The American Boy's Handy Book

by Daniel Carter Beard

  “This suggests the question of ‘jibing,’ an operation always to be avoided if possible. Suppose the wind to be astern, and the boat running nearly before it. It becomes necessary to change your course toward the side on which the sail is drawing. The safest way is to turn at first in the opposite direction, put the helm ‘down’ (toward the sail), bring the boat up into the wind, turn her entirely around, and stand off on the new tack. This, however, is not always possible. Hauling in the sheet until the sail fills on the other side is ‘jibing;’ but when this happens it goes over with a rush that sometimes carries mast and sheet or upsets the boat; hence the operation should be first undertaken in a light wind. It is necessary to know how to do it, for sometimes a sail insists upon jibing very unexpectedly, and it is best to be prepared for such emergencies.

  How to Make a Sail.

  “For the sails of such boats as are considered in this paper, there is no better material than unbleached twilled cotton sheeting. It is to be had two and a half or even three yards wide. In cutting out your sail, let the selvedge be at the ‘leech,’ or aftermost edge. This, of course, makes it necessary to cut the luff and foot ‘bias,’ and they are very likely to stretch in the making, so that the sail will assume a different shape from what was intended. To avoid this, baste the hem carefully before sewing, and ‘hold in’ a little to prevent fulling. It is a good plan to tack the material on the floor before cutting, and mark the outline of the sail with pencil. Stout tape stitched along the bias edges will make a sure thing of it, and the material can be cut, making due allowance for the hem. Better take feminine advice on this process. The hems should be half an inch deep all around, selvedge and all, and it will do no harm to reinforce them with cord if you wish to make a thoroughly good piece of work.

  “For running-rigging, nothing is better than laid or braided cotton cord, such as is used for awnings and sash-cords. If this is not easily procured, any stout twine will answer. It can be doubled and twisted as often as necessary. The smallest manila rope is rather stiff and unmanageable for such light sails as ours.

  “In fitting out a boat of any kind, iron, unless galvanized, is to be avoided as much as possible, on account of its liability to rust. Use brass or copper instead.

  Hints to Beginners.

  “Nothing has been said about reefing thus far, because small boats under the management of beginners should not be afloat in a ‘reefing breeze.’ Reefing is the operation of reducing the spread of sail when the wind becomes too fresh. If you will look at Fig. 95 you will see rows of short marks on the sail above the boom. These are ‘reef-points’—bits of line about a foot long passing through holes in the sail, and knotted so that they will not slip. In reefing, the sail is lowered and that portion of it between the boom and the reef-points is gathered together, and the points are tied around both it and the boom. When the lower row of points is used it is a single reef. Both rows together are a double reef.

  “Make your first practical experiment with a small sail and with the wind blowing toward the shore. Row out a little way, and then sail in any direction in which you can make the boat go, straight back to shore if you can, with the sail out nearly at right angles with the boat. Then try running along shore with the sheet hauled in a little, and the sail on the side nearest the shore. You will soon learn what your craft can do, and will probably find that she will make very little, if any, headway to windward. This is partly because she slides sidewise over the water. To prevent it you may use a ‘lee-board’—namely, a broad board hung over the side of the boat (G, Fig. 92). This must be held by stout lines, as the strain upon it is very heavy. It should be placed a little forward of the middle of the boat. It must be on the side away from the wind—the lee side—and must be shifted when you go about. Keels and centre-boards are permanent contrivances for the same purpose, but a leeboard answers very well as a makeshift, and is even used habitually by some canoeists and other boatmen.

  “In small boats it is sometimes desirable to sit amidships, because sitting in the stern raises the bow too high out of water; steering may be done with an oar over the lee side, or with ‘yoke-lines’ attached to a cross piece on the rudder-head, or even to the tiller. In this last case, the lines must be rove through rings or pulleys at the sides of the boat opposite the end of the tiller. When the handle of the oar (H, Fig. 92)—or the tiller (F, Fig. 95) if a rudder is used—is pushed to the right, the boat will turn to the left, and vice versa. The science of steering consists in knowing when to push and how much to push—very simple, you see, in the statement, but not always so easy in practice.

