TENT MAKING.
We had a farewell meeting of the society the evening before Bill and I
had to return to boarding-school. At this meeting plans were made for
the Easter vacation. We also considered the matter of getting parental
permission for our summer outing. So far we had been afraid to breathe a
word of our plans outside of the society, since Fred had said something
about it in the presence of Father and had been peremptorily ordered to
banish all such hair-brained, Wild West notions from his head. We
realized from that incident that the consent of our parents would not be
so very easily obtained. But Bill came forward with a promising
suggestion. He would write to his Uncle Ed and see if he couldn't be
persuaded to join the expedition. At first we demurred. We didn't want a
"governor" around all the time. But Bill assured us that his uncle was
"no ordinary man"; that he would not interfere with our plans, but would
enter right into them and give us many valuable pointers. Though not by
any means convinced, we told him to go ahead and invite his uncle, as
that seemed about the only means of winning over our fathers and
mothers. The society was then adjourned until our Easter vacation began,
each member promising to earn and save as much money as he could in the
meantime to buy the materials for a tent and provisions for the summer
outing.
Word From Uncle Ed.
[Illustration: Fig. 37. Breadths sewed together for Roof and Side Walls
of Tent.]
Bill's letter to Uncle Ed was answered as quickly as the mail could
travel to Brazil and back. Uncle Ed heartily approved of our plans, and
said that he would be delighted to join the expedition. He could not be
on hand before the 1st of July, but that would give us plenty of time to
make all necessary preparations. He told us not to worry about gaining
the consent of our parents. He would write to them and see them all
personally, if necessary to win their approval.
THE CANVAS TENT.
[Illustration: Fig. 38. The Sail Stitch.]
When at last spring arrived and we returned to Lamington on our Easter
vacation, quite a sum of money had been collected, nearly $15.00, if I
remember rightly; at any rate plenty to buy the materials for a
good-sized tent and leave a large surplus for provisions, etc. Bill
figured out on paper just how much canvas we would need for a tent 7
feet wide by 9-1/2 feet long, which he estimated would be about large
enough to hold us. It took 34 yards, 30 inches wide. Then we visited the
village store to make our purchase. Canvas we found a little too
expensive for us, but a material called drill seemed about right. It
cost ten cents a yard, but since we wanted such a quantity of it the
price was reduced to a total of $3.00. We repaired to the attic to lay
out the material.
[Illustration: Fig. 39. Cutting out the Door Flaps.]
[Illustration: Fig. 40. Sewing on the Door Flaps.]
First we cut out four lengths of 5 yards and 26 inches each. The strips
were basted together, lapping the edges 1 inch and making a piece 17
feet 2 inches long by 9 feet 9 inches wide. Mother sewed the breadths
together on the machine, using a double seam, as in sail making; that
is, two parallel rows of stitching were sewed in, one along each
overlapping edge, as shown in Fig. 38. A 1-inch hem was then turned and
sewed at the ends of the goods, so that the piece measured exactly 17
feet long. It served for the roof and side walls of the tent. Our next
operation was to cut three strips 11 feet long, and sew them together
with a double seam as before. This piece was now slit along the center
line _m_, Fig. 39, making two lengths 3 feet 8 inches wide. The
strips were then cut along the diagonal lines _a a_, forming the
end walls or doors, so to speak, of the tent. In sewing on the door
flaps we started first at the bottom of the side _c_, sewing it to
the side edge of the main piece, as shown in Fig. 40, and running the
seam up for a distance of exactly 3 feet 6 inches. After all the door
strips had been sewed along their _c_ edges the sewing was
continued up the diagonal or _a_ edges. In cutting out the door
pieces we had allowed 1 inch on each side for hems and seams, so that
the door pieces met without lapping at the exact center of the main or
body piece, that is, at the peak of the tent.
[Illustration: The Wall Tent Set Up in the Back Yard.]
[Illustration: Fig. 41. Adjustable Ridge Pole.]
[Illustration: Fig. 42. The Tent Set Up.]
