Kennedy Holbrook

“ Learn to swim before you sail her. No mere pleasure is worth risking one’s life for, and accidents will happen even to the most careful boys.
After this, you may play on or near the water with as much safety as on the land.
Aside from the pleasure, one learns an extremely useful lesson in making a miniature model yacht, and in sailing her. A certain familiarity with the rigging, and the looks of the thing, will thus be obtained, and if your fingers have patiently set up shrouds and stays, and rove the mimic halyards, they will be less at sea with the ropes and stays of a real vessel. ”

“ It will now be seen that during the whole performance the music is elicited by the tongue, and not by the finger as at first appears; the placing the forefinger of the right hand to the mouth, and moving it as if playing in the 263ordinary way, is simply a little ruse to mislead the audience.
The performer should so stand that the light does not shine too strongly upon his face, and thus expose the absence of the tongue of the jew’s-harp, and a complete mastery of the instrument in the inverted position should be acquired before one attempts the trick in public. ”

“ A dip-net, made of a piece of mosquito netting caught over a small hoop, and attached to a long, slender handle, is best for catching all kinds of fish for the aquarium, and the shores of bays or salt-water streams supply a greater abundance than the open sea, or the shore washed by the heavy ocean waves. If your globe is the vessel you are to use, the sticklebacks will afford you quite as much amusement as any fish you could find, for aside from their quick, lively manner, they are a very handsome fish. ”

“ The pipe-fish, a peculiarly shaped specimen, comparatively rare on our Atlantic coast, is worthy a place in your collection; and the shrimp, the acrobat of the aquarium, whose funny little backward movements, when the poor little fellow is frightened, create so much laughter among the little folks, must not be forgotten. Young scallops are very pretty, and when left undisturbed open their shells a trifle, disclosing a beautiful fringe of tiny blue tentacles which wave to and fro with every motion of the water. ”

“ Any boy, in his wanderings over marsh or mountain, through woods or our quiet village street, during even the coldest winter months, could not fail to see some beautiful sprays of seed-pods crowning many of our most common weeds, which if crystallized, would make a very pretty and acceptable present to mother for the corner bracket, or the shelf which seemed just a little bare before. ”

“ With a bottle of gold paint and a soft brush you can very soon change this rough, unpretending affair into a very artistic frame, one of which, if every step of the process of construction has been carefully taken, you may justly be proud. The glass is next put in place, then the picture carefully laid upon that, face downward, and a piece of cardboard—an old paper-box cover will do—cut the exact size of the glass, laid upon both; these are caught in place by brad-nails driven into the edges of the laths, and extending over the edges of the cardboard. ”

“ This was, however, done several times with success, and the anemones lived in our aquarium as long as they could be expected to exist in perfectly quiet water. When these creatures are at rest or frightened they draw down into little shapeless masses; but when looking for food they stretch up again, and expand on the top of the long stalk, as we may call it, a beautiful flower-like head, resembling an aster in form, and of a deep brownish-yellow color. ”

“ As I write the above title, I wonder if there is a boy or a girl in this great American land who does not own a checker-board, or does not know how to play this delightful game. The game was brought to us from England, we cannot say how many years ago, probably by the first settlers in these then lonely wilds.
This game of checkers is a scientific one and is governed entirely by calculation. So, in order to become a good player, one has to give considerable time and thought to the subject, which is perhaps as good mental discipline as many of our less interesting school studies. ”

“ No boy who has lived on our coast, or, indeed, who has spent much time near the sea, could have failed to notice and admire the beautiful feathery mosses which sway about so gracefully under the surface of the water. ”

“ A great part of the enjoyment of a thing consists in the making of it. And many of the games which are best enjoyed by children all over the land you can, with a little ingenuity and some trouble, perhaps, make for yourself.
Among the many things which a boy can make, there are very few more interesting or fascinating than the simple game of Solitaire, or, as it is more frequently called, The Peg Puzzle.
Take a piece of smooth board, from nine inches to a foot square, cut out the corners as indicated in the illustration, and bore holes in the positions indicated by the dots. ”

