulder formed by the saw-cuts will rest on the
top of the base board.
With straight rule and pencil mark parallel lines connecting
each hole as shown at D D in Fig. 16. These lines should
16correspond in position with the grooves cut in the posts;
then remove the posts and with grooving-plane or chisel and
mallet cut the grooves about three-eighths of an inch in
depth. The glass sides fit into these grooves, and the top
rails made from the long stick cap the upper edges of the
glass sides. The ends should be lapped and screwed down
to the top of the corner-posts to bind the glass and wood-work
in one compact framework.
Before any of the wood-work is put together give it three
successive thin coats of black asphaltum varnish, which can
be purchased at a paint or hardware store. Each hole and
the plug ends of the corner-posts are to be coated with thick
asphaltum varnish, and when wet with the varnish the posts
are to be driven into the holes. Screws passed in through
the sides of the base board will hold them securely in place.
From a glazier or hardware store purchase two panes of
double-thick glass ten by fourteen inches, and two measuring
ten by twenty-two inches. Give the grooves a thick coat
of the asphaltum varnish, slide the glass down into the
grooves, and screw the top rails in place. When the glass
is in place and before the top rails are put on, the glass
should stand a quarter of an inch above the top of the
corner-posts. When the rails are laid in place the top edge
of the glass should be caught by the groove in the rails,
otherwise the glass, having no support at the top, would
bow out on account of the pressure of water, and either cause
the glass to break or the joints to leak. Press the glass sides
against the outer edges of the grooves and lightly insert
some wooden wedges into the grooves to hold the glass in
place temporarily for a day or two or until the varnish sets.
17Then fill the open spaces in the grooves with a putty made
from whiting and asphaltum varnish. This you will have
to make yourself with a putty-knife on a plate of glass,
marble, or slate, for you cannot purchase it. Common
putty is not hard enough and will not dry for months, while
the special putty will set quickly and dry hard in a few
days. When all the work is completed about the aquarium
allow it to stand for at least a week, in which time the putty
and varnish will harden.
At a paint store purchase some marine paint, also known
as “copper paint,” and give the wood-work two or three thin
successive coats, allowing it to dry for a few days between
each coat. Scrape the paint from the glass where it may
have been smeared, and the complete aquarium is ready for
water and stock.
Another way in which to construct the framework is to
take a curtain-pole one and a half inches in diameter, and at
a planing-mill have a quarter section sawed out, as shown
at Fig. 17, so that an end rim will appear as shown at B.
The part of the wood-work the buzz-saw cuts away will
correspond with the grooves cut in the square sticks.
18
Four holes one and a half inches in diameter, or the same
size as the stick, are bored half-way-through the bottom-board
of the aquarium and V-shaped channels are cut in the
board connecting the holes (Fig. 18). The wood-work is
treated in a manner similar to that already described, and
the corner-posts are held in place by long brass screws
driven up through the bottom and into the lower ends of
the posts. The top rail is made the same as shown in Fig.
15 C, and the glass is set as described. At the corner-posts
the lap is well smeared with asphaltum varnish and putty
and the angle strips are screwed fast to the posts as indicated
at A in Fig. 17. While this is somewhat easier to make it
19is not quite so substantial for large tanks as the square post
and channels.
When catching the stock for the aquarium it is best to
use a drop-net. This is made of two iron hoops fifteen or
twenty inches in diameter and held one below the other
with cord as shown at Fig. 19. Mosquito-netting is drawn
across the lower hoop and sewed fast; then a band of it is
sewed about both hoops to close in the sides, to form a
cylinder open at the top only. Some bait is placed in the
bottom of the net, and then it is lowered into the water so
that the top hoop drops down and the whole net lies flat on
the bottom of a pond. When a number of fish are around
the bait a quick haul will raise the upper ring; then pull the
net up with the fish captives within the cylinder. You can
quickly select the ones you want, and these may be placed
in a pail partly filled with water.
For turtles, crawfish, and lizards a scap-net will be necessary.
This may be made from stout wire, a broom-handle,
and some netting. The ring may be almost any size, from
six to twelve inches in diameter, the ends being sharpened
with a file and turned so that they may be driven into the
end of the stick, which should first be bound with wire to
prevent it from splitting. The bag of mosquito-netting is
made on the hoop and sewed fast, as shown at Fig. 20.
When changing the water in the aquarium it is not necessary
to empty it all out. A siphon made of a small rubber tube
will answer very well to drain off a portion. The part of
the tube in the tank should be held close to the bottom so
as to suck up any dirt or sediment that may be there.
Good ventilation, light, healthy aquatic plants, clean sand,
20and a proper proportion of fish to the volume of water are
absolutely necessary to the successful aquarium. A few
tadpoles and snails are advantageous in an aquarium, as they
consume decaying vegetable matter and help to prevent the
formation of algæ on the glass.
For the aquarium large enough to contain them, some
artificial rockeries may be made from cement, gravel, and
stones, as shown in the illustrations of the concrete rockeries
Figs. 21 and 22. They should be made with openings
beneath for the fish to swim through, and pockets should
be made at the top to hold sand and the roots of aquatic
plants. The rockeries should have a good flat base so as to
rest securely on the bottom of the aquarium. Always have
plenty of pebbles and river-sand at the bottom of the
aquarium to make the fishes feel at home.
It is generally supposed that it is necessary to change
the water in an aquarium at least once a day; but that
is not the case. The true principle on which an aquarium
should be conducted is not to change the water at all, but
so to aërate and refresh the original supply as to maintain
it always in a pure and perfect state. There are several
means by which this may be done. The healthy growth
of plants is very important, and active and brisk contact
with the air of the atmosphere will greatly freshen the
water. Motion in the water is absolutely necessary. In
large aquaria this is obtained by an arrangement of tanks
into which the water is pumped, and from which it flows
21rapidly, circulating through the tanks where the fish live.
In its passage through the air it absorbs considerable oxygen,
without which no fish can live. Fish placed in water
that has been boiled die in a very few minutes.
The first thing to be done in the formation of a fresh-water
aquarium is to start your plants in proper soil at
the bottom of your tank, fill the tank with water, and leave
it undisturbed until the plants begin to grow and the little
bubbles of oxygen are to be seen rising to the surface of the
water.
Choose your plants from such as you may collect from
rivers or brooks or ponds anywhere in the country. Plant
them, and then cover the surface of the soil with pebbles
and small bits of rock, or anything that is suitable and in
keeping with the rest of your arrangements. Never put
sea-shells into a fresh-water aquarium.
Now fill your tank with water poured through a siphon
or funnel, being very careful not to disturb the soil or the
roots of the plants. You should have some clean river-sand
in the bottom of your tank, and your pieces of rock should
be so arranged as to form little caves and hiding-places for
your fish. It will take perhaps two weeks to get your tank
into a proper condition for fish to live in. Every bit of
dead or decaying vegetation should be carefully removed.
Keep your tank shaded from the heat of the sun, and expose
it to the bright light only once in a while.
In order to manage your aquarium properly you will require
a few simple tools. A little hand-net that can be
bought for a few cents, or made for even less out of a bit
of wire and a small piece of mosquito-netting, is useful for
22catching the fish or shells without putting your hands into
the water. A pair of wooden forceps, like a glove-stretcher,
will be found most convenient for nipping off bits of decaying
plants or for catching objects that may have accidentally
fallen into the water. Glass tubes of various
sizes are also useful. If you want to catch any small object
in the water with the tube, place the tube in the water
with your finger over the hole in the top. Until your
finger is removed the tube will remain full of air. Place it
over the bit of refuse or whatever it is you want to catch,
remove your finger, and the water will rush in, carrying the
object with it into the tube, which should then be closed
at the upper end by placing your finger over it as before.
A glass or hard-rubber syringe is necessary with which to
aërate the water thoroughly at least once a day, and oftener
if possible. Fill the syringe, hold it high above the
tank, and then squirt the water back again.
If a green film begins to gather on the side of the tank
that is most exposed to the light, it should be cleaned away
every day, and the sides of the glass polished carefully. A
small piece of clean sponge tied on the end of a stick will
answer the purpose very well, and, if used daily, you can
keep the glass clear with very little trouble; but if the
scum is neglected and left to accumulate, you will find it
almost impossible to remove it from the glass even by hard
scouring.
It is best to have only small fish in your aquarium, and
for this reason trout are not desirable. Although very
beautiful and intelligent, they grow so rapidly that they
are likely to become in a short time too unwieldy for your
23tank. Goldfish and minnows are very good, and the common
little sunfish or “pumpkin-seed” is excellent.
You must keep careful watch over the fish in your aquarium,
and if any one of them appears to be sick he should
be removed at once, very gently, with the hand-net, and
placed in fresh water, where he will often recover. If,
however, the little sufferer is doomed to die, it is better not
to run the risk of his doing so among his healthy companions.
It is best always to have a hospital for your sickly
pets, and as soon as one of them, whether a fish or a bird
or any animal, shows signs of ill health, he should be taken
away from the others and placed by himself.
Certain varieties of snails live well in fresh water, and
will be found useful in clearing away the green film that is
almost certain to collect on the side of the glass; but you
must be careful or they will devour your plants as well;
and if your tank is very small it is hardly worth while to
try to keep them.
Water-beetles and water-spiders also thrive well, and
their habits are most interesting to watch; but water-beetles
fly by night, and unless you are careful to cover
your tank you are likely to discover some morning that a
number of your tenants have taken French leave.
You must be careful not to overstock your aquarium, for
your fish will not thrive if they are overcrowded. Remember,
also, that heat and dust are fatal to your pets. The
water must be kept clean and cool at all times, and all
foreign matter and every particle of decaying vegetation
should be removed immediately.
To manage an aquarium successfully, no matter on how
24small a scale, requires a good deal of care and time, but you
will find it time well spent, and the pleasure and knowledge
the study of your pets will give you will be an ample
return for the time you spend on them.
A great deal of fun may be had with a merry-go-round in
the rear yard, and while it may not be run by an engine
or its motion accompanied by an organ, hand power will
turn the table and music can be made with an old accordion
or concertina. The only difficult thing about the whole
affair is the bevelled gear, the shaft and crank; but if an old
reaper can be found at a blacksmith-shop the difficulty is
solved, for a pair of bevelled gears are on every reaping-machine.
Of course a machine-shop or foundry would contain
gearing of various sizes, and a five and twelve inch
gear wheel will answer the purpose very well.
In the practical back-yard merry-go-round shown in
Fig. 23 the revolving post is four inches square and may be
of spruce or white-wood planed on all sides and provided
with a ferrule at both ends. These may be taken from old
buggy-wheels, and will prevent the wood from splitting
when the pins are driven in. The lower cross-beams a a in
Fig. 24 are of spruce, eight feet long and two by three
inches. The beams b b are six feet and six inches long, and
on these four the cross-plates are made fast that hold the
top or deck planks. The six cross-timbers are of spruce,
one by four inches, and are from two to eight feet in length,
according to their location. The beam plan (Fig. 24)
shows quite clearly how these supporting beams are arranged.
They are held together with steel wire-nails driven
down from the upper beams diagonally into the lower ones.
25
A MERRY-GO-ROUND
26The longest beams are securely spiked to the revolving
shaft, and in securing them in place take care to see that
they are perfectly true, so that the outer edge of the platform
will not dip and rise as it revolves. Drive a three-quarter-inch
rod in the top of the shaft and another one in
the bottom having a bevelled point as shown at Fig. 25.
At the lower end of the shaft arrange the larger gear wheel
and pin it fast so that it is fixed to the shaft and will not
move.
An iron base-plate with an upright arm welded to it will
hold the shaft and the smaller gear, which is to be arranged
the right height to lock in with the teeth of the large gear.
This plate is shown in Fig. 26; and through the four holes
at the corners long screws are passed to bolt the plate securely
to a wooden base, which last is set in the ground as
shown at A in Fig. 27. The shaft B, to the end of which
the small gear wheel is made fast, extends out beyond one
of the upright posts, and at the outer end a crank and
handle C are made fast, so that by hand-power the platform
and shaft may be revolved.
Construct an overhead framework of six by two inch
spruce beams twelve feet long, and set them in the ground
twelve feet apart, bracing the uprights well, braced at both
sides with angle beams as shown in Fig. 23. The top bar
should be well braced also with one or two angle brackets,
to prevent the frame from rocking. If the ground props are
not strong enough to properly brace the frame, attach heavy
27wires to the corners and carry them out in both directions,
making the ends fast to stout pieces of joist embedded in
the ground.
At the middle of the top cross-bar arrange a plate of wood
eighteen inches long with a groove cut in it in which the pin
at the top of the square shaft may revolve. This plate
should be attached to the bar with lag screws, so that it can
be removed when it is necessary to unstep the shaft and
platform. The outer line of deck planking is shown in the
deck plan (Fig. 28), and inside of these boards as many others
can be laid down as desired; or the entire frame may be all
decked over, leaving a small space near the middle so as to
reach the gear and lower pin in order to grease them. Where
the shaft passes one of the uprights of the supporting
frame an iron strap will hold it in place against the wood,
and this bearing will require lubrication from time to
time.
Four stout wire guys must be drawn from the top of the
shaft and fastened at the outer edge of the platform to one
of the beam ends. The anchorage should be made with
very stout, strong screw-eyes, and to make it easier to draw
the wires taut four small turn-buckles should be purchased
at a hardware store and made fast to the lower ends of the
wires, the hook on the buckle being caught in the large
screw-eyes.
Seats may be made from boxes and nailed to the deck,
and as a safeguard to prevent falling from the turn-table
ropes should be attached to the stanchion wires and to the
shaft as shown in Fig. 23.
It would be well to paint all the wood-work in order to
28give it a good appearance, and all the iron parts should be
coated with asphaltum varnish to prevent rusting.
If the gears are properly adjusted and there is no friction
at the bearings, it will not be a difficult matter to move
the table with several children occupying the seats. The
bevelled point bearing at the bottom rests in a drilled depression
in the plate, and the friction there is reduced to a
minimum, while at the top the friction will be slight if the
weight is properly distributed on the turn-table.
29
Most boys are interested in pet animals, and at one time
or another possess them. Cats and dogs are domesticated
and will always stay about the house if they are
properly cared for and treated kindly, but rabbits, guinea-pigs,
squirrels, monkeys, and reptiles often forget where they
belong and will wander away and neglect to come back.
For this reason it will be necessary to build houses and
hutches for them, and so safeguard the doorways and
screenings that they cannot escape.
It is not possible, of course, to give a lengthy description
of pet shelters, since there are so many different kinds in
use by boys all over the world; but the illustrations on these
pages will give some ideas for the American and English
boys to follow in making houses, hutches, and retreats to
shelter their pet animals, birds, and reptiles.
In speaking of reptiles, that does not necessarily mean
snakes, for under this classification come the horned-toads,
lizards, turtles, and many of the beautiful tropical creeping
and crawling things that in warm countries take the place
of the white mice, rabbits, guinea-pigs, and canary-birds of
our northern climes.
Some boys have a natural aptitude for carpenter-work,
30but there may be ideas in these illustrations and the accompanying
descriptions that will be helpful both to them, and
to the boy who has as yet to make his first kennel or pigeon-cote.
In the early spring, when the birds return to the north,
the martins are among the first to appear, and long before
the swallows, whom they closely resemble, begin to nest they
have hatched their young and have taken their departure
from the southland.
They are cold-weather birds, fly rapidly, and do not stay
long in one place. They seldom build their nests in the
branches of trees, but prefer to find a hole in a tree-trunk,
and there build a nest safe from the wind and storm. The
sand-martin burrows a hole in the side of a bank, but never
builds a nest in the chimneys as do his brother and sister
swallows. The martin, when sitting on her eggs, likes a
dark and sheltered place, and for that reason she takes
kindly to a martin box in which a hole is made sufficiently
large for her to fly in and out of.
In Fig. 1 a small keg is supported at the top of a post
and braced at the bottom with two bracket pieces. A hole
two inches and a half in diameter is made at each end of the
keg, through which the martins can enter, and the post to
which the keg is fastened is cut away at the upper end as
shown in Fig. 2.
In one side of the bilge of the keg a hole is cut as large as
the post is square or round, and at the other side a corresponding
hole is cut the size of the upper part of the post.
31The keg is then dropped down over the post so that the
shoulder, formed by cutting away the wood, will rest under
the upper side of the keg, in which the smaller square hole
has been cut.
If a round post is employed, the upper part should be cut
square so as to prevent the wind from blowing the keg
round the post. A cross-stick fastened at the top of the
post will form a perch on which the birds may alight.
A box with a peaked roof and three divisions, intended to
accommodate three families of the birds, is shown in Fig. 3.
32An ordinary box may be cut and rearranged with a pitched
roof, an inner floor, and the three divisions. A small hole
is bored at each side of the box and a round stick passed
through it, so that six or eight inches of the wood will
project at either side to serve as perches. Another perch
can be arranged at the top of the box, and this bird-house
is then securely fastened to the upper end of a post and
braced there with bracket-pieces nailed both to the bottom
of the box and to the post.
The divisions in the box should be not less than six inches
square and six or eight inches high. If the box used be
square it will probably be an easier job to divide it into
four divisions for as many families. Each compartment, of
course, must be provided with its separate hole for ingress
and egress.
Birds do not always seek the shelter of trees in a storm;
they will often gather about the house and under barn
eaves and piazza sheds, where they are protected from the
rain and the drippings from wet leaves. They like a dry shelter,
and structures suitable for their needs can be knocked
together from very simple material. In the illustration of a
bird shelter (Fig. 4), a canvas or heavy muslin roof is supported
on two uprights, and under it five perches are arranged
from side to side, upon which a great many birds
can rest.
The uprights are one and a half by three inches, and the
strips forming the Y braces are two inches wide and seven-eighths
of an inch thick.
33The perches are three-quarter-inch dowels three feet long.
If they cannot be had at a carpenter’s shop or a hardware
store, some small scantling may be planed nearly round to
answer the same purpose. Where the perches are attached
to the uprights and Y pieces, holes are bored half-way
through the wood. Into these the ends of the perches
are driven and nailed fast.
In Fig. 5 the canvas is left off from one side so that the
constructional parts of the upright, braces, and roof strips
may be seen. When the wood-work is put together the roof
should be covered with canvas, heavy unbleached muslin,
or a piece of oil-cloth, and tacked all around the edges.
To make the barrel-hoop shelter, shown in Fig. 6, a
34flat barrel-hoop is loosely covered with canvas or muslin
tacked all around the edge. In the top of a post a wooden
peg is driven, and over this the middle of the canvas disk
is slipped, having first made a hole in the fabric through
which the peg can pass. Four wires are attached to the
hoop at equal distances apart, and the lower ends caught
through staples or screw-eyes driven in the post a foot or
two from the top. Two or three holes should be made
through the post in which round perches may be driven.
A shelter for the side of a house or barn can be made
from a piece of board, two bracket strips, and three dowels
or round sticks to act as perches.
The board should be three feet long and fifteen inches wide.
Where it is attached to the house or barn a strip is first
attached, and the inner edge of the board is then nailed
fast to the strip. The two bracket strips that support the
roof at the outer edge should be twenty-four inches long,
one inch thick, and two inches wide. Three or four sets of
holes are bored in the strips to receive the ends of the
dowels or perches.
For the ordinary pigeons that fly about the house and
barn some open cotes are shown in Fig. 7 and Fig. 8, but
for the more valuable pigeons a large wire enclosure should
be made and the lodges placed within them, unless the birds
are very tame and will not leave the premises.
In Fig. 7 A, a cote with three holes is shown that is easily
made from thin boards. It should measure thirty inches
long, nine inches wide, and twelve inches high at the back,
35while at the front the board with the holes cut in it should
be nine inches wide, with the holes five inches high and four
inches wide.
The wood is put together as shown in Fig. 9, and the roof
boards overhang the ends and front for an inch or two.
The upper ends of the two divisions need not extend beyond
the height of the front board, and this open space will insure
good ventilation. Sticks an inch square are made fast
under the ends of the cote, and on the projecting ends a
36ledge three inches wide is fastened upon which the pigeons
may alight.
The cote shown in Fig. 7 B is made from a shoe-case
divided as shown in Fig. 10; on each floor the entrances are
alternated from front to sides. Outside each entrance a
ledge three inches wide is supported on brackets, and under
the pitched roof the ninth compartment is arranged.
The large pigeon-cote (Fig. 8) is a more pretentious affair
to make and will tax the young carpenter’s skill. This cote
can be made a very attractive pigeon shelter if it is carefully
put together and nicely painted.
It is thirty-two inches long, twenty-four high to the eaves
or thirty-four to the peak, and twelve inches deep. It is
divided as shown in Fig. 11, and the ledges are supported
with brackets cut from half-inch wood with a compass saw.
From the eaves to the peak the front of the cote may be
shingled, and above the peak a perch is erected.
This cote may be attached to the side of a barn or supported
on stout uprights embedded securely in the ground.
When building a dog-kennel the important features to
bear in mind are to make it strong, weather-proof, and large
enough for a good-sized dog to turn around in comfortably.
A poorly built kennel soon falls apart, and if it is not weather-proof
rain will get in on the dog, and dogs do not like to
get wet while sleeping any more than boys. Moreover,
if the kennel is not large enough it is cramped and stuffy,
and, while the dog cannot say so, he resents it, and in his
37own dog way of reasoning feels that he is imposed upon in
being housed in such small quarters. The dimensions of a
kennel must be naturally governed by the size of the dog
who is to inhabit it; but for one of medium size, such as a
setter or collie, a kennel with a peaked roof, similar to the
one shown in Fig. 12, should be three feet long, two feet
wide, two feet high at the sides, and three feet high from
the ground to the peak or ridge-pole.
The floor frame is the first thing in constructing a kennel,
and it should be made of two by three inch spruce, thirty-four
inches long and twenty-two inches wide, with lap joints
at the corners as shown in Fig. 13. On this the flooring of
tongue and grooved boards is laid and nailed down.
From three matched boards eight inches wide make the
front and back to the kennel as shown in Fig. 14. The
lower ends of the boards are nailed to the floor frame, and
where they are sawed off to form the peak a batten is
placed at the inside and made fast with clinch nails driven
into it from the outside through the boards.
The nail heads in the front of Fig. 14 will show the location
of one batten, and the other can clearly be seen at the
inside of the back, where the clinched nail ends are shown.
Beginning at the bottom and working up, the sides are
laid on. Always place the tongue up and the groove down
when using matched boards in a horizontal position, as
otherwise the rain and moisture will work into the groove
and cause the wood to decay.
A ridge-pole is nailed between the front and back at the
peak, and to this the upper ends of the roof boards are
fastened.
38In the front a hole large enough for a dog to pass through
is cut with a compass saw, and above it, near the peak, one
large and three smaller holes are bored, as shown in Fig. 14,
and the wood cut away between the holes, as shown in
Fig. 12. This is for ventilation, for dogs as well as human
beings require plenty of fresh air. Another hole at the top
of the back board will allow free circulation of air across the
top of the kennel.
Two or three good coats of paint will finish the wood-work,
39and with the addition of a chain fastened to a staple-plate
this dog-kennel will be ready for occupancy.
This dog-hut in Fig 15 is built against the side of a house
or barn, and is forty inches long, twenty-four wide, and
twenty-eight inches high at the outer side, and thirty-six
inches high next the house or barn. The floor frame is
thirty-eight inches long, twenty-two inches wide, and made
like Fig. 13. Stakes are driven in the ground, one under
each corner, and to these the floor frame is spiked fast.
When constructed against a building a strip is fastened
to the siding of the building on which to nail the roof
boards and to the upper edges of the front, back, and side
boards battens are made fast to strengthen the hut.
The wall or side of the building may, in such a “lean-to,”
be used as a fourth side of the dog-hut. A ventilator is cut
in the upper corner of the back and at the front a swinging
door can be hung in the doorway or opening. This is a
weather-door and is made an inch narrower on each side
than the width of the doorway. It is hung on screw-eyes
and staples so that it will act as a flap and can be pushed
in or out by the dog when entering or leaving the hut. In
the winter-time, and when it is raining, this door will keep
out snow and water and also protect a dog from strong
winds.
When making houses or huts for guinea-pigs it will be
necessary to make at least one-third of the coop dark, or
nearly so, as the little pigs like darkened places in which to
spend a portion of their time.
40The illustration of the guinea-pig house in Fig. 16 shows
how this can be done by partitioning off a portion of the house
and making ventilating holes or small windows near the top.
A substantial double-decked house, similar to the one
shown in the illustration, should be thirty-six inches long,
twenty-four inches wide, twenty-four inches high to the
roof eaves and thirty-two inches to the peak. A small dry-goods
case can be adapted to this use, and the floor nailed in
midway between the top and bottom.
The darkened compartment is fourteen inches wide and
extends up on both floors. Holes three by four inches
made in the sidings will permit the pigs to have access to
the open and closed compartments. A door at one side is
made high enough to open into both upper and lower compartments;
this is swung on hinges, and for safety it may
be provided with a hasp and padlock.
41The open compartments are to be screened with square-mesh
galvanized wire cloth substantially heavy to prevent
the pigs escaping or dogs from entering and molesting them.
This wire cloth can be purchased at a hardware store and
attached to the wood with galvanized wire staples.
A guinea-pig house should not be placed on the ground,
but attached to the tops of posts from twenty-four to
thirty-six inches above the ground. Locust posts about
four inches in diameter are the best for this purpose as they
are tough and will not decay in the ground as quickly as
other wood.
The guinea-pig hut shown in Fig. 17 has but one floor and
it is much longer than the house, the floor plan being forty-two
inches long and eighteen inches wide. The ends are
fifteen inches high at the front, twelve at the back, and
eighteen at the peak. The dark compartment is fifteen
inches wide and the door at the front is six by eight inches,
hung on hinges and fastened with a hasp and padlock.
At the front the roof extends over for six inches to shade
the open compartment, and at both ends and the back it
overhangs about two inches.
This hut is held up on sticks implanted in the ground, and
braced so that the wind will not blow it over.
In the spring-time when little chickens are hatched, and
it is not possible to let the hen wander about at random to
scratch up the garden or the flower beds, some small coops
and shelters should be constructed and placed in a corner of
42the back yard, or in some other vacant space, where the
little chicks can run without being molested by the larger
fowls, as they would be if put in the big chicken-coop or
runway.
The easiest coop to make is shown in the illustration of
the young chicken shelter (Fig. 18). It consists of a pitched
roof mounted on three boards six inches high. This shelter
may be three feet wide and two feet deep, and from the
ground to the peak the distance is twenty-four inches.
Slats are nailed across the front to prevent the hen from
getting out, although not so close as to prevent the chicks
from squeezing through. A coat or two of paint will improve
the appearance of this shelter, and each mother-hen
should be provided with a separate coop for her family.
In the illustration of the young chicken coop (Fig. 19) a
little more care is taken with the construction, and a canopy
fly is arranged at the front to keep off rain and to shade the
interior of the coop. This coop is three feet long, two feet
wide, and thirty inches high at the front, but at the back it
need not be more than twenty-four inches high.
It may be constructed from boards with matched edges, or
perhaps from a dry-goods case, and if it is raised from the
43ground an inch or two, and a few holes bored in the bottom,
it will insure a dry floor. The cross rail at the bottom to
which the upright slats are nailed is three inches above
the floor; and if made two inches wide and the slats one inch
and a half in width, they will be heavy enough to resist dogs
and cats, if they should try to disturb mother-hen and her
brood.
Outriggers may be nailed at each end so that about fifteen
inches of the wood projects beyond the sides. A strip of
lath should be fastened between the ends, and light canvas
or muslin may then be tacked fast to the roof and to the
strip to serve as an awning.
Among animal pets rabbits seem to be general favorites
all over the country, perhaps because they are such beautiful
and harmless little creatures and so prettily marked. They
are worthy of a comfortable home, and the boy who is
fortunate enough to have some good rabbits should take
pleasure in building a substantial hutch in which they can
live and thrive.
In Fig. 20 a double-floored rabbit-hutch is shown, and
if it is made large enough quite a family of rabbits can live
in it, the larger ones down-stairs and the smaller ones upstairs.
An inclined plane will make it possible for the
friends and relatives to visit each other.
This hutch should be from four to five feet long, twenty-four
inches wide, and twenty-four inches high. The second
floor is arranged so that it will be midway between the top
44and bottom, and at the rear an opening five inches wide
and ten inches long will receive an inclined board, across
which short sticks have been nailed to prevent the rabbits
slipping when going up or coming down the stairs.
At one end a compartment is made eighteen inches wide,
and provided with a door six inches wide hung on hinges and
fastened with a hasp and lock. Openings five inches wide
and six inches high are cut in the side of this compartment,
so that the rabbits may enter it from either floor. A drop
front, on hinges, will permit the hutch to be partially closed
in very severe weather, but when it is pleasant the front
should be raised and propped up with a stick, in the ends of
which hooks are arranged that will fit into screw-eyes driven
into the lid and along the side of the compartment, as shown
in the illustration.
In the end of the hutch, opposite the bottom of the stairway,
a feeding-doorway six inches square should be cut with
45a compass saw, and a door hung on hinges. This hutch
should be supported on stout sticks or posts embedded in the
ground for at least two feet, and it should be thirty to forty
inches above the ground. Across the open runs, galvanized
wire cloth, with half to three-quarter inch meshes, is to be
nailed fast with staples. With a few coats of paint on the
outside, this hutch will present a very good appearance.
The rabbit-house (Fig. 21) is a large, one-story structure,
in which a family of rabbits can live very comfortably. It
is thirty-six inches long, twenty-four inches wide, eighteen
inches high at the back and twenty-two at the front. At
one side a compartment is made twelve inches wide, and at
the outer side a door seven by nine inches is hung and
fastened with a lock. This house is supported on four posts,
two or three feet above the ground, and when painted it
should look very homelike to a rabbit’s eyes.
A house of this same description, but larger, may be made
for a monkey, a fox, an opossum, a raccoon, or even for bear
cubs. For the latter, bars will have to be used instead of the
wire cloth, for the bears would soon tear away the lighter
material.
For squirrels, chipmunks, and white rats very good cages
can be made from wire cloth, tin boxes, and wood, and in the
illustration of a squirrel cage (Fig. 22) a simple house is
shown.
To make it, a base-board is cut twenty-eight inches long,
fifteen inches wide, and one inch and a quarter thick. Ten
inches from one end the edges of the board are sawed off so
46that the end will be six inches wide. Eleven inches from
the small end a square piece of wood is mounted on the base-board
to form the back to the square compartment. This
is covered with tin on the inside, so that the rodents cannot
gnaw the wood away at the edges or about the hole that
leads into the cylinder.
A wedge-shaped piece of wood, six inches broad at the
bottom and two inches at the top, is attached to the small
end of the base-board, and from the top of this piece to the
top of the back-board a connection strip is nailed fast.
From thick wire or quarter-inch iron rod a wicket is made
and driven into holes at the wide end of the board. It
should be the same size as the back-board, and is placed
there to support the wire cloth of which the cage is made.
Small holes are made in the base-board with an awl, so
that the ends of the wire cloth will slip into them. When
the edges of the cloth are tacked to the back-board and
wired to the wicket, the ends in the holes will remain in
place.
A wire door made from the cloth can be hung on hinges,
which should be soldered to the galvanized cloth. With
47straight wires or wire cloth an exercising cylinder can be
made with wooden or tin ends. It is supported between the
back of the cage and the wedge-shaped upright. Tacks
driven around the hole that leads into the cylinder will prevent
the occupants from gnawing away the edges of the
wood-work.
