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.
[Illustration: Fig. 227. The Barrel Stave Hammock.]
[Illustration: Fig. 228. Tying the Staves Together.]
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.
THE BARREL ARMCHAIR.
[Illustration: Fig. 229. The Armchair Frame.]
[Illustration: Fig. 230. Casters on the Chair.]
[Illustration: Fig. 231. Tacking on the Straw Sandwiches.]
[Illustration: Fig. 232. The Barrel Armchair.]
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.
THE SUMMER TOBOGGAN.
[Illustration: Fig. 233. 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.
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.
[Illustration: Fig. 234. Coasting in Summer.]
A FIVE-FOOT MALAY KITE.
[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.]
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. 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 up-stream. 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 up-stream,
drifting down with the current when we had gone as far as we cared to.
THE DIAMOND BOX KITE.
[Illustration: Fig. 243. The Scow Towed by Kites.]
[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.]
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. 249. The Diamond Box Kite.]