it works smoothly before any more of the box is put together. It is
made of little strips (Fig. 6) three-eighths of an inch wide and two
and a half inches long, “sliding fit,” which means that they are to be
a little less than two and a half, so that they will slide in a space
two and a half inches wide. A sharp rub on the ends with sandpaper will
make this slight difference. There are twenty-two of these strips, and
they are glued side by side on a strip of white muslin cloth. If you
use a piece with a selvage on one side, you will be more sure of making
the cover perfectly straight.
Fig. 7 is the handle and is to be nailed flat to the second strip--the
one next to the end strip.
Fig. 8 and Fig. 9 are a false bottom and false end, which form the
receptacle for the pencils, and hide the mechanism of the cover. They
are nailed in position as shown in Fig. 12. The nails to fasten these
in place must be a little longer than the others, because they have to
be nailed from the outside and must go through two thicknesses of wood
and project into a third.
The next piece to make is Fig. 10--an oblong measuring one and a half
inches by two and a half, and cut to make a joint with Fig. 2. This is
placed across the top and nailed down, covering the rounding end of the
“track.”
Now the cover may be slipped into position and the end pieces (Fig.
11), oblongs two and a quarter inches by two and seven-eighths, nailed
on, and the box is done.
It is a convenient size, the receptacle for pencils is ample, and to
one who does not know, the disappearance of that cover when it opens is
a mystery that borders on black art.
A HOME-MADE CHRISTMAS TREE STAND
Nobody will deny that a Christmas tree has plenty of backbone, but
somehow it doesn’t seem to have intelligence enough to use it. Or else
it resents the taking away of its roots and the substitution of a
shop-made standard that it considers inadequate. As a matter of fact
the standards that you can buy in the shops _are_ inadequate for a tree
of any size. And so, if the boy of the family is handy with tools, it
is up to him to make one.
A very good standard for a Christmas tree--strong, durable, and
ornamental as well--may be made from a strip of one-by-two-inch
“dressed” lumber 12 ft. long (which costs about a cent and a half a
foot), and some pieces of an old dry goods box.
First, saw off from your one-by-two-inch strip four pieces twelve
inches long and four pieces eleven inches. These are to make Figs. 1,
2, and 4. Make four pieces like Fig. 1 and two pieces like Fig. 2; the
notch at the end is cut with a saw across the grain, and then split out
with a chisel.
When these are done, join two of the twelve-inch pieces and two of the
eleven inch to form a square frame. The joint is shown in Fig. 3, and
it should be glued or nailed, or both, which is safer.
Next make the other two eleven-inch pieces like Fig. 4. These are just
like Fig. 2 except that a groove four inches wide and one inch deep
is cut in the middle of each. Then they are joined with the other
twelve-inch pieces to form a frame similar to the first. The first
frame is to go at the bottom of the standard, and the second frame,
placed with the grooves _up_, is for the top.
Now cut from the remainder of the strip two more pieces twelve inches
long. With a compass set at an inch-and-a-half radius, and the center
in the exact middle of one edge, draw a half circle on each, and chip
it out with a chisel like Fig. 5. The use of these will be described
later.
The remainder of the strip will make four pieces eighteen inches long,
with a bit left over. These are to stand on their two-inch faces, and
the upper edges of each end should be rounded off with a “block” plane.
Then two grooves are cut in each piece, two of the pieces having the
grooves on the upper side and two on the under side, like Figs. 6
and 7.
[Illustration: Diagrams of a Christmas Tree Stand.]
[Illustration: Diagrams of a Christmas Tree Stand.]
Now cut from your packing box sixteen strips or pickets one and
three-quarters inches wide and fourteen inches long, like Fig. 8.
These may be “ripped out” with a saw and smoothed up with a plane and
sandpaper.
[Illustration: Christmas Tree Stand.]
To “assemble” the standard join first the two Fig. 6 strips and two
Fig. 7. This leaves a hole two inches square in the center and two
strips projecting from each of the four sides. Place the first square
frame that you made on this, so that its sides will be equally distant
from the center, and nail in position. Next nail the pickets in
position so that the lower end of the pickets will be “flush” with the
lower side of the frame. Next, hold the upper frame, with the grooves
up, in position, eight inches above the lower frame and nail the
pickets to that. Fig. 9 shows the complete assembly.
Now give the frame, and the two pieces like Fig. 5 a coat of dark green
paint, and the standard is ready for use. Slip the tree into the square
hole in the base. If the trunk is a bit too large, whittle it to fit.
Then place the two pieces like Fig. 5 around the trunk at the top of
the frame for a clamp, and slip them into the grooves in the upper
frame, and you will find your tree quite ready to stand up and behave.
HOW TO WRAP CHRISTMAS PARCELS
How many boys and big folks, too, have at some time received a
Christmas gift which was broken, or crushed, or spoiled in some way
through the careless packing of the sender. Even at ordinary times the
mail service and Express Companies are hard enough upon packages given
to their care. The term “baggage-smasher” ought not to be restricted
to the employees of the railways alone, and when at Christmas time
the mails and express lines are congested with packages of all
descriptions, and the men are tired and overworked trying to deliver
gifts that have been sent at the last minute--then it is doubly needful
to insure the safety of your Christmas presents by careful packing.