  “The sail should be so adjusted in relation to the rest of the boat that, when the sheet is hauled close in and made fast, the boat, if left to herself, will point her head to the wind like a weather-cock, and drift slowly astern. If it is found that the sail is so far forward that she will not do this, the fault may be remedied by stepping the mast further aft, or by rigging a small sail near the stern. This is called a ‘dandy,’ or ‘steering-sail,’ and is especially convenient in a boat whose size or arrangement necessitates sitting amidships. It may be rigged like the mainsail, and when its sheet is once made fast will ordinarily take care of itself in tacking.

  “Remember that, if the wind freshens or a squall strikes you, the position of safety is with the boat’s head to the wind. When in doubt what to do, push the helm down (toward the sail) and haul in the slack of the sheet as the boat comes up into the wind. If she is moving astern, or will not mind her helm—and of course she will not if she is not moving— pull her head around to the wind with an oar, and experiment cautiously until you find which way you can make her go.

  “In making a landing, always calculate to have the boat’s head as near the wind as possible when she ceases to move. This whether you lower your sail or not.

  “Thus, if the wind is offshore, as shown at A, Fig. 96, land at F or G, with the bow toward the shore. If the wind is from the direction of B, land at E with the bow toward B, or at F; if at the latter, the boom will swing away from the wharf and permit you to lie alongside. If the wind is from D, reverse these positions. If the wind comes from the direction of C. land either at F or G, with the bow pointing off shore.

  “If you have no one to tell you what to do, you will have to feel your way slowly and learn by experience; but if you have nautical instincts you will soon make your boat do what you wish her to do as far as she is able. But first learn to swim before you try to sail a boat.”

  Volumes have been written on the subject treated in these few pages, and it is not yet exhausted. The hints here given are safe ones to follow, and will, it is hoped, be of service to many a young sailor in many a corner of the world.

  CHAPTER XIV.

  NOVELTIES IN SOAP-BUBBLES.

  Every Boy His Own Bubble Pipe.

  “A SOAP-BUBBLE” is an uncouth, inelegant name for such an ethereal, fairy sphere. It is such a common, everyday sight to us that we seldom give it much attention or realize how wonderful and beautiful is this fragile, transparent, liquid globe. Its spherical form is typical of perfection, and the ever-changing, prismatic colors of its iridiscent surface charm the eye.

  It is like a beautiful dream; we are entranced while it lasts, but in an instant it vanishes and leaves nothing to mark its former existence except the memory of its loveliness.

  Few persons can stand by and watch another blowing bubbles without being seized with an uncontrollable desire to blow one for themselves. There is a peculiar charm or pleasure in the very act which not many who have known it ever outgrow. At the present time “soap-bubble parties” are becoming quite fashionable. At one of these gatherings the guests, old and young, furnished with clay pipes, stand around a table, in the centre of which is placed a fancy punch bowl filled—not with a mixture of ardent spirits, but soapsuds. Prizes are awarded to those among the guests who successfully launch in air the largest bubble, and to those who keep theirs flying for the greatest length of time or send th
em the highest. As may be imagined, these parties are very amusing, and everybody at first tries to prevent his or her neighbor from succeeding, until, amid great merriment and confusion, the hostess announces that if her guests expect the prizes to be awarded, a rule must be enacted compelling them to pay more attention to their own efforts and not allowing them to molest each other.

  It is generally known that a bubble will burst if it touch any hard or smooth surface, but upon the carpet or a woollen cloth it will roll or bounce merrily.

  If you take advantage of this fact you can with a woolen cloth make bubbles dance and fly around as lively as a juggler’s gilt balls, and you will be astonished to find what apparently rough handling these fragile bubbles will stand when you are careful not to allow them to touch anything but the woolen cloth.

  It may be worth remarking that the coarser the soap the brighter the bubbles will be. The compound known as “soft soap” is by some persons considered the best for the purpose.