The squirrel house (Fig. 23) is constructed in the same
manner as the cage, but it has the advantage of a covered
shelter at one end of the base-board. This is made from
a tin cracker-box with the lid removed, and inverted so the
bottom acts as the roof. In one side an oval opening is cut
and a wire screen is fastened to it at the inside.
The wire cylinder is seven inches in diameter and twelve
inches long, quite large enough for two squirrels to run a
great race at the same time. A piece of hair felt, an old
woollen cloth, or some curled hair will be comfortable for
the squirrels to lie on in the enclosed cage.
In some parts of the country pets are made of reptiles,
and very interesting and tame ones are found among the
lizard family.
When making a reptile pen, care should be taken to get
the joints tight and not have any small openings or cracks
between boards, for snakes can get through a very small
space, often much smaller than you would think it possible,
judging from the size of their bodies.
In Fig. 24, the design for a very substantial reptile pen
is shown, and instead of fine wire screening, two heavy
48plates of glass may be used at the front of each compartment.
This is a double pen, and one side can be used for snakes,
while the other may harbor some lizards or small land-turtles.
This pen is forty-eight inches long, twenty-four deep, and
twenty-six high. The bottom rail at the front is four inches
wide, and the top and upright ones are two inches wide.
The wood from which the pen is made should be tongue-and-grooved,
and planed on both sides. It may be from
49three-quarters to one inch and a quarter thick, and narrow
boards are preferable to wide ones.
In the lizard compartment an upper floor is fastened in,
having an opening at one side where an inclined board, with
cross sticks attached, is arranged so that the animals may
climb up and down.
The snake pen should have a portion of a small tree fastened
at top and bottom, on which the reptiles may climb
and coil. The more short branches it has, the better, for it
will then give the snakes a more satisfactory perch to move
about on. At the bottom of each end a small trap doorway
four inches high and six inches long is cut, and protected by
a stout wire-cloth door, hinged and locked. These trap-doors
are for the purpose of removing refuse or for feeding
the reptiles; or a smaller opening at the back, near the top,
and about two inches in diameter, can be used as a food
door.
A ventilator is cut in the roof twelve inches long and six
inches wide, so that each compartment gets the advantage
of an opening about six inches square. Over this a roof is
made three inches above the main roof, and with stout wire
cloth the opening is covered first at the under side. Then
the strip of wire cloth, four inches wide, is tacked around the
inside of the opening and to a board the same size as the
hole, or six by twelve inches, attached to the under side of
the cap.
This arrangement is more clearly shown in Fig. 25, which
is a sectional view, A being the cap, B the board to which
the upper edge of the wire cloth is attached, C the wire
cloth, and D the main roof to the pen. The line E represents
50the wire cloth tacked to the under side of the opening, to
prevent the reptiles crawling up and over the partition.
At the lower end of the partition an opening four inches
square may be made and fitted with a wire-netting door that
can be raised and lowered by a rod that extends through the
cap of the ventilator. One or two staples driven over the
rod at the inside of the reptile pen will prevent the rod from
bending, and the wire door should slide on runners provided
with a rabbet at the inside, so that it cannot be dislodged.
With this construction, the reptiles may be allowed to
mingle if they are peaceable, but if the snakes molest the
small lizards they must be driven into their own side and the
trap-door closed. With the outer doors at the bottom and
the ventilator at the top, a free circulation of air can be had;
and if the floor is kept well sanded and clean, this reptile pen
will make a comfortable home for a collection of such pets.
The lizard run shown in Fig. 26 is made from a wooden
51shoe-case open at the front, and on top of which a smaller
box is mounted and connected with the lower one by means
of an inclined board and an opening, through which the
lizards can crawl. A ventilator is cut in the upper box and
covered with wire netting; and in the lower box, at one end,
a doorway is made, four by six inches, and protected by a
heavy wire screen door on hinges.
A raised platform and ladder is made at one end of the
large box, and in the open space one or two branches should
be made fast on which the lizards can climb.
The top of the box should be enclosed with wire netting,
as shown in the illustration. A doorway three inches square
cut in the side of the upper box will allow access to this
roof-garden.
A few coats of dark-green paint will finish these reptile
pens on the outside, and they should be enamelled cream
color, buff, or light green on the inside, so that the reptiles
may be seen against the light background.
52
For the back yard, or in the fields and woods near the
house, a summer-house or pergola will be found a comfortable
nook in which to spend many pleasant hours.
A simple summer-house is shown in the illustration,
Fig. 1. This is made of four posts, has a shingled roof, and
is provided with seats on three sides. Obtain four spruce
posts four inches square, or four tree-trunks from four to six
inches in diameter. Plant them in the ground, forming a
square of six feet. The posts should be embedded for at
least two feet, and, to insure them from decaying too quickly,
tar or pitch the bottoms, or give them two or three good
coats of asphaltum varnish. The posts should stand seven
feet above ground. Across the tops of the posts nail two-by-four-inch
joist, with lap joints as shown at A in Fig.
2. With four more pieces of joist form the roof rafters,
cutting a notch in each joist where it fits over the corners
at the head of the posts. At the peak, the joist are bevelled
where they meet.
Join two of the pieces at first; then lap the remaining two
on both sides of them, nailing all the ends securely with steel
wire nails. Put one middle rafter in on each side between
53eaves to the roof. It would not look well to have to roof
the corner ones; then nail shingle lath or scantling on the
four sides to receive the shingles. The rafters should overhang
the top frame about twelve inches, so as to form the
stop on a line with the posts. Begin at the bottom and at
the middle of each side to shingle the roof, working out to
the corners and up through the middle to the peak. To
prevent the roof leaking at the corners, bevel the shingles at
one side, then lap those on the other side over them and bevel
the edges. Some builders lay a strip of tin flashing over the
edges as well as in the valleys of a roof to insure a perfectly
water-tight joint. Use galvanized nails. To hide the rough
rafters and shingle lath, the inside of the roof may be lined
with narrow, matched boards; then the wood-work may be
given a coat or two of paint in some desirable color.
A back-yard pergola is constructed from two upright posts
four inches square, a cross beam two by six inches, and eight
54joists laid across from the post bar to the top of the back
fence. This style of pergola is particularly adapted to city
yards and those surrounded by a board fence. In the event
of there being no fence, the ends of the joist or roofing beams
may bear on a two-by-six-inch cross bar that rests on two
more posts corresponding with the front ones.
The posts are four inches square, of spruce or any other
available wood, and are planed on all four sides. They are
embedded in the ground for about two feet, and, to prevent
them from sinking or shifting, place a large, flat stone in the
hole on which the post will rest, and around it pack earth
and stones instead of earth only. A lap cut in the front top
end of the post will admit the two-by-six-inch cross beam.
The posts are seven feet apart, and the cross beam ten feet
long, with the ends cut as shown in Fig. 3 on page 56. The
front end of each joist is rounded under as shown, and to
make a more secure anchorage a notch two inches long and
an inch deep may be cut at the under side of each joist, so
that they will fit down over the upper edge of the cross
beam. Make all the joints and laps fast with steel wire
nails; then give the wood-work a few coats of paint.
Seats may be built in on two sides and supported with
under braces or brackets to prop up the front edge, and a
back-board may be nailed fast to the posts and fence.
Where there is a large tree on the place or near the house,
a toadstool canopy (Fig. 4) may be constructed above a comfortable
seat. The framing of the canopy is shown in Fig. 5,
55where the arrangement of corner rafters and braces can
be clearly seen. The tree end of each rafter is bevelled (or
cut on a slant) and nailed fast with steel wire nails. The
under braces are keyed to the tree by cutting out a wedge of
the bark, so that the lower end or point of the bracket will
fit into it. These ends are to be well nailed to the tree-trunk,
as they are the main props to hold up the roof. Between
the corner rafters let one rafter in on each side; then nail
shingle lath on the top of the rafters, and to these the shingles
are fastened.
A seat eighteen inches wide may be built about the foot
of the trunk and supported by two-by-three-inch joist let
into the ground a foot or eighteen inches. Instead of shingling
this roof, it may be thatched with salt hay arranged
in flat tufts and nailed onto the lath. Begin at the lower
edge to do this and thatch one line first; then begin on the
end of the line above it and arrange the tufts closely side
by side, and nail them fast. The last line at the top should
have tar paper under it, closely fitted, and nailed to the tree
trunk with copper tacks and painted. This will deflect the
water and prevent it from running down the trunk and
wetting the seat.
A simple but effective and useful rustic pergola is shown
in Fig. 6. All the posts, cross-pieces, braces, and stringers
at the top are of undressed wood, having the bark on. The
corner posts are from four to six inches in diameter, and
are embedded two feet in the ground. They are seven feet
above the ground, and on top of two sets cross-stringers
56are made fast and braced with angle brackets. A sharp
hatchet, a saw, and a hammer will be the only tools required
for this work; and where an angle piece is attached to a post,
the bark and wood should be cut away on the post, so that
the bevelled edge of the bracket will lie snugly against it.
It should then be nailed fast with long steel wire nails. This
pergola can be made of almost any size, but for one of
moderate proportions it should measure eight feet square
and seven feet high. Seats of smooth boards may be arranged
on three sides between posts, and wires may be run
up and down and crosswise, on which climbing vines may
be supported.
A circular pergola will present a pleasing appearance in
any yard. It is made from six rustic posts, six supporting
beams, and eleven top rafters, as shown in Fig. 7.
Tree-trunks of the proper size and length may be cut in
the woods, or some locust posts can be purchased at a
lumber-yard. The bark is to be left on, and the posts are
to be planted two feet in the ground in a circle eight feet
in diameter. The tops of the posts should be sawed off
so that they are all an equal distance from the ground. On
top of them nail six pieces of joist, two by four inches, with
the narrower side resting on the posts.
The joist must be bevelled or mitred so that they will fit
snugly at the posts. Spike them fast to each other and to
the posts with large steel wire nails. The top rafters should
be of two-by-three or two-by-four inch spruce, planed or left
rough, and arranged equal distances apart, so that they will
form a large circle on the supporting beams. These are to
be nailed fast and painted if desired. Vines may be planted
close to the posts, so that as they grow the thick mass of
foliage will make a shady top to the pergola.
If desired, a few seats may be arranged between the posts
58or columns, but portable seats would be more in keeping
with this style of pergola.
A design for a comfortable summer-house is shown in
Fig. 8. The posts are set on an oblong, seven feet wide
and twelve feet long. Seven or eight inch posts are planted
in the ground, and the top rails are arranged as shown in
Fig. 2. The rails can be of two-by-four-inch joist, and
should be cut and neatly lapped at the ends, as shown at A
in Fig. 2. A ridge-pole forms the centre support to this
roof, and from it the rafters are run down to the top rails.
Over these the shingle lath are nailed, and then the thatching
of salt hay or shingles may be laid on. A wind-speeder
and a weather-vane may be arranged at either end of the
roof, as shown in the drawing, and seats may be built in
between the end posts, with a supporting rib at the middle
and braces under the seats. There is room enough under
this roof to swing a hammock.
59
From the time of the earliest habitation of the earth,
nature’s great forces, wind and water, have been employed
to furnish power for man’s uses. Wind engines and
mills for motive power have become almost obsolete in and
about the great cities, as they are so cumbersome and uncertain,
but in the country they are still used to a great
extent for pumping water, milling, and operating light
machinery.
Windmills have been made in a number of shapes by the
people of different nations, and some of them are very
picturesque, especially the Dutch wheels and those made
in the eastern part of the United States a century or more
ago, many of which are still working.
Windmills will never go out of use entirely, no matter
what cheap motive power will eventually run the world;
for when they are once set up properly they cost nothing to
operate, and if a wheel is well made it will last for years
with but trifling cost for repairs.
Windmills, weather-vanes, pinion-wheels, and wind toys
of all descriptions have been made by boys in every age,
and each generation goes on to invent or think of something
new for the same old wind to play with that has toyed
60with the world’s wheels for centuries. The illustrations
and descriptions on this and the following pages will be
found helpful in the construction of wind machinery that
shall be both novel and practicable.
The easiest sort of a pinion-wheel and weather-vane to
construct is shown in Fig. 1. It consists of a piece of stout
tin or sheet-iron, a wooden shaft twenty inches long, and a
fan-tail twelve inches long and seven inches wide at the rear
end.
Punch a small hole in the centre of a sheet of tin or iron
not less than ten inches square, and with a lead-pencil
compass draw a circle ten inches in diameter. Half an inch
inside of this draw another one nine inches in diameter, as
61indicated by the light lines in Fig. 2. One inch from the
centre draw a third circle making it two inches in diameter;
then divide the disk into eight equal parts.
With a cold chisel cut on the lines, as indicated in Fig. 2,
and bend the metal ears as shown in drawing No. 1, so that
the corners will set back an inch from the rim. With a
stout pair of shears cut around the outside line and free
the wheel from the sheet of metal.
At the front of the wheel fasten a spool with steel wire
nails driven through the tin to act as a hub. Then give them
both a coat or two of paint.
Make a shaft from hard wood an inch square, and cut
it in from one end about ten inches, as shown in Fig. 3.
At the other end bind the wood for an inch or two with
linen line or fine wire to prevent its splitting, and bore a
hole in the end with an awl. Through the spool and disk,
and into the hole in the shaft, drive a flat-headed steel wire
nail or a screw, three-sixteenths of an inch in diameter, to
act as the pinion on which the wheel may revolve.
From light wood, three-eighths of an inch in thickness,
cut a fan-tail seven inches wide at one end and two at the
other, and, having passed it through the cut in the shaft,
make it fast with small nails or screws.
Balance the shaft and wheel on your finger to determine
where to pierce the hole through which the upright shaft on
the pole should pass; then bore it out with bit and brace so
that the shaft will fit snug but not tight.
To the top of the shaft, over the hole, attach another
spool, so as to form a longer bearing; or a strap of metal may
be tacked so that it will bridge up over the hole about two
62inches. In this bridge a corresponding hole may be cut,
through which the vertical shaft or pin will pass. This is to
hold the vane steady on the long pin of quarter-inch round
iron driven into the top of the pole, and prevent it from
dipping forward or backward.
Place this vane on a shed, the end of a barn roof, or on a
high pole where the wind has free access to it.
Wind-speeders may be constructed of metal or partly of
wood, but one that can easily be made by a boy consists
of two sticks, four ordinary tin funnels having their ends
stopped up with a plug of wood, and a pole, into the end of
which a long iron pin is driven and on which the hub revolves.
Fig. 4.
Two hard-wood sticks thirty inches long and three-quarters
of an inch square are cut at the middle so that they
will lap, and with steel nails they are attached to a hub
three-quarters of an inch thick and three inches in diameter,
in the centre of which a quarter-inch hole is bored. The
end of each stick or arm is cut in to receive the funnels, and
they are held in place by straps of tin passed around each
neck and tacked fast to the top and bottom of the cross
sticks.
With a sharp-pointed awl or punch a small hole is made
through the strap and neck, and a long, slim steel nail is
driven through both into the end of the sticks to give the
funnels an additional purchase.
63
To reduce the friction and to prevent the wood from
wearing away at the under side of the hub, a large flat
washer should be attached to the wood with copper tacks
driven closely all around the outer edge. Before the speeder
is slipped over the upright pin, a short piece of small gas-pipe
or tubing should be placed over it so it will rest between
the hub and the top of the pole. Two coats of white
64or light-colored paint will improve the appearance of this
speeder.
Of all the weather-vanes that have ever been made, the
balanced arrow is undoubtedly the oldest and most popular;
it is the universal type of its class, and, from the simple arrow
that a boy can whittle from a shingle to the beautifully
gilded vane that crowns the pinnacle of some great building,
it is everywhere in evidence. Fig. 5.
The arrow-vane can be made any length to suit the
height at which it may be placed, but for the house, barn,
flag-pole, or tower not more than fifty or sixty feet high, it
should be from twenty-four to thirty-six inches long, with
the blade from five to six inches in width.
The most substantial vane is made in three pieces, the
point, shaft, and blade. The shaft is made from hard wood,
three-quarters of an inch square, in the ends of which cuts
are made to receive a tin or sheet-metal point and blade.
These are held in place with steel nails driven through the
wood and clinched on the opposite side. The arrow is balanced
and a hole is then made in the shaft through which
the upright pin or rod will pass.
A ferule or ring is driven on the upright rod to hold the
arrow in the proper place, and below it two rods should be
arranged at right angles, at the ends of which the letters
N, E, S, W are soldered. These rods may be of brass or
wood, and if the wood is used it should be of hickory or
locust, half an inch square or round, and slit at the ends to
receive the letters of tin or sheet metal. These latter are
65held in place with slim steel wire nails driven through the
wood and metal.
At the top of a flag-pole these arms should be mounted
above a gilded ball, and they should be, if of brass or copper,
held securely in place with wire or solder. If they are of
iron, it would be well to have a blacksmith weld them, so
that they will be rigid and stay in place.
In Fig. 6 some suggestions for wooden vanes are shown
that can be followed with the scroll saw and jackknife or a
compass saw and carving chisels. These vanes can be made
in almost any size that will not be out of proportion to the
building or pole they are to be mounted on.
The fish is cut from wood five-eighths of an inch thick, and
all around the edges the wood is bevelled so as to give the
fish a rounded effect. The fish is balanced on the edge of a
piece of wood to determine where the rod will pass through
it; then with a quarter-inch bit the hole is carefully bored
through from top to bottom. The compass-point letters
can be made from sheet tin and supported on two cross
sticks and a stout wire hoop from twelve to fifteen inches
in diameter.
The lady with the parasol is cut from wood half an inch in
thickness. She is fifteen inches high and twelve inches wide
across the bottom of the skirt. From the shoes to the hat,
a quarter-inch hole is bored entirely through the body, but
if this be found too difficult, a staple at the top and bottom
will answer instead. Through these staples the rod will pass.
66The squirrel is made in the same manner as the lady, and
either balanced on the rod which passes through the body
or by means of staples driven at one side. A ring and
washer should be provided on the rod for the bottom of the
vane to rest on, as there would be too much friction if the
vane rested on the top end of the pole into which the rod is
driven.
The bird vane is cut out and balanced the same as the
fish, and the modelling may be carved in the wood or painted,
to give shape and character to the vane. Otherwise it
would be but a blank piece of thin board cut in the shape
of the outline.
In all of these vanes it is necessary, of course, to have the
greatest overhang on the side opposite to that facing the
wind, otherwise they would not indicate properly.
An excellent and reliable wind indicator is shown in Fig.
7, the illustration of the wind-pennant. It consists of a
metal hoop on which a funnel-shaped silk or cotton fabric
pennant is sewed fast, and when this latter is filled by a
breeze it stands out, as the illustration shows.
A pennant fifteen inches long should have a hoop five
inches in diameter, and it can be made either from wire
rings bent as shown in Fig. 8 A, or from sheet metal, as
shown at Fig. 8 B.
The sheet metal should be perforated with small holes all
around one edge to pass the thread through, when sewing
the fabric fast, and the edges should be smoothed so as not
67to cut the threads. If the hoop is made of wire, a ring
should be formed at top and bottom for the upright rod to
pass through; but if it is of sheet metal a hole at the top and
bottom will admit the rod.
This pennant is very useful at the mast-head of a boat,
and is much more satisfactory to watch than the perpetually
bobbing flat pennant, as it does not break or fall down unless
it is calm, and only shifts from side to side as the wind
blows it.
On a flag-pole or staff above the pennant the compass
points are arranged, and if these are made from copper or
brass, the letters may be soldered fast to the ends of the
arms. Where the arms cross, they are to be flattened as
shown in Fig. 9 A, and lapped together, as shown in Fig. 9 B.
After the hole is bored they should be bound to the upright
rod with copper wire and soldered so they will remain in a
fixed position that the wind cannot alter. Fig. 9 C.
Sticks of hard wood may be substituted for the metal
arms, and the sheet-metal letters let into saw cuts made at
the outer ends.
An odd wind indicator is shown in Fig. 10, illustrating a
ball vane in a basket. It consists of a flat basket, with a
rim six inches high, made of wire cloth with square meshes;
inside of this a silk or cotton covered ball of wire is placed
and blown by the wind from one side to the other of the
basket. Of course, the direction the wind is coming from
is opposite to that taken by the ball.
The basket should be twenty-four inches in diameter, six
68inches high, and supported at the top of a pole by wires attached
from the upper and lower edge of the outer rim, and
leading up and down to the pole, the ends being made fast
to staples or screw-eyes.
The ball, which is made of wire hoops and fastened together
with fine wires, should be from four to six inches in
diameter. It is covered with silk or thin muslin sewed on
in the same manner in which a baseball is covered with
leather. The framework must be of light spring brass or
copper wire, and where the hoops cross it would be well to
touch the unions with solder to insure a firm joint and make
the ball rigid.
69If the ball should blow out of the basket at any time, it
may be necessary to lace wires across the outer rim at the
top, so as to form a confining net-work.
Above the basket the compass points can be arranged on
wood or metal arms, and when complete and mounted this
weather-vane will present a most unique appearance.
A merry-go-round like the one shown in Fig. 11 is an interesting
wind toy and pleasing to watch, as the boats keep
sailing round and round. It is made from a child’s hoople
properly braced with cross sticks and mounted on a hub.
Four flat-boats are made and attached to the outer edge of
the frame. When rigged with sails and placed at the top
of a post, on a rod, the boats will keep up a continual sailing
so long as there is any breeze. A hoople three feet in
diameter is best for this purpose, as it gives more space between
the boats.
Double sets of braces or cross strips are arranged inside
the hoople, and, where they meet at the middle, laps are
cut in the sticks so that they will fit flush, as shown in
Fig. 12.
The sticks are placed seven inches apart, and are five-eighths
of an inch square; under the lap joints a plate of
wood nine inches square is attached by means of screws or
steel wire nails, to strengthen the unions of the cross sticks
as well as to make a platform, at the under side of which
the hub is arranged. A plan of the hoople, the cross sticks,
and the location of one boat is shown in Fig. 13.
70The boats are placed so that the outer edges of the bottoms
rest on the top of the hoople. The inner edges rest on
two of the cross sticks, where they are securely attached
with long, slim screws passed up through the sticks and
hoople and into the bottoms of the boats.
A block of wood four or five inches square and six inches
long is to be shaved down at one end so that it is round
and about one inch and a half in diameter. This is attached
to the under side of the plate, at the middle of the hoople
frame, so that the small end projects down; and through it
a half-inch hole is bored.
An iron pin half an inch in thickness and eighteen inches
long is to be driven into the upper end of a post over which
the hub and hoople frame will fit. The upper end of the
iron pin is threaded and provided with two nuts. One of
these should be screwed down tight on the other with a
washer between to act as a lock-nut, so that the revolution
of the merry-go-round will not tighten or loosen them when
once adjusted.
The boats are ten inches long and three inches wide at the
middle, but they taper fore and aft, as shown in Fig. 13 A.
They are cut from pine or white-wood two inches thick, and
painted in gay colors. The masts are fifteen inches high, and
the sails are provided with booms, gaffs, and jib-booms, also
with rings which hold the sails close to the masts. The
rigging is of copper wire, as the constant motion would
soon wear out string or line and the sails would fly
loose.
Each boat must be in good trim to keep the motion uniform,
and if the sails wear out too soon, tin ones should be
71made or the muslin ones may be given a coat or two of white
paint. Pennants at the tops of the masts will add to the
effect.
The wind turbine shown in Fig. 14, on the following page,
is made of two hooples about thirty inches in diameter, four
cross sticks, two wire hoops, and eight V-shaped tin blades.
The cross sticks, thirty inches long, are cut and lapped
at the middle and attached to the edge of each hoop with
screws or nails. The wire hoops are twenty-two inches in
diameter, and are fastened to the cross sticks with staples.
The plan of one hoople and the cross sticks, the wire hoop
and the location of the blades, is shown in Fig. 15.
The outer corners of each blade are tacked fast to both
the upper and lower hoople, while the inner corners are
wired fast to the stout wire hoop. The blades are made
from tin or sheet iron twelve inches long and six inches wide,
and, when bent in the shape of a V, the width across the
open end should be four inches.
The blades are depended upon to hold the upper and lower
frames in place, and when the turbine is on the top of a post
with a rod running through the middle of the cross sticks,
around which it revolves, the wind will keep it spinning at a
high speed.
Power can be developed with this turbine, but only a very
small percentage as compared with a windmill the entire
surface of which is continually exposed to the breeze. In
the turbine only two or three of the blades are effective at
any one time.
From a flat hoop, a few pieces of tin or sheet iron, and some
thin wood, a barrel-hoop pinion-wheel may be made similar
to the one shown in Fig. 16.
The barrel-hoop will measure about twenty-one inches in
diameter, and the hub should be made five inches in diameter,
73two inches thick, and cut in, as shown in Fig. 17 A, with
nine places to receive the small ends of the metal blades.
The hub revolves on a pin which is driven into a block of
wood three inches square, as shown at Fig. 17 B. A hole is
made in the block from top to bottom, through which a half-inch
rod will pass. The rails that support the tail are let
into each side of the block and are securely fastened with
screws, as shown also at Fig. 17 B.
The fan-tails are twenty-four inches long, one inch and a
half wide, and half an inch thick, made of ash or hickory
that will bend easily, so as to be drawn in against the blades
forming the tail.
The tin blades are cut five inches wide at one end and one
inch and a half at the other, and fastened to both the hoop
and hub with tacks, as shown in the illustration.
The blades forming the fan are of half-inch wood, one
V-shaped piece and two end slats cut as shown in the illustration.
They are all held in position by the two rails that
extend back from the pinion block and two that are set at
right angles to them, and which hold the upper and lower
edge blades.
This wheel may be placed at the top of a post two or three
inches square or round, in which a half-inch iron rod or long
pin has been driven, leaving about six or eight inches of it
projecting above the top of the post. On this the block
turns as the wind acts on the fan-tail.
A simple wheel, with spokes and sails, that is commonly
employed on canal-boats and barges, and in a small way for
74raising water in a suction-pump, is shown in the illustration
of a pumping windmill. Fig. 18.
It consists of a hub, six spokes, a fan-tail, and a trunk or
upright to which the wheel is attached. The hub is a hexagon
of six inches and six inches long, so that one spoke
can be driven into a hole made in each side, as shown in
Fig. 19. The spokes are three feet long, three by one inch
and a half at the hub end, and one by one inch and a half at
the outer end. They are driven snugly into holes in the
75hub three inches long and one inch and a half wide, and
pinned to hold them in place.
The hub should be made of hard wood, and it would be
well to have a blacksmith put a thin iron band around each
end to prevent it from splitting. The holes may be cut
with a mortise chisel and mallet, and care must be taken
to shape them evenly, so that the spokes will line properly.
Triangular pieces of twilled muslin sheeting are tacked
to the face of each spoke, and the loose corner of each is
caught to the next spoke end with a rope and snap. This
makes an outlet between the leech and spoke of each space
between spokes for the wind to pass through, thereby causing
the wheel to revolve.
The wheel is held in place to the head of the supporting
post by a shaft which passes through the hub and is bolted
fast at the front of it with a nut. A blacksmith will make
this shaft, as it is somewhat beyond a boy’s ability unless he
has had some experience in blacksmithing. It should be
shaped as shown in Fig. 20.
The shaft is an inch square where it passes through the
hub, and at the front end it is threaded and provided with
a nut and washer. At the end of the square part, A, where
the rear of the hub will stop, a shoulder, B, should be welded
on to hold the hub in the proper place.
An inch beyond this square shoulder, another one, C, is
welded on the shaft, which for the balance of its length is
three-quarters of an inch in diameter.
Just beyond the shoulder or collar, C, the crank is formed,
two inches wide and three inches out from the shaft. Beyond
76the crank another collar, C C, is welded on, and beyond
this the shaft should measure six inches in length.
The total length of the shaft is fifteen inches, and all the
collars and smooth surfaces should be dressed down with a
file and then painted. The head to which the fan-tail is attached
is made of two blocks, cut as shown in Fig. 21, and
fastened five inches apart on the lower rails that support
the long rails to which, in turn, the tail is attached.
The upper ends of the blocks are cut out so as to admit
the shaft. The collars, C, and C C, are at the inside of the
blocks. To hold the shaft in place, straps of iron are screwed
fast over the top of each block.
This head rests on the top of a trunk or hollow square
77post, through which the rod passes that connects the crank
with the piston-rod of a pump. This trunk is of three-quarter-inch
wood and seven inches square, as shown in
Fig. 22 A; and at the top of it a flat iron collar, B, is screwed
fast.
To hold the head on and keep it in the proper place, four
iron cleats (Fig. 22 C) are screwed fast to the under corners
of the head to grip the projecting edge of the collar. This
arrangement will hold the head stiff, but will allow it to
move about as impelled by the wind acting on the tail.
A little grease or vaseline should be placed on top of the
collar, so that the head will move on it easily. The top of
the connection rod should be attached to the crank, as
shown in Fig. 22 D, where a strap of iron passes over the
crank and is bolted to the top of the hard-wood rod.
The tail is attached to the head as shown in Fig. 23,
which is a rear view of the head block and a portion of the
forward part of the tail.
The tail is thirty-three inches long and twenty-four inches
wide at the rear end, and is made of boards three-quarters
of an inch in thickness. If the mill is to be placed over a
pump, a platform should be erected to which the trunk may
be braced with props, as shown in the illustration, and on
which the lower end of the trunk may rest.
Guy rods or wires can also be carried from the upper part
of the trunk down to pegs driven in the ground, which will
lend additional support and steadiness to the upright shaft.
To start the wheel, snap the ends of the sheets to the spoke
ends; to stop it, unsnap the ends and furl the sails around
the spokes, and tie them securely with a cotton cord.
Windmills, of course, can be put to many different uses
and are generally of sufficient size to develop a considerable
amount of power. Fig. 24 shows a windmill and tower that
any smart boy can make of wood, an old buggy wheel, and a
few iron fittings that a blacksmith will make at a nominal cost.
The tower is the first thing to make, and it should be constructed
of four spruce sticks sixteen feet long and four inches
square, thirty inches square at the top and seventy-two
inches square at the base.
79The deck is thirty-six inches square, and projects two inches
over the top rails all around. The rails and cross braces are
of spruce or pine strips four inches wide and seven-eighths
of an inch thick, and are attached to the corner posts with
steel wire nails. The corner posts are embedded two feet in
the ground, leaving fourteen feet of tower above the surface.
The rail at the bottom, attached to the four posts, is three
feet above the ground, and, midway between this and the
top rail under the deck, the middle rail is run around the
posts.
The cross braces are bevelled at the ends, so that they will
fit snugly against the corner posts and in behind the rails
where they are securely nailed to both posts and rails.
One of the posts with its binding of rails and cross brace
is shown in Fig. 25, and this clearly illustrates how the
union is made.
The posts, rails, and braces are all to be planed, so that
they will present a good appearance when painted; and
at one side of the tower a ladder can be made of scantling,
and the lower end of it attached to a rail nailed to the
corner posts a few inches above the ground.
Across two of the rails half-way up the tower a board is
nailed, to which the lower end of a trunk is made fast, if a
wheel similar to the pumping-mill is to be used. But if a
wooden mill is desired, it can be constructed from a buggy-wheel
and six blades of wood, to appear as shown in the
illustration.