Of course the wrapping of a gift cannot change its value, but you
should bear in mind that your gift will _seem_ doubly attractive to the
one who receives it, if inside of the serviceable outside wrapping,
there is another dainty one, and the expense is so trifling that it
need hardly be considered. A dozen sheets of tissue paper cost only
a dime. Pure white or warm “Christmassy” red are the most desirable
kinds. Another dime will purchase a box of Christmas seals--small ones
with pictures of holly and mistletoe, or large ones with Santa Claus
heads or Christmas bells on them. If you prefer tying, to sealing, the
ten cents will buy a dozen yards of “tying” ribbon, which is crimson
“baby” ribbon in a cheaper grade than is ordinarily sold. Gilt cord
is also very attractive for tying up gifts, and a tiny spray of holly
tucked under the cord or ribbon gives a final dainty Christmas touch.
Perhaps, though, you live so far away from a town that you are not able
to buy these Christmas seals, and the tying ribbon. Almost, if not
quite as pretty to fasten the inside tissue paper wrapping of a gift
will be some very tiny, red maple leaves gathered in the fall with the
thought of Christmas in mind, and pressed with a hot flat iron on which
some beeswax has been rubbed. This preserves the bright color of the
leaves and keeps them stiff until you need to use them. After carefully
folding in the ends of the tissue paper about the gift, the paper is
fastened down by gluing on a few of these gay, pressed leaves, and in
the folds of the paper a wee spray of pine or a little wreath made of
ground pine, or a bunch of partridge berries may be tucked. Another
way of making a gift look like the country is to tie it with strands of
sweet grass.
When the gifts are wrapped, and you are ready to pack them for
shipment, there are a few general rules that must be remembered.
First: That the gifts must be packed as snugly as it is possible to do
without harming them.
Second: That nothing--not even excelsior--is quite as effective in
stopping the transmission of bumps and jars as crumpled up newspapers.
Third: That the name and address of the person to whom the gift is sent
and also the address of the sender must be legibly written in your
best school hand on the outer covering where they are not liable to be
torn off. You must remember that, while the names and addresses are
perfectly familiar to you, they are totally unknown to the men through
whose hands the parcels go, and in handling thousands of packages,
illegible writing means much delay.
The rule of packing things tightly refers to _everything_--even things
which would seem most crushable, for there is far more harm done by
packing these loosely so that they slip around with every turn of the
package, than by crushing them flat in one position. Take a delicate
waist, for instance. If packed loosely, it will come out of its box
rumpled and wrinkled in every direction, but if it is folded flat, the
sleeves stuffed with crumpled tissue paper, and the spaces around it in
the box filled with the same, it will reach its destination quite as
fresh as when it started.
It is better to _box_ all gifts if possible. Very pretty Christmas
boxes of all sizes and shapes may be bought in the shops, or, in place
of these, you can use empty candy boxes which most people stow away for
just such purposes.
Do not select a box that is too small and leaves too little space for
filling in with crushed paper, and try and think, too, of the weight of
the gift in selecting your box.
If you are packing odd pieces of china, wrap each piece separately, and
see that they are well segregated with the crushed paper. If you are
packing a number of pieces of uniform size and shape--such as saucers,
plates, etc.--place them in a pile with every _second_ one well
wrapped. Then wrap the whole pile and pack _edgewise_.
China should be packed in a wooden box, with an addressed baggage tag
nailed on, or the address put on the wood itself with India ink.
Flat things, calendars, cards, photographs, and handkerchiefs, gloves,
neckties, ribbons, etc. if unboxed, must be protected by pasteboard.
For this, the corrugated pasteboard that is used by department stores
is much more effective than the ordinary flat sort. It is much less
easily bent, and is lighter in weight, which is of course a great
advantage, because it makes the cost of mailing less.
This corrugated pasteboard is also very good for wrapping things which
are light in weight, but bulky and of awkward shape, for it may be
rolled to accommodate almost any object.
Doilies, centerpieces, and other flat embroideries must necessarily
be kept uncreased in shipping, but are too large to be sent flat. Lay
them first on a sheet of heavy wrapping paper, cut square and slightly
larger than the embroidered piece. Then lay over the embroidery a
sheet of tissue paper, and carefully roll the whole thing. Then form a
tubular covering of the corrugated pasteboard, and wrap with hardware
paper outside. In tying up a tube, the cord should go twice around the
tube--once near each end--and the cord which goes lengthwise should go
through the opening of the tube so that the contents will not slip out.
In tying packages for mailing, use good strong cord, and remember that
a package must bear no kind of a seal and contain no kind of writing
beyond a simple Christmas greeting if it is to go as “merchandise.”
Even one of the little paper seals stuck over the string will render
the package “first class” and subject to letter postage.