  In the accompanying illustrations are shown two kinds of soap-bubbles.

  One of the pictures shows how to transform your bubble into an aerial vapor balloon.

  If you wish to try this pretty experiment, procure a rubber tube, say a yard long, and with an aperture small enough to require considerable stretching to force it over the gas-burner. After you have stretched one end so as to fit tightly over the burner, wrap the stem of a clay pipe with wet paper and push it into the other end of the tube, where it must fit so as to allow no gas to escape. Dip the bowl of your pipe into the suds and turn the gas on; the force of the gas will be sufficient to blow the bubble for you, and, as the gas is lighter than the air, the bubble, when freed from the pipe, will rapidly ascend and never stop in its upward course until it perishes.

  Old Uncle Cassius, an aged negro down in Kentucky, used to amuse the children by making smoke-bubbles.

  Did you ever see smoke-bubbles? In one the white-blue smoke, in beautiful curves, will curl and circle under its crystal shell. Another will possess a lovely opalescent, pearly appearance, and if one be thrown from the pipe while quite small and densely filled with smoke, it will appear like an opaque polished ball of milky whiteness. It is always a great frolic for the children when they catch Uncle Cassius smoking his corn-cob pipe. They gather around his knee with their bowl of soapsuds and bubble pipes, and while the good-natured old man takes a few lusty whiffs from his corn-cob and fills his capacious mouth with tobacco smoke, one of the children dips a pipe into the suds, starts the bubble and passes it to Uncle Cassius. All then stoop down and watch the gradual growth of that wonderful smoke-bubble; and when “Dandy,” the dog, chases and catches one of these bubbles, how the children laugh to see the astonished and injured look upon his face, and what fun it is to see him sneeze and rub his nose with his paw!

  The figure at the head of this chapter shows you how to make a giant bubble. It is done by first covering your hands well with soapsuds, then placing them together so as to form a cup, leaving a small opening at the bottom. All that is then necessary is to hold your mouth about a foot from your hands and blow into them. I have made bubbles in this way twice the size of my head. These bubbles are so large that they invariably burst upon striking the floor, being unable to withstand the concussion.

  Although generally considered a trivial amusement, only fit for young children, blowing soap-bubbles has been an occupation appreciated and indulged in by great philosophers and men of science, and wonderful discoveries in optics and natural philosophy might be made with only a clay-pipe and a bowl of soapsuds.

  CHAPTER XV.

  FOURTH OF JULY BALLOONS WITH NEW AND NOVEL ATTACHMENTS.

  DID you ever, while watching a beautiful soap-bubble dance merrily through the air, think how closely it resembled the immense silken bubble beneath which the daring aëronaut goes bounding among the clouds?

  Especially is this true of the gas-bubble described in the foregoing chapter. When a boy, the author’s ambition naturally led him from these vapor balloons to experimenting in more lasting material than soapsuds. He then devoted his attention for some time to paper balloons, and, after numerous experiments and disasters, succeeded in building balloons of a style which is comparatively safe from accident and seldom the cause of a mortifying failure. If you do not want to disappoint the spectators by having a fire instead of an ascension, avoid models with small mouth-openings or narrow necks. Experience has also taught the writer that balloons of good, substantial, portly build go up best and make their journey in a stately, dignified manner, while the slim, narrow balloon, on the contrary, even if it succeeds in getting a safe start, goes bobbing through the air, turning this way and that, until the flame from the fire-ball touches and lights the thin paper, leaving only a handful of ashes floating upon the summer breeze.

  The reader can see here illustrated some of the objectionable shapes as well as some of the safe styles. For large balloons, strong manila-paper is best; for smaller ones, use tissue-paper.