At a wagon-shop an old wheel can be had for little or
nothing, and with a little work it may be converted into the
frame of a windmill.
80Each spoke is to be cut at an angle on one side so that
the blades, when attached to them, will have the necessary
pitch to make the wind act on them. This can be seen in
Fig. 26, which is an edge view of the wheel showing a top,
bottom, and middle blade.
The blades are eighteen inches long, twelve inches wide
at the outer end, and six inches in width next the hub.
They are three-quarters of an inch thick, and are attached to
the spokes with screws. If it is found necessary, a wire can
be run from the outer end of each blade to the end of the
next spoke, to steady the blades, as shown in the illustration.
The crank and shaft can be arranged as described for the
pumping-mill, and a fan-tail to keep the wheel up into the
wind is made in proportion to the size of the mill.
All the wood-work should be painted to give it a good
appearance. A mill of this size will develop at least quarter
of a horse-power in a fifteen-mile breeze.
81
To have a flying-machine is the dream of every boy.
To build a large one is exceedingly difficult, but a
small one run by a rubber band can be easily constructed.
You will not be able to fly up to the roofs of houses and
spires of churches, but it will furnish you much amusement,
without the danger of a broken neck.
I will tell you exactly how I constructed one of these
machines, and then you can make one for yourself. The
backbone was a knitting-needle. The wings, or more
properly aëroplanes, were light bamboo strips (taken from
a Japanese fan) and covered with the Japanese paper which
is used for napkins. (Fig. 1.)
Fig. 2 shows the backbone and its parts. Cut from thin
brass or copper a piece shaped like No. 1, and bend the top
over, as shown at No. 2. Brass suitable for this may be
bought at any hardware-store, or an old article made of
proper metal may be cut up. The shell of a metallic cartridge
is excellent. The brass should be as thin as possible,
to be light, and so that it may be cut with an old pair of
shears and bent easily. First cut the piece out roughly
82with the shears, and then trim it into shape with a small
file. Scrape that part of the metal bright and clean which
will form the inside of the roll, and then bend it around the
needle so that it will fit nicely and snugly.
This must be fastened to the forward end of the backbone.
The best and lightest way is to braze it, as the tinsmiths
83call it. File the polish from the end of the needle,
and wet it with soldering fluid, which may be bought at a
tinner’s, or made by adding zinc to muriatic acid until no
more is dissolved. Slip on the brass support just where
you want it, and lay on a piece of solder about half the size
of a grain of wheat. Now hold this in the flame of a candle,
in the gas, or near a hot stove, until the solder melts. Take
it away and let it cool, and you will find that the solder has
run into all the cracks and joined the pieces beautifully.
File off any excess of solder or rough ends, and you will have
a neat and workman-like joint, as well as a very light one.
Cut out the piece No. 3, and bend it into the shape shown
at No. 4. In this case you will need to file the upper surface
of the groove bright and clean. Take off the polish from
the other end of the needle, and then put the stern-post, as
it may be called, in place, and hold it there by twisting a
fine wire around it and the needle. Be careful to get both
supports turned the same way. Then braze and finish it as
before.
Make the piece No. 5, and form it into the shape No. 6.
This is fastened by brazing to the backbone, as shown in
the lower diagram. Take a piece of another knitting-needle,
and make a shaft like No. 7 by heating red-hot and pounding
the end into a hook with a small hammer.
Put the straight end of this shaft through the hole in the
stern-post which was formed by bending the metal, and
then make a shoulder on it, as follows: bend a piece of fine
wire into a ring the size of the needle, and braze this to the
shaft about a quarter-inch from the stern-post. This ring
of wire keeps the shaft from slipping through the hole when
84the rubber is stretched. File a flat point on the straight
end of the shaft.
Next make the wings. For the ribs I used the thin bamboo
strips taken from a Japanese fan. The paper is pulled
or soaked off, and the thin strips cut close to the handle.
The front of the wings is made as in the upper diagram of
Fig. 3. Take one of the largest and stiffest strips of the
bamboo, find the exact middle, and lay it evenly across the
wing-support (No. 6 in Fig. 2), which is already in place on
the backbone. Lash it to the support with waxed sewing-silk.
Over this piece lay two others of equal length, making
them come together (but not lap over) just above the backbone.
When well secured, add three pieces of the same
length above the two, placing them in such a way that the
joinings shall not come over the joinings of either of the other
pieces, and thus weaken the wings.
The ribs are made from the bamboo strips, cut the proper
length and lashed to the front edge. The other ends are
fastened to a cross-rib to make them take the same curvature.
The lower diagram of Fig. 3 shows how the ribs are spaced.
Cover the wings with thin, strong paper. The best is
Japanese paper, such as is used in making napkins. This
is exceedingly light and very strong. It should be sewed,
not gummed, as the gum makes the paper tear easily, and
your sticky fingers spoil the whole cover very quickly. The
paper is tough enough to be sewed, using a fine needle and
white cotton, and you will get a neater and much more
satisfactory job.
Make a triangle by lashing together three pieces of bamboo,
two being about two inches long, and the third one
85inch. This triangle is lashed to the backbone just behind
the wings, with the short side down; its position may be
seen by a glance at the picture of the finished machine. It
is kept rigid by running stays, made of waxed sewing-silk,
from the lower corners to the stern-post, from the right-hand
corner to the middle of the left wing, and from the left-hand
corner to the middle of the right wing.
Just in front of this triangle fasten a piece of the bamboo,
and make two small guiding vanes or rudders. These are
made in a similar manner to the wings. Tie threads to the
lower corners of the wings, and then to the triangle, drawing
them down until they have the proper angle. The guiding-vanes
should have a greater angle than the wings—that is,
they should be drawn farther down.
It only remains now to make the screw and attach the
rubber band. For the hub of the wheel you will need a
small cork. This cork must be kept from turning on the
end of the shaft. If the sharpened end of the shaft carrying
the hook for the rudder was simply stuck into the cork, it
would soon wear loose and turn easily. To make a firm
hold for the shaft, bore a hole through the cork about a
quarter-inch from the large end, and drive a plug of soft
wood into this hole. The flat-pointed end of the shaft can
now pass into the cork and be forced into the wood, being
careful to have the end of the point parallel to the grain of
the wood. This will give a firm hold and prevent the screw
slipping.
The blades of the screw are made of thin paper gummed
on to short pieces of bamboo. Lay one of the bamboo
spokes on a piece of thin, stiff paper, and then gum over it
86a small strip of the thin Japanese paper before referred to.
When this is dry, cut it down to the proper shape and
sharpen the end of the spoke. Force these spokes into the
cork so that all the blades will turn the same way, as shown
in the picture—i. e., so that when the screw is turned the
blades will all strike the air in the same manner and tend to
force the machine forward, not so that some try to push it
forward and some backward.
Select a rubber band of the proper size—such a one as will
stretch the length of the backbone easily and not be so
strong that, when stretched, the backbone is bent into a
bow. Tie this band to the forward support with a string,
and then draw it back and slip it over the hook on the shaft.
To wind up the machine, hold it by the backbone and turn
the screw the wrong way until the rubber is twisted tight.
Then hold the machine up, let go the screw, and when it is
revolving rapidly, give it a gentle push forward. If it pitches
head-first, draw down the wings; if tail-first, let up the
wings or turn the screw the other way. If the wheel does
not revolve rapidly cut off part of the blades or use a stronger
rubber. Some little adjustment of the kind is usually required
before the thing moves properly.
A contrivance of this sort should be very light. The one
before me has wings two feet from tip to tip, and it weighs
when complete—backbone, wings, rubber, screw, etc.—only
one-third of an ounce.
Here is an idea for a mechanical toy to be used either on
a kite-string or a cord stretched from a flag-pole in the yard
87or a handy tree. The only condition is that the lower end
of the cord is directly against the wind. The elevation at
which the car can run will depend on the strength of the
wind and sail area of the machine. The only wood used
is the lightest and driest pine that can be procured. The
carriage is made entirely of one-half by one-quarter inch
wood, and is composed of two strips, fourteen inches long,
placed one inch apart. The two guiders are two inches
from each end, and have a small screw-eye on the lower extremity,
through which the cord is passed. On the upper
side of the carriage, exactly in the centre, are screwed two
eyes, which should measure a little over a half-inch in diameter
of the inside of their circle. Through these is passed
the spar of the sail, allowing enough space to insure easy
turning, as the spar acts as an axis on which the sail turns
when on its downward trip. This spar is at right angles
with the carriage. Two upright sticks measuring twenty
inches, and the same dimensions as the material used for
the construction of the carriage, are next added. These
should be slightly pointed at both ends, and a cross-bar at
the top of these uprights securely fastened gives additional
strength. The balancing-bar is made of three-eighths by
three-eighths inch pine, tapering at the lower end, and is ten
inches in length, and fastened to the carriage by two strips
of wood—five by one-quarter by one-eighth inch. The
wheels are formed as follows: Take a piece of one-eighth
inch pine, which should be at least three inches wide. On
this place a strip of wood, we will say, for instance, ten by
one-quarter by one-half inch. By driving a small wire
nail through both pieces of wood, and inserting a sharp
88knife-blade through the upper piece of wood, and turning
(the upper piece) slowly from left to right, you will
find you can cut a perfect circle in the lower piece of wood.
The wheels are formed by this process. It takes four pieces
of stiff card-board and two of wood to make the wheels for
the carriage. The diameter of the wooden wheel is one and
one-half inches, while the card-board disks are two and one-quarter
inches. The wheels in the draught are a trifle smaller,
but by experiments it is found that the above-sized wheel
makes faster time. You will see that after cutting out your
disks the hole made by the wire nail is exactly in the centre.
Run a small wire nail through the three disks, placing the
wooden disk in the centre and the card-board ones on each
89side (this makes three disks for each wheel). Put some glue
on touching surface, and clinch the three together with pins
or wire brads. The place where these nails go is shown by
the spots on side draught of the wheel. The axle-tree is
made of oak, and at the extremities a piece of stout wire is
inserted, which extends one-eighth of an inch beyond the
wood of the axle-tree. The hardest axle-tree is one made
from the shafts of an old clock. Take particular care that
the wheels run very true, as the success of the machine
depends to a great extent upon this.
From the lower extremity of the balancing-rod hangs a
weight. The easiest way to make this weight is to take a
small bag, and fill it with sand until the machine balances
(the sail in horizontal position). Having progressed thus
far in the construction of the machine, turn the sail in a
horizontal position, and attach a cord from one side of the
cross-bar to a small grooved wheel at the aft end of the
carriage. From the screw-eye at lower extremity of the
balancing-bar is attached a small rubber band; when
stretched it will reach within three-quarters of an inch of
the small wheel at the aft end of the carriage. It will be
found, after the cord and rubber band have been joined,
that upon letting go the perpendicular bars the sail will turn
in a horizontal position. At the forward end of the carriage
is a catch, to which is fastened a ring. The catch comes in
contact with a block (previously placed three-quarters up
the string). The detail drawings show the formation and
working of the catch. Fig. 4.
90
The sail is made of light muslin, and extends in the form
of a pair of wings, the cloth only reaching from the outside
91of the uprights to the ends of the spar, leaving a free space
in the centre for the sail to pass through the carriage. The
parachute is a small Chinese umbrella (pick out one that
opens easily), and can be bought for a few cents. A small
weight is attached to the handle with a few feet of cord.
We will say that now you have completed the machine—you
have a kite flying; run the string through the two
guiders, place the two wheels of the carriage upon the kite-string,
set the sail perpendicular, and fasten the catch with
the cord. A stop-block has been previously placed on the
cord twenty feet from the kite; now attach the parachute
(Chinese umbrella). The force of the wind acting on the
sail forces the machine up the incline of the kite-string at a
rapid rate, skyward, until it reaches the block, which throws
off the catch. The sail swings back to a horizontal position,
letting the parachute drop. The sail being folded and presenting
no resistance to the wind, the force of gravitation
acting on the weight of the machine causes it to descend
the kite-cord quickly, and return to the original starting-point
of its flight. See Fig. 5, a side and end view, and
Fig. 6, the parachute and the car on its return.
Study with care the accompanying plans. The materials
are one-half by one-quarter-inch pine, free from knots,
ten common brass rings three-quarters of an inch in diameter,
two round-headed brass screws one inch in length,
two flat-headed ones of the same dimensions, two small
screw-hooks, and eight assorted brass screw-eyes, there being
92two of each size. Now that we have the material for
the frames, we will begin with Fig. 7, which shows the
sail and sheer plan. The frame is made of six pieces of
wood. The top piece is exactly two feet in length. The
two uprights which hold the wheels are each one foot and
93one inch long. The two angle pieces are one foot nine inches
each. The lower horizontal strip measures two feet three
and one-half inches, and is joined to the two angle strips by
means of a screw-eye and screw at each extremity. Now
cut a strip of pine, making it exactly three feet in length.
Set it on the frame in an upright position, allowing a half-inch
clearance from the upper horizontal piece. It should
be eleven inches from one of the angle pieces at the lower
end. Round the upper part above the horizontal strip; it
should be brought to a taper at the upper end. This forms
the mast. The lower part is uniform, and allows the weight
to be moved up and down to insure a correct balance, which
is regulated according to the force of the wind. The weight
is made of one-and-a-half-inch lead pipe, and is two inches
in length. A round plug of pine is driven in the centre of
the lead pipe, and a hole is bored in the centre of the plug to
fit the balancing-bar.
One of the screw-eyes is inserted through the piece of
lead pipe, and by this means the weight can be elevated or
brought down the shaft and held firmly in the required
place, which will depend on the force of the wind. In
regard to the wheels, Fig. 8 shows the simplest constructed.
They are made in three parts. Take two of the
largest-sized wooden button moulds and a piece of thin
board (cut in a circle) smaller than the button moulds. We
will say, for instance, the button moulds are one and one-half
inches in diameter, and the centre piece of pine is one
inch in diameter and one-eighth of an inch thick. The way
to get a true circle on this soft pine is to take the one-eighth-inch
wood and measure on a separate piece of pine one-half
94inch, drive in a small wire nail in one extreme of the previously
measured strip, and on the other extremity insert the
point of a sharp knife. Place on the board used for centre
of wheel, and turn in a circle from right to left several times.
If the distance between the knife-blade and nail is one-half
inch, the wheel cut out will be exactly one inch in diameter.
Insert a wire nail through the two button moulds, and
place the inch wheel in the centre, gluing it at each contact
surface. This will give you the grooved wheel.
The drawing (Fig. 7) indicates how this wheel is fastened
to the frame. The wheel can be made of two card-board
disks two and one-half inches in diameter, and one wooden
wheel two inches in diameter placed between them. They
95are joined by clinched pins, shown by the circle of dots in
Fig. 8.
The dimensions of the sail are as follows: Main-sail—hoist,
ten and one-half inches; gaff, eight and one-half
inches; leech, nineteen and one-quarter inches; boom,
fourteen and one-half inches. Jib—foot, eleven inches;
hoist, sixteen inches—on the stay, twenty and one-quarter
inches. The jib carries a boom, and the main-sail a gaff
and boom. The material used for the sails is light muslin
with hemmed edges.
Take a long chalk-line or heavy cord, and stretch at right
angles to the direction of the wind. If the wind is from the
north, the cord must reach east and west. Each extremity
of the cord must be the same height from the ground, and
can be attached from tree to tree, or from an upper-story
window to a house near by.
When the boat reaches the extremity of the cord the
operator at that end of the cord turns it, and starts it on
the return journey.
If the cord is strung between two houses you will find
the boat will sail back and forth, except when the wind is
dead ahead or a few points either way.
To make the “flyer” you will need a piece of thin sheet
tin, zinc, or iron, that may be purchased from a tinsmith
for a few cents; and for the engine a linen-thread spool, a
piece of hard-wood stick, and a few steel wire nails will be
required.
96To begin with, obtain an empty linen-thread spool having
a smooth hole through it, and in one end drive four one-inch
steel-wire nails at regular distances apart, so as to form the
corners of a perfect square; drive the nails in half-way, then
file the heads off, and the spool will appear like Fig. 9.
Next get a round hard-wood stick seven inches long, and
around it, two inches from one end, make a deep cut with
your knife. From this cut to the end of the stick shave the
wood away so it will look like Fig. 11.
These two parts will complete the engine, and the next
thing to make will be the flyer. Thin sheet-zinc will be
found the best to make it of; and having obtained a piece,
mark on it with a compass a circle five inches in diameter;
mark two lines across this circle from edge to edge, at right
angles, as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 14.
From a piece of stiff paper cut a pattern in the form of
one of the ears shown in Fig. 14. Lay this pattern on the
zinc so that one of the lines will be in the centre of it, and
mark the shape on the zinc; mark the other three ears in a
similar manner, and then with a stout pair of shears cut out
the flyer.
In the centre of it make a hole large enough for the small
end of the stick to pass through it, and around it make four
small holes at the centre of each ear, to correspond with the
pins on the spool.
The flyer will then fit over the stick and pins and lay flat
on top of the spool; bend its ears with your fingers so they
appear like the propeller-blades of a steamboat, or like a
windmill, and it will then be ready to fly. Fig. 10.
97
A “HIGH-FLYER”
When bending the ears they must be arranged so that the
98edge that catches the wind first will be inclined upward, as
otherwise the flyer, instead of flying, will hug the spool tightly.
Another style of flyer is shown in Fig. 12, and is made of
a circular disk of zinc four inches in diameter.
Make the five holes in the centre fit over the stick and
pins. When all the places have been cut, bend the ears
down as shown in Fig. 13, and when flying it turn it upside-down,
letting the ears project upward.
To put the flyer in action, take the stick in your left hand,
and over the small end of it place the spool, against which
put your thumb to keep it from slipping. Wind strong cord
around the spool, to the end of which a button is fastened to
keep the cord from slipping through your fingers; on top
of the spool place the flyer, and give the string a vigorous
pull, at the same time releasing the spool with your thumb,
and the centrifugal force will cause the flyer to revolve rapidly,
shoot upward, and sail to a height of fifty or a hundred
feet in the air, slowly descending as the revolutions diminish.
Larger flyers can be made in a similar manner; and to
make a very large one, plant a post in the ground, having its
upper end reduced to form a shoulder, as explained for the
small stick. Get a round piece of wood several inches in
diameter, and arrange four very stout steel-wire nails in the
top of it. Make a tin or iron flyer twelve or fifteen inches in
diameter, and use a piece of small clothes-line or cotton line
to spin it with.
To operate it, wind the spool with the rope, and have some
one under it to keep it from slipping. When you are ready to
pull the rope, place the flyer on the pins, and as the spool is released
give the rope a quick, strong pull, and the flyer will rise.
Part II AFIELD — Chapter VI COASTERS, SKEES, AND SNOW-SHOES — Toboggans — A Rocker-coaster — A Single-runner Coaster — A Bob-sled — Skees — Snow-shoes — Chapter VII SAIL-SKATING AND SNOWBALL ARTILLERY — A Skating-sail — 118 A Square-rigged Ice-sail — A Snowball Mortar — Chapter VIII KITES AND AEROPLANES — The Ship Kite — The Chinese-junk Kite — The Schooner Kite — A Balloon Kite — An Air-ship Kite — 128 Bat-wing and Crown-top Kites — 129 Sandwich Islands Bird Kite — Box Kites — The Flying-wedge and Double-plane Kite — Kite-reels — Chapter IX FISHING-TACKLE — Choice of Tackle — Bait-rods and Fly-rods — Repairs, Knots, and Splices — Aids for Young Anglers — Baits, and Where to Find Them — A Trap for Small Fish — A Water-turtle Trap — An Eel-pot — A Scap-net — A Hoop Drop-net — Chapter X LAND-YACHTS AND PUSHMOBILES — A Land-yacht — A Sail-wagon — A Pushmobile — Chapter XI FIRE-ENGINES AND TRUCKS — The Engine — The Hose-carriage — The Hook-and-Ladder Truck — Chapter XII WATER-WHEELS — A Simple Paddle-wheel — A Wagon Wheel — A Barrel-wheel — 206 An Undershot-wheel — A Power-wheel — A Wheel-race
99
101
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
102Yankee 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.
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
103plane 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
104anchorage 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.
105When 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 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.
106A few good coats of paint will finish the wood-work nicely,
and the rocker-coaster will then be ready for use.
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
107shown 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.
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.
108Eight 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.
109The 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
110side of the plank will serve as foot-rests, and with a coat or
two of paint this bob-sled will be ready for use.
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
111from 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. 12 A.
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. 12 B. 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. 12 C, and a great deal of fun can be had with
this makeshift on short hills.
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
112snow-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. 14 A 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. 15 A, 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. 15 B. 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.
113
SNOW-SHOES
The shoe in the form of a tennis racket (Fig. 14 B) is the
shape commonly used by the Esquimaux and is about thirty-four
inches long and fifteen inches wide. It is made somewhat
114similar to the Iroquois shoe but the mesh is more
open.
The oval shoe (Fig. 14 C) 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.
115
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.
2 C, 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
116smooth, 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. 2 A.
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. 2 C. 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. 2 B.
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.
117
A SKATING-SAIL, A SQUARE-RIGGED ICE-SAIL, AND A SNOWBALL MORTAR
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. 2 A. 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.
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
119points 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.
120
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
121connections 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 D D D 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
122adds 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 (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.
123
THE CHINESE-JUNK KITE
124The 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 (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
125from 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.
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.
126Cover 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.
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 C C that support
the car are forty-five inches long. The middle upright B B
is first lashed to the middle of the long stick A A. The
ends of the curved sticks are then brought together and
lashed to ends A A, and at the same time the unions are
made with sticks C C. After that the sticks between B
and C are set in place and securely lashed fast. The long
sticks D D, 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 D D
with string. Then cover the entire balloon and car as well
127as the men with dark-colored paper muslin. Make the
yoke of linen thread so that the kite will balance well.
THE SCHOONER, BALLOON, AND AN AIR-SHIP KITE
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, A A) are six feet and six inches, slightly tapered at the ends
and separated about eight inches. The long uprights B B
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.
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
130endeavors 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.
131It 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 C C 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 D D, E E, and F F, and place them on the floor
either side of the middle one. The long, straight stick A A
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.
132Draw cross-strings from the top and lower ends of sticks
D D, 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.
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 A A which measure twelve inches in
length. At the middle of the framework the corner sticks
B B are braced with two cross-sticks C, which are notched
at the ends, so that the inside corners of the sticks B B 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 D D. Cover the front, sides, and back
133of 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 D D. 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.
134The “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 H H. 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
I I. Strings are tied to the top and bottom cross-sticks of
the large frame, and eight inches apart, as shown at J J, 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
135a 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.
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
136hold 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 E E, 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 G G 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
137and 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
138bevelled 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 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,
139bore 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. 28 A 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 A A in Fig. 29. Two out-riggers B B
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 C C, shown in Fig. 30, and braced
to the main out-riggers B B with bracket-strips. All the
unions are made with screws or long copper rivets securely
140fastened 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
141touch 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
142of 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.
143This 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.
144
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
145to 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.
146Now, 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
147safer 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.
148But 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
149convenient. 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
150kinds 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 B B 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.
151Worms 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.
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.
152Place 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
153change 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.
154The 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.
155
HOOK-BAITING AND FLY-CASTING
156Do 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.
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
157a 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
158a 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. 4 A). 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
159must 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. 6 A 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.
160D 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.
How often has it happened that on reaching a camping-ground,
hotel, or boarding-house near river or lake where
161pickerel, 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” A A 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 (C C C). 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 (B B). 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
(H H H) 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 F F F, thirty feet long,
which is for the purpose of drawing in the seine after it has
been cast.
162
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
163the 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.
164When 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.
10 A.
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. 10 B.
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. 12 A 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.
165
SOME USEFUL HINTS
166A 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.
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.
167Crabs 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
168from 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
169morning 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.
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:
170
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
171shape. 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.
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
172go 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.
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.
173The 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.
174The 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
175so 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 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
176with 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 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.
177
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
178twelve 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.
179The 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
180fast 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
181to 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
182wind 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.
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.
183
A SAIL-WAGON
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
184blacksmith. 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. 9 A, 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.
9 B. 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. 9 C. 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
185be 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.
The pushmobile (Fig. 10) is another interesting road or
sidewalk car and one with which two boys can share considerable
186fun. 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
187stick) 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. 11 A. 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.
188The 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.
189A 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. 11 B, 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
190well 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.
191
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 A A. These are to be held in position with long,
192steel-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 B B. 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
193through 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
E E. 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
194a 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.
195The 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. 3 A, 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.
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
196of 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.
197
HOSE-CARRIAGE AND HOOK-AND-LADDER TRUCK
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. 6 A. Attach both ends to the axle with
198long, steel-wire nails, then from a piece of hard-wood cut a
crank and handle as shown at Fig. 6 B. 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. 6 C.
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. 6 D, 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.
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
199across 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. 8 A. 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
200back 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.
201
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
202now 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.
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,
203thus 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.
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,
204and 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 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.
205
WATER-WHEELS
For a brook an undershot-wheel can be made with two
round ends and ten or twelve blades according to the size of
the wheel. For an efficient one the wheel should be thirty-six
or forty-eight inches in diameter and thirty inches wide.
Two ends are made from matched boards held together with
battens as shown in Fig. 4 A. These are arranged on a
square axle and the blades are made fast between them with
long screws or steel nails. Fig. 4 B.
To utilize the power from a rapidly running brook place
two tree-trunks across the brook about six feet apart as
shown in Fig. 5. On top of these timbers attach two spruce
beams eight or ten inches wide and two inches thick, and
anchor them well with spikes and check-blocks. At the
middle and on top of both timbers cut notches for the axle
to fit in and provide them with metal straps to hold the
axle in place. A long axle leading to the land can be
supported on a short timber attached to stout stakes
driven in the ground, and another bearing and strap will
hold this from jumping with the rapid revolutions of the
wheel. A wooden pulley may be arranged at the end of
this axle, and from it the power can be taken off by means
of belting or rope.
207
POWER-WHEEL AND WHEEL-RACE
Another arrangement for this wheel will be to swing it in
a cradle or frame so that one end of it may be lifted to reduce
208the speed or power of the wheel, the other end being
securely attached to a tree-trunk with hinges.
The water from a wide, shallow brook may be directed so
as to throw its full force against the blades of a wheel by
digging it out at the middle and damming it at the sides as
shown by the diagram of a modified brook (Fig. 6). The
dams should be solidly built and if possible cribbed to prevent
their washing away.
Part III AFLOAT — Chapter XIII BOATS — Punt and Scow — A Sharpy — A Dory — A Sailing Sharpy — A Centre-board Sharpy — A Proa — A Lark — A Power-boat — Chapter XIV CATAMARANS — A Rowing Catamaran — A Sailing Catamaran — A Side-wheel Catamaran — Chapter XV ICE-BOATS — A Sloop-rigged Ice-yacht — A Twin-mast Ice-boat — 255 Scoots and Scooters — A Wind-runner — Chapter XVI HOUSE-BOATS AND RAFTS — A House-punt — A House-raft — A Float — Chapter XVII MARLINE-SPIKE SEAMANSHIP — Splices — Knots — Bends — Hitches
209
211
Of all the things that a boy is interested in there is
nothing more fascinating than boats, whether they are
to row, paddle, or sail in, and, as many of the simple kinds
are quite within the ability of a boy to make, he can take
a great deal of pleasure in their construction.
For the sea-shore and salt waterways the boats should
be heavily constructed, and as this is usually beyond the
average boy’s ability, the sea-going dorys, surf-boats, and
heavy sail-boats will be omitted, and those described and
illustrated will be for use in fresh water, or on small enclosed
salt waterways where the wind and tide are moderate.
In making a boat it is not only necessary to have it float,
but to construct it in such a manner that the joints will
keep closed and the boards will not rip off if run on a snag
or against a rocky shore.
These are essential points in the proper construction of
boats, and they might as well be learned by the amateur
boat-builder when he is young, instead of constructing
something for fun and having to learn the right way all
over again when he is older and more serious work begins.
In this chapter a few of the simpler forms of boats are
shown, and the warning must be given at the start that the
212young shipwright should use the greatest care in constructing
a boat, not only for the natural pride they will take
in making a good one, but for the still more important
reason that the safety of all on board is dependent upon his
skill and conscientious work.
A punt with a flat bottom is about the easiest and
safest boat for a boy to make and own, for it is straight in
construction and difficult to upset if not overloaded. As
both ends are the same it can be rowed or poled forward or
backward, and the overhanging ends allow plenty of seating
room.
The punt shown in Fig. 4 is fifteen feet long, nineteen
inches deep, and four feet wide. The ends cut under
twenty inches, and at one end a skag and rudder can be
arranged as shown in Fig. 2.
The sides are made of two boards, one of six and the
other of a twelve-inch width, and the added thickness of
the bottom boards make the total depth of the sides nineteen
inches. The wider boards are the lower ones, and they
are fastened together near both ends and at the middle
with battens as shown in Fig. 4. The middle battens are
six inches wide, and into the upper ends of them the row-lock
pins are driven. The bottom planking should not be
more than four or five inches wide, and it is securely
nailed to the edges of the sides and to an inner keel-strip
running the entire length of the bottom as shown in Fig. 3.
213
PUNT AND SCOW
The wood should be very dry so that it will not shrink
214afterwards and open the seams. Along the edges, and
before the planking is laid or nailed on, smear white-lead,
and lay one or two thicknesses of lamp-wicking on the lead,
so that when the ends of the planking are driven down
it makes a water-tight joint. Where the planks butt up
against the other planking, the joints are to be generously
smeared with white-lead and laid with a string of the lamp-wicking.
Begin at one end and work towards the other,
having first attached the end planks. Fig. 3 A.
The method of attaching the skag is also shown in Fig.
3, and if the punt shows a tendency to swing around in the
water and not mind the oars or rudder, a keel three inches
wide may be attached on the bottom of the punt to run from
the forward end of the straight bottom back to the end of
the skag.
The bottom planking is to be attached at both sides and
to the inner keel-strip with galvanized nails. Do not use
ordinary nails as they will rust in a short time, and the
only ones that are of use are the regular galvanized boat
nails that can be had at most hardware stores, and always
at a ship-chandler’s or from a boat-builder.
A rudder can be made and hung at one end of the boat
as shown in Fig. 2.
A scow (Fig. 1) will be found the easiest of all boats to construct,
but at the same time the hardest to row, since both
the ends are blunt and vertical. A scow is for use in
shallow water and is poled generally instead of being rowed.
It is built in a similar manner to the punt, but the ends are
not cut under. A good size to make the scow for general
use will be fourteen feet long, eighteen inches deep, and four
215feet wide. It may be provided with two or three seats, and
when complete both the punt and scow should receive two
or three good coats of paint.
It is not a difficult matter to make a sharpy like the one
shown in Fig. 5, but care must be taken in its construction
to insure good unions and tight joints.
Cedar, white-wood, pine, or cypress are the best woods of
which to build small boats, and wide boards can be had at
almost any lumber-yard. White cedar is somewhat more
difficult to get than the other woods, but if possible it should
be used.
To make this sharpy the proper size for a boy’s use, obtain
two boards fifteen or sixteen inches wide, fourteen feet
long, and seven-eighths of an inch thick, planed on both
sides and as free from knots as possible. If the boards cannot
be had fifteen inches wide, then batten two boards
together with strips just as plain board doors are made.