Our next step was to fasten the necessary ropes and loops. Ten 8-foot
lengths of light rope were procured. These were fastened at the top of
the side walls, that is, 3 feet 6 inches from the ends of the main or
body piece, one at each corner and one on each seam. The cloth was
strengthened at these points with patches sewed on the inside. At the
bottom of the side walls we sewed on loops of heavy tape. These were
spaced about 15 inches apart. Along the _b_ edges of the door
pieces tie strings of tape were fastened. A rope 15 feet long was
attached to the peak at the front and at the rear of the tent. The front
and rear posts of the tent were made from scantlings measuring 2 by 4
inches, which were procured from Mr. Schreiner's lumber yard. They were
planed smooth and sawed off to a length of 7 feet 6 inches. A slot was
cut in the end of each stick to a depth of 6 inches and measuring
slightly over an inch in width. For the ridge pole a strip 1 inch thick,
2-1/2 inches wide and 10 feet long was secured. This was fitted into the
slotted ends of these posts, where it was fastened by wooden pegs
slipped into holes drilled through the ends of the posts and the ridge
pole. A number of these peg holes were provided, so that if the canvas
stretched the ridge pole could be raised or lowered to prevent the walls
from dragging on the ground. We set up the tent in our back yard to see
if it was properly constructed. Twelve stakes were required, ten for the
sides and one for the ridge stays at the front and rear. The side stakes
were driven into the ground at a distance of about 8 feet from the
center of the tent. First we tied the guy ropes to the stakes, but later
we found it much easier to secure them with tie blocks.
TIE BLOCKS.
[Illustration: Fig. 43. The Wood Tie Block.]
[Illustration: Fig. 44. The Wire Tie.]
[Illustration: Fig. 45. Bottom of Tent Wall.]
These were made of wood 1/2 inch thick, 1 inch wide and each measured 3
inches long. A hole was drilled into the block at each end and through
these holes the rope was threaded. A knot in the rope then held the end
from slipping out. The loop between the two holes, or the bight, as
sailors would call it, was now slipped over the stake, and the rope
hauled tight by drawing up the tie block, as shown in Fig. 43. A still
later improvement consisted in making ties of stout galvanized iron
wire, bent to the form shown in Fig. 44. The wooden ties were apt to
swell and split open when exposed to the weather, while the wire ties
could always be relied upon.
The walls of the tent were held down along the bottom by railway spikes
hooked through the tent loops and driven into the ground. Wooden pegs
with notches to catch the loops would have served as well, but Dutchy
happened to find a number of the spikes along the track and in his usual
convincing manner argued that they were far better than pegs because
their weight would hold the cloth down even if they were not firmly
embedded in the ground.
THE ANNEX.
We were surprised to find out how small the tent was after it was set
up. We could see at once that when we had put in all the stores and
provisions we would need, there would not be room enough for six boys
and a man to stretch themselves out comfortably in it. Bill had
evidently made a miscalculation, but he suggested that we remedy the
error by building an annex for our kitchen utensils and supplies.
[Illustration: Fig. 46. Cutting out the Annex.]
[Illustration: Fig. 47. The Annex Applied.]
This gave us a two-room tent, which we found to be quite an advantage.
Twelve more yards of drill were bought and cut into two strips, each 17
feet 2 inches long. The breadths were then sewed together, and the ends
turned up and hemmed to make a piece 17 feet long and 4 feet 9 inches
wide. Tape loops were then sewed on as before, and ropes were fastened
on at the top of the side walls, that is, 3 feet 6 inches from the ends
of the strips. We thought it would be better to have a slanting ridge on
the annex, so we cut out a wedge-shaped piece from the center of the two
strips, as shown by dotted lines _B B_ in Fig. 46. This
wedge-shaped piece measured 2 feet at the outer end of the annex, and
tapered down to a point at the inner end. The canvas was then sewed
together along these edges. Tie strings were sewed to the inner edge of
the annex and corresponding ones were attached to the main tent a little
ways back from the edge, so that the two could be tied together, with
the annex lapping well over on the roof and side walls. A notch was cut
out of the peak of the annex, so that it could be tied around the rear
post of the tent, and notches were cut at the top of the side walls to
permit passing the cloth around the wall ropes. Instead of supporting
the ridge of the annex on a ridge pole, we used the rear guy line of the
tent, propping it up with a scantling about 5-1/2 feet long.