The Scientific American Boy by A. Russell Bond

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[Illustration: Fig. 218. The Frame with Wire Braces.]

Mounting the Frame on Bicycle Wheels.

We were now ready to mount the frame on the bicycle wheels. We
used only the front wheels of the bicycles with the forks in which they
were journaled. The shanks at the top of the forks were firmly driven into
holes in the crosspiece near the ends. For the steering wheel Bill took the
front fork and wheel of his new bicycle, letting the shank into a hole at
the stern end of the backbone.

[Illustration: Fig. 219. Bracing the Mast.]

The Tiller.

For a tiller we used a piece of an old rake handle. A small hole was first
drilled into the handle and the end of the stick was then split through
the hole, permitting the projecting shank of the fork to be driven tightly
into the hole. The split wood was now tightly closed onto the shank by
means of a bolt (see Fig. 220). In the rubbish heap we found an old chair.
The legs were sawed off and the seat was then firmly nailed to the
backbone. The back of the chair was cut down so that it just cleared the
tiller.

A "Leg-of-Mutton" Sail.

[Illustration: Fig. 220. The Tiller.]

[Illustration: Fig. 221. The Seat.]

[Illustration: Fig. 222. Leg-of-Mutton Sail.]

Everything was now completed but the sail. This was a triangular or
"leg-of-mutton" affair, of the dimensions given in Fig. 222. It was made
of light canvas, 30 inches wide, of which we bought 14 yards. Out of this
we took one strip 18 feet long, one 13 feet, one 8 feet, and one 3 feet
long. We had no sewing machine, and therefore had to sew the strips
together by hand. The selvedge edges of the strips were lapped over each
other about an inch and then they were sewed together sailor fashion, that
is, each edge was hemmed down, as shown in Fig. 223. The strips were sewed
together so that at the foot each projected at least 21 inches below the
next shorter one. This done, the sail was cut to the dimensions given,
allowing 1-1/2 inches all around for the hem. The hem was turned over a
light rope, forming a strong corded edge. At the clew, tack and head loops
were formed in the rope which projected from the canvas, and at intervals
along the foot the canvas was cut away, exposing the rope so that the sail
could be laced to the boom, as illustrated. The boom was a pole 11 feet
long attached to the mast by means of a screw hook threaded into the end
of the boom and hooked into a screw eye on the mast, after which the screw
hook was hammered so it would close over the screw eye to keep it from
slipping off. The sail was raised by a halyard passing over a block at the
top of the mast. The sheet was fastened near the end of the boom, passed
through a block on the backbone, back of the tiller, and through another
block on the boom, and was led to a cleat within easy reach of the chair
seat.

[Illustration: Fig. 223. The Sailor's Stitch.]

[Illustration: Fig. 224. Laying Out the Sail.]

A Sail through the Country.

[Illustration: Fig. 225. A Sail on the Land Yacht.]

Our land yacht proved to be quite a successful craft in the flat country
around the school. Of course, we could not sail everywhere; a country road
is too narrow for any tacking when it comes to sailing against the wind.
We hadn't thought of that when we made our trial trip. A strong east wind
was blowing and so we ventured forth on a road that led due west from our
school. Off we sped before the wind for two miles, until we came to a
sharp turn in the road. Then we began to think of turning homeward. But
this was a very different proposition. The wind was dead against us and to
try to tack from side to side of the road was useless, because we would
hardly get under way on one tack before we had to swing around on the
other tack, losing all our momentum. It ended up by our lowering sail and
ignominiously trundling the yacht back to school. After that we carefully
selected our course, and never sailed away from home before the wind
unless we knew of a roundabout way that would lead us back to port on a
couple of reaches (long tacks).

CHAPTER XX.

EASTER VACATION.

Just before Easter that year Bill's Aunt Dorothy invited him to spend
Eastertide with her and bring along his roommate. I accepted the
invitation with alacrity. Bill had once spent a whole summer at his aunt's
home, and when we arrived there he had many old haunts to visit. We spent
the first day rambling through the woods, in the hills and back of the
house.

Bill's Cave.

He introduced me to a cave which he believed was known to only two
other boys, both of whom had since moved to New York city. The mouth
of the cave was almost closed by a large boulder that had lodged in front
of it. We had to climb to the top of this rock, and then letting ourselves
down with a rope we slid down the sloping rear face of the boulder into a
crevice in the rocks. Then after squirming under a ledge we emerged into
a large chamber, which appeared to be as dark as night after our sudden
entrance from the outer light.