Before they are fastened, however, smear the joint edges
with white-lead and embed a string of lamp-wicking through
the middle. Use plenty of white-lead, and after the boards
are pressed together and fastened the surplus lead can
be scraped from both sides of the joint and saved for other
joints.
From a piece of hard-wood cut a stem eighteen inches
long and four inches wide, with bevelled planes, as shown
in Fig. 6. A section or end view of this post will appear
like Fig. 6 A. Against the cut-in sides of this post the bow
216ends of the side boards are to be attached with screws or
galvanized boat nails.
The long side boards are to be cut at bow and stern as
shown at Fig. 7 A and B. The bow recedes three inches
and the stern is cut under thirty-four inches. Attach the
bow ends of the boards to the stem-piece or post so that
the top of the sides will be seven-eighths of an inch below
the flat top of the post. If properly done you will then
have a V-shaped affair resembling a snow-plough, which
must be bent and formed in the shape of a boat.
From a board seven-eighths of an inch thick cut a
spreader ten inches wide, forty-eight inches long at one side,
and forty-two inches at the other, as shown in Fig. 8. Arrange
this between the boards about midway from bow to
stern, so that the bottom of the spreader is flush with the
bottom of the sides; then draw in the rear ends of the boards
and tie them temporarily with a piece of rope.
Drive a nail into the edge of each board near the end, to
prevent the rope slipping off, for if it should do so the
boards would fly apart and might break away from the
stem-piece.
In order to draw in the ends to the proper position, insert
a short stick between the ropes and twist it around
until the rope is wound up; then if the end is not in far
enough, slip another rope around the ends of the boards,
and after releasing the first rope insert the stick and continue
the twisting until the ends of the side boards are
twenty-one inches apart. Before this bending process is
begun, it would be well to pour a kettleful of boiling water
over each side board to limber them, for dry boards are
217stiff and will not bend easily without checking or cracking.
If it is possible to steam the boards they will yield still
better to the bending process.
A SHARPY
218The stern-plank is cut in the same shape as the spreader,
but it is curved or crowned at the top, where it is twenty-three
inches long, while at the bottom it measures twenty
inches. It is six inches wide at the ends and nine inches
at the middle, and is attached to the ends of the sides with
boat nails while the tension-rope is still in place.
An inner keel is then cut six inches wide and pointed at the
bow end, where it is attached to the lower edges of the sides
at the bow and flush with them. The planking or bottom
boards should fit snugly to it and to the edges of the sides.
A lap six inches long and seven-eighths of an inch deep
is cut in the bottom of the spreader at the middle. In this
the inner keel will fit, and after the first two or three bottom
boards are nailed on at the bow end the frame of the sharpy
will appear as shown in Fig. 9. The spreader and stern-plank
will give the sides a flare which will have a tendency
also to curve the bottom of the boat slightly from bow to
stern. The bottom planks are four inches wide, of clear
wood, and must not have tongue and grooved edges, but
should be plain so that the white-lead and lamp-wicking
will make a tight joint when the planks are driven up snug
to each other.
Drive all nails carefully so as not to split the planking or
sides, and as a precaution a small bit or gimlet should be
used to make the start for the nail-hole.
A seat ten inches wide is fastened at the middle of the
boat, over the spreader, and seats may also be arranged
219at the bow and stern, where they rest on cleats that are
screwed fast to the sides.
A short keel or skag is fastened to the under side of the
sharpy and extends from about under the middle seat aft
to the stern-post. A V-shaped piece is let in where the
stern is cut under as shown in Fig. 10. This keel prevents
the sharpy from turning about quickly and serves to steady
her when rowing, as well as making a deeper stern-post
to which a rudder may be hung as shown in Fig. 2. Six
inches to the rear of the middle seat plates of wood six
inches wide are attached to the sides of the sharpy, as shown
in the illustration (Fig. 5), and on the tops of these oar-locks
or pins are inserted after the usual fashion.
At the outside of the sides and an inch below the top edge
a gunwale-strip is made fast, and with a ring in the bow
for a painter and a pair of oars the sharpy is ready for use.
Of course it should be thoroughly painted. Three or
four successive coats of paint should be applied to a boat
the first time it is painted, and before using, it should be
launched, half filled with water, and allowed to stand for a
few days so that the joints will swell and close properly.
A mast six or eight feet high and a leg-of-mutton sail will
enable a boy to sail before the wind in a quiet breeze, but
rough-weather sailing should not be attempted in this
style of open boat.
A dory (Fig. 11), is somewhat similar to a sharpy but
has higher sides and a narrower bottom, therefore it draws
more water than a wide, flat-bottomed sharpy.
220A boy can make a dory from twelve to sixteen feet long,
but a fourteen-foot dory will be quite large enough to hold
from four to six boys comfortably and safely. The sides
should be twenty-four inches high and the bottom twenty-four
inches across amidships.
The bottom is made from four six-inch planks battened
across as shown in Fig. 12. The joints are leaded before
the boards are brought together, and the fastenings are of
galvanized nails clinched at the inside. The battens, of
course, are on the inside, but the nail-heads are on the outside
or bottom of the boat.
A stem and stern-piece (Fig. 13 A and B) are cut from
221hard-wood, and to these the wooden sides are made fast
at both ends. The bow and stern of a dory have more of
a rake than those of a sharpy as may be seen in Fig. 11.
The top of the bow extends out beyond the bottom at least
from fifteen to twenty inches, while the stern overhangs the
keel about twelve inches. The sides flare out nine inches at
both sides amidships, so that the total width of beam is
forty-two inches for a dory fourteen feet long.
Planks sixteen feet long are necessary with which to
make this dory, for when they are sprung out at the sides
they take up on the length. They can be six inches wide,
and are made fast to ribs along the inside of the boat and
attached with galvanized boat nails.
In Fig. 14 an amidships section of the dory is shown and
the position of the seat is located. Along the top of the
sides, to cap them and the upper ends of the ribs, rails two
inches wide and three-quarters of an inch thick are made
fast with boat nails. These rails should be of hard-wood,
and they should be sprung into place and securely fastened.
A dory of this description makes an ideal fishing-boat
where the water is rough, since it can be rowed either forward
or backward.
A rowing sharpy can be converted into a sail-boat by
partially decking it over, making a mast-step, and providing
it with a lee-board if a centre-board cannot be arranged
in the middle of the hull. Fig. 18.
The half-deck will keep out the water that might splash
over the sides or come over the bow and stern, and the row-boat
features need not be altered nor the seats removed,
as the rib and brace work for the deck can easily be fitted
and fastened over the seats, and so give additional strength
to the deck.
222
A SAILING SHARPY
223Just behind the front seat and at the forward edge of the
back seat cross-ribs are made fast to the sides of the sharpy.
Between these, and eight inches from the sides of the boat,
additional braces are sprung into place and securely attached
at the ends, and provided with short cross-braces
as shown in Fig. 15. The deck planking is nailed to these
ribs and the seats under them give a substantial support
to both the ribs and deck. The opening or cockpit will be
six feet long and varying in width, as the side decks are
eight inches wide and follow the line of the boat’s sides.
Amidships it should measure about twenty-eight inches.
The braces and ribs are made of three-quarter-inch spruce
boards five or six inches wide, and to bend them in the segment
of a circle (as they will have to be for the side-ribs)
pour hot water over two of them and place the ends on boxes
with heavy stones at the middle to bend them down to the
required curve. Allow them to remain in this position for
several hours to dry in the sun; they may then be cut and
fitted to the boat. The decking is done with narrow strips
of pine, cypress, or cedar one inch and a half wide and three-quarters
of an inch in thickness. They are bent to conform
to the side lines of the boat, and if they are fitted nicely and
leaded the deck should be water-tight after it receives varnish
or paint.
If straight boards are employed in place of the narrow
224planking the deck can be covered with canvas and first given
a coat of oil, then several successive thin coats of paint. The
canvas should be tacked down over the outer edge of the
boat and to the inner edge of the cockpit. A gunwale-strip
an inch square is to be nailed along the top edge on both
sides of the boat, and one inch below the top of the deck nail
a guard rail along each side.
To finish the cockpit arrange a combing in place to project
four inches above the deck, and make the boards fast to
the inner side of the ribs with screws as shown in the illustration
of the hull of sailing sharpy. Fig. 15.
Ten inches back from the bow-post bore a hole two inches
and a half in diameter so that a mast will fit securely in place.
The hole should extend through the deck and front seat, and
a step-block with a hole in it to receive the foot of the mast
must be nailed fast to the bottom of the boat. The hole in
this block is oblong, and the foot of the mast should be cut
on two sides so as to fit in the block as shown in Fig. 16.
Spruce or clear pine sticks are to be dressed and planed
for the mast and boom, the mast measuring fourteen feet
high by two inches and a half at the base, and the boom
thirteen feet long by two inches in diameter, both tapering
near the end.
The rudder is eighteen inches long, including the post, and
ten inches high. It is fastened to a post of hard-wood three
inches wide and seven-eighths of an inch thick. At the top
of this an iron strap is fastened to hold the tiller as shown in
Fig. 17 A. The rudder is hung to the stern of the boat with
pins and sockets, as shown in Fig. 17 B, so that if it becomes
necessary the rudder may be unshipped by lifting it out
225of the sockets or eyes. The rudder is fastened to the post
with galvanized-iron pins ten inches long and three-eighths
of an inch in diameter driven through snug holes bored in
the wood as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 17 B.
It is impossible to hold a boat on the wind without a
centre-board, but as this sharpy has none a lee-board will
be required to keep her from drifting leeward. Fig. 18.
This board can be made five feet long, thirty inches wide,
and hung over the lee side when running on the wind, where
ropes and cleats will hold it in place. The board may be
made of three planks banded together at the rear end with
a batten, and at the forward end it is strapped across with
bands of iron as shown in Fig. 18.
With a sail of twilled or heavy unbleached muslin this
boat may be driven through the water at five or six miles
an hour, and two boys can have a great deal of fun out of
her. Care should be exercised in handling the boat; and be
sure to reef the sail in case of a strong breeze.
When making a sharpy to sail in, a trunk and centre-board
should be built when the keel is laid so that the cumbersome
and unhandy lee-board may be done away with. The centre-board
is housed in the trunk, through which it can be
raised or lowered as occasion requires.
The arrangement of the trunk in the boat is shown in
Fig. 19, and it is located so that the front of the trunk is
three feet from the bow. For a centre-board one inch and
a quarter in thickness the trunk should be one inch and
226three-quarters wide between sides, five feet long, and eighteen
inches high. It is made of tongue-and-grooved boards
one inch and one-eighth in thickness, and these are attached
by stout screws to posts one inch and three-quarters square
at bow and stern. The trunk is mounted on the keel, set in
white-lead, and securely fastened with screws. A slot is cut
in the keel the same size as the inside opening of the trunk—that
is, two inches wide and about five feet long. The bottom
planking is butted against the sides of the trunk at the
middle of the boat as shown in Fig. 20.
An inner keel is laid over the bottom planking through
the centre of the boat from stem to stern, and where it fits
around the trunk it is cut out. Both the inner and outer
keels are six inches wide and the exposed edges are bevelled
with a plane. A sectional or end view of the trunk and its
location in the keels is shown in Fig. 20, where the shading
and lettering will designate each part.
The centre-board is four feet and nine inches long, thirty
inches wide at the back, and twenty-four inches at the front.
It is attached to the trunk with a hard-wood pin located
near the forward lower end, and when it is drawn up it will
appear as shown in Fig. 21 A, but when lowered it will look
like Fig. 21 B.
The centre-board is made of hard-wood, several boards of
which are pinned together with galvanized-iron rods three-eighths
of an inch in diameter and driven through from edge
to edge of the boards in snug holes made with a long bit or
auger. The rods are riveted at both ends over washers to
prevent the boards from working apart.
227
A CENTRE-BOARD SHARPY
It would be better to let a boat-builder or carpenter make
228this board the proper size and shape to fit the trunk, for it is
the most difficult thing to construct about a boat and somewhat
beyond the ability of many boys. A large galvanized
eye and a rope made fast below the middle of the board at
the rear edge will provide the means for raising and lowering
the centre-board.
The deck ribs and the planking are put in the same as
described for the sailing sharpy.
In the South Sea Islands the natives dig out the trunk of
a tree, rig a lateen sail on a single stick, and arrange a counter-balance
on the end of two poles in the form of a catamaran.
With this rude contrivance they can outsail anything
in the shape of a small boat such as our types of cat-boats
and sharpies.
These queer craft are called proas, and a modified
type that a boy can make is shown in the illustration
Fig. 22.
This is a perfectly safe boat, and as it lies close on the
water a great deal of fun can be had with one in comparatively
smooth waterways.
To make the hull get two ten-inch planks sixteen feet long
and spring them five feet from either end so that they come
together at both ends and are separated fifteen inches along
the middle for five or six feet as shown in Fig. 23. Between
the sides place four or five spreaders, two of which should be
stout enough to receive the bolts that will hold the two cross-braces
or outriggers. Set a step-block for the mast, then
plank the deck and bottom, using plenty of white-lead and
lamp-wicking between the joints.
229
A PROA
230The cross-braces or outriggers are of two-by-four-inch
clear spruce six feet long, and their outer ends are bolted to
a solid spruce timber twelve feet long, four inches wide, and
ten inches deep. They should be sharpened at both ends
with an adze, draw-knife, or a chisel and plane.
A mast twelve feet long and three inches in diameter is
stepped seven feet from the bow, and to it a lateen rig is
lashed fast having the gaff eighteen feet long and the boom
fifteen feet in length.
A block and tackle at the bow will pay off the angle and
another at the stern will regulate the position of the sail.
Cross-wires for braces may extend under the short decking
to steady the outrigger and keep it from racking the braces,
and three or four narrow planks can be laid across the braces
close to the large boat on which the boy and a friend or two
may sit when sailing.
A rudder may be attached to the stern of the large boat,
as shown in Fig. 17, or an oar can be used to steer with.
Paint the boats any desired color, and for the first time
give them at least three or four thin coats not less than two
days apart, so that one will dry thoroughly before the next
one is laid on. Never put thick or gummy paint on a boat;
thin it down and apply two coats rather than one thick one.
Perhaps the safest kind of a sailing-craft next to a catamaran
is a lark with a broad beam and flat at both bow
231and stern. There are various forms of the half-rater, but
the one shown in Fig. 24 is easy to construct and requires
less careful fitting and joining than the hulls with pointed
bows and long, overhanging sterns.
In general construction this hull is similar to the punt,
and when putting it together the description for the building
of the punt must be borne in mind.
Obtain two clear cedar planks sixteen feet long and from
fourteen to sixteen inches wide. Four feet from either end
begin to round the lower edges of these side boards. Cut
two spreaders five feet and six inches long and make them
232fast four feet from the ends of the sides as shown at Fig. 25.
Between these spreaders attach an inner keel in the forward
end of which an opening has been made. The keel is of
hard-wood eight inches wide and the opening is three inches
and a half in width and four feet and eight inches long.
A centre-board trunk is made and fitted into this opening
as described for the sailing sharpy. Then braces are fastened
between the sides and trunk as shown at Fig. 26.
Two bevelled hard-wood bow and stern pieces are cut as
shown at Fig. 27. The ends of the boards are sprung in and
attached to the ends of these pieces, and between them and
the spreaders two more boards are fastened as indicated by
the lines of nail-heads in Fig. 26. At the bow just ahead of
the forward long cross-piece or spreader step the mast, and
at the stern make the rudder-post trunk, taking care to use
plenty of white-lead and lamp-wick so as to render the
joints water-tight. Put a line of braces through the middle
of the frame, then begin at the bow and plank the bottom
with boards not more than three or four inches wide.
With the planking on and the braces, spreaders, and trunk
in position the frame will appear as shown in Fig. 28. The
deck planking is of strips seven-eighths of an inch thick and
three inches wide. Begin at the middle of the boat by laying
down a strip six inches wide by one inch and a quarter
in thickness. Drive the deck planking close to this and
smear the points with white-lead in which the lamp-wicking
is embedded. Make all the fastenings with galvanized boat
nails and drive the heads well into the wood with a nail-punch
so they can be puttied and covered from the action
of the water. An outer flat keel is laid along the bottom
of the hull from the forward part of the cockpit or about
under the mast. This leads aft to where the stern begins
to round up and there it is stopped.
233
A LARK
234This keel is attached with galvanized or brass screws, and
a generous number are driven through the keel into the
bottom edges of the centre-board trunk.
The rudder is made from galvanized sheet-iron as shown
at Fig. 29, and is let into a one-and-a-quarter-inch round iron
rudder-post and riveted fast. Just above the rudder-blade
a collar of iron is welded to the post and this bears against
the bottom of the boat. To prevent the rudder from dropping
down a pin is passed through a hole in the post close to
the deck and a large washer made fast to the deck will prevent
the pin from chafing the wood.
Have the top of the post made with a square shank so
that a tiller may fit over it and be held in position by a nut.
The rudder-blade should be twenty-six inches long and
twelve inches wide.
The mast is fifteen feet long, cut from a four-inch spruce
stick with draw-knife and plane. The boom is fifteen feet
long, cut from a two-and-one-half-inch spruce stick, and the
gaff is eleven feet long.
Extending out from the mast and attached to the deck
is a short bowsprit five feet and six inches long. This is of
two-by-three-inch spruce with the sharp corners rounded
off beyond the end of the boat.
A wire forestay and two shrouds lead from mast-head to
bowsprit and to both sides of the boat as shown in Fig. 24.
The main-sheet is seven feet on the mast, ten feet on the
gaff, fourteen feet at the foot or on the boom, and eighteen
235feet on the leach. The jib is eleven feet on the forestay,
five feet at the foot, and ten feet on the leach. The blocks
are all of galvanized iron or wood, and three-eighth-inch
Manila-rope should be used for the halyards and sheets.
This lark will ride well on the water, and if properly
rigged it should be a very speedy boat.
A novel feature for the propulsion of a flat-bottom boat
or punt is shown in Fig. 30. Two small paddle-wheels
attached to one shaft are hung out over the stern, and by
means of a sprocket on the shaft connected to another and
larger one on the seat frame the wheels are turned by the
boys who mount the seats and work the pedals.
The punt is fifteen feet long on the deck line and six feet
wide. The side boards are twelve inches wide, and with the
thickness of the deck and bottom planking it will make the
total depth about fourteen inches. Through the middle a
strengthening rib is run the same size and thickness as the
outer sides as shown in Fig. 31. This gives an additional
rib to nail the sheathing boards to and also an anchorage to
which the uprights forming the seat frame can be made fast
with bolts.
The outriggers that suspend the wheels are of spruce two
inches thick and three inches wide. They are bolted to the
deck and at the outer end U-notches are cut for the axle of
the wheels to fit into and capped with iron straps such as
shown in Fig. 32. A blacksmith will make these for you
from strap-iron an eighth of an inch thick and two inches
236wide. They should be bolted on when the wheels are in
position, for they not only have to support the weight of the
wheels but also stand the action of the water against them.
The wheels are each twenty-four inches in diameter and
237two feet long, and are made from wood seven-eighths of
an inch in thickness. Seven blades eight inches wide are
screwed fast to the sides or held in place with long, galvanized
boat nails.
The axle is of spruce two inches square, and the wheel
sides are provided with square holes through which the axle
is driven as shown in Fig. 33. The ends of the axle are banded
with iron, or copper wire may be wound round them to
prevent their splitting. Into the ends half-inch round iron
pins are driven which revolve in the bearings.
The seat-frame is thirty inches high and made from spruce
rails three inches wide and one inch and a half in thickness.
On the middle upright a large and small gear wheel are
arranged on an axle with the cranks and pedals, and on the
front post a small wheel is attached so that tandem power
may be used on the paddle-wheels or one boy alone can
work the boat. A rod and handle-bars may be arranged for
the rear boy to grasp, and with a socket and set-screw it
can be raised or lowered at will.
The forward bars have a cross-piece of iron at the foot of
the vertical rod. This is two feet long, and from the ends of
it running aft wires connect with the ends of a tiller for
operating the rudder.
The rudder is hung between the wheels on a skag which
is the rear extension of a short keel that should be nailed
fast to hold the punt steady on the water.
Four canopy poles may be arranged to fit into sockets at
the sides, and an awning six by ten feet can be supported
over the machinery of the boat to keep off sun and rain.
This is a genuine boy-power boat, and as the wheels are
238substantially large and strong it can be driven over the
water at quite a good speed. While it takes two boys to
properly run it, that is not the boat’s capacity, for she will
easily carry from four to six boys, their lunch-baskets, or a
one-day camping outfit for a visit up the river or lake.
239
For safety on the water, as nearly as safety can be
assured, there is nothing to compare with a catamaran,
for they are practically “non-capsizable,” and if not damaged
to the leaking-point one or the other of the two boats will
float and hold up several persons. Fig. 1 gives a good idea
for a rowing catamaran that any boy can make from some
boards and light timbers. It is provided with a seat and
oar-locks so that the occupant may be seated above the
water far enough to row easily.
The boats are fourteen feet long, eighteen inches wide, and
fourteen inches deep, including the bottom and deck.
Pine, white-wood, cedar, or cypress, three-quarters of an
inch thick and planed on both sides, will be necessary from
which to construct the boats. At the bow the ends of the
sides are attached to a stern-piece of hard-wood as shown
in Fig. 2. Having poured boiling water on the forward
ends, they may be drawn around a spreader sixteen inches
long and twelve inches wide provided with two U-cuts as
shown in Fig. 3. These are placed at the bottom, so that any
water may be run to one end of a boat where it can be
pumped out.
240
The first spreader is placed three feet from the bow, and
three or four more of them should be fastened between the
sides as shown in Fig. 4, the last one being three feet from
the stern where the sides begin to curve up to the upper
edge of the stern and to the deck.
The bottom is of three-inch pine or white-wood boards
seven-eighths of an inch thick and well leaded in the joints
and along the edges where the bottom and top boards join
241the sides. Before the top or deck is placed on, the interior
of the boats should have two or three good coats of paint.
Three cross-stringers of spruce two and one-half by four
inches and six feet long are securely attached to the boats,
and on these the deck of four-inch boards is made fast as
the illustration will show. Between the middle and forward
stringer, at the ends, two boards are attached on which the
row-locks may be fastened. These boards are eight or nine
inches wide and cut away at the front so that they are not
more than two or three inches wide.
The high ends are braced with round iron braces as shown
in the illustration, and where the oar-locks are mounted a
short plate of wood is screwed fast to the inside of each
piece.
Near the front cross-piece a seat is built and braced with
a board. With another boy at the stern sitting on the
deck this catamaran will be well balanced and will prove
very seaworthy, as well as a light boat to row.
It is almost impossible to upset a sailing catamaran even
in a gale, and for boys a boat of this kind affords a great
deal of comparatively safe pleasure.
A catamaran is about the easiest sort of a boat to make,
and no matter in what locality one lives there is always
material at hand from which to make one as the wood is
similar to that used for house construction.
Fig. 5 shows a side elevation of a safe catamaran, and in
Fig. 6 the deck plan is shown. In Fig. 7 an elevation view
242of the stern shows the arrangement of the boats, deck timbers,
and rudders.
The boats are fifteen feet long, eighteen inches wide at the
middle, and two feet deep uniformly from bow to stern except
for a short distance at the bow where the keel rounds up.
They are in the form of a V, and at the ends the angle becomes
more acute, so that at the stem and stern the lines are
vertical.
Four feet from both ends the deck line begins to curve as
shown in Fig. 6, and in Fig. 8 the cross-braces are shown.
They are cut in at the bottom to slip over the keel and to
them the sheathing planks are made fast.
243In Fig. 8 the curved stem-piece and one side of planking
is shown, and it indicates also where the curved stem-piece
is joined to the keel, which extends in a straight line to the
stern of the boats.
The keel is of hard-wood one inch and a quarter thick and
six inches wide. The cross-braces or spreaders are of pine
or other soft wood seven-eighths of an inch thick and made
up of three pieces of wood with the grain running vertically.
The sheathing is of pine, cedar, or cypress three-quarters
of an inch thick, planed on both sides, and three or four
inches wide. Each board should be given a priming coat of
paint before it is nailed to the braces, and where the planks
are edged together white-lead and lamp-wick should be employed
for calking. Galvanized boat nails are to be used
for all the fastenings, but screws may be employed where it
is necessary to have a very secure joint.
The cross-pieces that fasten the boats together are bolted
fast by means of long bolts that pass through the timbers
and deck and into stout pieces of wood that are nailed fast
to the upper part of the spreaders as shown at A in Fig. 8.
The boats are decked over with the three-quarter-inch planking,
and to insure an absolutely tight deck the wood may be
treated to a thick coat of paint and covered with canvas
which is pressed down well into the paint and the edges
tacked down over the sides of the boats. The canvas is then
given a coat or two of paint and allowed to dry thoroughly,
after which it can be sand-papered and finished with the
desired shade of paint.
Three spruce timbers eight feet long, three inches thick,
and six inches wide are bored with holes at the ends where
244the bolts pass through them and into the boats. Running
parallel to the boats three timbers are laid across the brace-timbers
and on top of these the deck planking is nailed.
These pieces are two and one-half by four inches, and ten
feet long, and are bolted down with long slim bolts.
The decking is formed of slats three-quarters of an
inch thick and four inches wide nailed down to these
stringers. Spaces half an inch wide are left between each
one.
The bowsprit is of three-by-four-inch spruce left with its
square corners for half its length but dressed round at the
outer end. It is caught under the middle cross-brace where
the end is bolted, and extending over the front piece it projects
four or five feet beyond the bow ends of the boats.
With wire-cable the bowsprit end is stayed to the bow of
each boat, where turn-buckles can be caught into eyes in
the stem-posts.
The mast is of spruce dressed from a four-inch spruce stick
and slightly tapered at the top. It is fifteen feet long and
stepped at the middle of the front cross-piece and on top of
the bowsprit where it is held in place with a collar and iron
braces as shown in the illustration. Fig. 5.
Standing rigging of wire-cable stays the mast from the
top to both ends of the front cross-piece as indicated by the
dotted line in Fig. 7.
Three short posts are made fast to the cross-pieces close
to the decking, and holes bored in the tops of them will hold
a safety-rope around the deck.
245
A SAILING CATAMARAN
The rudder-posts are of hard-wood one inch and a quarter
thick and two inches and a half in width. They are three
246feet long and to the upper end of each a strap of metal is
arranged to receive the tiller as shown in Fig. 9.
The tillers are of hard-wood three feet long and their inner
ends are connected with a hard-wood stick by means of
which the steering is done and both rudders operated at the
same time.
The rudders, made from two sheets of galvanized iron,
are riveted fast to the rudder-posts and are twelve inches
high and fifteen inches long. Pins on the posts fit into eyes
attached to the stern-post of the boats, and in Fig. 10 the
arrangement of rudders, tillers, and connecting-rod is shown.
The main-sail is of twilled cotton that can be had at a dry-goods
store for about ten cents a yard, and a rib should be
sewed through the middle of each breadth to strengthen the
cloth. The sail is nine feet and six inches on the mast, six
feet on the gaff, thirteen feet on the boom, and fifteen feet
on the leach. The jib, also of twilled cotton, is eleven feet
and six inches on the forestay, eight feet across the foot, and
eight feet and six inches on the leach. The blocks can be
of galvanized iron but patent sheave-wood blocks are preferable.
For the halyards Manila-rope three-eighths of an inch in
diameter will be the right size, and a half-inch anchor-rope
will be stout enough, since a catamaran does not tug as
heavily on an anchor as does a boat.
The wood-work of the boat and deck should be painted
and the spars varnished. A pretty effect will be to paint
the boat a rich olive green, with buff decks, and all the cross-pieces
and deck planking in ivory white.
The ordinary sailing rules will apply to the handling of a
247catamaran. With these wedge-shaped boats you can sail
quite close to the wind, but if round-bottomed and shallower
boats are used they will have to be provided with centre-boards.
The rowing catamaran can easily be converted into a side-wheel
boat by removing the middle slat of the deck and
making an opening through which a chain will lead to a cog
or sprocket wheel on an axle.
At the outer side of each boat, between the middle and rear
cross-braces, fasten two pieces of wood two inches wide and
three inches high. Six or eight inches from the rear end
make two U-cuts for a five-eighth-inch axle to fit into. At
a blacksmith’s obtain two old carriage or buggy wheels, and
cut the spokes so that they will be fourteen inches long from
the hub. Dress one side of each spoke flat, so that a paddle
may be attached to it with screws. The paddles are of hard-wood,
eight inches wide at the outer end, six at the inner end,
and six inches deep.
Have a blacksmith heat the ends of an axle and pound
them square, then slip one hub over the iron, and with hard-wood
wedges make it fast. The other wheel can be slipped
on when the axle is in place and attached in a similar manner.
It would be best to remove the old iron boxes from the hubs,
so that a few screws can be driven through the hub and into
the wedges to help in holding them securely in place.
In Fig. 11, which is a stern view of the rowing catamaran,
one of the paddle-wheels is shown in place, and it also shows
the location of the axle, the sprocket-wheel, and the chain
248that leads to the large sprocket-wheel by means of which
the axle is turned.
An old bicycle chain and sprockets, together with the axle,
cranks, and pedals, can be arranged on a frame, so that a
saddle may be mounted the proper distance above the pedals.
This arrangement is clearly shown in the illustration, which
shows also the outrigger timbers at the stern, to which a
sheet-iron rudder may be made fast. It is operated by a
handle and bar, which turns the rudder by means of flexible
wire-rope run through two deck-pulleys at the outer rear
ends of the deck planking. The iron rod is held in place to
the forward upright of the seat-frame with metal straps.
At its lower end a wooden wheel having a groove is made
fast, around which a wrap or two of the wire-cable is taken
to hold the rudder steady.
249
For travelling over the ice there is nothing to beat an
ice-yacht, and some that have been constructed on the
Hudson River are of gigantic size and power. Boats of this
kind, and having the speed of an express-train, are dangerous
for boys to play with, but the ordinary ice-boat that will go
from ten to twenty miles an hour is within the ability of any
well-grown boy to make and safely handle.
It is quite a simple matter to make a good ice-boat, for it
is but a framework properly put together and bolted, on top
of which a deck is nailed, with a mast-step arranged at the
front.
Fig. 1 shows the elevation view of a moderately sized
sloop-yacht; and in Fig. 2 the deck plan is shown, the joints
and deck boards being clearly indicated. The triangular
body of the boat is ten feet long and eight feet wide, and the
bowsprit projects out six feet beyond the timber A in Fig. 2.
The frame is made of clear spruce timbers six inches wide
and two inches thick. The timber A is eight feet long, B B
are eleven feet long, C is five feet long, and D D are each
three feet long.
250At the front corners and at the back the timbers are bevelled,
as shown in the plan drawing, and they are joined with
long bolts as indicated by the dotted lines. Timbers C and
D D are set in place and securely fastened with long, steel-wire
spikes. The bowsprit E is mounted against timber C
and laid over timber A, to which it is bolted fast. A half-inch
iron pin is driven in the butt end of the bowsprit, and
it fits into a hole made in timber C.
The bowsprit is cut from spruce two inches and a half by
four inches, and tapered at the outer end, where a withe having
three eyes is driven on. The top eye receives the forestay
and the side ones the bobstay cables that run to the
251corners of the boat, where they are drawn taut with turn-buckles.
The shoe-blocks F F are twenty-four inches long
and three inches square, and are bolted to the timbers A and
B as shown.