  When you build a balloon, decide first what height you want it; then make the side pieces or gores nearly a third longer; a balloon of thirteen gores, each six feet long and one foot greatest width, when distended with hot air ready to ascend, is a little over four feet high. For such a balloon, first make a pattern of stiff brown paper by which to cut the gores. To make the pattern, take a strip of paper six feet long and a little over one foot wide; fold the paper in the centre length-wise, so that it will be only slightly over a half foot from the edges to the fold. Along the bottom measure two inches from the fold and mark the point. At one foot from the bottom, at right angles from the folded edge, measure three inches and one-half, and mark the point; in the same manner mark off five inches from two feet up the fold. From a point three feet four inches from the bottom measure off six inches and mark the point; from this place the width decreases. At the fourth foot mark a point five inches and one-half from the fold; about three inches and a third at the fifth foot; nothing, of course, at the sixth foot, or top, where the gore will come to a point. With chalk or pencil draw a curved line connecting these points; cut the paper along this line and unfold it.

  You will have a pattern the shape of a cigar, four inches wide at the bottom, one foot greatest width, and six feet long. After pasting your sheets of manila or tissue-paper together in strips of the required length cut out thirteen gores by the pattern just made; lay one of these gores flat upon the floor, as in Fig. 97; fold it in the centre, as in Fig. 98; over this lay another gore, leaving a margin of the under gore protruding from beneath (Fig. 99). With a brush cover the protruding edge with paste, then turn it up and over upon the upper gore, and with a towel or rag press it down until the two edges adhere. Fold the upper gore in the centre as you did the first one, and lay a third gore upon it; paste the free protruding edge; and so on until all thirteen are pasted. It will be found that the bottom gore and top gore have each an edge unpasted; lay these two edges together and paste them neatly.

  Next you must make a hoop of rattan or some light substance to fit the mouth opening, which will be about one foot and a half in diameter. Fasten the hoop in by pasting the edges of the mouth opening around it. In very large paper balloons it is well to place a piece of string along the edge of each gore and paste it in, letting the ends of the strings hang down below the mouth; fasten the hoop in with these ends before pasting the paper over it. It will be found next to impossible to tear the hoop from a balloon, strengthened in this manner, without totally destroying the balloon.

  Should you discover an opening at the top of your balloon, caused by the points not joining exactly, tie it up with a string if it be small, but if it be a large hole paste a piece of paper over it. When dry, take a fan and fan the balloon as full of air as you can, and while it is inflated make a thorough inspection of all sides to see that there are no accidental tears, holes or rips.

  Fig. 100 shows the cross wires that support the fire-ball. The latter is best made of old-fashioned lamp-wi
ck wound, rather loosely, in the form of a ball, the size depending upon the dimensions of the balloon. The sponge commonly used soon burns out and the balloon comes down in a very little while; but the wick-ball here described seldom fails to propel the little air-ship upward and onward out of sight. A short, fine wire should next be run quite through the wick-ball, so that it can be attached to the mouth of the balloon in an instant by hooking the ends of this wire over the cross wires at the mouth.

  If you use a little care you will have no difficulty in sending up the balloon. Place your wick-ball in a pan or dish, put the corked bottle of alcohol beside it, and about thirty feet away make a simple fire-place of bricks or stones, over which place a piece of stove-pipe. Fill the fire-place with shavings, twisted pieces of paper, or anything that will light readily and make a good blaze. In a loop of string fastened at the top of the balloon for that purpose let one of the party put the end of a smooth stick, and, with the other end in his hand, mount some elevated position and hold the balloon over the fire-place. Before touching a match to the combustibles below, expand the balloon as much as possible by fanning it full of air; then light the fire. Be very careful, in all the process that follows, to hold the mouth of the balloon directly above and not too near the stove-pipe, to prevent the blaze from setting fire to the paper, which will easily ignite. At this stage of the proceedings one person must take the bottle of alcohol, uncork it, and pour the contents over the wick-ball in the basin, and the ball must be made to soak up all it will hold of the spirits. The balloon will become more and more buoyant as the air becomes heated inside, and at length, when distended to its utmost, it will begin pulling to free itself. Holding the hoop at the mouth, walk to one side of the fire and with all speed have the ball attached securely in place. Touch a light to it, and it will blaze up. At the words “All right,” let go. The same instant the stick must be slid from the loop on top, so as not to tear the paper, and away will sail the balloon upon its airy voyage.