[Illustration: Fig. 226. Sliding Down into the Cave.]

Bill lighted a candle which projected from a chink in the wall. By its
light I saw that there was a pool in the center of the cave fed from a
spring at one point. From the pool the water trickled off into a tiny
stream to the mouth of the cave, where it was lost in a crack in the
rocks. The water was ice cold and clear as crystal. Around the pool were
several chairs and a table made by Bill and his two friends. That was
evidently where Bill had gotten his idea of a subterranean club.

The Barrel Stave Hammock.

Hanging between a couple of projecting rocks was a hammock made of barrel
staves. The hammock was a very simple affair, made by drilling a 1-inch
hole in each end of each barrel stave. The staves were then connected by
two ropes on each side, woven alternately in and out through these holes,
that is, one rope would be passed down through one stave, up through the
next, down through the third, etc., and through the same holes another
rope would be threaded in and out but in the opposite direction. The end
staves of the hammock were provided with double holes, as shown in Fig.
228, so as to make them lie flat, then the ropes were threaded through
them.

[Illustration: Fig. 227. The Barrel Stave Hammock.]

[Illustration: Fig. 228. Tying the Staves Together.]

The Barrel Armchair.

[Illustration: Fig. 229. The Armchair Frame.]

[Illustration: Fig. 230. Casters on the Chair.]

Aside from the hammock and the rustic furniture there was a fine armchair,
made from a barrel that had been sawed off, as in Fig. 229, to form the
arms and back. The barrel was raised from the ground by setting it on a
couple of boards arranged in the form of a V. Then a caster was fastened
to the point of the V and another at each end, making a three-legged
chair of it. The chair was upholstered with ticking stuffed with straw.
First a piece of ticking large enough for the back was laid on the ground
and covered over with an even layer of straw. Over the straw a second
piece of ticking was laid, making what Bill called a "straw sandwich."
This was nailed to the chair back along the edge and at the bottom,
drawing the cloth as taut as possible. To make a better finish for the
chair, the ticking was covered with dark red denim. Then strips of braid
were laid on the chair back, crossing each other like a lattice. At the
crossing points of the braid brass-headed tacks were nailed right through
the sandwich into the wood, producing the padded upholstered effect. Next
a long, thin sandwich was made to run along the edge of the back, and
another one to run around the chair just below the seat, also a couple of
small sandwiches to cover the legs and the brackets leading to them. These
were all covered with denim before being tacked to the chair and then they
were bound with tape at intervals to produce the padded effect. The rest
of the woodwork was covered with denim, and a neat ruffle made by Aunt
Dorothy hung about the bottom of the chair. A thick, round sandwich was
now made to cover the seat board. This was also given a padded effect by
binding it with tape. The seat board was not nailed to the chair, but
rested on four cleats nailed to the barrel on the inside. When the seat
was lifted out it uncovered a shallow chest in which various things could
be stored.

[Illustration: Fig. 231. Tacking on the Straw Sandwiches.]

[Illustration: Fig. 232. The Barrel Armchair.]

The Summer Toboggan.

Bill informed me that he and his two chums used to spend hot summer
afternoons in this cool place whittling out various ornaments and making
furniture for the cave. In one corner were a number of home-made amusement
devices, one of which struck me as rather odd. It consisted of a pair of
large barrel staves, hollow side up and connected with two short boards,
as in Fig. 233. Bill said it was a summer toboggan, to be used on grass
instead of snow. I had never heard of such an affair, and, of course, had
to have a demonstration. Bill went to the top of the hill and from there
coasted down the grassy slope in fine style.

[Illustration: Fig. 233. The Summer Toboggan.]

[Illustration: Fig. 234. Coasting in Summer.]

Tailless Kites.

"There's a better place over on the other side of the hill," he said, and
led the way to his favorite coasting spot. But here our attention was
diverted from coasting by the curious sight of a full-grown man flying a
kite. We found out afterward that he was a Professor Keeler, who had made
a great scientific study of kites. Professor Keeler was very affable, and
we soon got acquainted with him. His kite was way up in the air, almost
out of sight, and was pulling like everything. Neither Bill nor I could
hold it long. But the most remarkable part of it all to me was the fact
that the kite had no tail. I had heard of tailless kites made like a box,
but this one appeared to be very much like the kites I had made in my
younger days, and I well knew the importance of a long tail to keep such a
kite steady. We asked the professor about it, and were informed that this
kite was of the Malay type, which is so designed that the cloth bellies
out into pockets on each side of the central stick or backbone, and these
pockets balance the kite while the backbone acts as a rudder.