At the stern a triangular block is mounted between the
ends of the timbers B B, through which the rudder-post will
pass. The decking planks G are then attached to the frame
with screws or steel nails.
The mast-step is made by attaching two twelve-inch
pieces of plank eighteen inches long and an inch and a quarter
thick to the inside sides of timbers D D. Across the top
of them attach another plank, and in the middle of it cut a
hole three inches and a half in diameter, or large enough to
receive the mast. In the bowsprit, directly under the large
hole, make a small one to receive a three-quarter-inch pin.
This iron pin is to be driven in the bottom of the mast so
that six inches of it projects beyond the bottom of the stick.
These will form the mast-step, and when the mast is in place
and held by the forestay and shrouds it cannot jump out.
Iron stanchion-rods are attached to the top of the mast-plate
and to the inside of timber A as shown in the illustration.
The shoes are of tire, steel and will have to be made by a
blacksmith. The front ones are thirty inches long, curved
up at the front, as shown in Fig. 3 A, and bevelled at the bottom
so as to form a gripping or cutting edge. When mounted
the lower edge is at the outside of the boat. Shanks with
bolt-tops and collars pass through the holes made in the
shoe-blocks F F, and are securely held with nuts screwed
down on washers so as not to cut the wood.
252The rudder (Fig. 3 B) is a chisel-edged piece of steel twelve
inches long turned up at both ends and mounted at the foot
of a shank C, which is provided with a collar, a square
shoulder for the tiller D to fit on, and a threaded top so that
a nut will hold the tiller in place. The shoes can only be
made of steel or iron, as wooden ones are useless.
The mast is twelve feet high and three inches and a half
or four inches in diameter, slightly tapered near the top.
The gaff is six feet long and the boom twelve feet in length.
253The main-sail measures eight feet on the mast, five feet on
the gaff, eleven on the boom, and the leach is thirteen feet
long. The jib is ten feet on the forestay, six feet at the foot,
and eight feet on the leach. This sail area will present a
good surface to the wind, and with an ordinary breeze the
boat should make from eight to twelve miles an hour with
two or three boys on the deck.
The rigging is done in the same manner in which boats are
fitted out. The spars should be varnished and the boat can
be painted or varnished, as a matter of choice. All white
wood-work with black metal parts, or a red frame with
cream-colored deck and black metal parts, are pleasing combinations,
but a boy’s own ideas can be carried out with the
paint-pot and brush.
The twin-mast ice-boat shown in Fig. 4 is the same size
as the other one, and built in the same manner except that
timbers D D in Fig. 2 are omitted and a smaller deck is laid
at the stern.
One foot back from the corners three-inch masts are
stepped in holes made in timbers B B to receive half-inch
iron pins driven in the foot of the masts. The sticks are
eleven feet long and lashed together at the top or bolted
with several long, thin bolts as shown in the illustration.
They pitch forward at a slight angle, or so that the forestay
is eleven feet long.
The gaff is sixteen feet long and the boom eighteen feet
in length, and the leach of the sail is fourteen feet.
254The gaff is hauled up into the crotch formed by the masts,
and a set of blocks and tackle at the bottom of the sail on
the boom and the deck will haul the sail into the proper
position. It then swings free between the masts, and the
jib and main-sail form one large sheet, so that when the main-sheet
goes to one side or the other the jib always takes the
opposite position and the wind is playing on the entire sail
at all times.
This is a very easy rig to handle as it relieves the steersman
from the bother of the jib-sheets which are annoying
in a stiff breeze.
Scoots and scooters are the latest wrinkle in ice-boats.
Down on the Great South Bay, on the southern side of Long
Island, they speak of them in fun as “ice-water boats.” The
advantage in a boat of this kind lies in their ability to sail
on poor ice or to go across water that is partly open and
frozen as many of the bays along the coast are at times.
The scoot shown in Fig. 5 is in the form of a sharpy, but
the bottom curves up at the bow so that if it is sailing on
the water and comes to the edge of an ice-floe that is not too
high out of the water the wind will blow the boat up on the
ice and it will sail along on its runners at double its previous
speed. In the same manner when it comes to open water
it will slip off the ice quite comfortably and become again a
marine craft.
The model and descriptions of a centre-board sharpy may
be taken for the construction of the boat, except that there
is no stem or bow-post and the bottom rounds up the same
as the side boards curve in. The bow is therefore nearly a
point. This construction is shown in Fig. 6 (page 252),
which is a view of the sides and bottom only, the deck
planking being fastened down afterwards.
The boat should be calked with white-lead and lamp-wicking
and as carefully made as a water-boat, for it must be
absolutely tight and water-proof. The deck may be covered
with canvas and painted, or it may be of varnished or painted
wood.
The hull should be from twelve to fifteen feet long and
from four to five feet wide across the widest part. It is
256fifteen inches deep, and is provided with a centre-board
and trunk the same as described for the sailing sharpy on
page 221.
The mast is twelve feet long or about ten feet above the
deck; the gaff is seven feet and the boom eleven feet
long. The bowsprit is four feet long and is bolted to the
forward deck, and from the end of it to the top of the
257mast a light, wire-cable forestay is made fast for the jib to
run on.
The sails are made of twilled drill or very heavy unbleached
muslin, and in the main-sheet one or two sets of reef-points
will be necessary. The main-sail measures seven feet
on the mast, six feet and six inches on the gaff, ten feet and
six inches on the boom, and thirteen feet on the leach. The
jib measures seven feet on the forestay, four feet across the
foot, and six feet on the leach. The sail-cloth should be
ribbed to strengthen it and a light rope run around all the
edges of both sails.
The shoes are made of light, broad tire iron or steel twenty-four
inches long and shaped so that the front part will bolt
fast to the outside of the scooter sides and the rear ends will
lie against the bottom of the boat where they can be bolted
fast. The shape of these shoes is shown in Fig. 7 A (page
252), and any blacksmith will make them for you at a
nominal cost. The rudder is of stout sheet-iron mounted
in the end of a shank as shown at Fig. 7 B (page 252). Its
fan-tail permits it to swing the boat in the water and its
lower edge will guide it on the ice.
The rudder-post should be attached to the skag which is
arranged at the under side and rear of the boat, and with a
short iron tiller fastened as shown in Fig. 3 C and D the
rudder may be swung.
When sailing on the ice the centre-board should be hauled
up as high as it will go, for it is of use only when the boat is
in the water.
A scoot is a cranky boat on the ice as the runners or fore-shoes
are closer together than on an ice-boat with a triangular
258frame. Going before the wind it is all right, but when
sailing on or up into a stiff wind it will keep a boy moving
to hold his balance and steady the boat.
The shovel-nosed scooter shown in Fig. 8 is an easier boat
to handle as it is broader than the sharpy, but it is not quite
so fast, being slightly heavier.
It is twelve feet long over all with a five-foot beam and
fourteen inches high including deck and bottom. The side
boards are twelve inches wide, curved up at the bow, and
bent in at the stern as shown in the illustration.
259Twin masts are stepped two feet from the bow and lashed
together nine feet above the deck. The rigging is the same
as for the twin-mast ice-boat, and the sail measures twelve
feet on the gaff, fourteen feet on the boom, with the leach
eleven feet in length.
A small centre-board mounted in a trunk will be necessary
for water sailing, and with several coats of paint the
scooter will be ready for use.
An interesting boat for a boy to sail is a wind-runner like
the one shown in Fig. 9.
Two spruce planks twelve feet long and ten inches wide are
attached to three battens and separated four inches. The
260stern batten is four inches high and two inches wide, and
through a hole made in the middle the shank of the rudder-post
extends, from the top of which the tiller works.
The front ends of the planks are rounded and mounted
on a triangular framework six feet across at the front and
extending back about five feet from the ends of the planks.
A mast three inches in diameter and nine feet high is
stepped through a collar and into a block attached to the
back of the front cross-piece as shown in Fig. 10. An iron
pin at the bottom of the mast drops into a hole made in the
block and the backstays hold the mast in place.
A yard-arm eight feet long supports a square sail six feet
wide, which is caught at the lower ends to the outer ends of
the triangle frame.
The shoes attached to the triangle frame with bolts are
fifteen inches long and the rudder-blade is ten inches long.
This is a rapid sailer before the wind, and with a little
manœuvring the runner can be made to sail on the wind,
though it will not run nearly as close to the wind as the ice-boats
or scoots. Paint or varnish will give the wood-work a
good finish, and under a stiff breeze this wind-runner will
carry four or five boys.
261
A house-punt of very simple construction is shown in
Fig. 1. The punt is from sixteen to twenty-four feet
long according to the size desired, but for a party of four
boys it should be twenty-four feet long, eight feet wide, and
two feet deep with a cabin eight feet high.
The sides and middle rib should be of pine, spruce, or
white-wood one inch and a quarter thick, free from sappy
places and knots. If the boards cannot be had as long as
twenty-four feet nor as wide as two feet, use two boards
twelve inches wide and make one joint at the middle of the
lower board and two in the upper board as shown in the
drawing of the side elevation (Fig. 2). Six inches down
from the top at either end and thirty inches in at the bottom
cut the sides as shown so that the punt will have a shovel-nose
at both ends and can be poled or sailed in either
direction. Make a third or middle rib the same size as the
side board. This is to be placed at the middle of the punt
so as to receive the sheathing and deck planking. The
arrangement of this middle rib and the side boards is shown
in Fig. 3 and at A in Fig. 3. A batten is shown to which
262the upper and lower boards of a side are nailed fast. If the
two boards are used it will be necessary to arrange these
battens along the inside of each side about eighteen inches
apart. They should be of tough wood five or six inches
wide, an inch and a quarter thick, and two feet long.
Galvanized boat nails should be used, and when driven
in from the outside they should be clinched at the inside.
Good boat nails are of malleable iron stiff enough to go
through hard-wood but ductile enough to be turned over at
the ends with a light hammer and quick, sharp blows.
The sheathing and deck planking should be not less than
four inches and not more than six inches in width, and before
it is put on it should be well sun-dried to take out all moisture.
It should then be given two good coats of paint on both sides
to make it water-proof.
Lay the sides and middle rib bottom up and begin to
sheath from one end. Lumber sixteen feet long should be
used, and this, when cut in half, will make two pieces from
each length. If matched boards are used smear the edges
with white-lead before the boards are driven together, but if
straight-edge lumber is employed it will be necessary to lead
and wick the joints. This is done by taking a piece of round
iron one-quarter of an inch in diameter and eight inches long
and bending it as shown at Fig. 4 A. Lay this on the flat
edge of each board at the middle and heat the iron so as to
form a groove as shown at Fig. 4 B. The wood, having been
beaten in, forms a gully in which a string of lamp-wick can
be laid as shown in Fig. 4 C. The groove must not be cut
with a chisel for then its effect would be lost. The object
of this treatment is that when the punt is in the water the
joint swells forcing out the wood against the lamp-wick and
making a water-tight joint. The edges of the wood and the
wicking must be well smeared with white-lead in order to
properly calk the joint.
263
A HOUSE-PUNT
264Between the middle rib and each side an inner keel should
be arranged so that each plank can be nailed fast to it. This
will act as an additional brace to hold the sheathing planks
in place and make the bottom more rigid. This inner keel
should extend from end to end of the punt, and short pieces
may be laid inside the bevelled ends to lend added strength.
At each end a spruce plank eight inches wide is made fast
with long boat nails, first leading all the joints to make them
water-tight. The deck planks are laid on the same as the
sheathing, and to brace them from underneath, in the space
between the middle rib and the sides, two-by-three-inch
spruce rails are propped on short sticks which are nailed to
the inner keel and to the rails as shown at Fig. 5. These
under props should be arranged about eighteen inches apart,
the entire length of the punt. Groove the upper edges of
the end and side planks with the iron, then lay the lamp-wicking
in, lead, and nail down the planking, taking care to
put the nails in straight and true. When the punt is finished
give it several good coats of copper paint on the bottom
and sides and several coats of good marine paint on the
deck.
To construct the cabin lay down the sill-joist of two-by-three-inch
spruce, making the plan fourteen feet long and
seven feet and eight inches wide (Fig. 6). To this nail
the uprights and bracing timbers, forming the sides and
ends as shown in the drawings of the side and end elevation
265(Fig. 7). The door spaces at the ends should be three feet
wide and seven feet high, so that when trimmed and the
doors hung the actual size will be two feet and eight inches
wide by six feet and ten inches high.
The window openings are two feet wide by two feet and
six inches high, and between all the uprights braces are
nailed fast to prevent the frame from racking. The arrangement
of framing timbers is quite clearly shown in the drawings,
and in the deck plan (Fig. 6) the arrangement of the
bunks is indicated. Across the top of the framework one-and-a-half-by-six-inch
beams are laid having their upper
edge crowned as shown in the end elevation (Fig. 7). Over
these the roofing boards are laid lengthwise, and on top of
them canvas is drawn and tacked down all around the edges
with copper tacks.
The roofing boards may be of three-quarter-inch stuff
planed on both sides and from two to four inches wide,
whichever is the easiest to obtain. The boards should extend
over the ends and sides for two or three inches so that
a finishing moulding can be made fast under the boards.
Give the top of the boards two good coats of paint, then
stretch oiled canvas over the top and tack it fast. Several
coats of paint will finish the canvas and make it hard enough
to walk on, for in pleasant weather this upper deck will make
a pleasant place to spend many hours under the shade of a
canopy. The cabin sheathing is of narrow matched boards
planed on both sides and as free from knots and sappy places
as it is possible to get them. The boards must be thoroughly
sun-dried before they are laid on and nailed fast, and it
would be well also to paint the matched edges so that moisture
266may not get in and swell them. The inside and outside
of the cabin is to be painted to protect the wood from
moisture, and if painted a light tint of any color, or white, it
will be cooler in summer when the sun is shining than if
coated with a dark color. Dark colors absorb light and
heat while light ones reflect or shed them.
The window-sashes should be arranged on hinges so that
they may be swung in and back against the inside of the
cabin and hooked. Or, by cutting away a part of the upright,
the sash may be arranged to slide. Wire screening
may be tacked over the window-frame at the outer side to
keep out flies and mosquitoes, and screen doors can be made
also for the front and rear doorways—to swing in, as the
wooden doors swing out.
Over the rear deck a canopy is arranged on poles. This
is similar to a tent fly for camping, and will shed the sun and
rain from the deck when the cook is preparing meals.
A small cook-stove may be arranged inside the cabin, but
if it is not convenient to carry coal in a box on the deck an
oil-stove will answer every purpose.
Two bunks may be built in on each side, one above the
other, and four wire springs may be arranged to rest on
battens driven across the bunks at the head and foot. A
small hatch should be cut in the rear deck and another one
through the cabin floor so that a few things may be stored
in the hold. The aft hatch should be provided with a suction-pump
so that any water that leaks in can be readily
pumped out.
Rings, cleats, and ropes should be provided for the punt,
and two anchors would be better than one, especially when
267near the shore or in shallow water, to hold the punt from
swinging, which it is sure to do if there is any wind or waves.
Always anchor it so that the wind is blowing on one end and
not broadside as it is a strain on the anchors and ropes to
hold a boat broadside on.
By erecting a spar fifteen or twenty feet high and four or
five inches in diameter, a square-sail can be rigged on yard-arms
so that the house-punt can be sailed before the wind.
A long oar will be necessary to steer with, or a portable
rudder may be made and hung to the stern with pins and
ropes.
A house-punt of this description will be a very great
source of enjoyment to several boys in the summer-time,
and in the winter when not in use the punt can be hauled
out on shore, the windows boarded up, and old canvas
drawn over the decks to protect them from the sun.
Almost any boy can build a fairly good boat, even if it is
a flat-bottomed sharpy. But to build a raft of the proper
size, and on it a house that may be comfortably occupied,
will require the aid of a good carpenter who understands
construction, and under whose direction several boys can
work to good advantage.
For a party of four or five young fellows, a very convenient
and commodious house-raft at anchor is shown in Fig. 8.
The raft is about thirty-eight feet long and twelve feet wide,
while the house is twenty-three feet long and twelve feet
wide by nine feet high from raft deck to top of house.
268These dimensions will, if necessary, permit the raft to be
taken through any canal, and without mast and deck-rails
it will pass under the road bridges that span the canals.
If the house-raft is to be used on canals only, it will be
better not to have the mast, and the deck-rail may be
arranged so that it can be removed quickly before passing
under a low bridge.
The mast is for use on lakes, bays, or rivers only, where a
large square-sail can be hoisted on a yard-arm, and by means
of which the raft may be made to sail before the wind
slowly, so that its position may be changed from time to
time.
The construction of a house-raft is quite simple, and will
not require the services of a boat-builder, as the carpenter
can build both the raft and the house on it. To begin with,
it will be necessary to obtain four straight logs thirty-eight
feet long, as sound as possible, and not wind-racked. Two
of these logs are to be laid with the butt end at the stern,
and the other two with butts at the bow, thus giving equal
spaces between each along the entire length of the raft.
Across the ends of these logs nail a temporary strip to
keep them the proper distance apart; then at right angles
lay four-by-twelve-inch timbers on edge about two feet apart,
and spike them securely to the logs. This part of the work
should be done in shallow water, where the logs can be near
enough to shore for the workers to stand on bottom.
When laying these cross-timbers it is always well to place
the first ones about five feet apart, and stand a straight timber
across from one to the other parallel to the logs, so that
as each succeeding timber is laid it can be levelled by either
cutting slightly into the log or building up the bearing, as it
may require.
269
A HOUSE-RAFT
270Having timbered the logs the entire length, begin to plank
or deck the raft with one-inch-and-a-quarter spruce boards
six inches wide, laying the strips from bow to stern.
Fig. 9 will show the position of the logs with cross-timbers
above, on top of which the planking may be seen. To the
under side of the cross-beams and midway between the logs,
planks should be fastened that will run the entire length of
the raft. These are to form a bearing against which the
upper bilge of the barrels will rest. Fig. 9 shows the heads
of three barrels, each the end one of a number that are
chained together and run all along under the raft to give it
sufficient buoyancy to counteract the displacement that
would be caused by the weight of the house and occupants.
Fig. 10 is a side view of those same barrels, showing the
position they occupy and the distance from one to the other.
Oil-barrels are the best for this purpose, and after being well
bunged they should be treated to several good coats of copper
paint before being drawn under the raft. It would be
well to leave a gallon of oil in each barrel, as it keeps the glue
sizing in good condition, and prevents it from yielding to the
dampness caused by the water, the pressure of which might
in time find its way through small cracks or openings.
A few yards of wrought-iron chain sufficiently heavy for
the purpose can be obtained and cut into short lengths, and
each end should be fitted with an eye-plate with four holes
in it, which plates are to be fastened to the ends of the barrels
with short, fat screws, having first thoroughly smeared
the back of each with white-lead. The barrels should be
271arranged about one foot apart, and if the logs are from
twenty-four to thirty inches in diameter at the butt end
there should be just enough space to accommodate the three
rows of barrels between the four logs as shown in Fig. 9.
Across the logs at the bow and stern attach the planking,
to extend down a foot below the water-line, and with short
uprights against which to nail, fasten weather-boards along
the sides of the raft to cover the logs and come up flush with
the deck line.
Seven feet in from the ends of the raft lay cross-stringers,
three by six inches, at distances of eighteen inches apart, on
which to place the floor of the house. This flooring may be
of narrow spruce boards, planed on one side and having
matched edges.
The uprights for the house construction are placed on the
flooring beams and sills, and securely pinned to them, and
the cross-beams at top of house should be placed the same
distance apart as the floor beams to sustain the weight above,
as the top of the house or upper deck will be the open-air
living-room. The side elevation (Fig. 11) shows the position
of windows that will be placed on both sides of the house,
and another illustration (Fig. 12 A and B) shows both front
and rear elevations of the house, as well as the location of
companionway and deck-rails.
The deck plan (Fig. 13) shows the arrangement of the
house and how it is divided into the several compartments.
272
DETAILS OF A HOUSE-RAFT
In the front, the dining and living saloon is a room measuring
about eight feet in width and eleven feet in length. At
one end a couch is placed which, if necessary, can be used as
a bed; and close to it are two large windows—one overlooking
273the fore-deck, the other giving a view from the side of
the house. At the other end of the room a neat china-cupboard
is built into the corner, and in the opposite corner the
front door and a window are placed. One of the illustrations
is an interior view of this cabin, showing how comfortable
and attractive it can be made to appear. As it is a sort of
general mess-room and living-cabin, it can be decorated and
kept as such in a ship-shape manner.
Fishing-rods, guns, and nets against the wall will take up
little space, while in the locker under the cupboard a variety
of sporting paraphernalia can be stored.
Leading aft from this saloon, a passageway opens into the
galley, a room six feet and six inches wide by eleven feet
long, where all the cooking-utensils and stores are kept.
This galley should be painted a light gray or ivory white,
with several coats of paint mixed for outside use, so the
wood-work can all be wiped down with a damp cloth when
necessary. White is always the best color for a kitchen
or galley, and it has the appearance of cleanliness that no
other color will give; it will be found to keep a room much
cooler also, and for that reason it is recommended. A rug
or rag carpet will be an acceptable covering for the floor,
which should be treated to several coats of yellow-ochre
paint.
Between the dining-saloon and the galley two state-rooms
are placed, so the passageway runs between them, and from
which the doors open that lead into them. These rooms are
each about eight feet and six inches long by nearly five feet
wide, and two berths, each three feet wide, are built in the
rooms. Both rooms have large windows, and spaces for
274corner wash-stands; and as the doors open against the ends
of the berths, there is no lost space nor wasted room.
Rows of hooks will accommodate clothing, and the lower
berth should be at least twenty-two inches up from the floor
to allow room to slide a trunk or two under it. These rooms
can be ceiled and papered, or painted, as a matter of choice,
but a few coats of varnish will render the wood-work in good
shape and proof against dampness.
All the windows and doors in this boat can be of stock
sizes, so that the cost of special sizes can be avoided. The
sheathing may be of cedar shingles or of clapboards, as the
cost is about the same. The clapboards should be painted,
and will look better than shingles, although a very artistic
effect is had by staining the shingles and painting the door
and window casings in shades to match, preferably in the
brown and olive-green shades.
The flooring of the upper deck should be of regular flooring
boards with matched edges and planed on one side. Over
this flooring canvas should be stretched and tacked, and
afterwards given two or three coats of oil and varnish to
make it water-proof, and finally treated to a coat or two of
lead-colored paint. The seams should all be well laid down,
and fastened with copper or tinned tacks, driven about two
inches apart. It would be well to give the boards two good
thick coats of paint before the canvas is applied, so that
when the oil soaks through the canvas it will soften the paint
somewhat, and help to hold the canvas in its proper place.
Leading from the fore-deck to the upper deck a stair or
companionway is built, and anchored securely in place to
the front of the house. The platform at the head of the
275staircase is braced over the front doorway by means of two
iron rods that act as brackets, and which are screwed securely
both to the under side of the platform and to the door-casing.
This can be an open stairway composed of two side ways and
eleven treads, the ends of the treads being anchored in
grooves cut in the ways, and securely fastened with screws.
The rail around the deck is of common iron gas-pipe held
in place by sockets and uprights. If the piping cannot be
had, then hickory or hard-wood poles one inch and a half in
diameter may be employed and held in place by uprights
three inches wide and thirty inches high, through which two
holes have been bored to receive the poles.
Around the fore and after decks a stringer three by six
inches can be spiked down, and to the sides near the bow and
stern large cleats should be bolted fast, by which the raft can
be moored. Amidships at the bow a large post may be fastened,
around which to attach a tow-line if necessary, and at
the stern a rudder is arranged, with the post projecting up
through the deck for a distance of a foot or eighteen inches.
A mortise should be cut in the top of this post, into which the
end of a tiller can be inserted when steering the craft, either
when in tow or under sail.
A mast twenty-five or thirty feet long can be stepped
amidships against the front of the house, and strapped fast
to the upper deck with a horseshoe band. A step-block can
be fastened to the deck into which the tenoned end of the
mast will fit.
A yard-arm about twenty feet long, or longer if desired, can
be arranged to hoist nearly to the top of the mast, and from
which a large square-sail may be rigged so the lower corners
276will fasten to outriggers four or five feet long that can be
temporarily braced at the sides of the boat when sail is set.
This pole affords a good place from which to fly club or college
colors, and from which to suspend lines of colored and
Japanese lanterns to illuminate at night. This mast should
be six inches in diameter at the base, and gradually taper
near the top, and if a sail is to be used frequently, it would
be a good plan to bobstay and shroud the stick with some
standing rigging, so as to relieve it from the entire strain of
a large sail.
The top of the house affords a living-room twenty-three
feet long and twelve feet wide, and in that space a number
of chairs, a table, hammocks, and benches can be accommodated.
For lake, river, and bay use this deck can be covered by a
large awning, supported at the centre by a ridge-pole, and at
the sides by upright posts that hold a stout wire in place,
over which the striped awning canvas is caught. Drop-curtains
at the sides will be convenient to ward off the bright
sunlight, and this deck-room will be found the most delightful
place to spend the pleasant days and evenings.
Along the inland waterways a raft of this description is a
most desirable craft, as it can be towed from place to place,
and for pleasure purposes its value cannot be overestimated,
as it is a base for hunting and fishing as well as a retreat from
village life; and the pleasure and comfort that can be had
from a raft like this can well be appreciated when once tried.
To build a house-raft on these plans is not a difficult nor
an expensive piece of work, and outside of the cost of the
lumber, timber, barrels, and logs the amount is limited, unless
277finish is contemplated. With materials at hand and the
help of three or four good workers, it should not require more
than a week to construct this raft and house, and if fitted
and painted in the manner described the cost should not exceed
from two hundred to three hundred dollars, including
all labor and material, according to the locality in which it
is constructed.
In the spring, when every one who owns a boat of any sort
is painting and repairing his craft, boat-houses, and floats, a
few suggestions in regard to the floats will be found of practical
value.
My chum and I own two canoes and a row-boat. The
first year we built a boat-house, which exhausted our funds,
and we were obliged to wait till the next spring before we
could consider the expense of making a float. Most floats
are constructed of spars on logs, with a mooring on top.
As we prepared to make the float ourselves, we wanted to
find the easiest and cheapest way of doing so. The spars
were costly, and, besides, are clumsy, and for a float of adequate
size they would have to be so large that we could not
move them alone.
As we lived in the city we could not get logs, or, if we could,
we should have had a big bill for cartage. It was while we
were painting the boat-house one afternoon that we saw an
empty barrel go floating by. My chum said he had an idea
that we could make a float after all. We went to one of the
grocery stores and got four new flour-barrels, with the heads,
at a cost of twenty-five cents apiece.
278We took them, two by two, over to the boat-house, and
then went to a near-by lumber-yard and got three two-by-three
sixteen-foot joists, which cost us fifty-five cents, and
one hundred square feet of boards such as are sold at thirty
dollars a thousand feet. Some nails and our tools, and we
were ready to begin work.
First we laid two barrels end to end about two feet apart;
then about twelve feet from them we laid the other two in
the same way. Then we took two of the joists and laid them
on each side of the barrels on edge. Taking the other, we
cut it in two pieces six feet long, which left a waste space of
four feet in length. We then nailed the two sixteen-foot
pieces and the two six-foot pieces together in the form of a
rectangle as in Fig. 14.
Then, having propped the barrels to keep them in place,
279we lifted this hollow rectangle onto them so that it rested
on their sides as in Fig. 15. Cutting the four-foot joists into
four one-foot pieces, we utilized them as corner braces.
Next we fastened the barrels to the frame, and, after
painting them with a coat of thick paint to fill the cracks,
we launched the craft. Then we covered the frame with the
boards, laying them crosswise. A ring-bolt in each corner
and a roller in the middle, and an old hose-pipe tacked
around the edges, completed the float as shown in Fig. 16.
This we found was a most excellent float, and, above all, it
was light, could be hauled out on the bank easily, or stored
during the winter.
As it rose and fell with the tide there was no trouble in
launching the boats at any time, whereas with a dock the
pleasures of launching at low-water are too well known to
be described.
Below is a table of expenditures:
Barrels, at 25 cents each
$1.00
Joists, at $20 per M
.55
Boards, at 30 per M
3.00
Nails, at 4 cents a pound
.20
Paint, at 20 cents a can
.20
Rings, at 20 cents each
.80
———
Total $5.75
While the prices of these articles, particularly the lumber,
have risen somewhat, the cost of this float will remain extremely
small.
280
Ropes may be joined to one another either by knotting
or by splicing. If the rope belongs to the running
rigging (such as halyards, sheets, etc.) of the vessel, it will
be necessary to put a splice in it, as a knot would refuse to
render (pass) through the swallow (opening) in the block.
There are three kinds of splices in general use—namely, the
long, the short, and the eye-splice. When joining running
rigging a long splice is always employed, as it does not increase
the diameter of the rope, and when neatly made cannot
easily be detected. The short splice is very bulging, but it
can be made quickly and is employed in all cases where the
rope does not pass through blocks. The eye-splice is used
for making a permanent loop in the end of a rope, such, for
instance, as is seen in the hawsers by which steamboats are
temporarily made fast to a dock, the loop or eye being
thrown over the spile on the pier. Let us first consider the
making of the latter splice.
The Eye-splice (Fig. 1).—Open the end of the rope and
lay the strands 1, 2, 3 upon the standing part as shown in
281A in Fig. 1; now push strand 4 through the rope as shown
in B; next thrust strand 5 over the part through which the
former was passed, and last push the strand 6 through on
the opposite side. Repeat this once, then cut off the remaining
ends, and the splice will appear as in C.
FIG. 1. THE EYE-SPLICE
FIG. 2. THE SHORT SPLICE
FIG. 3. THE LONG SPLICE
The Short Splice (Fig. 2).—Hold the rope B (Fig. 2 A)
282in the left hand; pass the strand 4 over 1, and having thrust
it through under 3, pull it taut; take strand 5 and pass it
over 2 and under 1; pass strand 6 over the first strand next
to it and under the second. Shift the rope around and treat
the other side in the same way, and the result will be as
shown in Fig. 2 B. This single tucking of the ends is not
sufficient for strength, so repeat the operation once, then cut
off the ends of the strands.
The Long Splice (Fig. 3).—Unlay (untwist) the two ends
to be joined some two or three feet, and place the ends together
in the same manner as explained for the short splice. Now
take the strand 1 and unlay it as far back as A, and in the
groove left in the rope wind the strand 2; unlay the strand 3
and in its place lay-up (wind) the strand 4. At this stage
the rope will represent the appearance of Fig. 3 B. The
middle strands, 5 and 6, will now be knotted with a simple
overhand knot Fig. 3 C, care being observed that the knot
is formed to follow the lay (form) of the rope. Next divide
these two strands equally as shown in Fig. 3 D, and tuck
them into the rope on the same principle as explained for
the short and eye splice. The remaining strands will be
treated in the same manner, after which stretch the rope
well and cut off the ends.
Reef Knot (Fig. 4).—This commonly used knot is also
known as a flat knot and square knot, and is one of the
most valuable of the many employed. As its name implies,
it is used to tie the reef points of a sail, the stops (short
283lengths of rope) used to secure the jib to the bowsprit when
the sail is lowered, etc. Should a person find it necessary
in order to affect an escape from a burning building to fashion
a line by tearing sheets into lengths and tying them together,
this knot should be employed, for it will not slip and the
bulge where the strips are tied will afford good hold for the
hands. In order to make the knot, simply tie an overhand
knot, then pass the ends so that they shall take the same lay
(form) as the crossed parts beneath. Should the ends be
passed (crossed) wrong, an Old Granny knot (Fig. 5) will be
the result, and this knot will capsize (pull out of shape) and
slip as soon as a strain is put upon it.