Just one more thing to be remembered at Christmas time. Courtesy is
only another name for kindness, and it would be discourteous to send
a gift which was not fully prepaid; or to send a gift “across the
line,” which is dutiable to any great extent. And in courtesy to the
men and women who have to handle your gifts on their journeys, send
your Christmas presents long enough ahead of time so that these men and
women may not be too tired when Christmas comes to feel themselves its
blessed peace and cheer.
YOUR OWN WIRELESS RECEIVING STATION
Most boys are interested in wireless telegraphy, and it is possible for
any one of them to make a simple apparatus by which they can “cut in”
and receive any wireless message that happens to be passing through
their particular zone.
The receiving set will require a number of different parts, but they
are easily made--when one knows how.
For actual hearing you will need a telephone receiver of some sort.
One may be bought for about seventy-five cents at an electrical supply
house, or an old one, provided it is in good condition, may be used.
Next comes a “detector.” This consists of a wooden base about six
inches long by four wide and an inch thick, on which is mounted a piece
of silicon about the size of an egg. An insulated wire passed once
around the silicon and then through two holes in the base will hold the
silicon in position in the center of the block. Put a brass screw an
inch long at each end of the block and “connect up” the silicon in the
following way: First take a piece of No. 22 single-covered copper wire,
scrape off a few inches of the covering, and wind this bare copper wire
several times around a small round stick to form a spring. The bare end
of the spring must be filed to a point and rest against one end of the
silicon, while the other end of the wire is wound around one of the
brass screws. Next, take a piece of ordinary insulated telephone wire,
bare one end far enough to wind firmly around the free end of the piece
of silicon, and then wind the other end of this wire around the second
brass screw. This makes a metallic circuit through the silicon which
will “make” or “break” with the touching or removing of the spring.
[Illustration: Detector.]
[Illustration: Tuning Coil.]
Next you need a “tuning coil.” This has a wooden base twelve inches
by six and an inch thick. To make the coil itself a stick twelve
inches long and one and a half inches in diameter--a piece of an old
curtain pole will do--and wind carefully on it a half pound of the
No. 22 single-covered copper wire. The end of this wire is fastened
to the stick with a small tack, and it should be wound very evenly
and closely. The last end is left free for a connection. After it is
wound give the wire three coats of shellac, making sure that each coat
is dry before another one is put on. When it is thoroughly dry mark
two straight lines from end to end, a quarter of an inch apart. With
a sharp knife scrape off the insulation so that the wires are bare on
the outside, but be careful not to disturb the insulation between the
wires. To mount the coil, nail at each end a wooden strip three inches
wide, three and a half high and one inch thick. This has also to be
nailed to the base, and it should be placed so that the coil will clear
the base by a half inch. The strip of bare wire on the coil should
be uppermost. Now get a brass rod one quarter of an inch square and
thirteen inches long; a thin brass strip one quarter inch wide and two
inches long; another strip one inch wide and one and one-quarter inches
long; and two round headed brass screws. Bend the wider brass strip
around the brass rod to form a slider. Bend the narrow brass strip in
the center to form a V spring. Solder one end of this to the slider so
that it is in the position shown in the drawing. Slip the slider on the
brass rod, place the rod in position directly over the pathway of bared
wire on the coil so that the lower end of the V spring will press on
this pathway, and fasten the rod securely with the brass screws to the
wooden end pieces.
[Illustration: Aerial.]
[Illustration: Switch.]
For the “aërial” get three or four hundred feet of wire--No.
16 galvanized wire will do, though aluminum or copper wire is
better--some insulator knobs, and two cross spreaders three feet
long. The parallel wires in the aërial should be at least two feet
apart, and the aërial should be placed as high as possible so that
surrounding buildings, etc., will not interfere with the wireless wave.
The bare wires, wherever they are fastened to poles or trees must, of
course, be wound around insulators. For a ground connection, fasten
an ordinary insulated wire to a water pipe or to a piece of iron pipe
sunk five feet in damp ground. A safety switch may be made, like the
drawing, from a piece of wood six inches square and an inch thick, a
piece of stiff brass three inches long and a half inch wide, and three
round-headed brass screws.
[Illustration: Diagram of Circuit.]
This completes the separate parts of the receiving apparatus. To
connect it up for use, follow the circuit diagram. One wire from the
aërial leads through the safety switch to the tuning coil. From the
tuning coil carry an insulated wire to the detector, and from the
detector to the ground. The receiver has two wires leading from it--one
to a point between the detector and the tuning coil, and the other to
a similar point between the detector and the ground. When not in use
the aërial should be connected directly with the ground by means of the
safety switch. Where two wires are connected they must of course have
the insulation scraped off so that bare wire rests against bare wire.
When you have learned to translate your messages you will be able to
do quite a bit of wireless eavesdropping, and your receiver will click
with countless messages.
THE END
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:
Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_.
Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.
Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized.
Archaic or alternate spelling that may have been in use at the time of
publication has been retained.