Finding that we were interested in the subject he gave us full
instructions for making kites from 5 to 8 feet long, and these I jotted
down for future use. In a 5-foot kite he said the stick should be 3/8 inch
thick and 1/2 inch wide, in a 6-foot kite 7/16 inch thick and 9/16 inch
wide, in a 7-foot kite 5/8 inch thick and 3/4 inch wide, and in an 8-foot
kite 3/4 inch thick and 1 inch wide. On the following summer we built a
5-footer and also an 8-footer.

A Five-foot Malay Kite.

For the 5-foot kite we used two sticks of hickory 3/8 of an inch wide, 1/2
an inch thick, and each 5 feet long. According to directions, one stick
was laid across the other at a point two-elevenths of its length from the
top. Two-elevenths of 5 feet is a little less than 11 inches, and so we
fastened on the cross stick 11 inches from the upper end of the backbone.
The sticks were not nailed together, because this would have weakened the
frame just at the point where it was under the greatest strain. Instead we
followed the professor's directions and tied cleats to each stick, as
shown in Fig. 235, so as to form sockets. Then the sticks were laid across
each other, each stick fitting into the socket of the other, just like a
mortised joint. A coat of shellac on the bottom of each cleat glued it
temporarily to the stick, after which it was very tightly bound with fine
cord. The stick and cleats were now thoroughly shellaced. The end of each
stick was tapered off to receive a brass ferrule of the kind used on
chisel handles. They can be bought at any hardware store. At the end of
the backbone we fastened hooks made of brass, bent to the form shown in
Fig. 236. The cross sticks were also provided with hooks, but these were
double, as shown in Fig. 237, so that a hook lay on both the front and the
rear side of the frame.

[Illustration: Fig. 235. Tying on the Cleats.]

[Illustration: Fig. 236. Hook on the Vertical Stick.]

[Illustration: Fig. 237. Double Hook.]

[Illustration: Fig. 238. Connection at Corner.]

[Illustration: Fig. 239. Bending the Cross Stick.]

The frame was covered with a kind of cloth called "percaline." The cloth
was hemmed along each edge over heavy picture wire, and at each corner the
wire was twisted around a small solid ring of brass. The rings were now
slipped over the hooks on the frame and then the cross stick was bowed
back by fastening a wire to the rear hooks and drawing it taut. Professor
Keeler told us to tighten this bowstring until the distance from the wire
to the cross stick at the center was equal to one-tenth of the length of
the stick. As our sticks were each 5 feet long we tightened the wire until
the cross stick bowed out 6 inches, as in Fig. 239. The belly band of the
kite was fastened at one end to the lower end of the backbone and at the
upper end to a wire hook at the juncture of the two sticks. The hook was
fastened to the cross stick by flattening the ends and running them under
the cord used for binding on the cleats (see Fig. 240). A buttonhole was
made in the cloth covering to let this hook project through. The belly
band was just long enough, so that it could be stretched over to one end
of the cross stick, as in Fig. 241, and at this point, that is, 30 inches
from the upper end of the belly band, a brass ring was made fast, to which
the main kite string was tied. The kite possessed the advantage that it
could be quickly taken apart and folded into a small space.

An Eight-foot Malay Kite.

[Illustration: Fig. 240. Belly Band Hook.]

Our 8-foot kite was made in the same way only the sticks were 3/4
inch thick, 1 inch wide and 8 feet long. The cross stick was fastened
17-1/2 inches (two-elevenths of 8 feet) from the top of the backbone and
it was bowed back 9-1/2 inches (one-tenth of 8 feet). The wire in the hem
of the covering was a double thickness of the heaviest picture wire
obtainable.

[Illustration: Fig. 241. The 5-foot Malay Kite.]

[Illustration: Fig. 242. Malay Kite with Elastic Belly Band.]

The Elastic Belly Band.

An important change was made in the belly band of the kite. The lower
strand was made elastic by tying it fast to a number of heavy rubber
bands, as in Fig. 242. When flying the kite, if a sudden, strong puff of
wind struck it, the elastic belly band would give, tilting up the lower
end of the kite so that the wind passed under; but as soon as the gust had
passed the rubber bands would draw the lower end of the kite back against
the wind. The elastic belly band had the effect of making the kite rise
almost vertically. Sometimes it would even sail square overhead. The
8-foot kite was a very powerful one. To hold it we had to use a very
strong cord, the kind used by upholsterers for tying down the springs in a
chair or a sofa.