Bowline Knot (Fig. 6).—Take the end (1) of the rope
in the right hand and the standing part (2) in the left hand;
lay the end over the standing part and turn the left wrist so
that the standing part forms a loop (4) enclosing the end;
now lead the end back of the standing part and above the
loop and bring the end down through the loop again as
shown. A bowline of this kind, sometimes called a single
bowline, is employed in a variety of ways. Seamen sit in
the bight (3) of this shape to be hoisted aloft under certain
circumstances, and two towing hawsers are often made fast
to each other by two bowlines, the bight of one being passed
through the bight of the other.
Bowline on a Bight (Fig. 7).—Double the rope, and take
the double end (1) in the right hand, the standing part (2) of
the rope in left hand; lay the end over the standing part,
and by turning the left wrist form a loop (3), having the end
inside; now pull up enough of the end (1) to dip under the
bight (4), bringing the end towards the right and dipping it
284under the bight, then passing it up to the left over the loop
and hauling taut. This knot is employed in the same way
as explained for the single bowline, and it may also be stated
that it affords much amusement as a puzzle, for if the standing
part (2) is held and the knot presented to be untied, only
those familiar with the way in which it is made will be apt
to discover the secret of dipping the end (1) back and undoing
the knot by handling it in a reverse manner to that
described for its manufacture.
Running Bowline (Fig. 8).—The only difference between
this knot and the one described under the head of “Bowline”
is that the end (1) of the rope is taken around the
standing part (2), and then a single bowline (3) is tied on
its own part. As will be understood by reference to the
diagram, this forms a slipknot or lasso, and in fact it is
employed for the same purposes as the latter. When a
shark is hooked by sailors the great fish is hauled up until
his head is out of water, then a running bowline is made
around the hook-line and allowed to fall down over the fins,
when it is hauled taut and the strain taken off the hook and
line, so that the danger of the fish escaping may be greatly
lessened, for the line is apt to break from the thrashing of
the creature or the hook pull out.
Wall Knot (Fig. 9).—Unlay the end of the rope and
whip (tie) it where shown, and form a bight of strand 1, and
hold it down at the side represented by 2; pass the end of
3 around 1, and the end of 4 around 3 and through the bight
of 1, then the knot will appear as shown in Fig. 10; now
haul the parts taut and the knot will be formed.
285
KNOTS
Crowned Wall Knot (Fig. 11).—Over the top of the
286knot lay the strand 1, then lay strand 2 over 1, and strand
3 over 2, and pass it through the bight of 1; now haul taut
the parts and the knot will take the shape shown in Fig. 12.
Double Wall and Double Crown Knot (Fig. 13).—This
is made by allowing the strands to follow their respective
parts round, first walling, then crowning, as shown in
the diagram. This formation is also used as a Stopper Knot
and a Man Rope Knot, although a proper Stopper Knot is
shown in Fig. 14. It is a very beautiful knot when nicely
made, and as a fancy knot is common on yachts and naval
vessels.
Matthew Walker Knot (Fig. 15).—As its name implies,
this knot is named after the man who invented it. It is
exceedingly simple and easy to make, and is in common use
on board of all vessels. Unlay the strands for a short distance,
and pass the end 1 around the rope and through its
own bight; next the strand 2 underneath and through the
bight of 1, also its own bight; last the strand 3 underneath
and through the bights of 1 and 2. When hauled taut the
knot will appear as in Fig. 16.
Diamond Knot (Fig. 17).—Unlay the strands as for a
Matthew Walker Knot, and form three bights and then
take strand 1 over 2 and through the bight of 3; take strand
2 over 3 and through the bight of 1; take strand 3 over 1 and
through the bight of 2, then haul the parts taut, and lay up
(arrange) the strands of the rope again, and the knot will
then appear as in Fig. 18. What is known as a Double
Diamond Knot (Fig. 19) may be made by leading the
strands through two single bights, having the ends come
out at the top of the knot, then leading the last strand
287through two double bights; last lay the strands up as previously
explained, and the knot will show as in Fig. 19.
Turk’s Head Knot (Fig. 20).—This is purely an ornamental
knot, and is used to beautify yoke lines for a rowing
boat, man ropes, ridge ropes, gangway ropes, etc. The
material used in the construction of this knot is regulated
according to the character of the article to be decorated,
ranging from twine to signal halyard stuff (line). To make
this knot, form a clove hitch, and bring the bight of 1
(Fig. 21) under the bight of 2, then take the end up through
it, make another cross with the bights, and take the end
down. Fig. 22 represents a Turk’s Head of two lays, but
it may have any number of lays, it being necessary only to
follow the lead around according to the formation desired.
Rope Yarn Knot (Fig. 23).—It is to be explained that
a rope yarn is simply one of the several parts which make a
strand of rope. When a strand is untwisted, its parts become
rope yarns. These yarns are used for a number of purposes,
such as for rough seizings, etc. When a considerable
length of rope yarn is required, it is necessary to knot it
smoothly, and this is effected in the following manner: Split
in halves the two ends of the rope yarns, and crotch and tie
the two opposite ends, then jam the tie and cut off the remaining
ends.
Lark’s Head Knot (Fig. 24).—This knot is used on the
same principle as explained for the Slippery Hitch; when it
is desired to undo it quickly, simply pull out the wooden
toggle 1. The making of the knot will be fully understood
by consulting the diagram.
Ropes are temporarily fastened to one another, or to a
288spar, hook, ring-bolt, etc., by bends and by hitches. These
are all more or less simple, and a little practice and patience
is all that is necessary for the young reader to become expert
in their manufacture. Let us first consider the bends in
general use.
Common Bend (Fig. 25).—This is also known as a single
bend, and is used for making one rope fast to another in a
hurry. Make a bight with one rope, and hold it in the left
hand; pass the end of the other rope 1 through the bight
2, then back round the two parts 3, over the rope 4, under
the rope 5, and over the short end of the loop. If the
end 1 is taken around once more and through the bight
again, as shown in Fig. 26, the bend will stand a greater
strain and be less liable to jam. The bend shown in Fig. 26
is known as a double bend.
Carrick Bend (Fig. 27).—This, like the common bend,
is used for bending hawsers together, but is a trifle more
difficult to make. Make a bight with the end of one rope;
pass the end of the other rope through the bight and over
the standing part of the first rope where marked 1, then
under the end 2, and again through the bight and over the
standing part 3.
Fisherman’s Bend (Fig. 28).—First pass the rope twice
round the spar or ring, which act is understood by sailors
as “taking two round turns,” next take a half hitch round
the standing part, then thrust the end under the two turns,
and last half hitch the end round the standing part A.
When hauled taut the bend will appear as shown in Fig. 29.
289Sheet Bend (Fig. 30).—Pass the end 1 through the eye;
take two turns round, observing in each case that the end
passes under the standing part 2. The greater the strain,
the more the standing part binds the two turns, and insures
them from slipping.
Two Half Hitches (Fig. 31).—This is an exceedingly
simple way of fastening a rope, and it has the double advantage
of being proof against jamming. Take a turn
around the object to which it is desired to fasten; bring the
end 1 on top of the standing part 2, then pass it under and
bring it up through the bight; repeat this process, haul taut,
290and the result will show as in Fig. 32. In case the hitch is
to be subjected to a great strain, lash the end of the rope to
the standing part where marked 3 in Fig. 32.
Clove Hitch (Fig. 33).—This is another very useful
hitch, but is only employed when the strain upon it is
temporary. It is in general use for bending a heaving-line
(small rope) to a hawser so that a coil of the former may be
thrown from a vessel to the dock and, after it is caught, the
hawser pulled ashore.
Slippery Hitch (Fig. 34).—This hitch is simply a turn
around a spar or other object or through an eye, the end
carried across the standing part, and a loop put through the
bight, the end 1 being allowed to hang out. When it is
desired to separate the hitch, pull out the loop by hauling
on the end 1.
Blackwall Hitch (Fig. 35).—This is used in hoisting.
Simply take a turn around the back of the hook, crossing
the parts of the rope in front as shown. When a strain is
put on the standing part of the rope, the underneath part
is jammed and slipping prevented.
Timber Hitch (Fig. 36).—A hitch employed in towing
spars and logs, as it will not slip. Pass the end 1 of the rope
around the spar and lead it up and around the standing part
2, then pass two or three turns with the end around its own
part as shown in the illustration.
Rolling Hitch (Fig. 37).—A very good method of clapping
(fastening) a tail-block. Take a hitch with the tail 1;
take another hitch over the first; pass the end under the
standing part 2, and twist the remainder of the tail round
the rope, following the lay. A tail-block, being portable, is
291convenient to make fast anywhere about decks or the rigging,
and a rope being rove through this block, a purchase,
called a “whip,” is created.
Magnus Hitch (Fig. 38).—Some people confuse this
hitch with the rolling hitch just described, but a comparison
of the two will explain the difference between them. With
the end of the rope 1 pass two turns over the spar; carry
the end in front of the standing part 2; pass it again under
the spar and bring it up through the bight. The value of
this hitch is its insurance against slipping in the direction
represented by the arrow.
Catspaw Hitch (Fig. 39).—Like the Blackwall Hitch,
this one is used for making a rope fast to a hook for hoisting
292purposes. Seize the bight of the rope in your two
hands, and by turning the wrists form the two loops, then
hang these loops on the hook as in Fig. 40.
Sheepshank Hitch (Fig. 41).—A quick way of shortening
a rope without cutting it is to convert a portion of it into
a shape known as a sheepshank. Gather up the spare rope
and lay it in parallel lines as shown. These parallel lines
may be represented by any number, according to the quantity
of spare rope and the length of the sheepshank. In the
accompanying diagrams we show the smallest sheepshank
that can be made, consisting of three parallel lines. After
forming the rope as shown in Fig. 41, take a half hitch with
the standing part 1 round the bight 4, and repeat this at the
other extremity with the standing part 2 and the bight 3.
The result will be as shown in Fig. 42. If it is desired to
make this hitch doubly secure, put a seizing (fastening) 7
on the loops 5 and standing parts 6 (Fig. 43).
Marling Hitch (Fig. 44).—Employed to make a running
binding which can be put on and removed quickly.
Part IV IN THE WOODS — Chapter XVIII CAMPS AND CAMPING — A Tent of Medium Size — A Large Camping-tent — Flies and Canopies — A House-tent — The New Tent — Canvas Cots and Hammocks — Tables and Benches — 316 Camping Equipment — Lockers and Mess-kits — A Stone Stove and Camp-fires — Camp-cooking — The Care of a Gun — Chapter XIX TRAPS AND TRAPPING — Snares and Deadfalls — Chapter XX TREE HUTS AND BRUSH-HOUSES — A Low Twin-tree Hut — A High Twin-tree Hut — 359 A Single-tree Hut — A Low Single-tree Hut — A Brush-house — A Brush “Lean-to” — Chapter XXI WALKING-STICKS — How to Grow Them for Pleasure and Profit
293
295
Camping in the mountains, fields, and forests is one of
the most delightful features of life in the summer-time.
But a good deal of the fun depends upon doing things the
right way.
To experienced campers many of the following ideas and
descriptions may be familiar, but among them there may
be some suggestions that will be found of value.
The tent is the all-important thing, and to make one large
enough for two or three boys is not a difficult matter. What
the boy does not know on his first camping expedition,
necessity will teach him, and much satisfaction may be had
in constructing bunks and tables and the other varied paraphernalia
of camp life.
Fig. 1 shows a serviceable and roomy tent and fly of
medium size, which measures eight feet wide, ten feet long,
and seven feet high to the peak or ridge. The side drops or
aprons are thirty inches high, and against them on both
sides of the tent cots may rest on the ground as shown in
the illustration.
296The fly is ten feet wide and fifteen feet long, and is an
extra covering for the tent in case of a hard rain-storm;
while in clear weather and with another ridge-pole and upright,
it can be used to lengthen the tent by extending it
out beyond the front, where it is to be held fast with stakes
and stanchion-ropes.
The plan shown in Fig. 2 gives the dimensions of canvas,
and when the final sewing is done the edges C C at both
ends of the tent are brought together and securely overcast
with stout waxed cord.
The only openings are at front and back, and they can be
closed by means of tabs and button-holes at one side, and
large bone buttons made fast to the other edge in a corresponding
position to the tabs.
Where the iron pins of the uprights project through the
canvas, make a circular patch at least six inches in diameter
with two or three thicknesses of the canvas, and sew it fast
both at the hole and around the outer edge. This will
strengthen the canvas at the most vital point, and prevent
it from tearing if a heavy wind should strain the
tent.
Twilled cotton sail-cloth is the proper material of which
to make the tent, but if this cannot be had, then a stout
quality of unbleached muslin will answer very well for clear
weather; but in wet weather it will not shed the water so
well as the twilled duck. The seams can be sewed on a
machine, but they will be much stronger if sewed by hand
with white cotton cord well waxed. All the edges of the
cloth should be bound with rope about the size and strength
of clothes-line, so that any attachments made to the edges
will be borne by the rope instead of all the strain coming on
the canvas.
297
A TENT OF MEDIUM SIZE
298On the dotted lines D D in the plan, which indicates the
inner edges of the aprons, one-inch harness-rings are to be
sewed on the straps, through which to reave the guy and
stanchion ropes. There should be four straps to this tent,
making five strips of canvas two feet wide; and these
strengthening straps are three-quarters of an inch in width,
and made by lapping the canvas over and sewing it along
both edges as shown in the little diagram marked E below
the plan in Fig. 2.
If a closed end is preferred instead of the flaps at the
rear of the tent, a back, in one piece, as shown in Fig. 3, can
be made and sewed all around the edges, bringing the edges
A A against the edge B, and joining the vertical edges C C
to the ends of the side aprons on the main sheet.
For ventilation, a flap opening may be made at the top
of this end as you can see in Fig. 3; and with tabs and
buttons this can be closed when necessary, or tied back
with strings, either to the inside or outside of the tent,
where they should be caught to small harness-rings sewed
to the canvas.
The fly is bound with rope all around the outer edge,
from which ropes extend out from each end, so that in hot
weather, if the sun plays on the tent, it may be kept cool
by raising the outer ends of the fly and propping them up
with poles at the four corners, and perhaps one extra one
at the middle of each side. (See the illustration for the
canopy over the table and seats, Fig. 10).
The ridge-pole to hold up this tent is of pine or spruce,
299ten feet long, one inch and a half thick, and four inches
wide. The uprights are two inches square, with the sharp
corners planed off, making them octagonal in shape, and
they should be from seven to nine feet in length. The
upper ends of the uprights are bound with cord or an iron
band to prevent them from splitting when the iron pin is
driven in place. They are to be bored to receive a half-inch
pin, so that eight inches of it will project above the
top of the upright as shown in Fig. 4. Five-eighth-inch
holes are bored in the ridge-pole one inch and a half from
each end, and through these the pins in the uprights will
pass.
The stanchion-ropes are caught around the heads of long
pegs or stakes, twenty-four inches long, two inches wide,
and one inch in thickness, with a notch cut three inches
from the top as shown in Fig. 5. Cleats four inches long,
two inches wide, and seven-eighths of an inch thick are
provided with two holes through which the stanchion-ropes
pass, and they are used to draw the ropes taut, as shown in
Fig. 5, where the strain on the long rope pulls the short end
down and chocks the rope.
The stakes are to be driven into the ground so that but
five or six inches of them project. The lower they are the
better purchase they get in the ground and the more securely
the tent is anchored.
The extra ridge-pole for the fly can be cut at one end so
that it will lap in a corresponding manner on the front end
of the tent ridge-pole as shown in Fig. 6. For long tents,
where it is necessary to have the sticks in short lengths, for
convenience in carrying them, the ridge-pole can be in two
300or three pieces, lapped together at the ends as shown in
the figure drawing, so that the pin in the upright will complete
the union.
When erecting the tent, dig two holes for the uprights
to rest in, and embed them so that seven feet of pole will be
above the ground, on which the ridge-pole will rest, and in
turn the canvas covering. The stakes are driven three feet
out on either side of the aprons so that the stanchion-ropes
will line with the pitch of the tent.
For a company of boys numbering from four to eight a
large camping-tent is shown in Fig. 7.
If it is made twenty feet long, ten feet wide, and eight
feet high to the ridge-pole, it will accommodate six cots and
two hammocks swung from the ridge-pole.
A plan by which to cut the cloth and make the tent is
shown in Fig. 8, and in Fig. 9 the plan for the back is given.
If an open back be preferred, the flaps shown at the bottom
of Fig. 8 may be duplicated at the rear of the tent.
This tent, when erected, is twenty feet long and eight
feet high from the ground to the ridge-pole, with the aprons
at the sides three feet high instead of thirty inches as in the
smaller tent. Three uprights two inches and a half square
support the ridge-pole, which for convenience of transportation
may be in two pieces and lapped at the middle as shown
in Fig. 6.
301
TENTS AND CANOPIES
This tent is made in the same manner as described for the
smaller one, and a fly twenty-two feet long and eighteen feet
302wide is supported over the tent where, in clear weather, it
can be propped up at the outer edges as shown at the left
side of the illustration. The fly is drawn back at the right
side to show how the guy and stanchion ropes are attached
to the stakes, so as to prevent the wind from blowing the
tent backward and forward as well as from side to side.
A flag-pole four feet high may be erected on the middle
upright by leaving the pin at the top longer, so that it will
extend up and into a hole bored in the lower end of the flag-pole.
The lower end of the pole must be bound with cord
or wire to prevent splitting. A small pulley at the top, and
a set of halyards, will make it possible to raise a club flag
or pennant.
All around the lower edge of the tent one-inch galvanized
rings should be sewed fast about twelve inches apart.
Through these the apron and ends may be tied fast to short
stakes or wooden pins driven in the ground. This will be
quite necessary in the event of a storm or strong wind, as
otherwise the lower part of the tent will blow up and flap
around in a disagreeable manner.
When erecting a tent of this size, care should be taken to
anchor it securely and brace it well with the stanchion and
guy ropes, for its size offers considerable resistance to a
strong wind. A little care and forethought will sometimes
avert a catastrophe with a tent, and when erecting one do
not trust anything to luck, but snug your tent and keep
ropes taut.
If it is possible to get some boards and a few joist, it
would be well to make a flooring, if you are to stay in one
place for any length of time.
303Always select a level, dry place for the tent, and if possible
erect it on ground that is slightly higher than that
around it so as to drain the surface-water away.
Every camping-tent should have a fly—that is, an extra
canvas roof—for no matter how good the canvas of which
it is made, it will become thoroughly soaked in a heavy
rain; but if protected by a fly the latter will lead the water
off and receive the greater part of the wetting. Such a
fly is shown clearly in the illustration of the large camping-tent.
Fig. 7.
The fly should always be a trifle wider than the tent is
long, and in length it should be long enough to cover the
roof of the tent and extend a foot or eighteen inches beyond
the sides, where it rests on the stanchion-ropes and is
lashed fast to pegs in the ground. The overhang, or extension,
leads the water out beyond the apron of the tent
and prevents the ground from becoming wet close to the
tent.
Another use for this overhang is to prevent the rain driving
against the aprons of the tent and wetting them close to
the cots. In fair weather, when it is possible to dine outside
the tent, the fly can be used as a canopy, if drawn over
a ridge-pole and held up at the ends by means of poles and
stanchion-ropes.
A canopy of this kind is shown in Fig. 10, where it is
erected over a table and seats. It is always well, indeed, to
have two flies to a tent, so that one can be used for a canopy
304or an auxiliary tent, under which a fire can be built and
meals cooked and eaten when it is raining.
For a small camp a fly or canopy, twelve feet wide and
eighteen feet long, will prove very useful in many ways; but
for a larger camp it should measure fifteen by twenty-five
feet. Under one of this size a party of ten or twelve people
can be comfortably seated, with plenty of room all around.
Flies or canopies should be bound with rope all around
the edges, and at distances from twelve to eighteen inches
apart three-quarter-inch galvanized rings should be made
fast. Through these stanchion-ropes may be reared wherever
it is necessary to attach the sheet to branches or poles set in
the ground.
One of the latest features in the modern camp is the
house-tent, in which the lower part is floored and boarded
half-way up, while the balance of the sides and the roof are
of canvas. This style of camp-tent has become very popular
in California and through the Southwest, where at least
six months of each year are spent out-of-doors. For the
boys who are about to build a permanent camp for several
years’ use, a house-tent such as shown in Figs. 11 and 12
will prove very satisfactory, and more desirable than the
plain pitched tent.
Fig. 11 shows the house-tent closed in stormy weather
or at night, while in Fig. 12 the house is open for fair-weather
living. One wooden side is let down to form a
piazza, and the canvas side above it is propped out with
poles so as to act as a canopy or sunshade.
305The frame is twelve feet long, eight feet wide, and nine
feet high from the roof to the peak. The wood sides are
three feet and six inches above the floor, and out beyond
the sides of the house the joist may extend to support one
or both of the wooden sides, which can be let down by means
of hinges along the bottom. When the sides are lowered
they act as piazzas and nearly double the floor space of the
house-tent; while the canvas sides, when propped out with
long, slim poles, add equally to the roof area in the way of
sunshades.
In Fig. 13 a clear idea is given for the framing, which is
of spruce planed on the four sides. The uprights and
rafters are of two-by-three-inch stock, while for the under
timbers two-by-four or preferably two-by-six rough stock
can be used. The joist or flooring beams rest on the ends
of posts embedded two feet in the ground, to which they are
spiked with long, steel-wire nails. The flooring, of four-inch
matched boards, is laid on the space within the four corner
uprights, and the same or wider boards may be employed
for the sheathing.
306If both sides are to let down, a window can be set only
at the back of this house-tent; but if only one side lets
down the window may be arranged at the enclosed side between
uprights the same as the rear window is placed.
The triangular end-pieces of canvas are attached to the
frame with copper or tinned tacks, so that they will not
rust, and the roof and both sides are of one piece made by
sewing together lengths of canvas or twilled sheeting. At
the front and back it is drawn over the edges of the end
rails, forming the roof, and tacked to hold it in place.
At the front, on either side of the doorway, the canvas
may be arranged to roll up in clear weather. The rolls are
held to the upper frame-bar with cord or straps as shown
in Fig. 12.
The front door is thirty inches wide and is made from
boards and battens, and provided with a knob lock by
means of which it can be opened from either side.
The side that lets down to form the piazza is battened on
the outside, as may be seen in Fig. 11 where the house is
closed. When the side is down the battens drop in between
the extended floor joist or beams.
Folding-cots can be used in this house, or bunks may be
built in against the side and end—two at the side and one
at the end under the window. When the drop-side is up
and fastened for the night, another cot can be placed at
that side, while from corner to corner a hammock may be
swung.
When camp is broken up in the fall the canvas is to be
removed from the framework and kept for next season,
but the frame may be left standing. It would be better to
307remove the door and sashes and slide them under the floor,
for they would offer too much resistance to the wind if left
standing in place, and might break or cause the framework
of the house to rack and become rickety during the winter
storms and high winds.
A coat or two of paint on the wood-work will improve its
appearance greatly and preserve the wood, if the house is to
be used for a number of seasons.
One great drawback to the pitched or army tent is that
in wet weather, when one has to stay in-doors, it is not
a comfortable abode unless you sit down or keep close to the
ground, for there is little or no head room.
In the illustration of the new tent with French roof (Fig.
14) you can readily see the great advantage of this new
method of construction, for it affords a great deal of head
room.
Two uprights, three ridge-poles, and four angle-bars will
be required for the frame, and some long, slim poles with
crotched ends can be cut to prop the guy-ropes out from
the tent as shown in the illustration. For a party of three
or four boys this tent should measure seven feet and six
inches high, six feet and six inches broad at the top, eight
feet at the bottom, and ten or twelve feet deep. The sides
and top are in one piece, twenty-one feet long and ten or
twelve feet wide. The rear end is made in one piece and
sewed fast to the edges of the sides and top.
At the front two flaps are sewed to the top and sides.
308They each measure seven feet and six inches long at the
inner edge, four feet across the bottom, three feet and five
inches at the top, and seven feet long at the outer edge.
They are cut as shown in Fig. 15 A, and when the tent is
set up the canvas will appear as shown in Fig. 15 B.
The frame is composed of two uprights two inches square
and nine feet long, eighteen inches of which is set into the
ground. There are three ridge-poles two inches in diameter
and ten feet long; and four brace-bars two inches
square, four feet and three inches long, bevelled at the lower
ends to fit against the upright post as shown at Fig. 16 A.
An iron pin (Fig. 16 D) is driven in the top of each upright
and at the outer ends of the brace-bars over which the ridge-poles
fit, they having been provided with holes for the purpose.
Angle-irons are screwed fast to the bevelled ends of
the brace-bars, and a collar of iron is made and screwed to
the uprights so that the tongue end of the angle-irons will
fit in them as shown at Fig. 16 B. Stout screw-eyes and
wire hold the braces in position at the top, as shown at Fig.
16 C, and so prevent the outer ridge-poles from straining the
canvas.
309
THE NEW TENT
One of the best anchorages for the guy-ropes of a tent is
made with the lock-stake and deadeye cleat shown at Fig.
17 A. A stake with a notch to hold the rope is driven into
the ground, and another notched stake is driven in close to
the head, so that when in far enough the notch in the latter
will hold the head of the former as shown at Fig. 17 B.
The deadeye cleat is cut from hard-wood seven-eighths of
an inch thick, and is two inches wide, six inches long, and
provided with two holes three inches apart. At one end a
310jaw is cut, so that a rope may be caught in it as shown in
Fig. 17 A. Steel wire nails are passed through the holes
indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 17 C, and riveted at the
point ends to strengthen the deadeyes.
The manner in which it is used is shown at Fig. 17 A, and
if the holes are made the same size as the diameter of the
rope, the harder you pull on the tent end of the rope, the
more securely the deadeye cleat holds, and the loose end
of the rope caught first in the jaw can be given a turn or
two around the cleat to make it fast.
The double-peg anchorage is better than a single one,
and with this new rope-fastener it will be an easy matter
to stay a tent to withstand any wind-storm.
Cots are very necessary parts of the camping outfit, and
may be made either of canvas and poles or of boughs and
leaves. The canvas cot is, of course, much more comfortable
than the one of boughs, but sometimes it is not possible to
transport them, and then the bough bed must be resorted to.
A simple canvas cot is easily made from two pine or spruce
sticks seven feet long, two inches in diameter, and free from
knots or sappy places. A piece of light canvas or twilled
cotton duck fifty-four inches wide and seventy-two inches
long is sewed together so as to form a cylindrical case thirty-six
inches wide and seventy-two inches long. Lay it flat
and crease it along the edges, then run two or three lines of
stitching along both sides four inches in from the edges. This
forms the sleeve through which the poles are to be passed.
311Crotched sticks are to be embedded in the ground to support
the ends of the poles as shown in Fig. 18. These are
to extend a foot or eighteen inches above the ground, and
should be three inches in diameter and quite strong, so as
to avoid breakage and a possible fall.
If a folding-cot with portable ends is desired, it can be
made to appear as shown in Fig. 19 by constructing two
folding ends, a middle pole, and four iron brace-hooks.
To make the cot twenty-six inches wide, procure the canvas
312and poles as directed for the first cot. Bind the ends
of the poles with wire or have a blacksmith band them with
iron ferrules, then bore the ends and drive threaded pins in,
having nuts at the ends as shown at Fig. 20 A. From
maple or oak two inches wide and an inch thick cut four
legs thirty-two inches long, and bore holes at one end and
midway between ends, as shown in Fig. 20 B, to receive the
bolt ends in the poles. Bevel off the lower ends of the sticks
and place them in opposite directions, so that when opened,
in the form of an X, the ends will lie flat on the ground as
shown in Fig. 19. From pine or spruce cut a stick two inches
square, and provide the ends with bolts and nuts as shown
in Fig. 20 C. This is for the under brace, and extends from
end to end where the bolt passes through both legs, and is
attached with a nut and washer.
From iron an inch wide and less than a quarter of an inch
in thickness have a blacksmith cut four hook-braces eighteen
inches long with a hole at one end and a notch at the
other. With round-headed screws attach two of the braces
near each end of the pole, as shown in Fig. 20 C, so that
when the cot is set up the notches will hook over screws
driven in the upper edge of each leg near the bottom as
shown in Fig. 19. These will steady the cot, and prevent
it from rocking from end to end as it would do if not
braced.
A hammock that can be swung between the uprights of a
tent is made of canvas thirty inches wide and seventy-two
inches long. It is lapped over at the ends and sewed with
several lines of stitching, so as to receive a two-inch bar to
which the three ropes are made fast as shown in Fig. 21.
313The end ropes should be twenty-four inches long and the
middle one eighteen. From the bars at each end they are
brought together and bound to rings which slip over hooks
made fast to the tent uprights, or they can be lashed fast
to the uprights. Any number of these hammocks may be
made and easily carried, as they roll up snugly and occupy
very little room in a bedding-kit. They are much easier to
handle than a woven or braided hammock, the strands of
which are forever catching in everything and anything with
which they come into contact.
When making a cot of boughs the most satisfactory and
comfortable affair is the basket-woven or lattice mattress of
small, pliable saplings trimmed and interwoven as shown
in Fig. 22. The long pieces should be alternated so that the
large end of one stick will be next the small end of another,
and thus distribute the strain evenly over the lattice. This
arrangement applies also to the shorter or cross-pieces, and
when finished the mattress is laid on a pair of poles supported
with crotched sticks, as shown in Fig. 18, but without the
canvas.
Over this lattice short twigs with clusters of leaves are
spread, to make a soft mattress, and on these in turn a
blanket or two can be spread and tied down at the corners,
so that the leaves may not become dislodged.
Every boy should know how to make a table from some
fence boards, a rail or two, and stakes for the legs. The
table shown in Fig. 23 is made from three boards about
314eight inches wide and five feet long battened together at
the ends and across the under side of the middle.
A rail is nailed across two tree-trunks thirty-two inches
from the ground, to which one end of the boards are attached.
Two stakes three inches thick are driven in the
ground four feet from the trees, and across the upper ends
of them a rail is nailed fast to support the other ends of the
boards.
A larger table is shown in Fig. 24, and like the smaller one
it is built against two trees. The boards, three or four in
number, should be from six to eight feet long. They are
nailed fast to four or five inch rails attached to the tree-trunks
and to stout posts embedded in the ground. The
middle of the table is supported by a batten, or rail, which
is nailed fast to the top of a post embedded under the centre
of the table.
Chairs made for camp life from rustic wood and pieces of
board need not be so well constructed that any great amount
of time should be expended on them, but they should be
strong and serviceable.
A simple chair that any boy can make from branches or
small tree-trunks, two or three inches in diameter, is shown
in Fig. 25. The seat is eighteen inches high, sixteen inches
square, and the back posts are thirty-six inches high. Two
pieces of wood, eighteen inches long, are cut as shown at
Fig. 26 A, and two more, thirty-six inches long, are cut as
shown at B. The laps are cut out with saw and chisel so as
to receive the seat-rails, the braces, and the back board,
which are made fast with steel-wire nails as shown at C.