“ When food is passed down to this animated blossom, it will fold its little tentacles one by one around it, and pass it down into its mouth, open to receive it, but which is entirely hidden by the beautiful petals of this delicate flower. ”

“ When a storm, tempest, or even a squall is about to come on, all the solid matter rises from the bottom of the bottle and forms a crust on the surface of the alcohol which appears to be in a state of fermentation. These appearances take place twenty-four hours before the tempest ensues, and the point of the horizon from which it is to blow is indicated by the particles gathering most on the side of the tube opposite to that part whence the wind is to come. The longer the diameter of the bottle the better for this kind of barometer. ”

“ Whether it belonged forward or aft of my mast I had not the slightest remembrance, and yet scarcely a day went by without my seeing a vessel in some form or other.
Boys are not the only persons, however, who look at things and do not see them. The power of minute and careful observation is a rare quality, and the majority of people go through life without forming the habit, or indeed dreaming they have not made the best use of their sight. ”

“ The attraction of a magnet or iron is the principle on which the “circus” is made to work.
Procure or make from thin wood a box about a foot square, and five or five and a half inches deep. Cut a hole through the central point of the bottom, to allow of the passage of the crank.
Now from a board cut a round disk which shall revolve easily inside the box, and pass through its center an axle which shall be long enough to form a support for the ring-master on the top or stage, and extend down through the top of the soap-box, where it ends in a crank by which the whole machinery is worked. ”

“ At the point of greatest clearness the image is said to be focused. Such being the principle of the camera, it is evident that in practice the instrument may assume many forms, provided always that it consists of a darkened box or chamber, having a hole at one end for the insertion of a lens or combination of lenses, and at the other a screen, generally made of ground glass, on which to receive the image. ”

“ At each revolution of c the string is twisted tighter around the box, and if the end of c is touched, the other end strikes with more force upon the cover b.
When sufficiently tight, grasp the handle with your left hand, and having the point well over the cover, commence with the third finger of your right hand and 73strike down on the end c with the fingers in their order, giving quick and repeated blows, like the successive taps of a drum. The music produced, if not strictly melodious, is quite enchanting to the average American school-boy. ”

“ The first thing needed is a frame for holding the print while it is being exposed. This can be made by an ingenious boy, but as it is a rather troublesome job, it is better to buy a small transparent slate for five or ten cents, and discarding the copies, use the frame and glass for your work. The sensitized paper should next be prepared. This can be bought at any place where photographers’ supplies are to be found; many boys, however, are too far away from our great cities to have access to such stores, and even those who have will find more delight in making it for themselves. ”

“ A number of pots, sufficiently large to hold good-sized plants, take up considerable room; and no little time is required each day, to keep the pots clean and the plants well watered. Now, boys, I have a suggestion to make, which I intend for your ears alone. Why can’t you make a winter garden, and, if necessary, take care of it through the season? It will amply repay you for your labor, and do much toward brightening the home life through the long dreary months, when everything without is covered with ice and snow. ”

“ It is perhaps superfluous to add that great care should be taken to have each side of the craft alike, for if a preponderance of weight is on one side, the vessel will tip; while if the curve is unequal, she will not sail evenly.
The hollowing out of the inside is most conveniently accomplished with a sharp gouge and mallet, while the hull is secured firmly in a vise. When this is finished, a hole should be made in the bottom to receive the lower end of the mast, and care should be taken not to bore through the hull, as it would be difficult to stop the ingress of water through it. ”

“ A powerful telescope, having a large field of vision, requires a lens at least two inches in diameter, with a focus of from two to three feet for the larger glass; and another lens of from one-half to one inch in diameter, and with a focus of one inch, for the smaller end. Having your lenses, the next important step is to make your tubes; this is done by bending a piece of pasteboard a foot long by 111seven inches wide in the shape of a tube, whose diameter shall be about one-sixteenth of an inch larger than that of your lens. ”