Putting the Kites to Work.

Bill tested the strength of the kite once by hooking a spring scale to the
kite string. The scale was made to register weights up to 25 pounds. But
our kite yanked the pointer immediately past the 25-pound mark as far as
it would go. We judged from this that the kite would lift at least 40
pounds. Such a pull as this it seemed a pity to waste, but how to utilize
the power was a problem until one day, when the kite was soaring up on a
south wind, Dutchy suggested that we tie it to one of the canoes and go
sailing upstream. We tried the trick at once, but it didn't work very
well, because the canoe was too light. The kite would drop unless there
was a heavy pull on the string. We had better success with the scow,
however, which provided a sufficient drag on the kite, and with the two
kites to pull us we sailed a long ways upstream, drifting down with the
current when we had gone as far as we cared to.

[Illustration: Fig. 243. The Scow Towed by Kites.]

The Diamond Box Kite.

Professor Keeler also gave us instructions for making a diamond-shaped
box kite, and though we never built one, it may not be amiss to publish
his instructions here. I quote from the chronicles of the S. S. I. E. E.
of W. C. I.:

"Materials: Four sticks, 1/4 inch thick by 5/8 inch wide by 44 inches
long, for the corner sticks. Two sticks, 1/4 inch thick by 5/8 inch wide
by 15 inches long, for the short spreaders. Two sticks, 1/2 inch square by
about 38 inches long, for the long spreaders. Two strips of cloth 81
inches long, hemmed at each edge to a width of 13 inches. Whittle out
twelve cleats to the form shown in Fig. 244. At the ends of the 15-inch
spreaders nail cleats on each side with long wire brads, so as to form
forks, as shown in Fig. 245, in which two of the corner sticks are held.
The short spreaders are fastened to the corner sticks, 7 inches from the
ends, with brads driven through the cleats, making the frame (as in Fig.
246). To prevent the frame from skewing off sidewise it should be braced
with wire running diagonally across from one corner stick to the other.
Ordinary soft stovepipe wire will do. Care must be taken to have the
spreaders meet the corner sticks squarely or at right angles. Now take one
of the cloth strips and sew its ends together to form a band. The end
should be lapped about an inch and fastened with the sailor stitch (see
Fig. 223). The same should be done to the other cross strip, and then each
band should be marked off with pencil lines at four points, all
equidistant from each other. The two bands may now be tacked to the two
ends of the frame with opposite pencil lines over the edges of the corner
sticks, as in Fig. 247. The two remaining corner sticks are then nailed to
the bands at the two other pencil lines. These corner sticks will now be
braced apart by the long spreaders, which are notched to the right length
to stretch the cloth taut. A cleat is nailed over each notch, as shown in
Fig. 248, forming forks to hold the corner pieces. The long spreaders are
now forced down until they meet the short spreaders, to which they are
tied with waxed string. The long spreaders may be nailed to the corner
sticks by driving brads right through the cloth into the cleats and the
sticks. The belly band may be fastened to any one of the corner sticks at
the spreaders, and from the points where it is tied it should measure
about 45 inches in length. The point where the main string should be
attached to the belly band may be best determined by experiment."

[Illustration: Fig. 244. Cleat for Spreader.]

[Illustration: Fig. 245. Corner Stick and Spreader.]

[Illustration: Fig. 246. The Narrow Frame.]

[Illustration: Fig. 247. Tacking on the Cloth.]

[Illustration: Fig. 248. Forked End of Long Spreader.]

[Illustration: Fig. 249. The Diamond Box Kite.]

CHAPTER XXI.

THE WATER WHEEL.

Summer found us again on Willow Clump Island with heads full of new ideas.
Bill had come across an old copy of Ewbanks' "Hydraulics" in the school
library. It was a book describing machines of the ancients--principally
devices for raising water. Rather dry reading, I thought, even though it
was a wet subject; but Bill seemed to find it absorbingly interesting. I
came in late one afternoon, after a glorious game of baseball, only to
find Bill poring over the yellowed leaves of the "Hydraulics" as
fascinated as most fellows would be over a detective story. It exasperated
me to note that he thought more of this old book than he did of our
baseball team.

"Bill," I exclaimed, "what's got into you? I can't for the life of me see
what is so entertaining in that prehistoric book." "Oh, go way. Don't
bother me," was the surly reply. But I wouldn't be put off that way.
Quickly I snatched the book from his grasp and threw it out the window.