The seat is made of ordinary boards nailed to the top edges
315of the rails all around, and if the edge is smoothed off there
will be less liability to tear one’s garments.
In the illustration of a canopy (Fig. 10, page 301), a
table and benches are shown. The table is thirty inches
wide and five feet long, and it can be built either detached
or fast to the ground. If the corner-posts are embedded a
foot or eighteen inches in the ground it will make the table
firmer and less liable to rack than if built loose or detached.
Two benches running the length of the tables are made
in a similar manner to the chairs, but if the corner-posts or
legs are to be embedded in the ground the side braces will
not be necessary. The seat should be eighteen inches high,
sixteen inches wide, and from five to eight feet long, as occasion
requires, and with a middle brace it will appear as
shown in Fig. 27.
In fitting out for a camping expedition it is always best
to make a memorandum of the things you will need some time
before you start, for so surely as you do not do this there
will be some important things forgotten. The stuff that
will fill an ordinary clothes-basket should be enough for a
company of four boys, but for a greater number the supply
must be increased accordingly.
In this list there must be included a kettle, two pans, tin
or enamelled dishes, a frying-pan or two, a broiler, a wooden
pail for water, and smaller tin pails; a lantern, candles,
matches in tin boxes, hatchet or axe, blankets, knives and
forks, spoons, and a few other culinary accessories. The
dry groceries will have to be taken from home, unless they
can be purchased near the camp or from some farm-house.
From the latter it is generally possible to obtain butter,
milk, eggs, a chicken or two, and other food that you may
stand in need of if hunting or fishing fail you.
In Fig. 28, showing a corner of the tent, a portable
table is supporting some of the things it would be well
to have in camp, and while a boy may think that he
knows what is wanted, it would be well for him to take
his mother’s or older sister’s advice on the subject.
Lock-boxes with handles, in which to store dry groceries
and foods, and mess-kits for the kitchen and dining ware,
are among the most important parts of the camping outfit.
317They may be made from ordinary well-constructed boxes,
and provided with hinged lids, a hasp and padlock, and
handles at either end by means of which they may be carried
easily.
The lock-box shown in Fig. 29 A is eighteen inches wide,
twenty-four inches long, and twelve inches deep, and with
two thin boards four compartments are made as shown in
Fig. 29 A. A lid is made of three boards and two battens,
and securely attached to the box with strap hinges.
A hasp and padlock as well as two handles can be purchased
at a hardware store and screwed fast to the chest.
A mess-kit may be made of a box with both lid and bottom
nailed on securely. It is then sawed around three inches
from one side, dividing it so that quite a little of the wood
is fast to both sides. With hinges these are fastened together
like a Gladstone bag, and on the inside, pockets and
straps can be arranged to accommodate cooking-utensils
and food-stuffs. Fig. 29 B shows this kit, and with a trunk-strap
and a rope it can be easily carried from place to place.
For knives, forks, spoons, kettle-lids, and other small paraphernalia
of the camping outfit a nest of pockets may be
made from denim or unbleached muslin, like the one shown
hanging on the wall in Fig. 28. The pockets are commodious
and will accommodate many little things, and the nest
can be folded over and tied at the corners with stout cord.
A nest of this description should be three feet long, thirty
inches high, and with three lines of pockets as shown in the
illustration. The sewing should be done by hand with
heavy linen or carpet thread, so that the stitching will not
break.
318
A carry-all (Fig. 30) is made of denim or light sail-cloth,
and will be found the most convenient sort of a catch-all,
for it may be folded over and rolled up, then bound with a
shawl-strap to carry it easily.
319A piece of denim a yard wide and forty-two inches long
is folded at the dotted lines A A as shown in the plan (Fig.
31). The edges will then reach the lines B B. Sew the flaps
at the two ends and divide the long pockets into smaller
ones as shown in Fig. 30. Knives, forks, spoons, and a
variety of small things can be kept in this nest of pockets,
and when in camp it may be hung from one end by rings, so
that the pockets occupy a horizontal position and the contents
can be easily gotten at.
The old-time tripod and kettle over an open fire of brush
and logs is an unhandy means of cooking, for a sudden gust
of wind will blow the smoke and sparks in all directions and
dissipate the heat as well.
The up-to-date campers will make a stone stove similar
to the one shown in Fig. 32. This holds the fire within the
stone enclosure, and retains the greater part of the heat,
which in the open fire is blowing to the four winds and giving
very little benefit to the pot.
Flat stones should be used in the construction of this
stove, and if it is possible to get some clay from the bed of a
brook it can be used in place of cement for sealing the joints.
This of course will make the fire burn better, as the only
draught will then enter at the bottom, or doorway, through
which the sticks are fed to the fire.
These doorways or draught-holes should be made on
two or three sides of the stove, and when one is in use
the others may be closed or left open, according to the
320strength of the wind and the direction from which it is
blowing.
The pot should be hung on the ridge-pole so that it
touches the top of the stove and holds in the heat. Fish
may be fried in a pan or broiled much better than over an
open fire, and water can be boiled quicker and coffee made
easier.
This stove can be made either round or square, and if
bricks are available for use they will be better than stones
as the joints are closer and they are not so ungainly to
handle. Over the stove a ridge-pole or bar should be supported
on a yoked stick at one end and a twin-stick tripod
at the other. The yoked or crotched stick is embedded in
the ground, or it can be the sawed-off stump of a small tree.
The lower ends of the twin sticks should be let into the
ground for a foot or eighteen inches, so that the ridge-bar
can be removed without its supports falling over.
Always build a fire or a stove in the shade, for it will not
burn so well if the sun plays on it. In rainy weather a
canopy over this stone stove will keep it dry and cause it to
burn better than if exposed to the elements.
Here are some other ideas for camp-fires proper. Let
us suppose that the party is provided with the necessary
utensils for camp-cooking—a camp-kettle, coffee-pot,
frying-pan, saucepan, and some sort of baking-pan. These
should prove sufficient, unless the party intends having quite
elaborate menus. If it is intended to remain at the camp
only while cooking one or two meals, make your fire in this
manner: Cut two green poles about five or six inches thick
and about two feet long. In these cut notches about a foot
321apart. Level the ground where you intend to build your
fire, and lay these poles down with the notches up and about
three feet apart. Now cut two or three poles about four
feet long and lay them in these notches. Gather a good
supply of dry wood, grass, bark, or chips, and make your
fire on the ground between the poles. The air will circulate
under and through the fire, and the poles will prove just
right to set your cooking-utensils on. Do not pile on wood
by the armful. Add a little at a time, and you will find you
can cook rapidly and well, and not burn your face and hands
while attending to your cooking.
322If it is intended to remain several meals at the camp it
will pay to put up a crane. This is built in this manner:
Cut two green posts two or more inches thick and three feet
long, having forks at one end. Drive these into the ground
at each end of your fire. Cut another green pole the same
diameter and long enough to reach between the forks.
Flatten the ends so that they will set snug in the forks.
The poles should be driven into the ground so that when
the bail of the kettle is slipped on the crane the bottom of
the kettle will just clear the fire.
If the camp is to be of a permanent nature, or it is expected
to remain there for some days or weeks, it will be well to
arrange for a better kitchen that will not be affected by the
winds, the bête noire of camp-cooking. Dig a trench (cutting
the sides square) as long as the distance between your uprights,
and about eighteen inches wide and a foot deep.
Make your fire in this hole, on the ground, and you will find
that the wind will not worry you one-half as much as before
(Fig. 33). If you wish to take the trouble, and the material
is handy, the plan in Fig. 35 is a most excellent one to follow.
Wall up the sides of the trench with brick, add a little
chimney at one end, and get several iron “S” hooks from
which to suspend your kettles. This will save the lifting of
323the crane every time you wish to handle the kettles suspended
over the fire. By this method you will economize on fuel
and save heat.
The plan used in the army for camp-cooking and described
below is the best for all-around work. To make this
kitchen takes more time and a little more labor, but in the
end the laborers will be well paid for their work. It is particularly
adapted for clayey soil. Dig a hole about three
feet square and two feet in depth, generally in the slope of a
hill. On one side run a shaft laterally, about one foot square
and six feet in length, and one foot from the surface of the
ground. At the extreme end sink a shaft vertically and
form a chimney, and at equidistances pierce holes of sufficient
diameter to prevent the kettles from slipping through.
By this mode the kettles can be placed over the fire to boil,
or on the side to simmer, with less difficulty than by any
other means. Fig. 36 A and B.
I want to tell the young camper how to bake his own
bread in camp, so if he camps far from a store or house
where he can buy his bread he will not have to eat crackers,
or those indigestion-producers, flapjacks, that the youthful
camper knows how to make, or thinks he does. I have
eaten many a one in my young days before putting on the
“army blue,” but their weight in gold would not induce me
to eat some that I swallowed as a boy and thought “fine.”
We will assume that before going into camp your dear
mother has taught you how to mix a batch of dough or a
pan of biscuit. We will now make an oven in which to bake
the bread or biscuit. A bank from four to six feet is the best
for the purpose. Dig down the bank to a vertical face, and at
324the base excavate a hole, say three to four feet horizontally,
care being taken to keep the entrance as small as possible.
Hollow out the sides of the excavation and arch the roof,
till the floor of the oven is about two feet wide and the arch
about sixteen inches at the centre. Fig. 37 A and B.
Now carefully “tap” the back end for the chimney, and
insert a piece of stove-pipe if handy. A hole from four to
six inches will give a good draught. Wet the inside of the
325oven, and smooth over the walls so that the mud presents a
hard finish, and leave to dry for a day. When you are ready
to bake, build a good fire in the oven, and when it is well
heated remove the fire, scrape out all ashes, and place the
pans of dough inside. Close up the entrance with a board,
and cover with mud so as to keep in all the heat. With
proper care this oven will last several weeks.
A bank may not be handy in which to build an oven of the
kind described above; if such proves the case, it is not a
difficult matter to construct a good oven on the level ground
by following the method below. If a flour-barrel is handy,
use it; if not, make use of willow twigs stuck in the ground
and bent over so as to form a mould. Over the barrel or
willow mould plaster a stiff mortar made of mud, commencing
at the base. Lay it on about six inches thick. Allow
it to dry for a day or two, and when nearly dry cut out a
door at one end and the flue at the other. A small mud
chimney will increase the draught if a piece of stove-pipe is
not at hand. If a barrel has been used as the mould it may
be burned out without danger to the oven. Carefully
remove all dirt, and keep up a fire for half a day before
attempting to bake. Fig. 34. (See page 321.)
Even the finest of camps is a dreary place unless the commissary
department is well organized. “Uncle Harry,” who
is an old and experienced camper-out, gives some useful suggestions
to his nephews, and other boys will doubtless appreciate
his lectures on things culinary.
326“Let us suppose,” begins Uncle Harry, “that you have
gotten the camp into ship-shape order, and after your hard
day’s work are ravenously hungry and very impatient for
supper, or rather dinner, for the last meal of the day in
camp is always the most important one. We will appoint
Aleck as cook, and while he is busy over the fire neither of
the others shall interfere with him or his duties, for no axiom
is more true than that ‘too many cooks spoil the broth.’
“Ben and Bob must see that the cook is well supplied
with water and has plenty of small-split firewood close at
hand. Then Bob will set the table, while Ben goes a-fishing
and catches half a dozen trout or other small fry from the
lake. In the mean time Aleck has pared and washed a dozen
potatoes. These are placed in a kettle nearly full of water,
and hung over the fire half an hour before supper-time. He
will keep them boiling furiously until he can run a sliver of
wood easily through the largest one. Then the water must
be drained from them, and, still in the kettle, they must be
set aside, but near enough to the fire to keep hot until
wanted.
“Ben’s fish all weigh less than a pound, and so are too
small to do anything with but fry. After they are cleaned,
Aleck rolls them in corn-meal and lays them carefully in the
frying-pan, which is already on the stove, and in which a
small quantity of cotton-seed oil is sizzling merrily. If you
should have no oil, pork fat will do nearly as well, only have
it boiling hot before placing the fish in it.
“Aleck has heard of half a dozen methods of making
coffee, and hesitates before deciding which to try. He has
been told to put his coffee in cold water and let it come to a
327boil, and that the coffee must not see the water until it is
boiling; he has heard that coffee must never be boiled, and
that the only way to extract its strength is to boil it; and so
in thinking it all over he is much perplexed. Finally he remembers
a method which his old uncle who is in the army
has mentioned to him, and decides to try it.”
“Oh, Uncle Harry, you are not a bit old,” interrupts
Aleck.
“In preparing coffee by his old uncle’s method,” continues
Captain Archer, only noticing the interruption with
a smile, “Aleck fills the coffee-pot with water, and sets it on
the broiler wires, which he has laid across from one log to
the other of the stove. While it is coming to a boil he measures
out his coffee at the rate of a heaping table-spoonful for
each cup to be made, puts it into his tin cup, pours in all
the hot water it will hold, and sets it in a warm place on the
stove. As soon as the water in the coffee-pot boils, he pours
off some, so as to leave the pot about three-quarters full, and
empties in his cupful of soaked coffee. Setting the pot back,
he allows its contents to again come to a boil, and then lifts
it from the fire. He pours out a tin cupful of the coffee, and
pours it slowly back into the pot, throwing away the residue
of grounds that remain in the cup. For about a minute, or
while the rest of the dinner is being served, the coffee-pot
stands in a warm place near the fire, and then its contents
are ready for drinking.
“If either of you had wanted tea, Aleck would have put in
the pot a teaspoonful of tea leaves for each cup to be made,
poured boiling water over it, let it stand in a warm place two
or three minutes, and it would have been ready for you.
328“Here you have a plain, easily cooked dinner of fried fish,
boiled potatoes, and coffee, to which you can add from your
supplies bread and butter, or crackers, pickles, condensed
milk, salt, pepper, and sugar. I think you will find it
enough for a first experiment.
“For breakfast next morning you will have coffee, fried
potatoes and breakfast bacon, and griddle-cakes.”
“Oh, Uncle Harry, I can’t make griddle-cakes,” exclaimed
Aleck.
“I think you can, if I tell you how, and you try hard.
At any rate, you had better try, for they enter largely into
the composition of camp meals. To make the simplest flour
griddle-cakes, put into a pan a quart of your prepared flour,
a teaspoonful of salt, a handful of corn-meal, a table-spoonful
of brown sugar, two eggs, if you have them, and mix
with cold water into a batter. Stir thoroughly until no
lumps are left, and then fry on a hot griddle. In frying use
as little grease as possible. More griddle-cakes are spoiled
by the use of too much grease in frying than in any other
way. A bit of pork rind or an oiled rag rubbed over the
griddle is sufficient. Take turns in frying the cakes, so that
two of you can be eating them as fast as they are done.
They are only fit to eat when hot from the griddle.
“The cold boiled potatoes left from dinner the night before
may be cut up and fried with half a dozen slices of breakfast
bacon, and when all is ready you will have a breakfast to
which I think three hungry boys will do ample justice.
“When you become tired of fish, catch frogs. They are
considered delicacies on first-class tables, and add a pleasant
variety to a woodman’s fare. Catch them with a light rod,
329short line, and small hook baited with a bit of scarlet flannel,
or at night by use of a jack-light. Stupefied by its glare,
they will let you pick them up. Kill your frog by a tap on
the head, cut off his thighs and hind-legs, skin them, roll
them in Indian-meal, and fry brown in hot oil or pork fat.
“You will also probably have an opportunity of adding
squirrels to your bill of fare. When you have got your
squirrel, chop off his head, feet, and tail, cut the skin crosswise
of the back, and strip it off in two parts, fore and aft;
also cut the body crosswise into two parts. Throw them
into a kettle, and let the hind-quarters parboil until tender.
Then fry them, until of a rich brown, in oil or pork fat, hissing
hot. Use the fore-quarters for a stew.
“To make a stew use almost any kind of flesh or fowl.
The chief thing to be remembered in making a stew is to
stew it enough. An old camp jingle runs thus:
“‘A stew that’s too little stewed
Is understood to be no good.’
“Let your meat boil for more than an hour, or until it
begins to fall from the bones. Add potatoes, pared and
quartered, an onion sliced, salt, pepper, and a thickening
made of flour and melted butter, to be stirred in gradually.
“In making a meat soup provide plenty of meat, and do
not be afraid to let it boil. It is hard to boil it too much,
and three hours is not too long. When nearly done, scrape
a potato into the soup for thickening, and season with salt
and pepper.
“To cook rice, let a cupful soak overnight. In the morning
pour off the water in which it has soaked, place it in a
330kettle of cold water, and boil it slowly, without stirring,
until the kernels are soft. Remember to salt it. Rice is
good with condensed milk, sugar, butter, or syrup. It is
good to add to your soups and stews, and it is particularly
good when added to the batter from which you make your
griddle-cakes.
“To make mush stir corn-meal into boiling water; season
with salt. Eat hot with syrup. Save what is left over, and
fry it next morning. The same rule applies to hominy.
“These are the rudiments of camp-cookery. Not an extended
bill of fare, but I think you will find it appetizing
and nourishing.”
And the boys agreed with him.
Aside from the pride and satisfaction which every sportsman
should take in keeping his favorite weapon bright and
free from spots, inside and out, it pays to keep a gun clean.
The residue left in the barrel after firing contains acids,
which will soon eat “pits” or spots in the metal, and when
once started, it is almost impossible to prevent them increasing
in size and number. When badly pitted, the recoil
is increased by the roughness in the barrel. A gun can be
cleaned by the following directions: The cleaning-rod
should have at least three tools—a wool swab, a wire
scratch-brush, and a wiper to run rags through. Have
plenty of water at hand—warm if you have it, if not cold
will do nicely. Put a swab on the rod, and some water in
a tin basin or wooden pail. By placing one end of the
331barrel in the water, you can pump it up and down the barrel
with the swab. When it is discolored take fresh water,
squeeze out the swab in it, and repeat the operation, until
the water comes from the barrel as clean as it went in. If
the gun has stood overnight, or longer, since using, it is best
to put on the scratch-brush after the first swabbing, and a
few passes with this will remove any hardened powder or
leading. The next step is to fill the wiper with woollen or
cotton rags, and dry the barrel thoroughly. When one set
becomes wet take another, until they come from the barrel
perfectly dry. Then stand the barrel on end on a heated
stove, changing it from end to end, taking care that it does
not become overheated. By the time it is well warmed up,
the hot air from the stove will have dried out every particle
of moisture left in the barrel. If no stove is at hand, the
last set of drying rags used must be plied vigorously up and
down the barrel until it becomes quite warm from the friction.
Drying is the most important part of cleaning, and if
the least particle of moisture is left in the barrel it will be a
rust spot the next time the gun is taken from its case. The
gun may now be oiled, inside and out, with sewing-machine
oil or gun-grease, which can be had in any gun store. The
woollen rags used for greasing soak up a great deal of oil, and
should be dropped into the gun-cover for future use.
In regard to the safe handling of guns, almost all rules
centre in that of always carrying the gun in such a way that
if it should be accidentally discharged it would do no harm.
If this rule is borne in mind, and strictly obeyed in the beginning,
it becomes a habit and is followed intuitively. The
gun may be carried safely on either shoulder, or in the hollow
332of either arm, with a sharp upward slant. When momentarily
expecting a bird to rise, and obliged to have the gun
cocked, it should be carried across the breast with a sharp
upward slope to the left. This is the only way the gun
should be carried cocked. A breech-loader is so easily unloaded
that there is no excuse for getting into a wagon or
boat, or going around a house, without unloading. Never
hand a loaded gun to any one who asks to look at it. Whenever
you pick up any kind of a gun to examine it, always
open it to see if it is loaded, and the habit will grow so that
you will do this almost without knowing it. It seems needless
to say never pull a gun towards you by the muzzle
through a fence or out of a boat or wagon, yet the violation
of this rule is the cause of more accidents than anything else.
Never climb a fence with your gun cocked.
In learning the art of shooting on the wing—and this is
the only way in which a shot-gun should be used—the following
suggestions may be of some help, but no amount of
printed directions can teach you to shoot. Practice is the
best teacher. Nine out of ten young sportsmen shoot too
quickly. A game bird rises with a startling whir of the
wing (and sometimes when least expected), which gives the
idea that he is making much greater speed than he really
is. Beginners are apt to become excited, and throw up the
gun anywhere in that direction, and blaze away with no
definite aim. For this reason it is best to begin with blackbirds,
rice-birds, and rails.
In almost every shot it is necessary to hold ahead of the
bird, to allow for the time it takes to explode the cartridge
and throw the shot to the bird. Even in this short space
333of time a cross-flying bird would be safely out of the shot
circle if you aimed right at him. If a bird flies straight
away from you, neither rising nor dropping, you should aim
right at it. If flying straight across, you should hold well
ahead of it. If quartering, still hold ahead, but less.
Many will ask how far to hold ahead, and this is a difficult
question to answer accurately, as we have no means of
knowing just how far ahead we do hold. One might say
six feet and another six inches. What might appear to be
an inch at the muzzle of the gun might really be a foot in
front of a bird forty yards away. It must be learned by
experience, and when accustomed to it the aim will be taken
almost instantly, governed by the direction of flight, the
speed of the bird, and the distance from the shooter.
It is best to ask permission of the owner to shoot over his
land. You will seldom be refused, and will frequently be
given permission to shoot over land which is posted “No
Shooting.” The land-owners know that it is the lawless
hoodlums who do them damage.
Every true sportsman strictly obeys the game laws, and
it is to his advantage to do so, although in many States the
laws are practically a dead letter. Shooting out of season
has nearly killed the game in many localities, when it would
still be abundant if the game laws had been observed.
334
The ways of trapping are as various as the ingenuity of
savage or civilized man can devise. I like best the
traps that one can make. They seem to give the animal a
fairer show; they develop our own constructive faculties;
and the nearer we can get to the savage way the more fun
it always is. Steel traps have a place that wooden traps
can never fill; but give me something that I can make with
my own hands, with the simplest tools, out of whatever
materials the spot affords where the animal lives.
Of all the animals in this country there is none that
affords less harmful sport than the rabbit—more properly
hare—of which there are several species. Its wonderful
powers of increase enable it to hold its own, as far too many
of our best and most valuable animals do not. Furthermore,
rabbits are very easily trapped.
Every one knows its little trail, as broad as one’s hand,
through the bushes or broom-hedge, or its footprints as it
hops over the clear snow. Here, where the path goes under
a fence-rail, it has stopped to gnaw. The rabbit follows this
path in season and out, though in the far North, where the
335snows keep piling and piling up, its little road may change
with each successive snowfall. Trappers there put out a
large number of snares, setting them right in the middle of
these paths. In Fig. 1, No. 20 soft brass or copper wire is
used—a piece say twenty inches long being bent into an
oval or round noose some four inches through, the end being
twisted around a convenient limb or root, or stick thrust
into the snow over the path, and the space on each side
bushed in with evergreen twigs, so that the rabbit will be
sure to pass through the noose. Snares are easily taken up
and set somewhere else after each snowfall. The best way
is to rig the noose to a spring-pole (Fig. 2). The spring-pole
that I have seen the Indian trappers make is simply a pole
lashed to the side of a convenient sapling, the heavy end
being high in the air, while the short end is caught under a
stake with a crotch or little limb sticking out, driven into
the ground at the side of the path. A “twitch-up” is a
sapling bent down, but this generally needs to be held down
in another way. On each side of the path a stake is firmly
driven into the ground. About seven inches from the ground,
and on the sides which face, a deep notch is cut into each
stake, and a stick flattened at each end is placed across, like
the letter H. The sapling is bent down, a strong cord
fastened to the end, and tied around the middle of the cross-piece.
The noose dangles below, clearing the ground by
two inches (Fig. 3). If the pole is strong enough it lifts the
game into the air out of reach of predatory animals. All
stakes bearing strain of pulling must be firmly driven into
the ground, or in wet weather they will pull out.
336
Rabbits, as gardeners know, are fond of carrots and other
vegetables, as well as apples. There are many ways of rigging
a snare with bait. The trap is arranged so the rabbit
puts its head through a noose, and springs the trap as it
touches the bait. One of the best traps I know of this kind
337is called, in northern Vermont, a “French twitch-up” (Fig. 4).
This trap can be made at home, and carried and set wherever
needed. It is made as follows: Take a board about twenty
inches long and ten inches wide. Measure off eight inches
from one end, and with a pair of dividers describe a circle
five inches in diameter. Around this circle bore holes
three-eighths of an inch in diameter an inch apart, through
the board, and drive in pegs five inches high. Five inches
from the other end bore a larger hole, and set up a square
peg (or a round one with flat side) seven inches high. Procure
a half-inch stick long enough to reach from the centre
of the circle of pegs to the upright and three inches beyond
it. Screw this stick fast to the upright at a point two inches
from the board—loosely, so it will work up and down, sharpening
the end inside the pen, and cutting a notch on the
upper side at the other end as shown in Fig. 4. Cut another
notch near the top of the upright post, and fit into
the two notches a half-inch stick with chisel-shaped ends.
This arrangement resembles very closely the figure 4. A
strong cord from the middle of this short stick leads to the
spring-pole at a point about a foot from the end.
A noose of fine, soft wire or plaited horse-hair is fastened
to the end of the spring-pole, and laid evenly around on the
tops of the circle of pegs, which must be of an equal height.
An apple or a carrot is speared upon the sharp end of the
bait-stick. The rabbit smells the bait, puts its head over
the fence and through the noose to take a nibble. When it
touches the bait-stick, up goes the noose, and it is caught.
But the snare on top of the little fence is likely to fall or be
rubbed off, so a deep, sharp notch must be made into the top
338of every peg into which the noose fits. This is undoubtedly
a Yankee improvement on a very old device. Formerly
there was no pen and the noose was laid on the ground.
One of the very best traps for rabbits is a kind used in the
South (Fig. 5). How often on a frosty morning would one’s
heart thump as one came into view and looked to see if the
trigger was up and the door was down!
It is made of rough boards twenty to twenty-four inches
long, one being an inch shorter, and all at least six inches
wide, nailed into a long box. The rear being closed up with
a board, and the top being an inch shorter, there is room for
a door which slides up and down. Two thin strips are nailed
upright to the front of the side-pieces, to keep the door from
falling outward; small cleats inside complete a channel, in
which the door slides easily up and down. Then with an
auger or bit two holes are bored into the top five-eighths to
one inch in diameter, one hole being nine inches from the
front, the other nine inches to the rear of the first. Into the
one next the door a stake is set up about ten inches high,
with a crotch at the top. Then a stick eight inches long and
as thick as a lead-pencil is cut; five inches from one end a
cut is made half-way through, and a deep notch taken out
the short end. This is dropped, notch upward, into the other
hole. A stiff stick eighteen inches long is then cut, a string
tied to each end, and then balanced in the crotch. The door
is raised five inches, and one string tied to a nail in the top.
The other string is tied to the upper end of the trigger, the
notch of which is caught on the under side of the top board.
The trap thus set is placed at right angles to the path, not
directly in it. Foolish Bunny comes along. A good hole is
339something a rabbit is ever on the lookout for. Here is a new
one; he will look into it and see what it is like. It is not
necessary to put even a carrot or an apple inside. He crowds
in, butts his head against the trigger at the end, up it goes,
down drops the door behind, and he is fast. The trigger
must be set under the front edge of the hole, otherwise the
rabbit will not be able to push it from him.
Instead of a box, a section of a hollow log, called in the
South a “gum,” may be used, two stakes being driven in
front to hold the door. Fig. 6.
The muskrat is an abundant animal about ponds, ditches,
and the banks of sluggish streams. It is easily trapped.
They remind one of little beavers, and if their fur was not
340so very common it would be more highly prized, for it is
really soft and fine. If one can find their runway (a path
eight or nine inches wide along which they travel from place
to place) one can always capture them by the same kind of
trap that an Indian sets for beaver and otter, as well as for
musquash. He calls it the “kilheg’n.” Fig. 7.
Drive two stakes two feet or more high and at least an
inch thick into the ground three inches apart at one side of
the path. Opposite these two sticks drive in two more,
and lay a stick across between them, pushing it down nearly
level with the path for a bed-piece. Then get a pole of any
length whatever, lay the butt end across the path on top
of the bed, hewing the sides flat, if necessary. See that it
rests evenly on the bed, and keep the other end in place
with a stake driven on each side. This pole is called the
“fall.”
Lash each pair of stakes together at their tops with rope
or tough bark or withe, to prevent spreading, and lay a stiff
stick across. Cut a half-inch straight stick and lay it on
top of the bed, lashing one end loosely to the stake, leaving the
other end free to rise and fall. This is the trigger. Now for
the “crooked stick.” It is a stick as long as from the bed
to the cross-piece, and has a sudden bend at the upper end.
Often one can find a small sapling an inch through with just
the right bend at the end. Notch it as shown in Fig. 8.
Tie a stout cord or withe around the fall, raise the same nine
or ten inches, lay the crooked stick over the cross-piece, and
tie the withe fast. Then bend the other end of the crooked
stick towards the ground, and catch the top of it behind the
trigger, which is raised just enough (two inches) for the
purpose. When the rat comes along it steps on the trigger,
freeing the crooked stick, whereupon the fall drops and pins
the creature there. Heavy weights should be piled upon
the fall alongside the path, and the sides should be brushed
in to keep the animal from going around. No bait is required
for this trap.
341
SOME USEFUL TRAPS
342Alongside of their pond on a level spot contrive another
trap (Fig. 9) in the following manner:
Take a flat stick, about two inches wide, lay it on the
ground, and close to one end drive an upright stake on each
side. Let them stand some six inches high. Then, beginning
close to the two stakes, lay a two-foot stick at right
angles, its end resting on the first one. Alongside of this
lay another stick a little shorter, continuing thus, and making
each successive stick shorter, until the end of the sticks
is reached, thus forming a three-cornered platform, which is
then weighted with heavy stones. Construct a figure 4
(Fig. 9 A) out of sticks as thick as one’s finger, making the
bait-stick eighteen or twenty inches long. Set the figure 4
under the platform at the very end of the stick, the bait-stick
passing between the upright stakes. Bait with a carrot,
a parsnip, apple, etc., and a rat should be there in the
morning.
If the trap does not lie flat on the ground place sticks under
it. This same trap, baited with a fowl’s head or a bird or
meat, is also useful as a skunk-trap, being placed in the
woods near their burrows.
The mink is another common animal, and it is found by
almost every brook-side. It is a great traveller, following
the stream, feeding upon fish, and picking up a bird or mouse
343whenever opportunity affords. For a trap I take two round
poles six to eight feet long, and about three inches thick at
the butt. On a level spot, never more than a few feet away
from the water, I drive a stake firmly into the ground, and
lay the two poles, butts together, one on top of the other,
against the stake, and drive two more stakes on the other
side about six inches apart. Sometimes when the ground
is soft two stakes (Fig. 10) should be driven in front instead
of one. A stick a foot long will serve equally well
for the bed-piece. Then a pen or house is built of stakes, or
long chips, or stones, or pieces of board in the form of a V
or Π, about nine inches tall, eight inches deep, and six
inches wide. Then two sticks are prepared—one three inches
long and half an inch thick, called the “standard” (Fig.