“ It may be an ordinary globe, or it can be made of slabs of heavy glass, fastened inside an iron frame-work, with a peculiar kind of cement, made specially for the purpose. They can be obtained in different sizes at several places in New York and other cities, and as the materials in themselves are expensive, and the work of making one usually results in a series of disappointments, and finally, in total failure, the expediency of buying one ready-made cannot be too strongly urged upon the young naturalist. ”

“ Then having traced your line as perfectly as you can do it, lay the brass upon a piece of soft wood, and with the end of the screw-driver pressed evenly upon the line, give the head a light blow with the hammer; then move the blade along the penciled line, so that its edge shall just touch the end of the last indentation, and give it another slight tap with the hammer. If you strike with too much force your line will be unequally deep in some places, and your work will not present as good an appearance when finished. ”

“ If at the end of a few hours any alum remains undissolved, you may be sure the water contains all the alum it can hold in a liquid state, and the solution is called a “saturated solution of alum.”
During the summer, while the grasses are in their most perfect state, select such as you think will look well crystallized, and put them into a vase or wide-mouthed bottle to dry, being careful to spread them well apart, so that they may retain their perfect shape in drying. If the season of grasses should pass before you have a chance to collect them, the season of weeds is always at hand. ”

“ When it seems sufficiently hard, remove the mold, and you will have a pasteboard cup with an uneven edge which must be trimmed with a sharp knife and smoothed with sand-paper.
It might be well to trim off the top before removing the mold, as you would be more certain of getting it even by so doing. After this the cup can be painted in any manner desired.
A plaque can readily be molded upon the inside of a plate or saucer, and a pretty work-basket can be made upon a shallow bowl. Toy boats are made in the same manner as the cup, upon wooden molds cut out for the purpose. ”

“ A good rule to be observed in watering your plants is to pour on the water until it begins to run out of the hole in the bottom of the box. With such thorough wetting down they will not need water oftener than twice a week, except when the sun is very hot, and the moisture evaporates quickly. A little carbonate of ammonia added to the water greatly improves their growth, and half-a-dozen grains of permanganate of potash added once a fortnight to the warm bath turns their foliage a rich dark green. ”

“ This light pastime for the summer lawn, or for the parlor on a winter’s evening, is one of the most graceful and pretty games ever invented. Although particularly intended for the fairer sex, boys are generally the most skillful, if not the most graceful, competitors in the game.
This game is played with a target-post, more or less ornamental, as the skill and taste of the maker may decree, and a number of light rings or small hoops, ranging from five to ten inches in diameter. ”

“ At a convenient moment, when the right is exactly above the left hand, drop the half-dollar into it, and the trick is done. But it would not do to let the audience know this, so you must continue to work the left hand as if molding the coin in shape, blowing with the mouth into the palm as if cooling the heated mass; toss it from hand to hand as if to cool it more rapidly, and finally return it to the spectator from whom it was borrowed.
BURNING THE CENTER FROM A HANDKERCHIEF. The young performer will find but little difficulty in performing this simple sleight-of-hand trick successfully. ”

“ Keep up a running discourse all the time, so that the movement will seem natural, and not be suspected. In a moment or two partly withdraw the left hand, and grasping the brim of the hat, turn it upside down upon the table. If the tin is not in a good position to catch the eggs and flour which 310you are to drop into it, palm a penny and pretend to find it in the hat, chiding your audience for carelessly overlooking it, remarking that although a useful thing to have, it is not exactly a proper ingredient for cake. ”

“ These little crabs, you must know, are soft little fellows, for whom nature in a frugal moment prepared no house or covering to protect them from the thumps they might receive from both water and stones; but the little fellows, with a shrewdness one would hardly suspect in creatures so small, rise equal to the occasion, and help themselves to the empty snail-shells left by their more fortunate neighbors. When small they occupy the little black snail-shells, moving from a smaller to a larger as they increase in size. ”