SAIL-SKATING AND SNOWBALL ARTILLERY
A Skating-sail
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 smooth, 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.
[Illustration:
Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
A SKATING-SAIL, A SQUARE-RIGGED ICE-SAIL, AND A SNOWBALL MORTAR
]
A Square-rigged Ice-sail
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.
A Snowball Mortar
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 points 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.