12), the other eight inches long, and of the same thickness,
called the bait-stick, one end being sharpened, the other
flattened. The bait, the head of a fowl or fish, is tied to
the sharp point of the bait-stick. The fall is raised,
the standard set sideways on the flat end on the bait-stick,
and the fall lowered, until it rests on top of the
standard, the bait-stick being inside the house. As the
sticks are arranged, the mink, entering over the bed
and under the fall, will have to give quite a pull before
dislodging the standard on which the fall rests. So take
a peg, cut a notch into it near the top deep enough to
secure the bait-stick, and drive it into the ground inside the
pen and close to one side. Now the standard can be set
much nearer the outer end of the bait-stick, and the moment
the bait is tugged at, the bait-stick flies from under the
notched peg, and down comes the fall. The bed may be
344hewn to an edge on top, and the parts of the trap should
work without a hitch. A stone, or board, or sheet of bark,
or a handful of evergreen boughs should be laid over the
house, not only to keep the animal out, but also the rain and
snow from the triggers which may freeze up and stick fast.
Two pegs driven into the ground at the end of the fall will
hold it in place, and, like every deadfall, it should be heavily
weighted with logs as shown in Figs. 10 and 11.
There are many different ways of building traps with this
simple bait-stick and standard—a combination in general
use in the fur countries. Some are made large for fishers,
and set on logs and high stumps for sable or marten. In
Canada, where the snow is very deep, I have seen long lines
of sable-traps on stumps seven feet from the ground, the
other end of the fall resting on another stump of the same
height. In such cases a tree is cut for the purpose, and by
a skilful way of chopping, the stake in front of the trap is
left standing as part of the stump, and the chips are sharpened
and driven into the top of the stump for the house.
Again, a hollow is chopped into a tree, a stake driven in
front, and the bait-stick thrust inside.
345
DEADFALLS
There are many other deadfalls in use. Among the most
deadly is what may be called the “wigwam.” It is thus
constructed: With a hatchet or an axe break some small
sticks, and driving them into the ground in the shape of a
crescent build the bait-pen or house. Bring them together
at the top as in Fig. 13. Next cut a green stick about four
inches in diameter and about eight feet long. Lay in front
of the pen, directly up against it. Peg it firmly there by
driving wooden pins against it at the ends. So much done.
346Now get another stick of the same length and lay it on top
of the first pole. Fix it in position by driving pins against
it as in Fig. 14. When this is finished take two small, round
sticks or twigs, cut one about five inches in length, and the
other near ten inches, or the depth of the bait-pen. Raise
the top log and lay the longer of the little round twigs on it,
with the end on which the bait is to be placed on the inside.
The ends of the little twig must be round. Set it on end,
with the upper end resting on the upper log and the lower
end resting on the first little stick as in Fig. 15.
When an animal comes to get the bait he has to put his
fore-legs into the pen, and the minute he touches the bait
the upper log falls, catching him in the centre of the back.
Skunks can be easily caught this way without the least
smell. Spikes may be driven through the upper log for
large game. Fig. 16 is a variation of the same idea.
Woodchucks or ground-hogs will be attracted to a trap
by baiting with their favorite food; but they soon go into
winter quarters, from which they do not emerge until spring.
There are special traps for other animals and birds. Good
judgment, knowledge of the appearance and the food and
habits of the bird or animal are necessary to success in trapping,
as well as an eye quick to recognize the signs of the
game, particularly their runways.
347
Traps in cold countries need not be visited oftener than
once a week, but if they are near home most boys like to go
to them every day. Skinning can best be done at home.
The curing of skins is a matter of great importance if the fur
is to be sold, for dealers will only pay for good fur properly
prepared. It must be “prime”—that is, from November to
the middle of April (water fur a fortnight later) the inside of
the skin will be white and the fur thick and glossy; at other
times it becomes dark and thin and the fur poor. Muskrats,
mink, sable, foxes, weasel, opossum, and skunk require to
be cased—that is, without any cut down the middle. Wolf,
badger, raccoon, bear, beaver must be open. The manner
348of preparing cased fur is to make a cut around the ankles,
then a slit down the back of the leg to the tail, the skin to
be peeled off the legs and the root of the tail to be put into
the end of a split stick and the core pulled right out. Then
the skin is pulled off over the head. In the case of
certain animals, like the mink and muskrat, there is a scent-bag
near the tail which is liable to get cut, with unpleasant
consequences, so the best trappers prefer to remove the hide
by commencing at the lips and peeling it off through the
opening of the mouth, making no other cut in the skin save
at the legs, when the skin is opened by a cut from leg to tail
as at the start. The muskrat may be stretched on a pliant
stick three feet long, bent into a bow, and the skin, fur inward,
pulled over it. The legs are slitted and caught over
notches in the side, and one end of the stick is bent squarely
across and fastened either into the split top of the other or
into a notch, and the loose middles of the skin tied up to the
cross-piece. Fig. 17 b.
For mink, etc., never use a single board—it may tear the
skin—but make a double stretcher (Fig. 17 a). Take a half-inch
board of pine or cedar, two feet long and three inches
wide, and taper it to two inches at one end and shave the
outside almost to an edge. The board is then split in half
with a saw; where no saw is at hand the two pieces are
whittled out separately. The stretchers are now put into
the skin, and the legs pulled out as far as they will go and
tacked in place, or a slit made in each and the leg hooked
over a notch in the edge of the stretcher. Then a wedge
two feet long, an inch wide, and tapering to a point is inserted
between the stretcher, and driven down until the skin
349is as tight as a drum-head. The middles are then tacked
fast, and a square-pointed stick inserted into the tail. If
the boards threaten to collapse, two short sticks with ends
lashed together pushed over them will keep them flat. The
tail-piece (Fig. 18) shows a mink-skin properly stretched. A
fox-stretcher will be exactly twice the dimensions of the
mink-stretcher; others in proportion. The raccoon, bear,
etc., is skinned by a cut from chin to tail, cuts being made
up the legs at right angles to the cut, and stretched upon a
square frame (Fig. 17 d) by means of a lacing of cord or
tough bark. Formerly all open skins were stretched on the
hoop-stretcher (Fig. 17 c), but now only the beaver is treated
that way.
Skins must never be dried in the sun nor by a hot fire.
Nor should any preservatives whatever be applied, not even
salt, until ready for tanning. All fat should be removed,
taking care for knife-cuts.
350
The most delightful season in the woods, throughout
the northern and middle parts of the United States, is
during the summer months, and in the South right up to
Christmas; while in other parts of the country, through
southern Texas and California, the woods are attractive all
through the year.
Brush-houses, sylvan retreats, and tree huts of various
kinds are made by boys all over the country, and some very
unique and original ones are often constructed from simple
and inexpensive materials. Everything from the back-yard
“lean-to” and the tent of sheets to the tree huts that are
inaccessible when the rope-ladder is drawn up may be made
by boys who are at all handy with tools, and a well-built
tree hut is an ideal place in which to spend one’s vacation
days.
The following ideas and suggestions may be of service,
and they have all been tested in practical experience.
A very serviceable twin-tree hut is shown in Fig. 1, and
it can easily be constructed, at a small cost, from ordinary
351boards and timbers. If it is built high up in the trees it
is doubly secure from invasion, for the ladder can be drawn
up when the owners are at home and it will be a difficult
matter for outsiders to enter.
To properly build this hut select a location between two
trees six to eight feet apart. The trees should have comparatively
straight trunks at least fifteen inches in diameter,
and no cavities at the base nor indications of decay.
With an axe clear off the brush and small branches for
twenty feet up from the ground at the inside of the trunks,
or where the hut is to be located. From a lumber-yard
obtain four or five pieces of spruce or other timber two
inches thick, eight inches wide, and sixteen feet long. Saw
off and nail two of these pieces to the trunks of the trees
eight feet above the ground, first cutting away some of the
bark and wood of the trunk to afford a flat surface for the
timbers to lie against on each side. Six-inch steel-wire nails
will be required for these anchorages, and under the timbers
and lying flat against the tree-trunks bracket-blocks two-by-eight
inches and fifteen inches long are securely spiked
to lend additional support to the cross-timbers.
Cut two timbers six feet long and two others the length
of the distance between tree-trunks. In the six-foot pieces
cut notches at the under side as shown in Fig. 2 C C. Into
these the ends of bracket-timbers D D will fit. Cut the
ends of the timbers forming the square frame so that they
will dovetail as shown in Fig. 3. Spike the six-foot timbers
to the tree-trunks so that they will rest on the first two
timbers that were nailed to the trees, and from the two-by-eight-inch
wood cut four brackets D D, and spike them
352fast under each cross-timber so each tree will appear as
shown in Fig. 2. Place the remaining two timbers in position
so that the ends will fit into those fastened to the trees,
and nail them fast as shown in Fig. 4.
In Fig. 5 the first timbers can be seen spiked to the tree-trunks,
where they are supported by the fifteen-inch blocks
nailed fast below them. The cross-timbers are shown at
353A A, and the last ones, forming the frame that are let into
dove-tailed joints at the ends, are shown at B B. Cut two
more timbers E E, and lay them across the supporting
timbers, nailed to the tree, so they will fit inside the front
and back timbers B B, where they are to be well secured
with long nails. The floor frame will then be complete.
From two-by-three-inch spruce construct a frame seven
feet high at the front, six feet at the back, and spike the
side timbers F F, forming the top, to the inside of the tree-trunks
as shown in Fig. 5. The bottom of the uprights are
to be mounted on the corners of the floor frame as shown in
Fig. 4, where four long nails will hold them securely in place.
Cut two timbers and arrange them in an upright position
at the front thirty inches apart, where the door will come,
then half-way between the floor and top of the framework
run a timber all around except between the door timbers.
This will add a strengthening rib to which the sheathing
boards can be nailed, and will also make one more anchorage
to the tree-trunks. The side-rails should be spiked to the
tree-trunks in a corresponding manner to that of the top or
roof-strips. From a lumber-yard obtain some four, six, or
ten inch matched boards, planed on both sides, and use
them for the floor and sheathing.
The roof may be made from the same kind of boards, and
over them a thickness or two of tarred paper is to be laid
and fastened down at the edges and seams with small metal
washers and nails that can be had where the paper is purchased.
This will make the roof water-tight, for a season
at least; and if it is given one or two coats of paint it will
preserve the paper so that it may last for several years.
354Two or three windows twenty-four inches square may
be placed in the back and sides of the hut above the middle
rib; and a door of boards held together with battens, as
shown in the illustration, is to be made and hung with long,
stout strap-hinges. A knob lock or a hasp and padlock will
keep the door closed when the hut is unoccupied. When in
use a wooden button will hold the door shut from the
inside.
A ladder of hickory poles and cross-sticks should be made
twenty inches wide and provided with loops at the top that
will fit over large nails driven in the door-sill, so as to keep
it from slipping when it bends under the weight of a boy.
Where the rungs join the side-rails of the ladder the union
is made by lashing the cross-sticks fast with tarred rigging
or stout cotton line. If a flexible ladder is preferred ropes
may be used in place of the side-rails to which the rungs are
lashed fast. When the owners are at home the ladder can
be drawn up and hung on nails driven in the front edge of
the roof. If a rope-ladder is used it can be drawn in and
rolled up.
Inside of the hut, at either end, a seat eighteen inches
wide should be built in about sixteen inches up from the
floor. These seats can be used as bunks if desired. Some
narrow shelving should be arranged over the windows and
fastened there with brackets, on which small things may be
kept.
A small table may be made from some ends of the sheathing
boards and two-by-three-inch spruce sticks; and boxes
may be used for seats, or small benches can easily be knocked
together as shown in Fig. 6 A. Under the table a ledge
355twelve inches wide is to be attached to the lower cross-rails
that connect the legs as shown at Fig. 6 B.
A HIGH TWIN-TREE HUT
356A wall-nest may be made from a shoe-case in which four
or five shelves are arranged as shown in Fig. 6 C. A door
made from the box-cover is attached with hinges, and a
catch or hasp will keep it closed.
Twelve or fifteen feet above the ground, and built in
between the trunks of two stout trees, a high tree hut is
shown in Fig. 7. Larger and more substantial trees must
be selected to build this hut in than the ones for the
low hut, and as a rope-ladder will probably be used a
landing-deck or piazza should be built at the front of
the hut.
While this hut is built between two trees it is also built
against them, as the trunk of each tree can be partially
enclosed in the hut. The under cross-timbers that support
the floor frame are to be attached to the trees the same as
described for the low tree hut, and on these the other timbers
are laid and fastened as shown in Fig. 8. The main
timbers extend beyond the outside of the trunks, and the
supporting and floor timbers enclose each trunk. At the
front the frame is carried forward two feet more than at the
back, allowing this much for the width of the deck. The
uprights are arranged somewhat differently also, as they are
bound at the top to scantlings that butt into the trunks.
Fig. 8 A A.
Instead of a flat roof like the low hut, this one is to have
357a pitched roof, the supporting timbers of which are attached
to the ridge-poles B B, which are fastened to the tree-trunks
in the same manner as the under cross-timbers. This construction
is clearly shown in Fig. 8, where the location of
each upright and cross-piece is indicated.
A rail is run along the front and one end of the deck, and
is fastened at the top of four uprights of two-by-three-inch
spruce, the lower ends of which are securely nailed to the
front stringers as the illustration shows.
In place of the supporting brackets D D that are let into
the timber C at Fig. 2, longer brackets or props are caught
under the floor timbers and braced at the lower end against
the trunks, where an additional anchorage or support is
made by a stout block which is securely spiked to the trunk
underneath each bracket end as shown in Fig. 8 C C. The
frame is then enclosed as described for the low hut, and
windows and a door are mounted as shown.
A long, stiff ladder may be used to climb up, but a more
interesting ladder can be made of rope and hickory rungs.
By means of a thin rope attached to the bottom rung the
ladder can be hauled up to the deck so that it is out of the
reach of other boys; and being fastened at the top, no
one can remove it or pull it away as they could a stiff
ladder.
A rope-ladder is made of stout clothes-line and hickory
rungs lashed together securely with strong line as shown in
Fig. 9. The rungs are of straight hickory with or without
the bark on, one inch and a quarter thick and twenty-four
inches long. Near the end of each rung a notch is cut on
both sides for the rope to lie in, as shown at the upper end
358of Fig. 9, and each union is to be very securely bound with
the line so as to prevent slipping.
The ladder is hung on stout wooden pegs driven into the
deck through holes one inch and a half in diameter. An
extra rope is to be carried from the top rung up over the
pegs and down again, where a wrap is taken over one or two
rungs; then it is lashed fast to the other ropes with the stout
line as shown in Fig. 10.
Bunks and furniture can be made for the interior, and
any other convenient accessories to the comfort and pleasure
of the boy owners may be added as need arises.
In the spreading branches of a large oak-tree a very snug
roost can be made high above the ground as shown in Fig.
11 (frontispiece).
This single-tree hut is twenty-five feet above the ground,
and below it is a landing from which the rope-ladder is
dropped. From this landing to the piazza or deck of the
hut a stiff ladder is made fast both at top and bottom, and
an opening in the floor of the deck will allow room to climb
up on the deck.
As very few trees are alike it would be difficult to give a
plan for the floor timbers among the out-spreading branches;
but from the plans shown for the twin-tree hut some idea
of the construction can be had for single-tree huts.
The main tree-trunk will, of course, have to project up
through the hut, and the location in the tree should be
selected so that out-spreading branches will form a support
to the lower edges of the floor frame as may be seen in Fig.
12, the plan of a low tree hut.
A peaked, a mansard, or a flat roof can be placed on the
hut, depending on the main trunk to give it support; and
if the space in the tree will permit, a deck across the front
and both sides will be found useful. The floor timbers
should be well braced to the main trunk of the tree with
long and short bracket-pieces or props. These will help
greatly in making the hut steady in the tree, and where the
lower ends are attached to the trunk large spikes should be
well driven in. Cleats or blocks can be nailed fast under the
360ends also, as they will help to support and strengthen the
anchorage.
Water and food can be kept cool by suspending them in
a shady place. Water in a porous jug or earthen pitcher
will keep very cold if hung in the tree branches where the air
can freely circulate around it. Keep fire away from the
tree huts, and do not light any matches nor burn candles,
for if once a fire is started nothing will save your hut. It
is too high to reach with a bucket, and, located as it is, a
perfect draught will fan a small flame into a raging fire in
no time.
It is not always best to build a hut in high trees, nor
is it possible to do so in every case, because there may not
be any high, large trees at hand strong enough to support a
hut. For younger boys a low tree hut is preferable, so
that if a possible misstep should result in a fall it would be
less harmful than from a high tree. An apple or maple tree
often affords a good support for a low tree hut, and if the
trunk is substantially heavy a house similar to the one
shown in Fig. 12 (page 358) can easily be constructed. The
tree should be large enough to bear the weight of the house
without straining it, particularly in a storm or high wind.
The general construction of the frame is shown in Fig. 12.
The frame should be of two-by-three-inch spruce and the
flooring beams can be of two-by-four-inch spruce or other
timber. One or two windows and a door may be arranged
in the hut, and tar-paper tacked on the roof will make it
water-proof.
361Access to the hut can be had by means of a ladder made
from two-by-three-inch spruce rails with hickory rungs, or
two-by-one-inch hard-wood sticks securely nailed to the
rails.
In nearly every part of the country where there is low
ground one may generally find a high growth of plant life
having a long stalk, with the greatest number of leaves at
or near the top. Artichokes, cat-tail reeds, wild sunflower,
and the stronger species of flag have stalks and reeds sufficiently
strong from which to make the sides and roof of a
hut or small house such as Fig. 13 depicts.
This growth is often ten feet high, and will have a straight
and uniform reed at least seven or eight feet up from the
ground before the thick top foliage reduces it in size. This
last should be cut away and the smaller under branches and
leaves trimmed off, leaving a comparatively straight shaft
from six to eight feet long. This will be limber enough to
be woven basket-fashion, and quite stiff enough to hold the
thatching of meadow-grass or cat-tail reeds.
To build a brush-house like the one shown in the illustration,
four sticks are to be set in the ground about six feet
apart, forming a square. These should be eight feet long
and sunk two feet into the ground, the upper ends being
bound together with rails two inches wide and an inch
thick.
362
A BRUSH-HOUSE
A pitch can be given to the roof by cutting off the rear
posts six inches and leaving six inches more of the front
posts out of the ground, thereby allowing a pitch of one foot
363to the six-toot length of roof. This slant is not necessary,
however, and the roof may be flat if it is easier to make.
From the reeds a basket framework with eight-inch
meshes is to be woven, as the boys are doing in Fig. 14.
Three of these frames are to be made for the sides and rear
of the hut, and at the front, above the doorway, a smaller
one is to be made to cover the space between the front posts.
The ends of the cross-reeds are to be bent around the end
upright reeds as shown in Fig. 15, where they can be bound
with string or tied with grass. The window openings in the
side frames are made by cutting out a section of one or two
uprights and turning the cross-reeds back and tying them.
At the doorway two upright sticks are driven into the ground
and a rail nailed across their upper ends.
To this wooden frame the front reeds may be attached,
and the skeleton hut or house is then ready to be thatched
364with long, dry grass or dried cat-tail reeds. The thatching
is done by interweaving long grasses or reeds between the
cross-reeds in a vertical position as shown in Fig. 16. The
thatching material should be from eighteen to twenty-four
inches long so that it can be interwoven between three cross-reeds
as shown in Fig. 17, where a few strands of grasses are
placed in position to give an idea of how to weave the grass.
Timothy or straw can be used to good advantage for
thatching material, and if it is employed it should be woven
with the heads up and not too close together, as the air
should get through the thatching to keep the occupants of
the hut cool. Of course a house may be made larger or
smaller than the one described, but the principle of good
construction is the same. Never depend on the four sides
to hold together without the corner-posts, as the first good
365wind that happened along would blow it flat, and perhaps
beyond the possibility of repair.
The edges of each side are lashed fast to the corner-posts
with grass or string, and when the roof is made it should be
lashed fast to the top of the sides and front with long reeds
or grass.
The roof is woven the same as the sides but is thatched
closer; and about four inches of the roof should extend
over the sides, front, and rear.
The general lines of a miniature barn are shown in the
illustration of a brush “lean-to” (Fig. 18). This is constructed
in nearly the same manner as the brush-house, and
thatched with grass or reeds as shown in Figs. 16 and 17.
366The corner-posts are three feet high, the ridge-pole seven
feet and six inches above the ground, and the hut may be
from five to eight feet square or made oblong, as a matter
of choice.
A frame of scantling should be made for this lean-to the
same as if a wooden structure were to be built, and it must
be nailed together well to stand the strain of the wind blowing
hard against it. In general construction the frame
should appear like Fig. 19; and to the sticks the edges of
the thatched framework of reeds is to be lashed fast with
grass, either before or after the thatching is done.
A brush-house or any hut built on or near the ground is
not so cool to stay in as one in the trees, but it is, of course,
much easier to construct, as the boy builders do not have to
move about so carefully when at work, and their materials
can be picked up quickly.
Brush huts and houses can be built on the plains where
trees are scarce, but in a country rich in woods and forests
the boys prefer the tree huts, not only for their cool location,
but on account of the romance involved in the climbing up
to an inaccessible eyrie.
367
Here are some suggestions for an entirely new and fascinating
out-of-doors occupation.
It has become a habit with me when walking in the woods
to keep a sharp lookout for stocks for walking-sticks, so that
in the course of many years I have got together quite a
unique collection. To these a number have been added
through exchanges with friends.
This hobby has borne other fruit than the mere gathering
together of curious sticks. For have I not learned the
scientific and common names of most of our trees and
shrubs, their habits, and their values, their uses in the arts
and sciences, their medicinal qualities! So you see, my
young reader, what unthinking people would call a useless
and eccentric occupation (this gathering of old sticks) has
in reality proved to be an innocent and instructive pastime,
and I propose to continue to ride this walking-stick hobby
just as diligently as I used to ride grandpa’s walking-cane
to “Banbury Cross” when a child.
My first interesting cane capture consisted of a very curiously
shaped natural stick as shown in Fig. 1. It was of a
young hickory sapling at whose roots grew a bitter-sweet
368vine, which, being of an ambitious turn of mind, had taken
many turns around the sapling in its eagerness to climb up
in the world. The sapling in the mean time extended its
bark well over the leader of the tough and clinging bitter-sweet
till but little of it was to be seen. At last the sapling,
feeling unusually vigorous, burst asunder the clinging bitter-sweet
vine, the result being a very unique walking-stick,
and a good illustration of the “survival of the fittest.”
The dead bitter-sweet vine was withdrawn from the
hickory, and from its root a handle was carved and bent.
On many occasions I have twisted vines of bitter-sweet and
the fox-grape around saplings of oak, hickory, and chestnut,
and have obtained very satisfactory results.
Where a vine is situated some distance from the sapling
selected for a cane, the vine can be “piped” (laid under the
ground) up to the sapling, and then twisted around it and
securely fastened at the top with wire, from three to four
feet above its root. If the sapling is so situated that it
obtains a bountiful supply of food and sunlight, a unique
cane of natural growth will be the result.
Having taken a hint from nature in the case of the bitter-sweet
vine and the hickory sapling, I extended my experiments
in many directions. Taking three cuttings (slips) of
basket-willow, I planted them close together as shown in
Fig. 2. After they had taken root and begun to push out
branches, I reduced the number of branches to one for each
cutting, always retaining the most vigorous branch.
As the three willow-trees increased in height the side
branches were constantly cut off. This treatment forced
the growth of the willows upward, so that when they had
369attained a height of five feet I bound them together with a
living cat-brier vine, which was planted at their base, and
in course of time obtained a light walking-stick of novel
pattern as shown in Fig. 3. Another very interesting experiment
was grafting three willow stocks together so that
they formed a union, and became as it were one tree. This
was done by carefully cutting away two slices from three
young willows so as to form an obtuse angle as shown in
Fig. 4.
The angles so formed were carefully and accurately fitted
together as shown in the section Fig. 5. To hold the willows
closely together, and to exclude all air, I wrapped them
tightly with strips of unbleached cotton-sheeting. As soon
as they showed signs of life at their tops by sending out
young branches, I felt certain that a union of their barks
would form at the points indicated by the arrows in Fig. 5.
But it was not till several trials had been made that I was
successful in this novel experiment of combining three
willow saplings.
It very often occurs that after a tree has been cut down
a number of canes or suckers will start up from the stump.
These suckers make excellent walking-sticks when properly
cured and peeled. For a lady’s riding-whip I know of nothing
better than three willow withes plaited together. This
plaiting must be done when the willow withes are young,
and when attached to the parent tree, on which they are
allowed to remain for a year after having been plaited together.
By this time they will have grown firmly together
in consequence of the bark conforming to the bent strands
of the plait.
370
The following kinds of native woods are used for walking-sticks:
Holly.—Sticks of this wood are found growing out from
the sides of older growths, and shooting up in nearly a
straight line. Occasionally they may be cut with a crutch-piece
across the growing end, or with a crook or knob.
These are the most valuable. They may be found on a
well-grown sapling in the deep woods. This should be
pulled or dug up for the sake of its roots. Saplings and
hedge-sticks may often be found from three to four feet long,
and from three-eighths to a quarter of an inch in diameter.
These are not suitable for walking-sticks, but they make
excellent whip-handles. The holly makes tough, supple,
and moderately heavy walking-sticks, and its close-grained
371wood admits of much skill in carving the knob formed by
the root and its rootlets.
Ash.—Respectable sticks of this wood may sometimes be
cut out of a hedge or pulled from the side of an old stump.
Ash sticks must also be roughly trimmed and well seasoned
before they are barked and polished. The root knobs admit
of excellent grotesque carving.
Oak.—This of all sticks is the most reliable, and stout
oaken cudgels are esteemed by most persons as affording
the best props for failing legs, as well as the best weapons of
self-defence against quarrelsome dogs, ruffians, and tramps.
Straight sticks of sapling oak are not always easily obtained,
but copse-wood sticks pulled from the trunks of trees form
excellent substitutes. These should be selected for walking-sticks
that taper from one inch below the knob or crutch to
one inch at the ferrule end. Oak sticks split in drying when
the bark has been stripped off or the knobs and branches
cut too close, or when the sticks are dried too rapidly in a
very dry place. They are then rendered useless for walking-sticks
and cudgels.
Elm.—From the roots of elm-trees saplings often shoot
up to a height of some ten feet; these furnish good walking-sticks
of fancy styles, the rough bark serving the purpose of
ornamentation when the sticks are dried, stained, varnished,
and polished.
Among fruit trees the cherry, apple, and pear furnish
some very nice, fancy walking-sticks, being supple and of
moderate strength.
When sticks are half dried—that is, when the bark is
shrunken, has lost its sappy greenness, and refuses to peel
372freely—they may be trimmed, straightened, or bent, as required.
The wood and also the form of the knobs and roots
will admit of much taste being displayed in grotesque and
fancy carving.
I know of a young man in Florida, not yet twenty-one
years of age, who is paying his way through college by collecting
and curing sticks of the wild orange, on the handles
of which he carves during his leisure time and vacations
full-length figures of alligators as shown in Fig. 6. I have
examined several of these sticks, and the entire work seems
to be done with small chisels and a parting or V-tool. These
sticks are in constant demand with visitors and tourists in
Florida, and have become known as “orange-wood ’gator
canes.” This fact may be suggestive to some of our ingenious
farmer boys who are struggling to obtain a college
course.
Walking-sticks can be gathered at all seasons. The sticks
should be laid aside in a moderately dry and cool place, and
should not be worked or the bark taken off till they are half
dry. They are then most supple, and may be bent or
straightened without injury. When laying by sticks to dry,
the knots and spurs should not be trimmed close; it is best
to trim them only roughly, leaving the spurs of branches and
roots on the stick fully an inch long.
To straighten or bend the sticks, they should be steamed
until they are supple, or buried in hot, wet sand until they
become soft; they must then, while still hot, be given the
form they are intended to keep, and kept in this form until
they are cold. Straight sticks are tied firmly together in
small bundles, and wound with a coil of rope from end to
373end; they are then suspended to a beam by their knob ends,
and a heavy weight is attached to the ferrule ends. Crooks
may be turned by soaking the end in boiling water for half
an hour, then bending it to the desired form, and retaining
it in its position by means of a tourniquet (as shown in
Fig. 7) until the stick is cold.
The bark may then be taken off with a sharp knife, but
care must be taken not to split or chip the wood. Knots
may be trimmed at the same time, and the root knobs turned
into grotesque shapes. There are no rules that can be given
to guide one when carving the roots into handles, since their
forms are governed by the outlines of the roots, these often
being very suggestive of themselves. The group of heads
shown in Figs. 8, 9, 10, and 11 will illustrate what I mean.
Figs. 8 and 9 show the rough stick, Figs. 10 and 11 the
finished heads.
One or two points should receive considerable attention
when designing the handles. If the stick is to be a fancy
one to be carried and swung in the hand, the roots can be
carved into grotesque or fancy forms. But if for use, the
handle should be round and smooth, so as to fit comfortably
in the hand. The head of a dog, or a swan or goose, forms
an appropriate design for a stick that is to be held on the
arm when lighting a match, or when wishing to have both
hands free. The crutch and hook are also comfortable
forms.
Wooden handles are given touches of rich brown by applying
a red-hot iron to the parts to be colored.
All sticks with the rough bark left on should be neatly
trimmed naked around the neck of the handle, and the
374whole lightly gone over with fine sand or emery paper. The
cane should then receive several dressings of boiled linseed-oil
and be left to dry. When dry, a coat of shellac varnish
is applied. Oak canes look best when carefully barked in
hot water, the loose bark being removed by rubbing with
coarse canvas, and the cane then dried, dressed with boiled
linseed-oil, again dried, then polished, and varnished with
shellac or furniture varnish, and again polished.
Dogwood and Osage orange sticks can be stained black
by brushing them over with a hot and strong decoction of
logwood and nut gall. When this is thoroughly dried,
brush them over with vinegar in which a few rusty nails
have been steeped for two or three days. Some persons use
ink for a black stain, others introduce “drop black” in the
varnish; a brown or mahogany stain may be obtained by
adding some “dragon’s-blood” to the varnish. The lower
ends of the sticks should be guarded from excessive wear by
a neat brass ferrule; these are cheaper to purchase at a
hardware store than to make, though I have often used
brass thimbles and tailors’ steel thimbles as a substitute.
These can be fastened by means of hot shellac, or with a
brass pin driven into a hole in the thimble and passing
through the wood of the stick.
For fastening carved or rustic heads or handles on sticks
hot glue or thick shellac varnish is used. A good-sized hole
is first bored into the handle and a hole of similar size in
the stick; a dowel is driven into the hole in the stick (using
plenty of glue), after which the handle is driven on to the
dowel-pin. Handles may be made of horn, which can be
softened for bending by boiling in oil (not kerosene) or hot
375fat. Hard-woods that will take a polish, and vegetable
ivory, which is very easy and pleasant to carve, are good
materials to use for handles. For small sticks, bone will be
found an easy material to shape into handles.
All the manufacturers of walking-sticks and umbrella and
parasol handles state that the demand for native woods
suitable for canes and sticks is constant all the year round,
and that the sticks may be gathered at all seasons of the
year and sent to market, both straight and crooked sticks
being salable, also roots for handles.
With this we reach the end of our out-door handy book,
which we trust may become the daily and invaluable companion
of all healthy, active American boys. The in-door
handy book, the book of electricity, and the book of mechanics
for boys, which are to follow, will form, we believe,
the distinctive American boy’s library of practical handy
books.