"Now, sir," I cried, "maybe you will kindly explain to me why you persist
in studying that old volume, to the neglect of our baseball team."

"Don't get so excited, old chap," he replied. "That book is all right. I'm
studying up some new schemes for next year's expedition to Willow Clump
Island. Why, there are lots of things in that old book that we can make."
And he proceeded to unfold his plans, sketching out some curious designs
of water wheels and pumps.

By the time school closed for the summer Bill had thoroughly digested that
volume, and was ready to reconstruct many of the ancient machines.

The Water Wheel.

Our first work on reaching the island was to erect a water wheel, or
"noria," as it was called in the book, in front of the camp. It had been a
great nuisance to keep our filter barrel full. Every few days we would
have to form a bucket brigade, passing pails of water up the line until
the barrel was filled. Now Bill proposed to do away with all this bother
and let the river do the work for us.

Surveying for the Water Wheel.

[Illustration: Fig. 250. Surveying for the Water Wheel.]

We first determined the height of the upper filter barrel above the level
of the river. This was done with our surveying instrument, which was set
level with the top of the barrel. We sighted with the instrument to a long
pole that was held upright at the edge of the water. The pole had been
marked off into feet with white chalk marks, and on sighting through the
sight holes we found that the hairs came in line with the eleventh chalk
mark. The top of the filter was, therefore, 11 feet above the level of the
river. Bill figured that it would be necessary to construct a wheel about
15 feet in diameter in order to raise the water to the proper height.

Towers for the Water Wheel.

[Illustration: Fig. 251. Frame for Large Tower.]

First we built the towers to support the wheel. One tower was 16 feet high
and the other only 10 feet. The large tower was made something like a very
tall and narrow saw-horse. Two stout poles 17 feet long were flattened at
their upper ends and nailed together, with the ends projecting about a
foot, as shown in Fig. 251. At the bottom these poles were spaced 8 feet
apart by a cross bar, and about 9-1/2 feet from the bottom a pair of
boards were nailed to opposite sides of the pole to serve as supports for
the axle of the water wheel. Another pair of 17-foot poles was now
similarly fastened together and then the two pairs were spaced about 12
feet apart and connected at the top and bottom with boards. At the top two
smooth boards were used and these were nailed to the inner sides of the
projecting ends, which were tapered off. In this manner a V-shaped trough
was formed. The boards were firmly nailed together at their meeting edges
so as to prevent them from warping apart. A diagonal brace at each corner
made the wedge-shaped tower very substantial. A number of cleats nailed to
one of the poles provided a ladder by which we could mount to the top of
the tower. The shorter tower was a three-legged affair, made of three
12-foot poles. At first two of these were flattened and nailed together at
their upper ends, and they were braced at the top and bottom. The third
leg was then nailed in place and braced by cross bars connecting it with
the other two poles.

[Illustration: Fig. 252. The Large Tower.]

[Illustration: Fig. 253. V Shaped Trough.]

The Wheel.

We were now ready to make the wheel. From Lumberville four 1/2-inch
boards, each 3 inches wide and 15 feet long, were procured; also a bar of
iron 3/4 of an inch in diameter and 2 feet long. At the center of one of
the boards a block of wood 4 inches long and 4 inches in diameter was
nailed on for a hub. A 3/4-inch hole was now drilled through this hub and
the board. Holes were also drilled into the other boards at their centers.
Then they were all strung onto the bar and spaced like spokes at equal
angles apart. Bill had figured it out some way that the ends of the boards
should be just about 5 feet 10-1/2 inches apart. When the boards were all
arranged we nailed them together at the center, and connected the ends
with narrow tie boards, as indicated in Fig. 256.

[Illustration: Fig. 254. The Small Tower.]

[Illustration: Fig. 255. The Hub.]

[Illustration: Fig. 256. The Water Wheel. ]

The Buckets.

Eight large tomato cans were now procured and fastened to the spokes
at the ends on the inner side, that is, the side the hub was nailed to. We
couldn't very well nail on the cans, so we punched two holes in the side of
each can and then secured them to the spokes by passing bolts through
these holes and the boards.

The Paddles.

Then we cut sixteen paddles of the form shown in Fig. 257. Eight of
these were 12 inches long, and the rest measured 18 inches. A slot 3
inches deep was cut in each paddle of just the right width to slip over the
tie boards. The shorter paddles were fastened on just back of the spokes,
and the rest were secured half-way between each spoke. The paddles were
braced by stretching a wire from one to another all the way around the
wheel.

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